He Tried to Outrun the Clashes, but an Israeli Bullet Found Him

One chair at the dining room table is wrapped in a cloth banner bearing his picture. His father says that he will never let anyone sit on that chair again. When they gather now for a family meal, Thaer, the dead son and brother looks out at them from the chair, which is on the table’s left-hand side. Thaer’s image also hangs next to the elevators on the ground floor of this relatively luxurious apartment building in the West Bank city of Ramallah, and also on the fourth floor, next to the door of their apartment. Its windows look out over the private residence of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Neighbor Abbas called to convey his condolences.