by YUVAL ABRAHAM
Translator’s note: Below is the testimony of Yuval Abraham, a filmmaker and journalist, who stayed with a family in Sur Baher the night their home was demolished by Israeli forces. Abraham’s account, translated from Hebrew, was originally published on Facebook and addressed to fellow Israeli Jews. The story of Ismail’s family, described here through Abraham’s eyes, is one of many. That night, 72 other families had their homes demolished by Israeli forces. Abraham and filmmaker Rachel Shor made a short film about these events, available at 972 Magazine: A dark night in Wadi al-Hummus. — Yarden Katz
I’m mentally exhausted. I spent the night in Sur Baher. I saw with my own eyes how they ruined Ismail’s life and his home. A gentle man, with kind eyes. He planned every detail in his home. “My dream home,” he told me at three o’clock in the morning, before the catastrophe, as his foot was shaking. He kept saying, I wish it won’t happen. I wish they won’t destroy [my home]. The kitchen cabinets were painted bright pink, the style he loves, that he picked, and the walls of his four-year old daughter’s room were soundproof and insulated, to prevent the room from overheating in the summer. He sent her to sleep at her grandfather’s. His other kids were home. Everyone’s awake. Scared to death that the monster might come.
His voice trembled as he spoke of his kids. He didn’t look me in the eye. He kept repeating one thing: I want to speak with the judge who approved this. Help me find the judge. I just want to explain to him, I want him to see me, I want him to understand you can’t throw us out in the street. When Ismail told me he feels that he’s failed as a father, that he can’t protect his own children, he teared up.
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