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Ezzeldeen Abu al-Aish at Tel Ha-Shomer Hospital, shortly after being informed of his daughters' death.
 (Motti Kimhi)
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Last update - 16:50 06/04/2009
Gaza doctor who lost three kids in IDF op tapped for Nobel Prize
By Haaretz Service
Tags: Operation Cast Lead 

Palestinian Dr. Ezzeldeen Abu al-Aish, whose three daughters were killed during Israel's offensive on the Gaza Strip earlier this year, has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, Army Radio reported on Monday.

The nomination was announced by Belgium's state secretary, who described al-Aish to the Arabic-language daily A-Sharq Al-Awsat as a "soldier of peace." The doctor has been awarded honorary Belgian citizenship "in recognition of his efforts in service of humanity," said the state secretary.

According to A-Sharq Al-Awsat, Minority Affairs Minister Professor Avishay Braverman has called Dr. Abu al-Aish to congratulate him, calling the nomination a victory for humanity.
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Abu al-Aish, a father of eight who was trained in Israel, became one of the symbols of the Gaza offensive after he was broadcast on television immediately after an Israeli shell killed three of his daughters and his niece.

In a report drenched with sobs, al-Aish said he hoped his three daughters would be the last victims of the fighting in Gaza, and that their deaths would help bring peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

"I want to know why my daughters were harmed. This should haunt (Israeli Ehud Prime Minister) Olmert his entire life," Abu al-Aish said on Israel's Channel 10, speaking through a cell phone in Hebrew as he has throughout the war.

He added that his daughters were "armed only with love."

The IDF shelled the al-Aish home after troops reported having been fired upon by snipers situated in the house adjacent to theirs, according to an IDF investigation.

The troops identified suspicious figures in the upper levels of the doctor's building, and deduced that they were serving as observers, directing the sniper fire from their vantage point.

The Israeli commander on he ground decided to fire tank shells at the building, hitting al-Aish's home and killing three of his daughters.

Abu al-Aish had denied that there were any militants in the building at the time of the shelling, but thanked those responsible for investigating the incident by saying that "we all make mistakes, and we don't repeat them."

"I have two options - the path of darkness or the path of light. The path of darkness is like choosing all the complications with diseases and depression, but the path of light is to focus on the future and my children. This strengthened my conviction to continue on the same path and not to give up," al-Aish said after the release of the investigation's conclusions.

The 55-year-old gynecologist trained in Israeli hospitals and speaks Hebrew.

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      1.   GAZA gynaecologist trained & works in Israel.Apartheid?? 11:51  |  PETER SM 06/04/09
      2.   GAZA gynaecologist gave regular TV interviews.Apartheid? 11:54  |  PETER SM 06/04/09
      3.   Hope he win it 12:17  |  Norwegian 06/04/09
      4.   It would be nice if he could share the prize 12:32  |  judith 06/04/09
      5.   GAZA gynaecologist gave regular TV interviews.Apartheid? 12:37  |  cesare 06/04/09
      6.   The man deserves respect 12:38  |  Niv 06/04/09
      7.   #5 response 12:53  |  Kenneth 06/04/09
      8.   CESARE You are avoiding the points made.Why is that? 14:03  |  PETER SM 06/04/09
      9.   what about the the jewish refugees of gaza? 14:04  |  HOWARD 06/04/09
      10.   He is indeed the man of peace 14:19  |  Shlomo from Tel-Aviv 06/04/09
      11.   What did he do to deserve it, nothing! 14:45  |  Wise Saba 06/04/09
      12.   Clearly, this appears to be an attempt to set the stage for... 14:46  |  Jehudah Ben-Israel 06/04/09
      13.   Nobel Peace Prize 14:49  |  Jake1948 06/04/09
      14.   Re: Shlomo 15:11  |  Palestinian 06/04/09
      15.   Make him the Pal PM 15:15  |  Lynn 06/04/09
      16.   Scraping the barrel here 15:17  |  x-ray 06/04/09
      17.   This man is a saint 15:28  |  Muslim 06/04/09
      18.   Gaza Doctor 15:46  |  Isac 06/04/09
      19.   What he did to deserve it. 15:50  |  Richie 06/04/09
      20.   Palestinian Nobel 16:07  |  WHG 06/04/09
      21.   Nobel prize 16:14  |  Hilda 06/04/09
      22.   Dr. Abu al-Aish 16:20  |  Elina 06/04/09
      23.   We hope that This man will be selected. 16:30  |  Arison 06/04/09
      24.   absurd 16:32  |  kobi 06/04/09
      25.   Jehudah Ben-Israel 16:34  |  joan 06/04/09
      26.   Excuse 17:00  |  Stan 06/04/09
      27.   response to wise man 17:28  |  Peppermint 06/04/09
      28.   #5 Cesare. To ease your false indigantion BBC and Haaret reported 17:34  |  Israeli observer 06/04/09
      29.   Clearly motivated by a desire to shed a light on Israeli actions 17:34  |  Victor 06/04/09
      30.   To The Pro Israel People, Give it a Rest for One Article 17:37  |  Eli 06/04/09
      31.   Why has be been nominated? 17:44  |  redbourn 06/04/09
      32.   Re # 11 "Wise" Saba - who says the man did nothing to deserve 17:57  |  kat 06/04/09
      33.   11 & 12 18:00  |  BDF 06/04/09
      34.   A Giant Among Pygmies 18:01  |  Knott Bushman 06/04/09
      35.   To all who blame IDF: Abu al-Aish CONFIRMED that IDF URGED him... 18:07  |  Vittorio 06/04/09
      36.   re 24 redbourn i agree with you, the nobel prize people lost it 18:11  |  kat 06/04/09
      37.   Kobi-----just to make it clear to you.... 18:33  |  BDF 06/04/09
      38.   Finally!A man noble enough to receive this Prize! 18:45  |  glenna 06/04/09
      39.   To Kat--Wake Up 19:12  |  Jania 06/04/09
      40.   What for ? 20:01  |  Rafi 06/04/09
      41.   Nobel prize prostituted 20:02  |  yeiel 06/04/09
      42.   Israelis interviewed in Al Aqsa TV? 20:18  |  Secular 06/04/09
      43.   WHY ? PETER SM, Vittorio , etc... 20:25  |  just facts 06/04/09
      44.   al-Aish 20:28  |  Yaakov 06/04/09
      45.   You gotta be kidding! 20:38  |  Larry 06/04/09
      46.   Hilda 20:56  |  Jake1948 06/04/09
      47.   This guy deserves the Nobel - unlike Arafat 21:22  |  B`galil 06/04/09
      48.   Poor him, I don`t think I would be forgiving 21:44  |  Israeli 06/04/09
      49.   Make him Pal PM, except... 21:52  |  David 06/04/09
      50.   A true man of peace despite the family being liquidated 22:18  |  IDF Heroes 06/04/09
      51.   yeiel@41 22:27  |  had enough 06/04/09
      52.   palest dr. tapped nobel prize recipient 22:59  |  HARRY 06/04/09
      53.   Nobel=award of Dynamie 23:32  |  shalomi 06/04/09
      54.   #34 00:25  |  Jane 07/04/09
      55.   Palestinian Nobel 00:46  |  WHG 07/04/09
      56.   To Cesare-Gaza doctor who lost 3 kids 01:54  |  Fannie 07/04/09
      57.   Gaza doctor is example how Israel could help pales if they .... 02:43  |  ks 07/04/09
      58.   Excuse Me 03:05  |  Angela 07/04/09
      59.   What about the parents of the Kidnapped soldier??? 03:14  |  Alfred 07/04/09
      60.   No Angela, you`re not excused 03:32  |  jennifer 07/04/09
      61.   Gaza doctor. 12:04  |  Ida 07/04/09
      62.   He deserves it 12:05  |  Mat 07/04/09
      63.   Abu Al Aish. 12:36  |  sandra chitayat 07/04/09
      64.   Note how uglier the commentators here are 13:02  |  Roy Schneider 07/04/09
      65.   Dr.Aish should share the Nobel Prize... 13:05  |  Hastaroth 07/04/09
      66.   KBUSHMAN THEN why isn`t he the elected ruler of Palestine 13:24  |  PETER SM 07/04/09
      67.   And what about.. 16:26  |  Dan Johansson 07/04/09
      68.   To norwegian 16:26  |  Norwegian 07/04/09
      69.   Kids looking out of windows. 16:56  |  Neutered Observer 07/04/09
      70.   #67 - adding 16:57  |  Dan Johansson 07/04/09
      71.   This man is obviously a CHRISTIAN 17:37  |  Kathy 07/04/09
      72.   Politically motivated 17:38  |  tristan 07/04/09
      73.   rare jewel 18:39  |  udi 07/04/09
      74.   If anyone EVER deserved it he does 19:20  |  Kenny Sedat 07/04/09
      75.   GOOD Man - He should run for PAL office. 19:32  |  Zionist 07/04/09
      76.   #17 Muslim, thats y this man is so much better than u 19:46  |  Zionist 07/04/09
      77.   Gaza Doctor who lost three children 23:32  |  Yvonne 07/04/09
      78.   Response to zionist. I agree with you He is a better man than I 23:41  |  Muslim 07/04/09
      79.   NEUTERED OBSERVER the kids in Maalot were not looking out windows 06:03  |  PETER SM 08/04/09
      80.   The capacity for forgiveness 06:11  |  Scott 08/04/09
      81.   A" real" SAMID" the steadfast one" 07:37  |  jim the mechanic 08/04/09
      82.   Message to the MB:Abu al-Aish + Gilad Shalit 08:36  |  No To Hamas 08/04/09
      83.   3 innocent girls killed by IDF 08:56  |  ClearCut 08/04/09
      84.   question to all israelis 09:14  |  ClearCut 08/04/09
      85.   CL:EARCUT He got lots of Israseli media exposure & support 09:51  |  PETER SM 08/04/09
      86.   To Clear Cut 09:57  |  sharon 08/04/09
      87.   Sharon 10:18  |  ClearCut 08/04/09
      88.   palie doctor 11:44  |  bobbyg 08/04/09
      89.   Doc for P.M. 13:09  |  Tcherkessi 08/04/09
      90.   Good man, but Nobel Prize is unwarrented 13:25  |  Jonathan 08/04/09
      91.   Doc for Nobel Peace vs. Peres 14:37  |  Tcherkessi 08/04/09
      92.   Gaza Doctor 17:39  |  Zalman 08/04/09
      93.   Too much fanatics 18:10  |  Tuomas 08/04/09
      94.   this doctor has my respect 18:25  |  Allon 08/04/09
      95.   Vittoro, your inhumanity is astounding... 19:32  |  BBSNews 08/04/09
      96.   It was offensive Jehudah Ben-Israel... 20:03  |  BBSNews 08/04/09
      97.   Re: ClearCut 02:09  |  Jewchai 09/04/09
      98.   to Clear Cut 09:17  |  Sharon 09/04/09
      99.   Analyzing the article,part 1 13:16  |  Hastaroth 09/04/09
      100.   Analyzing the article,part 2 13:23  |  Hastaroth 09/04/09
      101.   I completely agree with Niv 13:32  |  mehmet 09/04/09
      102.   to Norwegian #68 14:04  |  Norwegian 09/04/09
      103.   Re: Charlotte, North Carolina 03:04  |  Alexa 11/04/09
      104.   reply 23:15  |  Carter 11/04/09
      105.   tell me why? 16:20  |  Tarzan 19/06/09
      106.   Gaza Doctor who lost his children 13:45  |  fredyr 06/09/09
      107.   Norwegians 16:01  |  Sarah 06/09/09
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