Amos Trust has a long history with al-Arroub camp near Hebron in the West Bank. Together with Holy Land Trust and our good friends Merai and Rania, we carried out a home rebuild on the edge of the camp in 2015, have run summer programmes and cookery workshops there and taken countless people to visit.

Our partners HIRN also work with the camp and Obaida (and his father), were particularly well known to them. Defence for Children International (DCI) are the leading Palestinian NGO children’s rights organisation. They published this article yesterday (18th May, 2021).
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Obaida Akram Abdurahman Jawabra was a Palestinian teenager from al-Arroub refugee camp near Hebron who many of you met on screen in the short film that DCI Palestine produced in 2019 that bore his name. At the time, Obaida was 15 years old, and Israeli forces had already arrested and detained him twice.

The film was screened all over the world and inspired thousands of people to take action for Palestinian children. Obaida told his story clearly in a strong voice that reflected his hope for his future and the liberation of Palestine.

Yesterday, Israeli forces shot and killed Obaida with a bullet to the heart. He was 17 years old.

We are heartbroken.

Obaida’s story has had an immeasurable impact on people around the world, as evidenced by the hundreds of sympathy messages we’ve seen shared on social media in the last day. If Obaida has inspired you, don’t keep it a secret: Please share his story with your family and friends, and do not let the world forget the words of this exceptional boy.

Next month, Obaida was going to celebrate his 18th birthday and graduate from a vocational cooking programme as a chef. Instead, Israeli forces violently robbed him of his promising future, killing him with impunity. His family is attending his funeral instead of his graduation ceremony.

Yesterday, as our team in the West Bank reported on Obaida’s killing, our field researcher in Gaza confirmed an additional seven Palestinian children had been killed by Israeli airstrikes, bringing the total to 60 Palestinian children killed in the Gaza strip since last Monday.

Next month, Obaida was going to celebrate his 18th birthday and graduate from a vocational cooking programme as a chef. Instead, Israeli forces violently robbed him of his promising future, killing him with impunity.

Thank you so much for all your support and messages of solidarity. Wherever you are, continue taking action and urging world leaders to call upon Israel to end the violent military occupation and merciless military siege on Gaza and let Palestinian children grow up with peace and justice.

Ayed Abu Eqtaish
Accountability Programme Director
Defense for Children International — Palestine
www.dci-palestine.org/
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Photograph:
activestills.org