Tel Aviv bomber's family shunned
Conal Urquhart in Deir al Ghusun
Tuesday March 1, 2005
The Guardian
Scores of chairs lined the rooms and corridors, and jugs of coffee and water and trays of figs were ready to welcome men paying their respects.
But the family of Abdullah Badran, the 21-year-old who blew himself up at the entrance to a Tel Aviv nightclub on Friday, killing five Israelis, were left alone in their grief.
For seven days after a burial a Palestinian family receives mourners, normally a big social event involving colourful banners and patriotic music.
But yesterday seven members of the family occupied the otherwise empty chairs and when asked if Abdullah's death had achieved anything they all shook their heads, and one said no in English.
Abdullah's brother Ibrahim said they were mystified and angered by his death.
"I really do not know what was on his mind. Maybe he was thinking about the killing of Palestinians in recent weeks, the building of the wall, the lack of goodwill from the Israelis in the political process.
"He wanted to be a teacher, to get married and get a home. He seemed optimistic in spite of everything. It never occurred to any of us that he would blow himself up."
Deir al Ghusun is a hill town of 8,000 inhabitants. The flags of Islamic Jihad, Hamas and the leftwing Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine fly from many buildings, but there are none near the house of mourning.
Islamic Jihad, which has claimed responsibility for the bombing, was keeping a low profile.
Sami Qadan said the whole town was shocked and angered by the bombing and in protest no one was paying respects to the family.
"Things were getting better and then no sooner do we have money coming in again then it is stopped by this suicide bombing. This intifada has killed us and the wall has destroyed us. We cannot even leave our homes and we want it to stop," he said.
Six of his sons were working as builders in Israel but when they tried to cross the checkpoint on Sunday they were told: "No one from Deir al Ghusun is coming into Israel."
Abdullah, a student of Arabic literature at a branch of the al-Quds (Jerusalem) University in Tulkarem, was last seen at breakfast on Friday. " We didn't ask where he was going because it wasn't our normal practice. There was nothing in him to suggest that he had no plans to return," his brother said.
The family realised that something was wrong only when Israeli soldiers arrived at 5am on Saturday morning and told them that he had killed himself and four Israelis -a fifth died of injuries yesterday.
Abdullah's father, Said Badran, refused to believe them, insisting that his son was still in bed. The army arrested the two brothers in the house and later the local imam and five of Abdullah's friends.
The family had not suffered any particular grievance at the hands of the Israelis, Ibrahim said, although he was detained in 1989 and held for 18 months without trial.
The town has lost a large part of its livelihood because the separation barrier has cut it off from its 825 acres (334 hectares) of farmland.
In theory they can reach it through a gate, but it is rarely open, and the Israelis have begun chopping down some of the trees.
Ibrahim said that the family was extremely angry with the people who had chosen and prepared Abdullah for his suicide mission.
"I don't know who they are but we want them to stop this and reach out their hands for peace. That is the only way the situation will improve."
I see someone daily who thinks that every other media outlet on earth is "the liberal media". 
