" My son was dead, but six Israelis now have a part of a Palestinian in
them, and maybe he is still alive in them"
These are the words of the Palestinian father Ismail Khatib who donated his son
Ahmed's organs to Israelis after the 12 year old was shot dead by Israeli
soldiers while holding a toy gun.
This remarkable gesture of humanity is not the first time victims of the
conflict have given life to people on the other side of the Arab-Jewish
divide. This year is the 5th anniversary of the death of Yoni Jesner, a
19 year old Jewish religious student murdered in the bombing of a
Tel-Aviv bus. Part of his body went to save the life of a Palestinian
girl from East Jerusalem. Presenter
Vera Frankl of the BBC takes a closer look at the generosity and faith of these
two families - the Jesners and the Khatibs - and we ask if a person can
live on in some way through organ donation - here, in these two stories,
part of a Jew alive in an Arab, and part of an Arab alive in a Jew.
Life Beyond Death was produced by Vera Frankl and Anne Khazam and was mixed by Jared Weissbrot.
Links:
Yoni Jesner Foundation
The Yoni Jesner Foundation has been set up in memory of Yoni Jesner, 19, of Glasgow, Scotland, who was killed in a suicide bombing on a bus in Tel Aviv, Israel, on 19th September 2002.
Funeral for bus death teenager
BBC article about the death of Yoni Jesner
Life and Hope Flow From Palestinian Boy's Death
In Peace Overture, Family Donates Organs to Israeli Patients
Palestinian's organs go to Israel
The parents of a Palestinian boy killed by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank have donated his organs for use in Israel, in the hope of promoting peace.
Books:
Body Shopping: The Economy Fuelled by Flesh and Blood by: Donna Dickenson 2009 Our tissues, genes, and organs are becoming are more valuable and profitable that once thought.
The Red Market: On the Trail of the World's Organ Brokers, Bone Thieves, Blood Farmers, and Child Traffickers by: Scott Carney 2011
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