« Born 30 years too late | Main | Day By Day »

June 28, 2006

This is Eliyahu Pinchas Asheri

Eliyahu Pinchas Asheri.jpg

He's the 18-year-old son of an Australian man who converted to Judaism twenty years ago and moved to Israel shortly thereafter. Eliyahu's the eldest of five children and, according to his rabbi, an introverted young man, 'though that doesn't look like the smile of an introvert.

Eliyahu was thumbing a ride this past weekend -- a practice encouraged in Israel -- when he disappeared. His parents' worst fears were soon confirmed.

[A] spokesman for the PRC in the Gaza Strip revealed an authentic copy of missing teenager Asheri's identity card to the press, confirming claims that he had been kidnapped, the police's elite counterterrorist squad raided a home in Ramallah in the afternoon and arrested a fugitive. Publication of his identity was barred.

On Tuesday, a spokesman for the Hamas-affiliated PRC told Al-Jazeera that Asheri would be "butchered in front of TV cameras" if the IDF operation in Gaza did not stop. "Our patience is running out," he said.

"I am announcing for the first time that the kidnapped Zionist Israel is searching for is the same settler who is being held by us. He is aged 181⁄2... and is a soldier in a pre-military academy," said the spokesman, who identified himself as Abu Abir.

Israeli Defense Forces, acting on a tip today, found Eliyahu's body in a shallow grave. His kidnappers had shot him in the head, perhaps on Sunday, and left him to rot, letting his parents continue to hope they'd get their son back -- alive.

Look at him. He's what terrorists consider a "legitimate target."

Posted by Mike Lief at June 28, 2006 08:19 PM | TrackBack

Comments

Very sad.

Hard to imagine peaceful coexistence at this point. Greater minds than mine will sort out the confusion that is the Mideast. I don't see how it's achievable, considering the generational and religious issues that are almost beyond compromise. Hopefully it will happen soon, a miracle is needed. Stories like this young man, families torn apart and every innocent killed is a personal loss. We are numb to the newspaper headlines...


Posted by: Vermont Neighbor at June 29, 2006 08:58 AM

Post a comment










Remember personal info?