Shua’fat: Visit to the Abu Khdeir family home
Even as the years go by, even the joy of meeting and the happy presence of grandchildren – cannot make the painful scars disappear.
People learn to live with disappearance, but no guide book tells one how to erase the memory pain of the beloved child who was burned alive, and how to cope with such longing.
We sat to talk at the Abu Khdeir living room, about what happened then and what happens now, the randomness that determines people’s fate and destroys the circles of life, about the fact that their son Mohammad was not destined to fall at the hands of his murderers who were looking for any Palestinian boy in order to murder him. Just as the people raiding the area of Israel near the Gaza “border” on October 7th did not come with the specific purpose of murdering this or that person, but murdered and burned whoever they found.
Thus, the conversation continued among four adults, random victims of tragedy whose ongoing contact becomes a strong friendship and agreement about morality and humaneness.
We spoke of the amnesties that the president is activating in order to prepare us for amnesty of Ami Popper, Amiran Ben Uliel and their killer likes, for – so say his mates – one must create a kind of symmetry between freeing Palestinian terrorists and Jewish terrorists. In this entire “happy” episode the name of Netanyahu came up, of course. Two years ago, amnesty for the murderers of the boy Mohammad Abu Khdeir was brought up and it took complex activity by the child’s parents and their lawyer to put this initiative away, at least for the time being. What will happen in the future? Time will tell.
We set a date and place for the meeting of Hussein and school children.
Coming out of Suha’s home (Mohammad’s mother), she gave us dates picked in the family’s Jericho grove. “We are obliged to give to whomever gives to us”, Hussein (the father) said.
Location Description
Checkpoint Shu'afat camp / Anata-Shu'afat (Jerusalem)
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The Shu’afat checkpoint is located in the northern part of East Jerusalem at the exit from the village of Anata and the Shu’afat refugee camp, which are located in the area annexed to Jerusalem in 1967. The refugee camp borders the Shu’afat neighborhood to the west, Pisgat Ze’ev to the north, the French Hill neighborhood to the south and the planned expansion of Ma’aleh Adumim to E-1 in the east. It was established in 1966 for 1948 refugees from the West Bank and was populated after the Six Day War by persons who had been expelled from the Jewish Quarter. Today its population comprises some 25,000 people holding blue ID cards and some 15,000 people with Palestinian ID cards. The camp lacks adequate infrastructure and services, and suffers from poverty, neglect and overcrowding. All its buildings are connected to the public electricity and water infrastructure, but not all are connected to the sewer system. The camp’s services are provided by UNRWA, except for those such as health clinics and transportation of pupils to schools in Jerusalem. In 2005, the Israeli High Court of Justice rejected a suit by the residents requesting that the route of the separation fence be drawn such that the camp would remain on the Israeli side, but conditioned its approval of the route on the establishment of a convenient and rapid crossing facility for the inhabitants of the neighborhood, most of whom are residents of Jerusalem.
A temporary checkpoint operated there until December, 2011. It was extremely congested during rush hours, and dangerous for pedestrians (especially children) because of inadequate safety provisions. The new checkpoint was inaugurated south of the old one, for public and private transportation and for pedestrians, intended solely for the residents of the camp – holders of blue ID cards, and those with Palestinian ID cards who possess appropriate permits. There are five vehicle inspection stations at the checkpoint, and two for pedestrians (one of which is currently closed) where scanners have been installed but are not yet operating. According to the army, representatives of government agencies will also be present to provide services to residents of the neighbourhood. The pedestrian lanes are very long, located far from the small parking lots, and accessible through only a single revolving gate.
Ronny PerlmanDec-10-2025Anata Checkpoint: Neglect
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