Icy plunge in solidarity with Syrian and Palestinian refugees

Palestinian Ishaq Abu Romeileh jumped into a pool of ice on 8 January in solidarity with Palestinian and Syrian refugees [Ar]. The 65-year-old from the West Bank city of Hebron wanted to raise awareness of children dying from cold in refugee camps.

"I jumped into the ice because two thirds of people in Gaza and the Palestinian diaspora are living in freezing conditions," he told al-Araby al-Jadeed.

Obama, why do you hate our people? You are the biggest terrorist! - Ishaq Abu Romeileh

Abu Romeileh sent a message to the US President Barak Obama from the pool: "Obama, why do you hate our people? You are the biggest terrorist! If you love Israel so much, you can have it."

He also hoped to raise awareness of the real face of the US: "It opposed us when we went trying to achieve peace at the UN Security Council. Palestinian and Arab pain is caused by the US."

Abu Romeileh, who is retired, worked as a broadcasting and television engineer before joining the Palestinian security agencies. He was imprisoned in 1992, and has not forgotton the harsh conditions of Israeli prisons. The icy swim was also in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners: "I know they sleep cold and hungry, in fear of being tortured and bullied."

This is not the first time Palestinians have drawn attention to their suffering in an unusual way. In summer 2014, they poured buckets of debris, dust and sand over their heads to draw attention to their suffering caused by the Israel war on Gaza. This was a take on the worldwide amyotrophic lateral sclerosis campaign when individuals poured buckets of ice cold water over their heads to draw attention to the disease.

This article is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.