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By SUNITA RAPPAI
 

Mrs Hurndall at home with photos of Tom
Mother hits out at Israeli army culture

Inquest of shot activist to begin

THE mother of Tom Hurndall, the Tufnell Park student killed by an Israeli sniper three years ago, is calling for the coroner investigating her son’s death to denounce the Israeli justice system.
Jocelyn Hurndall, (pictured) a former teacher from Burghley Road, said: “We are hoping the coroner will comment on the poor quality of the Israeli investigation into Tom’s death – and the way that soldiers are encouraged to shoot civilians without any accountability.
“It was a non-investigation. There was an inability and a lack of motivation to collect evidence and no rigorous effort made to interview witnesses. The only reason a soldier was tried was because Tom has a family who pursued it to the ‘nth’ degree.”
The four-day inquest into Mr Hurndall’s death is due to begin at St Pancras Coroner’s Court on Monday – almost exactly three years after the 22-year-old was shot in the head while defending children from sniper fire in the Palestinian town of Rafah in Gaza.
Mr Hurndall, who suffered severe brain injuries as a result of the shooting, died at the Royal Hospital for Neuro-Disability in Putney in January 2004.
Israeli authorities have declined a request from the coroner’s office to participate in the inquest, saying they have already prosecuted and convicted a soldier, Sergeant Idier Wahid Taysir, for Mr Hurndall’s death.
But Mrs Hurndall said: “We are concerned with the culture of impunity within which the soldier was working within the Israeli Defence Force. He was following orders.”
She added: “The truth can only be achieved if the Israelis participate and participate wholeheartedly. I am very much hoping that they will change their minds and the summons will reach them.”
Asked whether the family, who will be represented by Michael Mansfield QC next week, could achieve a level of closure after the inquest, Mrs Hurndall said: “I don’t believe in closure.
“Tom was a young man of extraordinary moral, emotional and physical courage.
“There is no point at which I will be able to say this is it and move on.”
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