Words by

grapevine

An asylum seeker from Palestine who attempted suicide last week has shed
more light on his reasons for fleeing to Iceland, and his current state
of affairs.
As Grapevine reported, Mousa Sharif Al Jaradat came to Iceland from Norway about four months
ago, fearing for his life after receiving death threats from the Israeli
secret service Mossad. When he learned that the Directorate of
Immigration intended to send him back to Norway, he began his hunger
strike and has also refused water. Last month, he attempted suicide by
cutting his wrists.
Al Jaradat is back off his hunger strike, DV
reports, as he fears that he might lose an eye which was badly injured
by shrapnel while still living in Palestine. This injury was incurred
during his time with a group called Mostake Fe Alstklal Alhoreh, which
seeks to find an ecumenical solution to the religious conflict in the
region. During a demonstration, Al Jaradat says, the Israeli army
attacked, and his eye was badly injured as a result.
Al Jaradat told reporters that he tried to kill himself because “I hated
my life. All doors seemed closed to me, and I will not let Mossad kill
me. I would rather do that myself.”
When asked what he wants most of all, Al Jaradat says he just wants to
live in Iceland. “I have become so tired, so tired of politics. I have
spent all my money and I don’t want to keep going like this. I am
depressed all day long.”
Whether or not Al Jaradat will be sent out of the country still remains
to be seen, but in the official sense, authorities have told him he must
go back to Norway.