Saga of an 8-year-old life cut short in violence

It is a heart-rending saga, of an eight-year-old life cut senselessly short, of the dignified generosity of his bereaved parents…

It is a heart-rending saga, of an eight-year-old life cut senselessly short, of the dignified generosity of his bereaved parents, and of a collapse in confidence between Israel and the Palestinians that guarantees this futile death will not be the last.

Last Tuesday, Ali Jawarishe, who lived with his parents and five siblings in the Aida Palestinian refugee camp on the edge of Bethlehem, went to play outside, with a sandwich and some small change his father had given him to buy himself a treat.

A crowd of Jewish worshippers had gathered at the tomb of the matriarch, Rachel, nearby, to inaugurate an annexe constructed there to provide greater security. A group of young Palestinians began throwing rocks towards the tomb.

The Israeli army reportedly asked the Palestinian police to intervene, but apparently they were slow to act. Some Israeli soldiers, eye-witnesses say, walked towards the demonstrators and arrested three of them. Then, one of the soldiers began shooting; Ali was hit in the centre of his forehead by a rubber-coated steel bullet.

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Ali needed treatment only an Israeli hospital could offer. When an ambulance brought him to Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus, however, an emergency drill was in full swing, and the ambulance was turned away. He was transferred from Ramallah Hospital to Hadassah the next day, but on Saturday was declared brain dead.

Ali's parents, Leila and Mohammed, wrestled with whether to release his organs for transplant, and ultimately consented. "My boy is already finished, gone," said Mohammed on Saturday. "My hope is that he will save somebody, will save a life, and I don't care if it's a Jew, a Muslim or a Christian. A human being is a human being."

Throughout Saturday and Sunday, surgeons at two Tel Aviv area hospitals transplanted Ali's heart and lungs into a 14-year-old boy's body, the liver and one kidney to a 12-year-old, and the other kidney to an 18-month-old baby. All the recipients were Israeli Arabs - the most appropriate recipients nationwide, Israeli medical officials explained.

Yesterday, at the Aida camp, Ali was buried after a funeral procession marked by chanted calls to "avenge our martyrs". As the body was being laid to rest, some of the younger mourners started throwing rocks at Israeli soldiers close by. The soldiers fired tear gas and rubber bullets.

The army says it is investigating the shooting of Ali. The parents of the children his organs may save have sent messages of gratitude to the Jawarishes. And Leila Jawarishe is left with the memory of "the sweetest of my children".