A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy

Rahwan Tawam received a call from his uncle asking if he would like to drive a school bus for children taking a class trip. He was hesitant to drive in the bad weather but agreed when his uncle brought the bus directly to him. After driving through Israeli checkpoints, they picked up the children, but before arriving at another checkpoint, Rahwan felt a massive blow and passed out. Video surveillance recorded the chaotic scene of people desperately trying to rescue those inside the bus, or at least cover the bodies, wondering why help had not yet arrived, as the area was under total Israeli rule. Without help from the authorities, Palestinian paramedics had to travel a long and complex route to the crash site, and by the time they arrived, there was little they could do other than make sure they brought any Jewish or Palestinian victims to their properly designated hospitals.

Eldad Benshtein, a Russian immigrant, is the first Israeli paramedic on the scene, arriving with no knowledge that a school bus or children were involved in the accident. He watches as Palestinian firefighters douse the flames. Meanwhile, Huda’s coworker Salem is screaming at the rescue workers for arriving so late, calling them “child killers” (114), and gets into an altercation with an Israeli soldier.