Occupied Jerusalem – In the midst of a real war arena, and large numbers of occupation soldiers brandishing their weapons and batons, a picture spread yesterday, Friday, of a man lying on the grounds of Al-Aqsa Mosque and leaning on one of the pillars of the Southern Dome of the Rock, carrying his mobile phone to document the occupation’s attacks around him, in a position that suggests comfort and indifference.
The image spread widely through social media, and gained popularity and interaction during the violent incursions carried out by the occupation forces at the dawn and morning of the second Friday of Ramadan, on the eve of what the Jews call the Passover holiday. Most of them were later released.
Al-Jazeera Net reached the owner of the popular image, a Jerusalemite in his fifties, called Badr Salah “Abu Fadl” and lives in the Ras al-Amoud neighborhood south of Al-Aqsa Mosque in the occupied Holy City.
Salah tells the story, saying, “I went, as usual, to pray Fajr at Al-Aqsa Mosque, and when the occupation stormed, I was in the Al-Qibli prayer hall, and I hurried out of it after suffocating with gas bombs. I headed towards the plateau of the Dome of the Rock, and I sat down to rest. The soldiers beat me with batons on my hands and feet and all parts of my body.”
I lay down in pain
“By God, I am not staring at myself. This is one of the killers that I ate. I couldn’t get up, so I made this elbow.” Salah said that with a Jerusalemite Khalili accent, acknowledging the reality of the situation in which he sat, indicating that he did not sit like this on purpose, but rather lay on the ground tired from the severity of the beating, and decided not to leave, He takes a break and documents the attacks of the occupation on his phone.
In addition to the circulating picture, an audio clip spread of Salah addressing one of them via the WhatsApp application, saying, “They broke me, these are the killers that I ate, God does not bless them.”
And he continues, while speaking to Al-Jazeera Net, “I was irritated by their targeting of the elderly and women after their inability to find young men, carrying very painful batons, I do not know what they were made of, as if they were mixed between plastic and iron.”
Salah stayed on the same session, and continued with cool nerves and relaxation, refusing to leave the blessed mosque, and actually he was able to stay, despite the occupation forces expelling most of the worshipers present in the squares, and he stayed until he heard the sermon and prayed Friday, then left for his home. He added sarcastically, “I sat down, and suddenly I found myself famous. I don’t know who took the picture. It was a spontaneous moment.”
watched The occupation forces assaulted women and the elderly by beating them during the storming of a square #Dome of the Rock #Al-Aqsa Mosque #Jerusalem pic.twitter.com/GR1Uw5PYSp
– Al-Maqdesy Media (@AlmakdesyMedia) April 15, 2022
Not the first hit
The fiftie is lying in his home in pain from the effects of the beatings, but he consoles himself with the great interaction on his image, and does not hide his happiness with it, as he reads comments such as “I can’t budge sitting in it, the owner of the land is not afraid of anything.” He comments on all of them, saying, “It is not the first time that they beat me, but it is the first time that the attack has been documented.”
Behind his cheerful, strong personality, we found a man who was harmed by the occupation in his sons. His eldest son, Fadl, 28, is sitting today in a wheelchair after being paralyzed as a result of being hit on the head by the forces of the “undercover” unit during the ongoing confrontations near his home in the Ras al-Amoud neighborhood in February. 2014, in addition to the arrest of his son Mahmoud 9 months ago and imprisoned for 30 months in connection with the events of Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied Jerusalem.
Al-Jazeera Net traced the origin of the spread image, and reached the young photographer, Muhammad Omar, from the city of Ramallah, north of Jerusalem, who told Al-Jazeera Net that he was in Al-Aqsa Mosque at dawn on Friday, and he was following the torrent of video material flowing from the mosque, so he saw a video clip with a wide cadre, and the man caught his eye The person lying down, zoomed in on the photo, took a screenshot, and posted it on his Instagram account, after which the photo spread widely.
Omar says, “I was drawn to this man sitting comfortably. Honestly, the first sentence I said was (I did not budge, sitting in it) and amid the oppression and terrorism at that time, his image planted in us motivation and strength.” As for Salah, he concluded his speech resolutely, “We do not leave Al-Aqsa and we are not afraid. It is a place of worship for us and not for them, sitting by force from them until God releases it for us.”
