Hope

Even in the darkest of days, the courage and decency of ordinary people can be truly inspirational. That's certainly the case with regard to events which happened in Israel earlier this week. Ismail al-Khatib's 12 year old son, Ahmed al-Khatib, was killed by Israeli soldiers who mistook him for an armed Palestinian. Despite that, Ahmed's parents allowed their son's organs to be used to save the lives of those in need, whether Israeli or Palestinian. 5 Israeli children have received transplants.

Khatib said the decision to donate his son Ahmed's organs for transplant stemmed from a desire to answer violence with a concrete gesture of peace. "I have taken this decision because I have a message for the world: that the Palestinian people want peace - for everyone," he said on Sunday. "We have no problem whether it is an Israeli or a Palestinian (who receives his organs) because it will give them life," said the boy's mother, Ablah al-Khatib.

It is an extraordinary gesture of peace. I would suggest that these people take note.

Update
I've created a Wikipedia page for Ahmed. It's the first time I've ever done that so it's a bit rough but I thought it was worth doing. It's also rather short. I might update it some more if no-one else does.