NABLUS, Palestine
Eight days after 18-month-old Palestinian Ali Saeed Dawabsheh burned to death in an arson attack by suspected Jewish extremists, the boy’s father, Saad Dawabsheh, also passed away Saturday, succumbing to injuries sustained in the attack.
Saad, 32, died at an Israeli hospital, succumbing to severe burns sustained in the attack on his home near the city of Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Along with killing his infant son, the attack also left Saad’s wife, Riham, 27, and his four-year-old son, Ahmed, seriously injured.
At Saad’s funeral on Saturday, which was attended by thousands of grief-stricken Palestinians, Mohamed Dawabsheh, Saad’s father, maintained his composure -- despite the enormity of his loss.
"My dear sons, don’t weep," he told mourners. "The murderers, watching on Satellite TV, want to see you break down."
"But be strong; don't let them break you," he said. "Allah alone is all we need."
The grieving father added: "These [Jewish] settlers, these murderers, want to drive us from our land. But what goes around comes around -- they are destined to fail."
The elder Dawabsheh, the father of three boys and four girls, went on to voice hope that the Arab and Muslim world would one day wake from its apathy and liberate the land of Palestine from its Israeli occupiers.
Saad’s mother, for her part, exclaimed angrily: "They burned my son and his family. Saad died after watching his sons burn."
She went on to describe her deceased son as a "respectful" person who "always prayed and helped people".
"May God have mercy on you, my son, and torment those who burnt you," she exclaimed angrily.
According to Nasser Dawabsheh, Saad’s brother, Saad had dreamt of building a modest home for his family.
"But the [Israeli] occupation killed his dream," he told Anadolu Agency, "and has left us with indescribable pain".
The Israeli army, he went on to assert, could have stopped the attack, but failed to do so.
"Even after the attack, they neglected to carry out adequate investigations," he said.
Nasser added: "We consider Saad and Ali martyrs; their home will become a place of pilgrimage. This is our destiny as Palestinians -- to offer martyrs for freedom."
