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30  Wednesday October 23, 2002

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. Chicago Sun-Times

Man loses mother in Israeli incursion

Son in suburbs says

family targeted in

.  West Bank; troops

say self-defense

BY CHRIS FUSCO

STAFF REPORTER

Rami Abu-Hijleh was working

with the U.S. government to bring

his parents to the Chicago suburbs

so they could meet his new wife

and get, away from the violence in

his homeland.

Instead, he spent last week in the

West Bank city of Nablus, attend-

ing funeral services for his mother,

who died Oct. 11 after his brother

and father watched Israeli soldiers

shoot her in the heart and neck.

Abu-Hijleh, a 30-year-old com-

puter engineer, returned home to

Mount Prospect Monday night

with a resolve to tell his mother's

story, hoping it will raise aware-

ness about the issues surrounding

a wave of Palestinian civilians

killed in the past two weeks.

At the same time, Israel was

reeling from another suicide

bombing Monday by Palestinian

terrorists that killed 14 innocent

people aboard a bus.

Back at his job at Motorola in

Schaumburg on Tuesday, Abu-

Hijleh condemned all the violence.

"I always will have hope for

peace, but my hope is diminishing"

he said. "We are 100 percent against

any kind of killing on both sides.

Rami Abu-Hijleh's mother,

Shaden Abu-Hijleh, was well-

known in Nablus, spearheading ef-

forts to feed the poor, promote lit-

eracy and even lead an

anti-smoking campaign. In 1967,

she resigned her job as a school-

teacher to protest an Israeli deci-

sion to alter the curriculum in

Palestinian schools.

But the 62-year-old mother of

four and grandmother of three al-

ways was a peaceful activist, her

son said, even after Israeli-imposed

curfews began virtually shutting

down all economic activity in

Nablus, a city of 200,000. The Is-

raelis have seen curfews as a way to

stop suicide bombings by prevent-

ing terrorists from leaving cities.

But what happened to Abu-Hij-

leh's mother defies logic, he said.

She was sitting on the veranda of

her house with her husband, a

medical doctor, when gunfire rang

out from an Israeli jeep about 30

yards away. She died instantly,

and her husband and san, who also

lives in the house, were injured. ,

Responding in local newspapers

to the attack, the Israeli army said

the soldiers thought they were

fired upon and were firing back.

Regardless, Abu-Hijleh's death

and those of other Palestinians drew

a response from the Bush adminis-

tration, which submitted its con-

cerns to Israeli officials in writing.

"We've made quite clear our con-

cerns in the past several weeks

about dozens of civilians that have

been killed and the humanitarian

institutions that have been struck,"

State Department spokesman

Richard Boucher said last week.

"It's essential that Israeli forces take

steps to prevent tragic incidents like

those that have occurred over the

past week or so."

A local expert on Israeli policy

described the death of Shaden Abu-

Hijleh as "a tragedy" and said her

family is "utterly to be empathized

with." But Michael Kotzin, execu-

tive vice president of the Jewish

Federation of Metropolitan Chicago,

also defended Israeli initiatives in

the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

"The Israelis are not trying to kill

civilians," he said. "They're trying to

protect themselves against a wave of

terror that's came their way."

When it comes to his mother,

Abu-Hijleh does not share that view.

"There were 15 shots in one area,"

he said. "They were aiming to kill

all three of them . . . And if they are

targeting people like my mom, I

don't think peace has a chance." ,

Abu - Hijleh hopes the message

he can spread can stem that tide.

His wife, Jayne Finch, already has "

been handing out fliers in the Loop

that attempt to get people to write

Congress about Middle East pol-

icy. Abu-Hijleh's family also is

contemplating legal action in fed-

eral court, claiming the Israelis

used U.S.-provided weapons un-

lawfully in their mother's death.

All four Abu-Hijleh children are

well-educated. One of Rami Abu-

Hijleh's brothers is a college pro-

fessor; another brother is an inter-

national businessman and his

sister works as an engineer for the

United Nations in Jerusalem.

"We're not going to accept what

happened and be quiet about it,"

Abu-Hijleh said. "My mom, she

had children that have a voice. . . .

We're going to keep on her path."

Contributing: Lynn Sweet

RICHARD A, CHAPMAN/SUN-TIMES

Rami Abu-Hijleh and his wife, Jayne

Finch, display a poster depicting

Shaden Abu-Hijleh, 62, who was

shot to death by Israeli troops.

.