Israel salutes parents of Palestinian child organ donor Mon Nov 7,10:58 AM ET Israel's parliamentary speaker Reuven Rivlin has hailed the Palestinian parents who donated their 12-year-old son's organs after he was shot dead by Israeli soldiers as he carried a toy gun. "This remarkable gesture... despite the war and conflict without solution for nearly 100 years, must be noted," Rivlin told parliament. "We salute your gesture," he said to the boy's father, Ismail al-Khatib. Khatib said the decision to donate his son Ahmed's organs for transplant stemmed from a desire to answer violence with a concrete gesture of peace. "I have taken this decision because I have a message for the world: that the Palestinian people want peace -- for everyone," he told AFP on Sunday. "We have no problem whether it is an Israeli or a Palestinian (who receives his organs) because it will give them life," said the boy's mother, Ablah al-Khatib. Khatib was shot last Wednesday during clashes in the northern West Bank town of Jenin, when Israeli troops mistook the plastic gun he was holding for a real weapon and opened fire. He was rushed to a local hospital with serious head and stomach wounds, then transferred to hospital in northern Israel where he died on Saturday. His organs have been transplanted into five Israeli children aged seven months, four, five, 12 and 14 years, as well as a 58-year-old woman. The Israeli army expressed regret for Ahmed's shooting during clashes with Palestinian militants in Jenin. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/2005110...h0G3feKOrgF;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MXN1bHE0BHNlYwN0bWE-
It kind of reminds me of Billy Yank and Johnny Reb crossing the shallows of the river to chat a bit and exchange coffee sips and pipe tokes back in the day. Okay...not really. Sort of, though. It's a nice gesture. I don't know how else to feel. I wonder if it is a first? I wish it could help the peace side of things but most of those folk can't see the forest for the trees. But, then again, who can?
I don't know if it's a first for Palestinian organ donation, but I recall seeing where Israeli organs saved some Palestinian lives. Don't sound so depressed. It's a bad situation, but there are a fair number of people on both sides who don't spread the hate and reach out to the other. One group works with teens to help understand the other side...there is at least 1 good documentary I saw on it that was quite good. Retaining perspective is an important life lesson.
If only more people are like these parents. I can not say I wouldn't want revenge if I was in their shoes. Truely an amazing story.
it's always sad and surprising to me that people have to be convinced that good things do happen. that people can act out of grace and kindness in a very authentic way.
