Breaking the Silence@BtSIsrael
The killing of four members of the Bani Odeh family, as soldiers sprayed their car with bullets, is horrifying to anyone who has not yet given up their humanity. The thing is, the details of this case, with different names of Palestinian victims and different IDF units, have happened countless times over the past decades>>
In April 2003, Gideon Levy from Haaretz published an article titled “The 406th Child,” about the 12-year-old Christine Saada, who was shot by soldiers while sitting with her parents in their family car on the way back from her grandparents. She was the 406th Palestinian child killed in the Second Intifada. Afterwards, her father, George, and mother, Najwa, bravely chose to join the Israeli-Palestinian Bereaved Families For Peace, hoping their daughter would be the last. @PCFForg
Twenty-three blood-soaked years have passed since then. The names have changed; the pattern has not. The killing of innocents, the initial cover by the IDF spokesperson, the closing of investigations, again and again. These cases are not mere tragedies of the reality of occupation; they are a direct and inevitable product of a policy of control and oppression over millions of people for decades. Since 2003, tens of thousands of children have joined the 406th child, little Christine. This week, 5-year-old Mohammed and 7-year-old Othman joined the list as well, while their killers have not yet been investigated. We cannot continue to remain silent.
