Mohammed Hejazi, 13, one of the Palestinians followed in Gaza Strip, relaxing in the Municipal Gardens of Gaza City in spring 2001.

Mohammed dropped out of school after the second grade and began working as a paper boy to help support his family. He is the only one of eight brothers and sisters not going to school; his older brother is one of the top students in Gaza City. At the time of filming Mohammed had begun taking literacy classes in the evenings, and thought that one day he might become a shopkeeper if he survives the Israeli occupation.

There have been several Israeli Army tank and attack helicopter raids on the Sejjaia neighborhood of Gaza City where he and his family live, but the last time I heard of him he was still alive.

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The following are sections of raw interview transcripts with Mohammed, some of which are used in the documentary and some of which wound up on the cutting room floor -- the numbers are timecode notation:

00:21:00:00 - First Karni Crossing material - Mohammed speaks at 00:22:44:00

When we want to go to our land Anyone of us comes forward - they shoot him
And look - when we want to go to our land there
When we want to eat or whatever There are the fences
When we come forward, they shoot us
Why is that? What have we done?
They come and occupy us
23:00 They kill the kids - our young people
We want something to protect us
(kid off screen)--we want peace!
(Mohammed)We don't want peace! What kind of peace is this That Arafat is agreeing to?
They kill us
They are killing the children
What are we going to do?
Look! There are the [settler] buses
23:29 Any time we try to go through
They shoot us. They've put fences everywhere
23:36 If we want to go home, they shoot us
We want weapons! We want support! We don't want to eat! We want support!
(start chanting) Barak - we will put you in chains
Sharon - you are shit
We don't accept spies here!


02:39:00:00 Mohammed interview in the Municipal Garden, part 1

40:18 My Name is Mohammed Hejazi from Sejaia
I went to school when I was small
But I didn't like it
I left school and went to work at the bakery but I didn't like that either
and I went to sell newspapers (40:32:07 - end)
Because I don't like to be confined
I went to sell newspapers - it's better for me.
40:39 I quit school 5 years ago, when I was in the second grade
40:43 I'm thirteen years old
My father went to prison,
But before he went to prison he used to give us money
Now we hardly have enough to get by
My father doesn't have steady work now
He is forbidden from going to Israel
So I'm supporting my family now.
41:00:05 Together with my father When my father works,
He and I Support my brothers and sisters
We buy a bag of flour, a bag of sugar, something like that
And give money to my brothers and sisters
41:13:23 My oldest brother, Kamel, works and spends the money on himself
41:17:03
41:39 I didn't like school because the teacher always beat me
One day I hit him with the chair and ran away
And since then I never went back 41;50:07 (end)
My father tried to get me back in school, but I refused 41:53:09
41:59:00 When my father used to take me to the class
I used to run away, jump over the wall during recess
42:08 Oh man, the teacher is always... God knows how he hits
Whether I did my homework or not, he starts the morning by hitting (you)
42:23:26 When I left school it was a great relief
42:35:03 Now I'm going to night classes So that I can read and write 42:48
43:28 I wake up at 6:00am and go to deliver newspapers
We play for a while and then I take the newspapers and start selling them
Sometimes we don't sell any papers and we have to bring them back
And sometimes we sell some... 43:44:04
When I am working at selling papers - I don't have any problems -
I go with my friend I have a friend and we go together to sell the papers
We take the papers together 44:25:06
When I was small I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up
45:14:01 when we left school it was over
We started selling newspapers and just never stopped
Me and my friends
45:41 The house where we live is not ours
Our uncle owns it
And when the refugees will go back, he will get it back
When all my relatives come back there won't be enough room
47:17 we have 3 rooms
we used to have 2 rooms and we had to do construction and build a second storey
My uncle gave my father money to do it
We have a kitchen and a bathroom 47:47;25



48:10 I want to talk about my friends who died
Before the uprising
We used to go to demolition zones to collect copper to sell
Me and my friend Mohammed Khater El Ijla
Who died at Karni Crossing
We used to go every day to Karni
48:30:23 Day after day we used to go to Karni Crossing
And my friend Tarek Moortaja - we still go to Karni Crossing to this day
We go with other friends from our neighborhood
48:48:21 Sometimes we don't go to Karni
We stay and play soccer in the street
And when the soccer ball goes flat
We play tag and marbles
48:59:10 that's how we have fun
49:02:06
49:14 me and my friend were going to Karni
20 meters away from a tank, there was one kilogram of copper
he tried to get the copper, they shot at him and missed
He went out a second time with a piece of wire to reach the copper
When he raised his head to pull the copper back, they shot him in the head
49:38:10 The kids saw the impact
When we carried him, we couldn't see where he was shot
Because the blood was coming like a fountain
He was shot in his head and his chest
49:53:10 this is what happened
To this day we go and throw stones
And we defend the nation
50:16 They took him to the hospital and we went back to Karni
To this day I go with my friend, Tarek, to throw stones at Karni
Some days we don't go
50:31;23 some days my father makes it very difficult for me to go
But we don't relent - we go to throw stones
This is our land
How can we let them come here
Cut down the trees and kill the children?
What do they want from us? 50:51:13 (end)
One day a farmer was working his field
They shot at him and he ran away
So they killed his donkey
And he had to go back on foot
51:01:03 A few days before that, Mohammed was killed
51:06:26 He was killed in front of us
51:10:12 So what they're doing is demolishing the factories
And shooting our friends one after the other
23:02 and they cut trees ... we don't know what to do

42:09 It became easy for them to kill and to kill is very, very easy
51:47:07 It is very simple for them to kill the kids and young people
51:52:03 We want the Al-Aqsa mosque
They are staying there in violation
We want it - it's our land, not theirs
52:17:13 I started going alone to get copper
We had stolen copper and we were going to get it three days before he was killed

02:52:47:05 May God bless his soul
02:52:53:00 It was a terrible scene
That day his head was blown away
53:05;10 Nothing was left
The skin was flayed back
53:11:00 May his soul rest in peace
02:53:15:00 Every Eid and every Friday I go and
Sprinkle water on his grave
53:20:28 and the graves of my other friends
53:22:20 He is a child He didn't do anything to them
Why did they kill him?
53:41:05 that day I didn't believe it
I was carrying him
And you can't imagine how he looked
All his face and body was covered with blood
I spoke without knowing what I said
53:52:19 I don't know why they do all this
54:08;12 those people don't want peace
They want to kill, they want to disfigure
54:36:03
55:50:15 It would be better for me to die like my friend
55;54:08 If this situation continues God knows what we will see
56:01:08 But still we don't give up
56;03:06 this is our land and Jerusalem is ours
How can they violate it?

56:08:11 imagine someone like your brother dying in front of you
56:15:24 he was my closest friend
56:22:20 when we were small we used to run away from school together
and go to steal from the market
My father used to tie up both of us
My friend would untie me and I would untie him
56:46:22 We used to run to the hill (near Karni)
Before the negotiations 3-4 years ago
56:52:05 we used to run everywhere
56:56;17 Now I have nobody
He was my best friend
We stuck together
57:08:13 that day I told him "Don't stand in front of the tank -- leave the copper"
"We'll come back on Saturday and get it"
because on Saturdays they stay inside
Every Saturday we used to go and collect stones and prepare them
and hide them somewhere in the area for later
The tanks would stay away on Saturday
57:39:27 I told him "Saturday is in two days -
tomorrow is Friday so we can come back in two days and take it."
My friend said "no, I want to go and get the copper today because I need the money"
So I said "okay"
57:49:29 He was shot, I carried him on my shoulders with three other kids
We were nearest to him
58:00:04 Now when we finish our work delivering newspapers we always go to Karni
to throw stones
58:07:04 I wish I could die as a martyr like him, to be able to meet him
58:13;13 in Paradise - God willing
58:16:27 A guy from our street was going to get his younger brother,
who ran away from school, from the hilltop at Karni Crossing And he was killed.
They shot him in his stomach with a dum-dum bullet
58:35:15 his intestines were everywhere
58:37:27 Yes - I was there that day on the hilltop
He asked me "have you seen my brother?"
I said "I think he's inside the zone"
He went to get him and he was shot in the stomach. 58:57;07
59:06:05 Before dying he (Mohammed) performed his ablutions,
as if he knew he would be martyred
59:17;26 that day he told me "If I die, you must come to visit my grave"
I told him "don't go"
But he said "I want to go and get the copper."
Peace be with his soul
59:36:24 yes I was joking
59:41:14 I told him "don't jinx yourself"
He said "This is the feeling I have"
I told him "No - I hope, nothing will happen to you , we'll return safely."
59:49:08 Now I have to go there alone
59:54:29 and with this friend I go every day to Karni
and if we don't go there, we play soccer in the street
03:00:03:14

I don't know what to do now,
He was like my brother
When we were small my life was his
We were always together
03:00:19:00 My father used to find me with him
And say "are you two joined at the hip?"
03:00:24:14 when I used to run away from the house,
my father would tie me and Mohammed would come and set me free
00:29:19 we would run away and hide our school bags in the weeds
00:39:20 we had a tree-house, the wood was worn down and cracked from use
and the nails were falling out and breaking
00:51;13 When we stole tomatoes from the market
We would take them and eat them in the tree-house
When we saw the kids leaving school we would fall in with them
01:00:15 We were each other's shadow
Every day we were together
01:08:27
May God bless his soul
This is the most that I could wish for him
01:15:00 what did he do? He went inside to get the copper and they shot him
(01:24;27) Not just one bullet, but two
One in his neck and the other here
01:35;11 Now I always go with this friend together

Tape GD1 00:00:00:00 Mohammed - Lattice interview continued
00:00:14:00 We used to go everywhere together
To the sea, to the park - all the time together
00:00:20:28 when we want to go to school together
Before school we would run out of marbles.
00:31:00 To get the marbles we take the kids somewhere and steal money from them
37:26 Mohammed, who died, may God bless his soul
He used to tell me "Let's stop doing that"
We still have some copper hidden in the tree "Let's sell it to buy marbles,"
49:00 We'll sell it for a hundred or two
And share it together
And then we'll go to school.
00:59:00 The teacher would scold us for missing classes
01:00:00 And my father would scold me too
And I told him - if I'm to go to school I want to be with Mohammed and sit next to him
01:12:00 Because the teacher refused to seat us together
01:20:00 I begged my father to ask the teacher to seat us together
And the teacher would get so angry when he would see us
using the same copy book and holding hands when we left the class.
01:32:13
We used to play together at school - just the two of us -
we would never let anyone join in
01:36:04 Anyone would think we were brothers
Everywhere, we're always together

02:38:00 We used to play with our schoolbooks
We used to cut the paper to make little birds,
My father used to scold me
And once he caught me doing it again and beat me
And I said - I won't do it again
02:51 We used to make kites
Out of used and new textbooks
03;00 We used to take them all in a big bag to the beach to try them out
The ones that fly, we would sell
and the others we'd fix and sell them
03:09 We were like a knot that couldn't be untied
Oh God, how did I lose him?
03:20 In the old days we would be together, all the time, everywhere
Whenever he wanted to do something I would help him - we always helped each other.
03:31 when the teacher would suspend me, my father would punish me and tie me up -
and I would beg him - tell him I missed school because I was sick
and Mohammed would come and untie me
03:43 03:48 There was a big wall, and a hole where my father would tie me and leave me
I would ask him to untie me, but he would ignore me
And Mohammed would come through a hole in the fence and untie me.
04:02 We would sneak out and spend all day outside until night
And then I would come home And my father would ask "who untied you?"
and I would tell him that I did it myself
04:09 04:10 In the old days we used to...
Before he died, God Bless his soul
He decided to start selling newspapers with me
04:25 All my adventures with him, this boy, are dear to me
Everyone would say we were like brothers.
04:40 we became inseparable
We walked in each other's footsteps
04:44 One day my father hit me and tied me up because I lost my shoes
My father said "Son, what happened to your shoes?"
I said " My shoes were torn up - I had to throw them away."
Mohammed didn't have shoes, his feet were bleeding - so I had given him my shoes
And then Mohammed went to the mosque and stole a pair of shoes for me.
05:07 My God bless his soul - That's the best I can wish for him.
05:24 He was brave, he was a hero , and may God bless his soul
05:33 He would do anything I asked, and I for him
05:38 Like brothers, whatever we would ask of each other, we would do it.
05:44: He would come and ask me to go to Karni and I would say yes, and we would go.
He was something...
05:55:00 He is in my heart, I will never forget him.
05:59 Because he was like my brother - I spent all my life with him.
06:05 May God bless his soul.

11:46 Nobody could separate me from him
Once my father tied me up because Mohammed used to smoke
And we would buy him cigarettes for one shekel
My father didn't want us to be friends because of his smoking
12:04 My father would hit me so hard to stop my being with him
But the next day I was with him again.
12:09 My father would go crazy trying to keep us apart
But no matter what he did I would always stick with him.
12:14 I'm so used to seeing him every day
If doesn't come looking for me, I would go to look for him.
12:22 before he died he had decided to join me, to work with me
Because Mohammed's dad wanted him to study to be a plumber
But he hated it.
12:38 Because his boss would always yell at him, and he didn't like that.
12:44 so I said "why don't you come work with me selling papers"
and he would say "sure, when the negotiations are over."
12:49 I think it wasn't fated for us to work together. 12:55

13:09 When I was working at the bakery
And the Ministry of Health would inspect us
13;14 The baker used to save bad bread in a bag behind the counter
I went and told on him
I was manning the door, and I would warn all the customers about the bad things in the bread.
13:28 And the health inspector gave him a reprimand
And some customers stopped buying from him.
13:44 The baker fired me - he said "Did I hire you to help me or to tell on me? -
what else can I do with this bad bread?"
I said "I don't know but don't sell it to people."
He said "If I don't sell this bread, how can I pay you?"
I said "I don't need your money, I'm quitting."
13:59 I used to work for him before I started selling newspapers.
They would let the bakers drop the bread and sell it - I didn't like the whole thing.
14:15 I went and reported them to the Health Inspector
And very few people would buy from him after that.
14:26 That's the whole story.
14:33 What can I tell you, what can I say? Life is disgusting.


Start of Mohammed Sound interview in Amal hotel
1:01:30 - My name is Mohammed, live in Sejaia - Bagdhad street
01:40 - what other name do they call you>?
Sinee (Chinese). 01;
why do they call you that?
01:50 - It must be that my eyes were small like a bird when I was born.
They used to call me "Sinee, Sinee" - and it just stuck
02:07 - do you like this name?
02:10 - I try to get the kids not to call me that.

09:39 The situation in our neighborhood is devastated (terrible, the end)
One of my neighbors built a house, and it collapsed.
And he was saying "why did it collapse?"
And the neighbors said: 'This is God's will, because he was rich, and greedy,
he never gave to the poor."
10:00:13 I have a relative with 7 children, and he never sacrificed an animal on Eid.
10:06 He never sacrifices, and God Is still good to him!
10:09:08 the social situation in Gaza is so bad
10:22 12:13 When I'm walking in the street, looking at the houses -
in each one there's 20 or 30 or 40 people -
you try to find a place to sleep and everyone is piled on top of each other.
12;27:25 The streets are here filthy.
My countrymen, most of them are scavenging through the groves, here and there,
trying to eke out a living.
12:44 A few years ago
When we were in school -- It was large, spacious
When I went back to see it recently,
The student body had quadrupled in size (It had been split into 4 schools)
al Khustal, el Benat (for girls) and Aled and Hateen.
15:57 The school in the Furat neighborhood, which I dropped out of,
It had been divided it also.
16:04 The Israelis are uprooting more and more trees,
demolishing more and more houses, and pushing us back farther into our areas.
16:10 We crowd into each other; a house built for 10 - we'll put in 15 or 20 people.
16:18 the streets are narrow, rarely do you find a nice street in Rafah or Khan Younis.
16:30 Khan Younis I'm not sure about it, because I haven't visited
But the people are crowding in on each other to make more room for others (to come)
17:00 the Jews are encroaching on the Arab areas,
demolishing their houses and forcing them to flee.
17:09 So the people are crowding in on each other and moving in to
(relatives houses)
17:15 17:16

21:17 The beautiful places,
21:22 It's like they transport a person... (they take one away from reality - from all of this) 21:24:25 It's so wonderful that
You forget yourself
21:28:10 You and your friends are playing
If you had any worries, they are forgotten.
As long as you and your friends are happy.
21:41 22:17 When we were kids - me and Mohammed Khater would go and look at the sea
in the early morning
We would wake up so early My mother would tell me - it's too early for school
We would take a car to the port and watch the fisherman unloading the catch.
22:32 Sometimes they would fish on the shore - these are my fondest memories.
22:39:00 Going to the park, Going to the beach, watching how the people fish,
When we used to swim
22:47:25
22:48 One of the things I will never forget is how they would take the
fresh fish from the hooks And how they would cast the lines.
23:04 28:15 In the evening,
Sometimes, when I return from Karni,
Before the evening prayers
28:21 I go sit with Yasser for a Literacy class
28:27 So that I can learn to read and write.
01:29:52 Sometimes when I have earned enough money
And I feel bored I say to myself: "why should I sit at home"
I go and join my friends in throwing stones.
30:01 Everyday they come to me
And I refuse to go with them
30:05 Sometimes I take my slingshot and go.

30:10 Sometimes I wake up in the night when I finish Karni
And I take oranges from the groves
Because they're expensive
30:20 I fill up my shirt And give them to my mother.
She asks me "Where's this from?"
I say "from Karni"
She says "did you go there?"
I say "I didn't go there to throw stones."
And she says "Okay don't go there."
My father once tied me at home,
Because he saw me on the TV.
He said "Do you want to die?"
And I said "No."
30:39 That day I had gone to set fire to tires, and they filmed me
30:46 they showed me on TV and my dad saw it.
And tied me up at home and beat me. 30:49
1:35:45 I love to go to Karni I ask my father "Let me go to fight,
I mean throw stones with my friends."
36:04 He's afraid I might get wounded.
He's afraid I might stand up and get shot in the head.
36:08 My father says "Alright, come and sit down."
He says: "If you go and get shot in your back "
I say "okay"
And he say's "That means you'll be paralyzed"
" - who's going to work in you place? Who would bring food to us? "
"Who would bring money to us? And then who would push you in your wheelchair?"
36:30 I say "I don't need anybody. I just want to go and throw stones."
36:37 He said "Yeah."
I said "Okay.
33:51 It's the sweetest thing! It's like... defending the nation,
Keeping them at bay.
33:58:26 Stopping them from cutting down the trees.
34:02 It's enough, what they've cut down, the people they've killed
Why are they threatening us?
34:08:28 What do they want to do, on top of what they have already done?
34:12 What do they want after cutting down the trees?
34:15 They've cut down five thousand, thousand trees
34:20 Olive trees, and date palms
34:24 The ones on the road to Khan Younis, My father told me,
The trees were as old as my grandfather's grandfather,
The trees that they cut down.
34:30:22 reconciliation?
34:36 They're cutting down trees that belonged
to our grandfathers' grandfathers' grandfathers' grandfathers.
They're cutting our trees,
The trees of Peace.
The olive trees.