Out of bad comes great goodness
w w w . h a a r e t z . c o m
Last update - 13:06 06/11/2005Family of boy killed by IDF donates his organs for peace
By Amos Harel and Arnon Regular, Haaretz Correspondent
The family of Ahmed al-Khatib, a 12 year old fatally shot last week by Israeli troops who mistook his toy gun for a real rifle, have donated his organs at a Haifa hospital "for the sake of peace between peoples."
The boy died of his wounds on Saturday.
Dr. Tzvi Ben-Yishai, a spokesman for Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, where Khatib had been treated, said that the boy's parents decided to donate his organs "to bring hearts closer and bring peace closer."
The boy's uncle, Jamal Khatib, confirmed that the family had donated the organs.
The Thursday shooting incident occurred when soldiers entered the Jenin refugee camp as part of an ongoing operation to arrest Islamic Jihad operatives.
Shots were fired at the soldiers from the western part of the camp, and bullets hit one of their jeeps. According to Palestinian sources, Islamic Jihad and Fatah gunmen both participated in the exchange of fire, and teenagers threw rocks at the jeeps.
The soldiers thought they saw an armed man some 130 meters away, and one of the soldiers fired, hitting the suspected gunman in the head. A Palestinian ambulance picked up the wounded suspect, but when the soldiers approached the site, they found a plastic gun.
The IDF Spokesman's Office distributed photographs of the toy to show how real it looked.
Khatib was taken to the hospital in Ramallah, but when the seriousness of his condition became clear, the Palestinian Authority arranged to have him transferred to Israel.
Palestinian sources said Khatib was apparently not one of the boys who had been throwing rocks at the soldiers.
Sorta speaks for itself.
Shalom/Salaam,
Ian