Abu Snanah

Abu Snanah is apparently the biggest family in Palestine. My team and I encountered a tiny branch of this clan in Hebron last month, initally under very unfortunate circumstances.

Mohammad, 6, was walking home with his brother Hussein from his grandmother's house in the Old City. On the way they ran into two older settler kids. Just as the boys passed one of the military checkpoints, one of the settlers picked up a stone and jammed it into Mohammad's head. He started bleeding heavily. His brother tried to stop the bleeding, but being unsuccessful, he took Mohammad home. In the end, the boy ended up in hospital with three stitches to his head.

When we met Mohammad, only a couple of hours after the incident, he seemed shocked and scared. He was terrified of strangers and just kept staring blankly into the air when his parents asked him questions. Not even candy made him react. And that usually works here.

We heard a week later that he was having trouble sleeping and was waking up from nightmares since the incident. So, we decided to visit the Abu Snanah family to see how Mohammad was doing.

It turned out that in addition to Mohammad and Hussein, there was a set of crazy five-year old twins living in the family's house. Hani and Hadi are not the parents' biological children, but the children of a relative.

Visitor Gustav playing with the boys

All four kids became hyperactively excited about our visit. Johannes and his Swedish visitor, Gustav, made the boys even crazier with their many initiatives. They threw them around, climbed on the roof together, tickled them, joked in Arabic and made the children wild with excitement even over a piece of dust. It was great to see Mohammad laugh and play again. He was calmer than the others, but seemed genuinely happy.

After two very physical hours, mixed with some cuddling, we decided it was time to leave. The mother invited us back for a meal later, and the kids kissed our hands and touched them on their foreheads (a gesture of respect). I believe both the family and we were happily exhausted when we left.

Hani or Hadi

The Abu Snanah family has come to occupy a special place in my heart. I love it when their dirty kids are climbing all over me, feeding me tea or resting their head on my lap. These little boys, already marked by the occupation, still show me - a stranger - complete trust and affection.

I respect the soft-spoken parents who mildly chides the boys when they get too wild. The father's unemployment is hard on their economy, but they never mention it. They just give us what they have, be it RC Coke or chocolates. They just seem so happy to be noticed and seen by someone from the outside. There is nothing we can do for them, other than be there. And for that they seem grateful.

Though the Abu Snanah family is the biggest in Palestine, it must be tightly connected. Someone from EAPPI's office was out in the Old City in Jerusalem when she ran into someone from another branch of the Abu Snanah family. After she told him about her connection to the programme, he smiled and thanked her for our visiting his relative in Hebron. Det er jungeltelegraf det!