FARES AKRAM TRAGEDY: Reporter's Father Is One Of First Casualties In Gaza Invasion

The phone call came at around 4.20pm on Saturday. A bomb had been dropped on the house at our small farm in northern Gaza. My father was walking from the gate to the farmhouse at the time. It was our beloved place, that farm and its two-storey white house with a red roof. Nestled in a flat fertile agricultural plain north-west of Beit Lahiya, it had lemon groves, orange and apricot trees and we had recently acquired 60 dairy cows.

It was the closest farm to the northern border with Israel. Ironically, we always thought the biggest danger there was not from Israeli troops, who usually went straight past if they were mounting an incursion, but from stray Hamas rockets aimed at the Israeli towns north of us.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[Keurgui]

Hamas - Israel, same enterprise.
They kill, kill and kill. what difference does it make? they are both killers.

[MarionKIN]

Thanks for posting this HuffPo. The cost of violence from both sides should be more prominent and more humanized for peace to have any chance of ever holding.

[alexa07]

My family sends our condolences to you & your family. Your sorrow must be very heavy. I want to thank you very much for sharing your story. The deaths of your father & young relative represent such a tragedy, especially as indicated there were no militants in the area. Why was his farm targeted? Surely, it was known who was there. Is this a war waged upon not only the Palestinian people, but also upon their cultural & civil society? When a man such as your father, with his background & desire to help guide the legal system, is eliminated from his society, it is a huge loss for all. Again, we are very sorry & please continue to tell your story to as wide an audience as possible. Please stay safe.

[betterus]

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963

Tragically, we Americans have a direct hand in these ruthless killings too!

[Turtleposer]

My condolences to your father. I'm sure he would've enjoyed his beautiful granddaughter grow up. I pray for a quick end to this seige & that the Palestinians and Israelis can come to the table & settle their differences for once & for all.

[TiaL27]

So sad. The violence needs to stop!

[LiberTLover]

I am so sorry for your family's loss. I pray for all of you to find solace, and that one day both sides will wake up and understand that they are accomplishing nothing with all of this fighting and hatred.

[gladys46]

The masses suffer .. led by in sane leaders ! I am so sorry !

[cinemaven]

Such a tragic loss and more tragic that it is just one of too many stories.

[Paprikapink]

You've truly put this tragedy, the war, into a personal perspective that anyone can relate to. Every death and casualty, on both sides, is brutal, wrenching, and senseless. This sort of perspective is what is needed for the story to be covered as widely as it should and for everyone to become aware of what is happening. That you have expressed this so beautifully at a time of such deep personal sorrow and strife is a testament to your writing and your integrity. You have my heartfelt sympathies and admiration.

[canuck4barack]

A heartfelt comment on a very moving article and obituary. I agree that we need more personal writing on the subject of war. We can hear and read about the number of casualties but when there are so many our minds cannot truly fathom it and we become almost numb. It is when we read the personal stories of those individuals who were needless victims that the tears begin to flow. This article also brings into perspective that along with all the innocent women and children who are killed, there are also many good and decent men who die along with them. The media seems to forget this. Fares Akram is a young journalist who is nothing less than a professional in his field. To be able to continue writing in such dire circumstances, is a measure of this. Very, very, moving. May him and his remaining family be safe from harm.

[LiberalDem]

I am so sorry for your loss.

[ladyrefined2000]

may God hold Him in the Palm of His hand..............

I grieve for you.

[christonabike]

Your witness to this tragedy was heartbreaking and I hope your child's birth is safe.

What can we do to help in this conflict? Are we all just doomed to watch this cycle of violence repeat endlessly?

[MissingAmerica]

This is so sad. My heart goes out to this family and all those suffering. I will never understand how those in power can get away with declaring wars as though they were playing a game of chess. They protect themselves as they slaughter innocent people who simply want to live their lives in day-to-day peace. In the end, no one wins. In the end, we know it's about power, but our existence here is truly the blink of an eye -- a few decades on a planet that has been around for billions of years. It's a shame we can't get our egos in check better than this.

[choctawfrazer]

This invasion is a travesty of justice.

[rudiy]

My condolences on the author's loss.
I am sure most Palestinians and Israelis want peace. Unfortunately others have their own agendas.
To all those who are so upset at Israel, I see no comments on the many suicide bombings of civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq, the ongoing beheading of civilians in Pakistan and Afghanistan by the Taliban. None being even remotely collateral damage.
All killing is a tragedy and a stain on humanity.

[midwife42]

This is a common charge laid at the feet f those who protest the injustice in the occupied territories, and I think it needs a response. The first question is: How do you know? Many of us who protest this war have protested similarly against injustice across the globe, and condemn all such acts of wanton violence as those mentined above. Why do you suggest we turn a blind eye to this? Why point are you trying to make? That we are anti-semitic? I don't believe this charge flys. The Israel-Palestine conflict is (i) An ancient conflict, and as such well ingrained in the public consciousness (ii) Focused in the public eye through the MSM (more people would be concerned about the examples you provide if they were given access to the same level of detail in the media as is given to the I/P conflict) and (iii) a conflict that involves a "western-style" democracy. We are often told how democracies have it right, and how we are the shining lights to the rest of the world, but if we act in a manner no different to any tin-pot dictatorship, then how can we claim that our system is in any way a model to be imitated?