Look at this guy marching determinedly down a street in Jenin. In proud defiance he passes by the soldiers, they no longer exist for him. Now it’s only him and his son. It’s between them. The armed soldiers, wearing all the security gear that makes them resemble robots, try to stop him, block him, and he ignores them, continuing to march straight forward. The force that moves him is right there in his arms. His dead child. Anger makes him even more erect, beating along his march towards the place where the body would be placed until buried. The body of a small dead child, considering his age – 13. Ahmad Mohammad Samer was a sick child. His parents nurtured him. There is a photo of him in a suit, including a necktie, from one of the holidays. Thin and withheld, hiding a modest joy, facing the photographer.
Yesterday he needed an emergency hospital treatment. The secured soldiers, inside their armored vehicles, would not let the ambulance proceed.
Ahmad Mohammad Samer, 13 years old, died in the arms of his father, yesterday in Jenin. The father carried him, alone in the middle of the street. His silent march removed any fear he may have had earlier, only pride and anger remained. In the midst of the combats and death sown in Jenin and in Gaza, it seemed that the soldiers retreated and were holding an honor guard in memory of Ahmad. Behind the father that continued his march, one could see the blocked ambulance.