My GoPro camera was lost when I was recently injured and I am unable to afford a replacement. The importance of video documentation during a demonstration is immense, especially when comes to footage of arrests. I’ll be glad if you could help me purchase a new camera. No amount of money is too small.

Last week, during the protest against police brutality, a policemen hurled a stun grenade right at me, That grenade detonated as it impacted my stomach. I still carry unhealed wounds on my stomach, while I also sustained burns to my chest and knees. The filter on my (stills) camera shattered, but luckily the camera and lens remained intact.

It’s difficult to describe how it feels when something explodes on you. I recall screaming in pain and taking a few steps before collapsing on the asphalt road. A few policemen ran just past me, pretending I was not lying there, screaming in pain. The last of them picked me up and led me to the nearest sidewalk. When I lifted my shirt we could both see I was injured. The cop asked me how that happened and I replied: from a stun grenade. He just said it was going to be alright, and that it would pass and left me there. I approached an ambulance parked at the intersection and to one of the paramedics, but he refused to look at me. I lifted my shirt and he said the ambulance is full since there was another injured man being treated there, however, he added, I could sit near the driver at the front and he would take me to receive medical attention. I overheard the ambulance was heading to Wolfson medical centre, I didn’t want to go there so I left the ambulance. Then I ran into a few friends who asked how I was doing and helped me make my way towards Ichilov medical centre (in Tel Aviv). As we were walking, one friend noticed a parked ambulance, but when the friend approached the medics and asked them to check me, they refused; When my friend asked them to drive me to the hospital, which is merely a few hundred meters away, they refused again and claimed they are on call. In the end we reached Ichilov on foot.

Because the ER doctors were concerned about the possibility of internal injuries, I had a CT which was clean. This was not the first time a stun grenade was hurled at me, however, with the exception of black markings on my jeans, I had not sustained any injuries, even when a grenade once exploded at my feet. I therefore conclude that the stun grenades in police use are probably more powerful and dangerous than those currently used by the military.

Only the next morning, when I was discharged from the hospital, I suddenly remembered the last time I saw my GoPro camera was just prior to the grenade detonating.

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If you wish to donate another way, please contact me privately.

Thank you so much,

Haim
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Update: I would like to express my deepest gratitude to every one of you that shared my plea for donation. I particularly wish to thank Carol Sughrue, Yaron Ben Haim and Itay Frenkel and everyone who donated and helped me purchase a new GoPro camera and filter. I’m truly touched.

I would be happy if you could keep donating and supporting my ongoing activities.

Photographed by Shai Pollak

Photographed by Shai Pollak