Michigan’s Lebanese-American neighborhood is in mourning after one in every of their very own was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon.
A big crowd of people that knew Kamel Jawad, a 56-year-old father of 4, attended his funeral Sunday on the Islamic Heart of America in Dearborn, Michigan, United States.
Jawad, a Lebanese-American remembered by locals for his generosity, was killed Oct. 1 whereas volunteering in his hometown of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, in accordance with his household.
“In his ultimate days, he selected to remain close to the primary hospital in Nabatieh to assist the aged, disabled, injured and people who merely couldn’t afford to flee,” Jawad’s daughter Nadine mentioned in a press release.
“His response to political battle was all the time easy: ‘I stand with the oppressed.’”
At his funeral in Dearborn, Jawad’s son Ali mentioned he was pleased with his father’s legacy of serving to these in want, together with beginning a nonprofit group in america.
“The work he was doing is extra essential than any interview or something we are able to say or any assertion we are able to put out,” Ali mentioned.
Tales about Kamel’s kindness and his lifetime of service to others had been splendidly shared. Out of respect for the household’s privateness, these statements is not going to be shared right here.
Here is what his son Ali, who I’ve identified since elementary college, needed to say about what occurred. pic.twitter.com/l8BUrYZKnD
– Sara Rahal (@SarahRahal_) October 6, 2024
Abed Ayoub, govt director of the Arab-American Committee In opposition to Discrimination, instructed Al Jazeera final week that Jawad was a cornerstone of Michigan’s Arab-American neighborhood who many thought of a mentor.
“He gave again to the neighborhood. He was there for everybody. He raised an unimaginable household,” Ayoub mentioned of Jawad.
‘What number of extra should die?’
After initially casting doubt on whether or not Jawad was a U.S. citizen, the U.S. State Division issued a press release Friday confirming his citizenship and expressing “alarm” over his demise.
“It’s a ethical and strategic crucial that Israel take all attainable precautions to mitigate hurt to civilians. “Any lack of civilian life is a tragedy,” the assertion mentioned.
However these phrases provided little consolation to many Arab Individuals who really feel their nation has carried out little to guard its residents in Lebanon whereas U.S.-funded bombs rain down.
Whereas about 6,000 Individuals in Lebanon have contacted the embassy for assist leaving, the federal government has solely helped about 600 individuals go away, in accordance with a State Division spokesperson talking Oct. 5.
“Solely politics and racism may clarify the Biden administration’s sickening sample of indifference towards Individuals of colour murdered by the Israeli authorities,” the Council on American-Islamic Relations mentioned in a press release about Jawad’s demise.
“By illegally arming the Israeli authorities, justifying its indiscriminate assaults on Lebanese civilians, and refusing to evacuate Individuals from Lebanon, President Biden bears direct duty for Kamel’s homicide. [Jawad].”
Palestinian-American Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, who represents the Michigan district the place Jawad was from, mentioned the US authorities was successfully “abandoning Americans” in Lebanon.
“As a congresswoman from a fantastic and various district, I should not should beg our personal authorities to assist its personal residents,” Tlaib wrote in an Instagram publish on Oct. 2.
“Now we have already misplaced an American who was a father of 4 kids. What number of extra should die earlier than our nation stops sending extra American bombs and funding this insanity?”
Jawad shouldn’t be the primary American citizen killed by the Israeli army since October 7, 2023, when Israel started a year-long offensive in Gaza that led to battle within the occupied West Financial institution and Lebanon.
Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a twin American and Turkish citizen, was shot within the head by an Israeli sniper whereas protesting settlement enlargement close to the West Financial institution metropolis of Nablus in September.
The USA mentioned it was “disturbed” by his killing, which Israeli authorities described as an “accident,” however mentioned it will not conduct an unbiased investigation.
