Encounter and American Friends of the Parents Circle – Families Forum are teaming up to bring you a unique discussion with Rami Elhanan and Bassam Aramin, bereaved Israeli and Palestinian fathers and Co-Directors of the Parents Circle-Family Forum, to hear what it means for each of them to remember the loss of each of their daughters and commemorate their grief together on Yom HaZikaron.
Bereaved Israeli father
Co-Director, Parents Circle – Families Forum
Rami Elhanan is a 7th generation Jerusalemite. He identifies himself as a Jew, an Israeli, and before everything else a human being. On the first day of the school year in 1997, Rami’s daughter, Smadar, was killed by two Palestinian suicide bombers who murdered 5 people that day. Soon after, Rami joined the Parents Circle, and speaks before Israeli, Palestinian and International audiences.
Bereaved Palestinian father
Co-Director, Parents Circle – Families Forum
Bassam Aramin lives in Anata, East Jerusalem. In 1985 at the age of 17, he was incarcerated and spent 7 years in Israeli jails. He went on to study history and holds an MA in Holocaust studies from the University of Bradford, England. He became a member of the Parents Circle in 2007 after losing his 10 year old daughter Abir, who was killed by an Israeli border policemen in front of her school. Bassam devotes his time and energies to his conviction for a peaceful, non-violent end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine and to Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation.
