A memorial to the martyr Mateen Dabaya in Jenin camp, which the occupation opened fire on, trying to destroy it (Al Jazeera)

Nablus -

As if the Israeli occupation, by killing our colleague Sherine Abu Aqla, had not satisfied his deep-seated hatred and his vengeful instincts, so it targeted the place of her martyrdom in the Jenin camp in the northern West Bank and a monument was erected for her in the place, after it had become a shrine that people from all over the world came to visit, to witness up close the occupation’s crime and brutality. Which also affected the monuments and landmarks of the martyrs in all the cities, camps and villages of the West Bank.

After targeting people, trees and stones in its incursion into the Palestinian areas, the memorials built by the Palestinians to commemorate their martyrs and glorify their heroism have become part of the occupation’s target bank and the nozzle of its military bulldozers, which destroyed dozens of them, in a violation that revealed a hidden hatred harbored by the occupation for everything Palestinian.

The occupation targeted the Shirin Monument located at the northwestern entrance to the Jenin refugee camp twice, first last July when it demolished parts of it, then returned a few weeks later and demolished it completely, especially the wall on which her mural was painted, the carob tree that bore her name, and visitors’ hangings. And their souvenirs, which they wrote with their own hands, in a message that reflected “the amount of hatred and malice within the occupation soldiers who assassinated Sherine in the place,” as described by Tony Abu Aqla, Sherine’s brother.

The place of Sherine Abu Aqla's martyrdom was a shrine for citizens before its destruction (Al Jazeera)

 It will not erase the crime

Abu Aqla told Al Jazeera Net, “This also indicates a systematic policy and terrorism from the occupation to obscure the facts, and their fear of Shirin’s name even after her martyrdom, or what reminds them of her.” Abu Aqla links the demolition of Shirin’s monument to the great destruction caused by the occupation in the Jenin camp for more than Alfie Beit, for “not holding Israel and its terrorist army accountable,” and says that “the absence of accountability will cause the people to suffer greater destruction.”

“The occupation cannot erase Shireen from memory,” her brother says, “and she is firmly established as a Palestinian icon in the minds of future generations, as well as the place of her martyrdom, as it remains in the hearts of many, no matter how much the occupation destroys and breaks it.” He said that they will rebuild it “in a manner befitting Shireen, the city of Jenin, and its camp.” "The steadfast."

Journalist Ali Samoudi told Al Jazeera Net, who was Sherine’s colleague and companion at the time of the event, that “the place that became a shrine was all linked to Sherine’s martyrdom, and the street was named after her, and her biography is constantly discussed by people.” He stressed that the occupation will not be able to erase what happened with Sherine from his memory, and that His crime will not end with the demolition of the edifice that he had previously attacked several times with gunfire.

War does not last

Also in Jenin camp, the occupation demolished dozens of memorials, most notably the Arc of Triumph (the camp gate), the Return Monument bearing the names of displaced villages, and the “Jenin Horse,” which was built from iron and the remains of the camp residents’ homes, vehicles, and ambulances that the occupation destroyed during its invasion of the camp in 1997. 2002.

By striking all the national monuments inside and around the camp, which express its state of struggle, the head of the Jenin Camp Services Committee, Muhammad Sabbagh, says, “The occupation is sending messages to obliterate awareness and remove the state of resistance from people’s awareness, in addition to its comprehensive war on the Palestinians, and on the Jenin camp without any Warnings and restrictions.

Sabbagh told Al Jazeera Net, “Israel is waging a war against everything that the Palestinian is proud of, especially the resistance, which Israel wants to make a curse on him, through collective punishment against them, but it will not succeed, because the Palestinian and his continuous struggle for 76 years are deeper and greater than that.” It is linked to a location and geography, or to a landmark that tells the history of its resistance.”

Sabbagh adds, "There is no house in Jenin camp that is not bereaved, and has not paid the price with the loss of at least two martyrs, two prisoners, or two wounded, in addition to the complete destruction of the infrastructure and the homes of citizens, which reflects the failure and bankruptcy of the occupation in fighting humanity in order to fight the monuments and edifices of martyrs."

Like the Jenin camp, the camps in Tulkarm and Nablus experienced the same demolition, as was the case in various locations in the villages and cities of the West Bank, to the point that these edifices became a target in themselves.

Great symbolism

Although the era of memorials is ancient in the lives of Palestinians, they have appeared more frequently in the last two years, with the escalation of the state of resistance and the emergence of resistance brigades in the West Bank. Some of these memorials took on an individual character, while others bore the names and pictures of a group of martyrs.

The activist in Nour Shams camp, Ibrahim al-Nimr, says, “The occupation intends to demolish these monuments, old and new, especially the martyrs of the camp battalion who have become entrenched in the minds and hearts of these young generations, such as the martyr Saif Abu Libda, the founder of the battalion. They do not want to remember the martyr by name alone, but rather to immortalize them.” "His story and his struggle."

In addition to the narrative of commemorating and remembering the martyr, this monument reinforced his honorable history and his work of resistance. These monuments are usually erected at the place of martyrdom, and display information about the martyr, the event, and how he was martyred. Thus, “the occupation is destroying a Palestinian national symbol and not just a edifice,” according to the description of activist Al-Nimr.

Al-Nimr attributed the demolition of the monuments and edifices of the martyrs to the policy of collective punishment practiced by the Israeli occupation against everything Palestinian, and says that this is “nothing less than the occupation’s attack on the Palestinian flag and the salaries of prisoners and martyrs, and the complete destruction of the infrastructure of the areas it invades, especially the camps.”

Source: Al Jazeera