The bombing of Dr al-Aish
January 17th, 2009
Well, although some Israelis think Israeli television shouldn’t pay any attention to Palestinian suffering, it of course continues to broadcast telephone interviews with Palestinians in Gaza. And yesterday the viewers got more than they bargained for. Dr Izzedine Abu al-Aish, a gynecologist who had trained and worked at Israeli hospitals, had been speaking regularly to Israel’s Channel 10 during the war. They rang him up for another talk just after just after the army, in response (it said) to sniper fire nearby, had bombed his house in the northern Gaza strip. Three of his eight daughters and one niece were killed. The reporter stayed on the line with him as they went on air. You can watch the broadcast here. It’s all in Hebrew and Arabic, but you don’t need to speak either of them. The sound of raw grief is the same in every language.