Reuters. 12 November 2002. Flowers, balloons adorn Palestinian child funeral.
RAFAH -- Balloons like the one toddler Nafez Meshal was trying to catch when he was shot dead by Israeli soldiers adorned the funeral stretcher that carried the Palestinian boy's body on Tuesday. Nafez's father Khaled said he was holding the two-year-old boy in his arms outside their house on Monday when the wind gently carried away his balloon, a gift for the child for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. Nafez struggled away from his father's grip to reach for the balloon as it drifted away. "He did not move but a few inches before he was shot," Khaled Meshal said at the funeral. The boy was shot dead in the Gaza Strip's Rafah refugee camp on Monday night by what witnesses called unprovoked gunfire into the neighbourhood from an Israeli army watchtower, medics said. On Tuesday he and another eight-year-old boy, who died of wounds from tank shelling, were buried after massive funerals. Hospital officials said Mohammed Abu Naja was wounded in October in shelling which the Israeli army said was a response to Palestinian gunfire. Meshal said his child was hit in the back by the Israeli bullet which tore through his torso. "All of a sudden the joyful boy cried out loud and then stopped. He completely stopped," he told Reuters. At least 5,000 people marched in the funerals of Nafez and Abu Naja. Khaled Meshal's two daughters and brother attended the funeral along with dozens of other children. His family decorated his stretcher with balloons and flowers. His eight-month pregnant mother was mute with shock. She lay down inside their three-room home, surrounded by women mourners who tried to comfort her. More than 250 Palestinian children have been killed [since September 2000], Amnesty International has said. ------------------------------------------- Macdonald Stainsby http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international -- In the contradiction lies the hope. --Bertholt Brecht _______________________________________________ Leninist-International mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
