Home |  Elder Rights |  Health |  Pension Watch |  Rural Aging |  Armed Conflict |  Aging Watch at the UN  

Mission  |  Contact Us  |  Internships  |  Donate Now!  

My Son the Suicide Bomber

By Rob Winder, BBC   News Online

March 2, 2004

 Yousef Jaara is a broken man. His son, Ali, a Palestinian policemen from the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem , became a suicide bomber, killing 10 people on a Jerusalem bus on the 29 January.

Yousef says that if he had known of his son's intentions he would have stopped him. "Suicide bombs against civilians or soldiers are wrong - killing on either side is not good."

The consequences of Ali's action were soon felt by Yousef. The Israeli Defence Force arrived at his house that night and informed him that his house was to be destroyed within minutes.

They then detonated explosive charges in the house that destroyed it and damaged several other houses.

Yousef says Ali's death and its consequences have worsened his heart condition and he is now dependent on medication to survive.

The army checkpoints that surround Bethlehem mean it is difficult for him to reach the hospital where he receives his prescription.

He fears that one day he will be arrested and that he will die without access to his medication.

Ali supported the family with his Policeman's income and Yousef now struggles to provide for his seven daughters.

Posters glorifying Ali's "martyrdom' line the streets of Aida and it is hard for Yousef to face images of his son. "I don't sleep - I have bad dreams and I hurt inside - his death has been emotionally expensive for me."

Yousef's story is a familiar one to many Palestinians. Forced from his Bet Shemesh home as a child he spent many years in Jordanian refugee camps before returning to the West Bank and Aida.

His brother was expelled from the West Bank after the Church of the Nativity siege in 2002 and is now living in exile in Ireland .

Sitting under a tent in the ruins of Yousef's home, he is sanguine about his situation.

"I began my life in tents and now I've returned to living in tents - I hope for an independent Palestinian state but we can't solve this problem with bombs. We need to talk."