 | | HEALTH
"My shirt had a hole in it and was bloodstained"
For many Palestinians, Israeli occupation is humiliating and sometimes even life-threatening. The Israeli occupation forces determine whether Palestinians travel by foot or by car or whether they are authorised to pass roadblocks. There are curfews too so traveling hours are restricted.
As long as the Israeli occupation continues, most Palestinians believe there can be no solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
The occupation affects their daily existence, with some Palestinians unable to find work in the towns and villages of the West Bank and Gaza Strip or as hired labour in Israel. Aside from suffering from direct violence, many do not have access to medical treatment when they need it.
Under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, governments have a duty to protect children from violence and the sanctity of their lives.
Article 6 says the government recognises that "every child has the inherent right to life."
Rabie, a 17-year-old Palestinian who lives in the Qalandia Refugee Camp in the West Bank, has seen this right ignored. He was injured by live ammunition used by an Israeli soldier imposing curfew.
This is how Rabie told his story: | |  Listen to Rabie's story in Arabic | | 
It is not easy for a young Palestinian man or any young man to feel that his presence in his home is something imposed by an occupying military power.
The occupation forces tried to control the situation through the imposition of a curfew on several areas, including the area of the Qalandia Camp where I live.
I couldn't bear staying at home just watching television and following the news, unable to do anything or walk in the street.
I wanted to go out. Freedom of movement is one of the basic human rights. I refused to be forced by anybody to stay at home.
I left home [walking] in the direction of my aunt's house as a kind of defiance to show that nobody could ever force me to stay put inside my home.
There is some distance between our home and my aunt's. [On the way] I went to see my cousin.
I have to add a small word here to describe the situation of the camp under curfew. It was like a grave with no movement and no sound. You would be walking expecting that you could be arrested at any moment or shot by the [Israeli] army.
I arrived at my aunt's house and talked with my cousin. I told him we should go out to see what's going on and follow developments. Our presence at home was useless.
Certainly as an educated young Palestinian, he agreed with the idea and we went out.
We were not very far from my aunt's house. We were walking slowly and carefully. After a short distance I was walking in front and my cousin was lagging behind somewhat. We were walking carefully and expectantly.
I was surprised by a soldier on top of one of the houses a short distance away, screaming at me. There was nothing I could do but stop. My cousin was hiding behind a house. He could see me but could not be seen by the soldier.
Although I had stopped and I had no weapon or anything, the soldier raised his weapon and aimed it at me. I wanted to show the soldier that I had nothing with me and that I was not endangering his life. I raised my hand and screamed at him, "What are you doing?"
Suddenly I felt that a bullet was coming out from the rifle and I saw the fire coming out. I felt the air pressure, which came from it. I moved quickly to the right.
I felt something hitting my body; the left side of my waist. I fell against the wall behind me; then fell to the ground.
Many things happened but in a very short time... I fell to the ground. My shirt, which was tucked into my trousers, came out. The shirt had a hole in it and was bloodstained.
I looked at my waist. I saw something white; I don't know if it was flesh or bones from my body. At the same time I looked at the soldier again, he was preparing the rifle intending to shoot again.
At the beginning, I crawled some distance because my left leg was in a state of semi-paralysis. It was very difficult to move. He was trying to shoot me again.
I left the area and hid myself between the houses. My cousin helped me and held me. We arrived at the house of another aunt. We entered the living room.
My arrival was unexpected and strange. My aunt's small children were very upset. A person had come in, dusty and with dirty clothes, because he had been on the ground, bleeding and moaning with fear on his face.
The next step was to contact an ambulance. There was no way that my uncle could use his own car because he would have been shot. Almost 40 minutes passed waiting for an ambulance. The arrival of one was not easy because of the siege and curfew.
Four ambulances arrived at Qalandia but all except one lost their way because of the road barriers. I was unconscious for some time.
I was carried to the ambulance; then transferred to the hospital in Ramallah [town in the West Bank.]  | | | Listen to Rabie's story in Arabic | | |  |  |
 The division of the former British mandate of Palestine and the creation of the state of Israel after World War II have been at the heart of Middle Eastern conflicts for the past half century.
Both Israel and the Palestinian autonomous areas want the final status of Jerusalem resolved.
Israelis want a ceasefire to the Intifada, or Palestinian uprising.
Palestinians on the other hand want the issue of statehood addressed, as well as the lifting of Israeli roadblocks and travel restrictions, which have crippled their economy.
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