“In all, Ridha has spent 15 years in detention. First, they come for the father and then the son. The Israeli soldiers hate Ridha because he named his daughters after three Palestinian towns: Karmil, Ḥayfā and Yāfā.” – Khalil Hamdan, 20 August 2024.”
On Tuesday, 3 September 2024, Brisbane City Council voted in favour of a motion that demanded Greens councillor for the Gabba ward, Trina Massey, to repay the costs of printing and mailing a newsletter that told Khalil’s story.
The Deputy Mayor claimed that Khalil’s story “is divisive, anti-Semitic, and dangerously irresponsible,” Cr Krista Adams said. The ABC published a story making the false claim by LNP councillor Fiona Cunningham that Khalil was paid $200 for his story. A donation of $200 was given to Khalil who sent the money to his sister along with $300 of his own money to help her. Khalil’s nephew has been shot and lies in Nablus hospital with five bullets in him fired by Israeli settlers. They shot Basim in the groin and in the chest.
Straw Widows
You’re always there in “straw widows” (commandeering private houses for the army’s use). Interview with Israeli Sergeant First Class, Unit: Yahalom – Special Engineering Unit.
On Friday, 22 June 2012, Claire Moore rose in the Senate Chamber of the Australian parliament and declared the following to her party and to the opposition: “They smashed down the door and took Ridha away for no reason and we don’t know why he was taken from us. After they took him away they asked Weam to get out of the unit with her two small children and then these young people in Israeli army uniforms proceeded to destroy everything in their small home—furniture, electrical appliances, including the children’s computer and all the kids’ school books.
I cannot even imagine what that would mean to young children, watching this happen to their home, even young children who have grown up in a refugee camp in the occupied areas of Palestine. The kids were waiting and wondering what was happening around them. Not content with the destruction of those physical things, it is alleged that the soldiers then took all the food from the refrigerator and cupboards and spread it around the floors and the walls.
They removed pictures from the wall and smashed them. This happened in front of young people and the neighbours knew that something had gone wrong. This woman, with her two children, had nowhere to turn. The next day she was able to contact her brother in Australia and talk to him and say,’We need help. We don’t know what has happened to our father.’ – reported in Hansard on Friday, 22 June 2012 in the SENATE CHAMBER, Australian Parliament, Canberra.
On 19 September 2007, Israelis shot dead Rida’s oldest son, Muhammad Khalid, in Al-‘Ayn refugee camp in the northern part of the West Bank.
Two nights ago on 18 August 2024 his uncle Khalil sent me a text saying that Israeli settlers had shot the youngest son, Basim. He has wounds in his legs and in the chest. Basim is now in Nablus hospital, a facility under the Palestinian Authority.
So his Uncle Khalil wrote the following letter to the Minister for Home Affairs and the Arts, Tony Burke.
To Mr Tony Burke
Minister for Home Affairs and the Arts
Canberra, ACT
Dear Minister,
Basim is the 18 year old son of my sister Weam and her husband Ridha Khaled. I am his uncle, Khalil Hamdan. I am an Australian citizen and have resided in Brisbane since 1973 and have raised a family here with my wife, Julie.
Basim’s mother, father and I are extremely concerned about the state-sanctioned violence against young Palestinians on the West Bank, particularly in Nablus refugee camps. Basim has been subject to harassment and physical abuse from Israeli soldiers on a number of occasions in recent years.
On the 18th August I called my sister Weam in Camp No. 1 Camp in Nablus (also known as Ein Beit el-Ma). She told me Israeli settlers had shot her son, Basim, in the legs and in his upper chest. He is now in Nablus prison hospital under the control of the Palestinian Authority. His family is afraid Basim will be killed by the Israelis when he is released from hospital.
Our family (the Hamdan’s) are refugees from the village of al Jammasin in the Jaffa district of Palestine where our family grew citrus for many generations.
We fled Israeli militia in 1948. My wife, Julie is a practising Christian and we are friends with Father Daniel Jayaraj from All Saints Church, Chermside. Father Jayaraj, drawing on his experience with other refugees, suggested to me that the best chance for Basim to escape the violence is to come to Australia as a student to learn English and to work.
Under this student visa Basim should be able to work 20 hours per week as I have secured sponsorship from an employer in the construction industry, Michael Brayshaw. We will provide the Department of Immigration with all the necessary documents for travel to Australia and will be responsible for health insurance and enrolment in an appropriate educational institution.
If you could provide support to this young man of good character and his mother, Weam, we would be very appreciative. Israeli soldiers have invaded my brother-in-law’s household, put him in administrative detention for long periods, shot dead his oldest son and smashed Basim’s mobile phone to prevent him from telling his friends when soldiers are outside on the street.
Israeli snipers use the building where my sister lives as a vantage point to shoot anyone they suspect is resisting the occupation. Basim’s older brother, Anwar, has been working in Israel but on two occasions Israeli soldiers have stolen his wages. They’re constantly watching him and when he returns from work in Israel they snatched the money he has earned through long hours of work in Tel Aviv.
Thank you for your assistance in this matter.
Yours sincerely,
21 August 2024
I also wrote a letter in support of Khalil’s family.
To the Minister
Dear sir/ms,
My name is Ian Curr. I am a retired Commonwealth Public Servant and have lived in Brisbane since 1950. I met in April 2023 with Peter Catt, the Dean of St John’s Anglican Church and he suggested that I write a request for the assistance of the Archbishop of Brisbane.
This is a request that you provide a student visa for my nephew of a friend Khalil Hamdan. The applicant’s name is Basim Khaled, and he wishes to come to Australia on a student visa. Until he was shot Basim resided with his parents in Nablus in Palestine.
I support Khalil Hamdan’s plea for assistance. I have known Khalil and his family for 20 years and am familiar with the difficulties faced by Basim and his mother, Weam.
As the matter is an emergency and since the Australian government is so strict about matters of immigration, I have taken up a petition to the Prime Minister requesting that he relax Australian government restrictions on Palestinians travelling from the West Bank and Gaza in the same way his government has done for Ukrainians.
In the first week of the petition we were able to obtain over 3,700 signatures.
Please give whatever support you can to Khalil and his family.
Regards,
Ian Curr B.Sc. (UQ) Grad. Dip ATAX (UNSW)
21 August 2024
Please sign the petition
