Known as ‘Sheikh’ or ‘Hajj’ Suleiman, Hathaleen mobilised the Palestinian street against Israeli occupation.
Hebron, Occupied West Bank – Suleiman al-Hathaleen, 73, never backed down from an opportunity to confront Israeli forces in Masafer Yatta, Hebron, in the occupied West Bank.
Faraan: With a white scarf covering his long, grey hair and nothing more than a wooden staff in one hand, Suleiman was often seen fiercely attempting to block Israeli bulldozers from demolishing Palestinian homes, or tractors from razing Palestinian land.
Although he could neither read nor write nor use the internet, the late Suleiman, known locally as “Sheikh” or “Hajj” Suleiman, was well-connected. On January 17, some 15,000 Palestinians attended his funeral in his hometown of Umm al-Khair, a village in northern Masafer Yatta, two weeks after he was – allegedly deliberately – run over by an Israeli tow truck.
Suleiman’s 60-year-old brother, Ibrahim, said the turnout at the funeral was unprecedented for Masafer Yatta. “The communities of southern Hebron have never witnessed anything like this. He [Suleiman] would stand at the forefront with the young men behind him.” Ibrahim recalled, describing him as an influential icon and a mobiliser of the Palestinian street. “He would lie on the ground to prevent military vehicles from moving to demolish Palestinian homes.”
Suleiman was fatally injured on January 5 when an Israeli tow truck ran him over in Umm al-Khair during a raid by dozens of Israeli army jeeps on the village to seize unregistered Palestinian vehicles.
The truck “drove over him and dragged his body for several metres without stopping”, according to a statement by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).
Israeli forces fired shots in the air to disperse the crowd that was protesting the raid, and quickly withdrew from the village, leaving his bleeding body on the ground. Due to the lack of ambulance services in the village, he was taken in a private car to the nearest medical clinic, some 15km (9 miles) away.
He died after 12 days in hospital in Hebron.
