Fuad’s mother came from the house and helped the medic put her son on the stretcher before he would be separated from them by the ambulance door. I found the sandal that had come off one foot and placed it inside the door to the front yard that he had just come from moments ago. Fuad’s father, banned from approaching his beloved son of twenty-one years, now walked down the street waving his cane. How could he express his shock and his grief at what had happened so suddenly? The bullet hit Fuad’s heart before it made any sound. Fuad was stricken down first, and his father heard the M16’s supersonic bullet after the impact. One bullet. A former soldier told me that if he felt threatened by an enemy, he would set the gun to shoot three bullets or a continuous round, but not a single shot. It is the hunter who chooses to shoot a single shot, usually aiming at a victim who is moving slowly.

Did the Israeli Army sniper know that Fuad was the only one of the four children who had normal intelligence? Did the sniper know that his prey was named Fuad/“Heart”? Is this why he chose to target Fuad’s heart? Of course he probably did not know his name, but he did know where to find his heart.

This mystery sniper revealed himself. Will he be taken in for questioning, for identification by eye witnesses, for a trial in a court of law? An Israeli soldier put on trial for murdering a Palestinian at his doorstep is unlikely at best. How much are you raising your voice against this attack on civilization and rule of law?

Fuad Ahmad Abu Ghali, killed in Jenin in occupied Palestine on 27 October 2002.

Fuad means “heart.” If his name had meant “foot,” would his murderer have shot him in the foot? Fuad means “heart.”

Annie Higgins, 30 October 2002, Jenin, Occupied Palestine