Family donates organs for peace

Family of Palestinian boy shot by IDF in Jenin decide to donate his organs to 'the children of Israel'

Roee Nahmias|Published: 11.05.05 , 20:08

The parents of a Palestinian boy who died from his wounds in a Haifa hospital on Saturday said that they have decided to donate his organs for implants “for the sake of peace between the two people.”

Ahmed Ismail Khatib, 13, was shot Thursday in Jenin by IDF soldiers who mistook his toy gun for a real one.

Mustafa Makhamid, Ahmed’s uncle, told Ynet that “Ahmed was a wonderful and smart little kid who just wanted to play. We want to donate his organs to all the children of Israel whom we consider our children. Enough blood spilling. We hope that we will start a new process that will exceed all others and end blood spillage.”

Mustafa said Ahmed was the fourth son of a family of six who excelled at school where he drew pictures of peace between Israel and the Palestinians. “We still can’t digest that he was killed from IDF fire,” the uncle said.

Mustafa depicted the circumstances of the event recalling that Ahmed left home to play with a plastic rifle as is the case with mist children during the Id- el-Fitr holiday.

“Soldiers shot him in the chest and the head and the army said afterwards that he was mistaken for an Islamic Jihad activist. He just wanted to get out and play with his friends. We are a family that objects the spillage of blood and we are always working for peace,” Mustafa said, explaining that the family’s yearning for peace was behind the decision to donate Ahmed’s organs despite the tragedy “in the hope that this will assist peace efforts.”

Tough decision

MK Mohammad Barakeh (Hadah Ta’al) who was by the boy’s bed when his soul left this world, supported the family’s decision to donate Ahmed’s organs to Israeli children urgently in need of organs.

“The family’s father said that he is interested in showing his humanity as opposed to the recklessness of the murderers. He knows that the organs will be donated to Israelis yet he doesn’t care. A kid is a kid. The father took a tough decision and I supported it from the beginning,” said Barakeh, who noted that the father had consulted Muslim religious figures who gave their consent.