.... BACK (updated)
6 September 2006
Updated: Quick translations done by Fadi. Really thanks! Great work!
Original Story 1 in arabic by journalist Hanadi Salman - Assafir newspaper. Story 2 is published in Assafir as well with out the name of the writer.
- Story 1: Story of Ali and Mountaha on Karfa Road
by: Hanadi Salman
"Mama, Mama, Mama don't die" he was yelling and crying, his mother thrown in his lap. He took a piece of her headcover, and he tied her wounded hand and shoulder, and kept telling her to hold on "Hold on Mama, the Red Cross are on their way".
She felt that she was dying, she saw death approach, so she whispered to her son "take care of your brother Abbas, I am going to die> then she rolled her eyes and went unconscious. He hit his forehead with his hand and started yelling "Mama, Mama> and hugging her.
His name is Ali Shaito.
Her name is Mountaha Shaito.
Ali didn’t know that his mother didn't die - except after the Red Cross arrived.
Today, Mountaha says that she feels like she came back from the dead.
Ali, 13 years old, was afraid of seeing blood if he ever got injured while playing at the fields
of Tyri. He would run back home calling on his mother , terrified. Where did he find that strength and that patience?
The story begins in the village, Tyri, on the 23rd of last July. The family of Yehya Shaito has dispersed because of the shelling of the village: Father in one house, Mountaha (38) and the children, Ghadir (14), Ali and Abbas (12) at another house. All means of communication were gone through the village, recounts Moutaha "We didn’t know who was alive amongst us. No one could get anywhere, even to the home next door."
Today, Mountaha's brother in law could arrange for a van to get her family, mother and brothers out of the village. Eighteen people from one family on the same van.
Abbas, Mountaha's son was wearing a while shirt. His mother asked him to take it off, and they hung it from the van's window. They thought that it will protect them against the enemy fire and warplanes.
Mountaha sat at the front seat, right behind the driver's seat, leaning on her mother's shoulder, the children were in the back.
At Kafra [village], the rocket hit them, in the middle of the van, right from the roof.
The children say they didn’t hear a sound, or the sound of the plane, it just fell on them, just like that.
A moment passed, no body could gather what has happened. All faces were covered in blood, no body looks like he himself/herself.
Ali and Abbas could rise. Abbas was in shock. He sat still without any sound on the pavement. Mountaha's brother in law Mousbah (52) started to remove the wounded out of the car. Ali removed Ghadir from the van, and placed her on his brother's knees, then returned to remove his mother, whose upper half was already outside the car from the impact.
Mountaha says, "I do not remember how they pulled me out. Or anything else. I didn't even feel the pain. The wounds were still warm. I don't remember except my daughter Ghadir saying, Look at my cheek how it's fallen and my finger that is gone."
Ali tied the head scarf on my hand and shoulder, and said "mum, hold on". His uncle has called the Red Cross. Then I told him to take care of his brother Abbas, I'm going to die. I rolled my eye and went unconscious, and he hit his head with his hand and thought I was dead. He held me in his arms and started to scream "Mama, Mama" until the red cross arrived and assured him I wasn't dead.
Mountaha was injured in her head, shoulder and thigh. Her arm was broken and was nearly amputated. Her left side was stuck to her mother that became a martyr. She went under 12 operations, seven in her boneless arm. Someone managed to collect what could be collected of her bone and fixed it with a steel rod, then they implanted flesh from the thigh. After two weeks from today, she will undergo another bone surgery.
"Abbas was in shock. He sat and saw what was happening, petrified, without uttering a word. Ghadir was injured in her cheek, her hand, chest, and lost her finger".
Mountaha recounts the details of the incident although she wasn't aware of what was going on. She says "my mother became a martyr, she was right next to me, and I didn’t see what happened to her. Did she cry? Did she feel any pain? My mum remained for nine days in the van before they could remove her."
Mountaha does not remember except what Ghadir told her. She doesn't remember anything else, even what she has said to her mother. Mountaha says that Ali and Abbas saw it all. Abbas smiles and refuses to talk "I was in shock, I don't remember anything." Ali, who was wounded in the leg and hand and face and chest, like Abbas, says, "After the rocket, everyone was in the van. I pulled Ghadir out and put her on Abbas knees, then I saw mum falling out of the van, I pulled her out and put her near them. I told her not to be afraid because the red cross were coming. I told her "don't die", I felt she was going to. I heard her say to her cousin Sabah "those children of mine are in your custody" and I told her "no, don't die" and I tied her hand with the head scarf. She fainted, and I thought she was gone."
Mountaha says "the first time he visited me after the incident, I haven’t had the chance to see the photos yet. I hug him and kissed his hands and said, how will I ever reward you for saving me and tying my hand and shoulder. I started to kiss him and smell him and may God give me the chance to reward him – I said. When I saw the photos, I couldn't believe that Ali has helped me. He is afraid of blood and cannot stand to see it. How did God give him the strength and the patience, I don't know!"
Ali behaves and talks as if what has happened is a normal thing, he avoids going into the details on the incident, and how it has marked him. He keeps himself busy all day. He says that what makes him different from the other boys is that he plays more than they do. But his aunt breaks his secret "Play? Don't you go every day and try to learn a new trade? One day at a plumber and the other day at a garage?" and laughs. Ali laughs too. One time pain showed in his eyes, when he was asked if he will ever forgive.
"I will not forgive or forget", he says. His aunt says he avoids to sleep alone. He waits for someone to share the room with him.
What would a thirteen year old boy who almost lost his mother on the road to Kara aspire to? What do you want to become when you grow up Ali?
' A Mujjahid."
"Me too, I will become a Mujahida," says Ghadir.
Ali looks at her and says "Yes, you will make the rockets and hand them over to me"
She felt that she was dying, she saw death approach, so she whispered to her son "take care of your brother Abbas, I am going to die> then she rolled her eyes and went unconscious. He hit his forehead with his hand and started yelling "Mama, Mama> and hugging her.
His name is Ali Shaito.
Her name is Mountaha Shaito.
Ali didn’t know that his mother didn't die - except after the Red Cross arrived.
Today, Mountaha says that she feels like she came back from the dead.
Ali, 13 years old, was afraid of seeing blood if he ever got injured while playing at the fields
of Tyri. He would run back home calling on his mother , terrified. Where did he find that strength and that patience?
The story begins in the village, Tyri, on the 23rd of last July. The family of Yehya Shaito has dispersed because of the shelling of the village: Father in one house, Mountaha (38) and the children, Ghadir (14), Ali and Abbas (12) at another house. All means of communication were gone through the village, recounts Moutaha "We didn’t know who was alive amongst us. No one could get anywhere, even to the home next door."
Today, Mountaha's brother in law could arrange for a van to get her family, mother and brothers out of the village. Eighteen people from one family on the same van.
Abbas, Mountaha's son was wearing a while shirt. His mother asked him to take it off, and they hung it from the van's window. They thought that it will protect them against the enemy fire and warplanes.
Mountaha sat at the front seat, right behind the driver's seat, leaning on her mother's shoulder, the children were in the back.
At Kafra [village], the rocket hit them, in the middle of the van, right from the roof.
The children say they didn’t hear a sound, or the sound of the plane, it just fell on them, just like that.
A moment passed, no body could gather what has happened. All faces were covered in blood, no body looks like he himself/herself.
Ali and Abbas could rise. Abbas was in shock. He sat still without any sound on the pavement. Mountaha's brother in law Mousbah (52) started to remove the wounded out of the car. Ali removed Ghadir from the van, and placed her on his brother's knees, then returned to remove his mother, whose upper half was already outside the car from the impact.
Mountaha says, "I do not remember how they pulled me out. Or anything else. I didn't even feel the pain. The wounds were still warm. I don't remember except my daughter Ghadir saying, Look at my cheek how it's fallen and my finger that is gone."
Ali tied the head scarf on my hand and shoulder, and said "mum, hold on". His uncle has called the Red Cross. Then I told him to take care of his brother Abbas, I'm going to die. I rolled my eye and went unconscious, and he hit his head with his hand and thought I was dead. He held me in his arms and started to scream "Mama, Mama" until the red cross arrived and assured him I wasn't dead.
Mountaha was injured in her head, shoulder and thigh. Her arm was broken and was nearly amputated. Her left side was stuck to her mother that became a martyr. She went under 12 operations, seven in her boneless arm. Someone managed to collect what could be collected of her bone and fixed it with a steel rod, then they implanted flesh from the thigh. After two weeks from today, she will undergo another bone surgery.
"Abbas was in shock. He sat and saw what was happening, petrified, without uttering a word. Ghadir was injured in her cheek, her hand, chest, and lost her finger".
Mountaha recounts the details of the incident although she wasn't aware of what was going on. She says "my mother became a martyr, she was right next to me, and I didn’t see what happened to her. Did she cry? Did she feel any pain? My mum remained for nine days in the van before they could remove her."
Mountaha does not remember except what Ghadir told her. She doesn't remember anything else, even what she has said to her mother. Mountaha says that Ali and Abbas saw it all. Abbas smiles and refuses to talk "I was in shock, I don't remember anything." Ali, who was wounded in the leg and hand and face and chest, like Abbas, says, "After the rocket, everyone was in the van. I pulled Ghadir out and put her on Abbas knees, then I saw mum falling out of the van, I pulled her out and put her near them. I told her not to be afraid because the red cross were coming. I told her "don't die", I felt she was going to. I heard her say to her cousin Sabah "those children of mine are in your custody" and I told her "no, don't die" and I tied her hand with the head scarf. She fainted, and I thought she was gone."
Mountaha says "the first time he visited me after the incident, I haven’t had the chance to see the photos yet. I hug him and kissed his hands and said, how will I ever reward you for saving me and tying my hand and shoulder. I started to kiss him and smell him and may God give me the chance to reward him – I said. When I saw the photos, I couldn't believe that Ali has helped me. He is afraid of blood and cannot stand to see it. How did God give him the strength and the patience, I don't know!"
Ali behaves and talks as if what has happened is a normal thing, he avoids going into the details on the incident, and how it has marked him. He keeps himself busy all day. He says that what makes him different from the other boys is that he plays more than they do. But his aunt breaks his secret "Play? Don't you go every day and try to learn a new trade? One day at a plumber and the other day at a garage?" and laughs. Ali laughs too. One time pain showed in his eyes, when he was asked if he will ever forgive.
"I will not forgive or forget", he says. His aunt says he avoids to sleep alone. He waits for someone to share the room with him.
What would a thirteen year old boy who almost lost his mother on the road to Kara aspire to? What do you want to become when you grow up Ali?
' A Mujjahid."
"Me too, I will become a Mujahida," says Ghadir.
Ali looks at her and says "Yes, you will make the rockets and hand them over to me"
-------
- Story 2: Yesterday, they returned to Tyri
On 23 July, 3 persons were martyred during the trip. Hajjah Nazira, the mother of Muntaha, the son-in-law Amin Shaito. The head of the Syrian watchman "Mohammed," who was in the van with the rest of his family, was detached, and his body remained seated next to the driver's seat. Randa, the wife of Mohammad the martyr was burned in the face. Her face was covered in blood, and when she saw her husband's injury, she fainted. With her, her two daughters, Hiba (16) and Kawthar (10). All the other passengers were injured.
Then came the details of the accident that have been relayed before. A convoy by the United Nations passed by and took photos of the injured, but did not stop to help them. By coincidence, a photo journalist passed by and took the photos. When he later visited Mountaha at the hospital in Beirut, he told her what has taken place.
Back then, Yehya was at Tyri village, unaware that his family has even left the village, until he watched the news on TV, and saw the photos. He told everyone around him that he could recognize his son "Ali", but everyone kept denying it. He persisted, and eventually, they told him the truth.
When Ghadir was transported to "Zahra" hospital, she stayed there for ten days without being able to meet Muntaha because of their condition. Mountaha says "When I first saw her, I forced myself to look strong. She started to cry and to tell me look at my cheek and look at my finger, and she is but a young girl of 14 at her prime and proud of her beauty. I was so touched by I didn't show it, and when I left her room, I just cracked. "
Nightmares still accompany Ghadir at night till now. One nightmare haunted her when she was still at hospital: She sees a red light approaching her and then falling on her, and "I would feel like my ears are open". Abbas is reclusive. His aunt says "He was so attached to his mother, he is his mama's boy", she laughs before she adds "He is usually very "sticky" but now he is so reclusive and is afraid to sleep alone. He misses her more than anything else before he goes to sleep."
The survivors of the struck family have undergone tens of operations. Yesterday, they left back to Tyri. Mountaha will return to hospitals after two weeks to resume her treatment.
On 23 July, 3 persons were martyred during the trip. Hajjah Nazira, the mother of Muntaha, the son-in-law Amin Shaito. The head of the Syrian watchman "Mohammed," who was in the van with the rest of his family, was detached, and his body remained seated next to the driver's seat. Randa, the wife of Mohammad the martyr was burned in the face. Her face was covered in blood, and when she saw her husband's injury, she fainted. With her, her two daughters, Hiba (16) and Kawthar (10). All the other passengers were injured.
Then came the details of the accident that have been relayed before. A convoy by the United Nations passed by and took photos of the injured, but did not stop to help them. By coincidence, a photo journalist passed by and took the photos. When he later visited Mountaha at the hospital in Beirut, he told her what has taken place.
Back then, Yehya was at Tyri village, unaware that his family has even left the village, until he watched the news on TV, and saw the photos. He told everyone around him that he could recognize his son "Ali", but everyone kept denying it. He persisted, and eventually, they told him the truth.
When Ghadir was transported to "Zahra" hospital, she stayed there for ten days without being able to meet Muntaha because of their condition. Mountaha says "When I first saw her, I forced myself to look strong. She started to cry and to tell me look at my cheek and look at my finger, and she is but a young girl of 14 at her prime and proud of her beauty. I was so touched by I didn't show it, and when I left her room, I just cracked. "
Nightmares still accompany Ghadir at night till now. One nightmare haunted her when she was still at hospital: She sees a red light approaching her and then falling on her, and "I would feel like my ears are open". Abbas is reclusive. His aunt says "He was so attached to his mother, he is his mama's boy", she laughs before she adds "He is usually very "sticky" but now he is so reclusive and is afraid to sleep alone. He misses her more than anything else before he goes to sleep."
The survivors of the struck family have undergone tens of operations. Yesterday, they left back to Tyri. Mountaha will return to hospitals after two weeks to resume her treatment.
posted by Hilal CHOUMAN @ 3:25 AM
13 Comments:
i had seen hanadi salman's article.. wow.. back from death.. 11 operations! i'm so happy for Abbas the kid.
I missed this, can you give us the link to the article?
These pictures where also in Paris Match the first week of the war. Acutally, the first one with a couple of others were published the first week. And later, a follow up article showed the 2nd pic.
Could someone who can read Arabic fill us in? What does the source at Assafir say? thanx!
wow this is soooo full of hope !!!
story 1
story 2
Pictures by lebanese photographer abbas salman.
I'm bad in translating, so If any body volunteers, plz translate the stories from arabic into english. The links will be out of date tomorrow but I will update them.
correction: ONLY the second picture is forabbas salman.
A quick translation of Story 2, please excuse the grammar and the million typos.
Yesterday, they returned to Tyri
On 23 July, 3 persons were martyred during the trip. Hajjah Nazira, the mother of Muntaha, the son-in-law Amin Shaito. The head of the Syrian watchman "Mohammed," who was in the van with the rest of his family, was detached, and his body remained seated next to the driver's seat. Randa, the wife of Mohammad the martyr was burned in the face. Her face was covered in blood, and when she saw her husband's injury, she fainted. With her, her two daughters, Hiba (16) and Kawthar (10). All the other passengers were injured.
Then came the details of the accident that have been relayed before. A convoy by the United Nations passed by and took photos of the injured, but did not stop to help them. By coincidence, a photo journalist passed by and took the photos. When he later visited Mountaha at the hospital in Beirut, he told her what has taken place.
Back then, Yehya was at Tyri village, unaware that his family has even left the village, until he watched the news on TV, and saw the photos. He told everyone around him that he could recognize his son "Ali", but everyone kept denying it. He persisted, and eventually, they told him the truth.
When Ghadir was transported to "Zahra" hospital, she stayed there for ten days without being able to meet Muntaha because of their condition. Mountaha says "When I first saw her, I forced myself to look strong. She started to cry and to tell me look at my cheek and look at my finger, and she is but a young girl of 14 at her prime and proud of her beauty. I was so touched by I didn't show it, and when I left her room, I just cracked. "
Nightmares still accompany Ghadir at night till now. One nightmare haunted her when she was still at hospital: She sees a red light approaching her and then falling on her, and "I would feel like my ears are open". Abbas is reclusive. His aunt says "He was so attached to his mother, he is his mama's boy", she laughs before she adds "He is usually very "sticky" but now he is so reclusive and is afraid to sleep alone. He misses her more than anything else before he goes to sleep."
The survivors of the struck family have undergone tens of operations. Yesterday, they left back to Tyri. Mountaha will return to hospitals after two weeks to resume her treatment.
Story 1: Quick Translation
Story of Ali and Mountaha on Karfa Road
"Mama, Mama, Mama don't die" he was yelling and crying, his mother thrown in his lap. He took a piece of her head cover, and he tied her wounded hand and shoulder, and kept telling her to hold on "Hold on Mama, the Red Cross are on their way".
She felt that she was dying, she saw death approach, so she whispered to her son "take care of your brother Abbas, I am going to die> then she rolled her eyes and went unconscious. He hit his forehead with his hand and started yelling "Mama, Mama> and hugging her.
His name is Ali Shaito.
Her name is Mountaha Shaito.
Ali didn’t know that his mother didn't die - except after the Red Cross arrived.
Today, Mountaha says that she feels like she came back from the dead.
Ali, 13 years old, was afraid of seeing blood if he ever got injured while playing at the fields
of Tyri. He would run back home calling on his mother , terrified. Where did he find that strength and that patience?
The story begins in the village, Tyri, on the 23rd of last July. The family of Yehya Shaito has dispersed because of the shelling of the village: Father in one house, Mountaha (38) and the children, Ghadir (14), Ali and Abbas (12) at another house. All means of communication were gone through the village, recounts Moutaha "We didn’t know who was alive amongst us. No one could get anywhere, even to the home next door."
Today, Mountaha's brother in law could arrange for a van to get her family, mother and brothers out of the village. Eighteen people from one family on the same van.
Abbas, Mountaha's son was wearing a while shirt. His mother asked him to take it off, and they hung it from the van's window. They thought that it will protect them against the enemy fire and warplanes.
Mountaha sat at the front seat, right behind the driver's seat, leaning on her mother's shoulder, the children were in the back.
At Kafra [village], the rocket hit them, in the middle of the van, right from the roof.
The children say they didn’t hear a sound, or the sound of the plane, it just fell on them, just like that.
A moment passed, no body could gather what has happened. All faces were covered in blood, no body looks like he himself/herself.
Ali and Abbas could rise. Abbas was in shock. He sat still without any sound on the pavement. Mountaha's brother in law Mousbah (52) started to remove the wounded out of the car. Ali removed Ghadir from the van, and placed her on his brother's knees, then returned to remove his mother, whose upper half was already outside the car from the impact.
Mountaha says, "I do not remember how they pulled me out. Or anything else. I didn't even feel the pain. The wounds were still warm. I don't remember except my daughter Ghadir saying, Look at my cheek how it's fallen and my finger that is gone."
Ali tied the head scarf on my hand and shoulder, and said "mum, hold on". His uncle has called the Red Cross. Then I told him to take care of his brother Abbas, I'm going to die. I rolled my eye and went unconscious, and he hit his head with his hand and thought I was dead. He held me in his arms and started to scream "Mama, Mama" until the red cross arrived and assured him I wasn't dead.
Mountaha was injured in her head, shoulder and thigh. Her arm was broken and was nearly amputated. Her left side was stuck to her mother that became a martyr. She went under 12 operations, seven in her boneless arm. Someone managed to collect what could be collected of her bone and fixed it with a steel rod, then they implanted flesh from the thigh. After two weeks from today, she will undergo another bone surgery.
"Abbas was in shock. He sat and saw what was happening, petrified, without uttering a word. Ghadir was injured in her cheek, her hand, chest, and lost her finger".
Mountaha recounts the details of the incident although she wasn't aware of what was going on. She says "my mother became a martyr, she was right next to me, and I didn’t see what happened to her. Did she cry? Did she feel any pain? My mum remained for nine days in the van before they could remove her."
Mountaha does not remember except what Ghadir told her. She doesn't remember anything else, even what she has said to her mother. Mountaha says that Ali and Abbas saw it all. Abbas smiles and refuses to talk "I was in shock, I don't remember anything." Ali, who was wounded in the leg and hand and face and chest, like Abbas, says, "After the rocket, everyone was in the van. I pulled Ghadir out and put her on Abbas knees, then I saw mum falling out of the van, I pulled her out and put her near them. I told her not to be afraid because the red cross were coming. I told her "don't die", I felt she was going to. I heard her say to her cousin Sabah "those children of mine are in your custody" and I told her "no, don't die" and I tied her hand with the head scarf. She fainted, and I thought she was gone."
Mountaha says "the first time he visited me after the incident, I haven’t had the chance to see the photos yet. I hug him and kissed his hands and said, how will I ever reward you for saving me and tying my hand and shoulder. I started to kiss him and smell him and may God give me the chance to reward him – I said. When I saw the photos, I couldn't believe that Ali has helped me. He is afraid of blood and cannot stand to see it. How did God give him the strength and the patience, I don't know!"
Ali behaves and talks as if what has happened is a normal thing, he avoids going into the details on the incident, and how it has marked him. He keeps himself busy all day. He says that what makes him different from the other boys is that he plays more than they do. But his aunt breaks his secret "Play? Don't you go every day and try to learn a new trade? One day at a plumber and the other day at a garage?" and laughs. Ali laughs too. One time pain showed in his eyes, when he was asked if he will ever forgive.
"I will not forgive or forget", he says. His aunt says he avoids to sleep alone. He waits for someone to share the room with him.
What would a thirteen year old boy who almost lost his mother on the road to Kara aspire to? What do you want to become when you grow up Ali?
' A Mujjahid."
"Me too, I will become a Mujahida," says Ghadir.
Ali looks at her and says "Yes, you will make the rockets and hand them over to me"
this is wonderful
this story with picture break the heart
شيء بيقطع القلب !
lebanese student,
u could avoided ur "silly" remark on "futures" if read the comment by fadi who translated the articles in a hurry and stated clearly that the translation contains mistakes.
second, we only translated the articles.
third, it's ali and ghadeer who were hit by a rocket, u can ask them.
It's really bizare to hear u commeting like that on people who suffered and still believe in their just case. You could made a political remark and it would have been discussed.. but talking about being proud w mosh 3aref shoo ya3neh ma ba3refshoo baddeh illak.
At least accept these people, no body talked about ALL lebanese being pround of ali and ghadeer.
so don't make pre assumptions.
ba3dein, I really took "we, as lebanese" as a joke. are Ali and ghadir from honolooloo? or from waqwaq lands?
and did it occur to u that those are kids affected by what they went through?
Weird.
lebanese student better get used to it habibi
Post a Comment
<< Home