Youssef Amireh, the second mortal victim of the military suppression of the Ni'ilin uprising, succumbed to his fatal wounds this morning after struggling for five days at the Ramallah hospital. A crowd of thousands attended his funeral. Amireh was shot in the head with two rubber bullets just hours after the funeral of ten year old Ahmed Moussa last Wednesday. Though Youssef was not taking part in the clashes that evolved after the funeral, he was shot from a distance of only a few meters from within an armored border police jeep. His wounds rendered him brain dead immediately.

Youssef Amireh's body carried to the cemetery

Following Amireh's passing away this morning, an atmosphere of rage and mourning fell on Ni'ilin once more, and the demonstration planned for the day was immediately canceled. The army however, was not deterred. The discord of the Israeli bulldozers sawing destruction through the village's groves could be heard in the town all through the day. At some point a border police even invaded the village with no apparent reason, shooting rubber bullets at the youth on the street, and teargas into homes. Two teenagers were injured by rubber bullets.

The funeral procession at the checkpoint on the outskirts of Ramallah

A short time after the funeral procession had left Ramallah, it was met by a flying checkpoint of three military jeeps, an unusually large force for such a checkpoint, and that also included a sniper positioned on the observing hill. The checkpoint was set up especially for the funeral procession and every single one of the dozens of cars in it was checked for weapons, which of course were not present.

A mourner breaking through the Army's checkpoint in Deir Qaddis

On reaching Deir Qaddis, the village adjacent to Ni'ilin, another checkpoint was encountered, this time composed of close to a hundred soldiers and border policemen. A single concussion grenade was thrown when the enraged mourners left their cars and started breaking through the checkpoint, but a command to let them pass quickly arrived from the force's commander.

At the same time, and completely unprovoked, the army contingent at the entrance to the village attacked the grieving villagers who awaited the arrival of Youssef's body. The army used concussion grenades, rubber-coated bullets and the shooting of teargas projectiles, one of which injured a villager after directly hitting his head. The atmosphere calmed down as mourners left the entrance and headed towards the village's mosque.

Youssef Amireh's friends by his grave

Youssef Amireh was buried at the cemetery close to his family's home, and lies besides Ahmed Mousa's fresh grave. He is the twelfth Palestinian and seventh minor to be killed protesting the wall.

The other 11 are:

Muhammad Fadel Hashem Rian, age 25
Zakaria Mahmoud 'Eid Salem, age 28
Abdal Rahman Abu 'Eid, age 62
Killed during a demonstration in Biddu on February 26th, 2004.

Muhammad Da'ud Saleh Badwan, age 21
Shot during a demonstration in Biddu on February 26th, 2004, and died of his wounds March 3rd.

Hussein Mahmoud 'Awad 'Alian, age 17
Killed during a demonstration in Bitunya on April 16th, 2004

Diaa' A-Din 'Abd al-Karim Ibrahim Abu 'Eid, age 23
Killed during a demonstration in Biddu on April 18th, 2004.

Islam Hashem Rizik Zhahran, age 14
Shot during a demonstration in Deir Abu Mash'al on April 18th, 2004, and died of his wounds April 28th.

Jamal Jaber Ibrahim 'Asi, age 15
U'dai Mufid Mahmoud 'Asi, age 14
Killed during a demonstration in Beit Liqya on May 4th, 2005

Mahayub Nimer 'Asi, age 15
Killed during a demonstration in Beit Liqya on July 8th, 2005

Ahmed Husan Yousef Mousa, age 10
Killed during a demonstration in Ni'ilin on July 29th, 2008