Friday, October 13, 2023

The Heart of Jenin (2008): Ismael Khatib, a Palestinian father, donates with his wife's consent the organs of his slain son, Ahmed, to Israeli children



The Heart of Jenin is a 2008 documentary about a Palestinian father, Ismael Khatib, whose son was shot in the head and donated, with his wife's consent, his son's organs to Israeli parents whose own children were waiting for organ transplants.  Wikipedia captures it, 

The Heart of Jenin recounts the true story of Ismael Khatib, a refugee in the Jenin refugee camp in northern West Bank. In 2005, his eleven-year-old son Ahmed suffers fatal head shots by Israeli soldiers who mistake him for an armed Palestinian due to a toy weapon. After physicians in a hospital in Haifa declare Ahmed brain-dead, Ismael has to decide if his son's organs should be donated. His decision (with his wife's consent) demonstrates humanity at the moment of his greatest sorrow. Thus, the Palestinian enables the survival of Israeli children in the midst of the Arab–Israeli conflict.

The film accompanies Ismael Khatib on his visits to the families of three children who survived thanks to Ahmed's organ donation. The different encounters – with an Orthodox Jewish, a Druze and a Bedouin family, as well as with soldiers at checkpoints – always reflect the situation in the conflict-laden region.

No comments:

Post a Comment