1.26.2009

Overcome with grief, UNWRA schoolteacher absent

Gaza – Ma’an – When the schools opened in the Gaza Strip Saturday, Mr Al-Batran was not in his classroom. He has not been home in days, and relatives say he has not seen his one-year-old son since the massacre.

Forty-year-old Issa Al-Batran may never go back home. His surviving mother and son have begged him to come back with them, but he prefers to wander the streets with his memories of Gaza before the onslaught.

He was a teacher at the UN school in the Al-Bureij refugee camp; he was a father of six, a husband and a homeowner.

His wife Manal, three daughters and two sons were killed in the room next to Issa. The family was living in the salon, but he had excused himself to pray in the silence of the adjacent room for a few moments. His infant son, Abd Al-Hadi, crawled after him, which is the only reason he is still alive.

Read more @ Ma'an News Agency

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