Published today (updated) 21/07/2009 21:23 Gaza – Ma’an – The de facto government in the Gaza Strip presented honorary Tawjihi certificates to 36 Gazan students killed during the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip in December and January.
Two of the 36 dead teens, 17-year-olds Tahrir Balousha, and Jihan Ahmad were best friends. Tahrir was killed along with her four sisters, buried under the rubble of the Imad Aqil Mosque where they were taking shelter on 29 December 2008.
Tahrir’s classmate and best friend Jihan Ahmad was killed on 4 January 2009 when Israeli forces shelled her home.
As the results of the university entrance exam were announced to much ado across Palestine, families of the 17 and 18-year-old children who would have matriculated this year observed quiet memorials. Tahrir’s mother, who watched the building crumble over her daughters as she turned back after carrying out her youngest child, learned from family friends that her eldest daughter would be honored Tuesday.
“Today they will announce the Tawjihi results, and Tahrir has gone,” Umm Tharir recalled thinking when she awoke. She recalls waking her husband up with tears, and will forever wonder how her daughter would have done on the exams, whether she would have been handing out sweets to the neighbors and helping Tahrir decide what university program to enter if they had only been able to exit the mosque faster.
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