ByROSSELLA TERCATIN
Updated:
The family of Muhammad Mahmid Qiyan, an Arab-Israeli teenager who was shot during ethnic riots two weeks ago and ultimately succumbed to its wounds on Thursday decided to donate its organs and to respond to death with life.

The death of 17-year-old Qiyan in Umm al-Fahm, who was shot while he was in a car with some friends, sparked outrage in the city and in the Arab community, as undercover police officers were declared responsible for it by the family and community leaders. The Police has not accepted responsibility; the Justice Ministry’s Police Internal Investigations Department opened an investigation.


“He was a wonderful boy, an excellent student and the head of the student body,” Dr. Raed Mahmid, an uncle of the boy, who spoke on behalf of the family, told The Jerusalem Post. “He was charismatic, loved by his friends and by his numerous family. He loved studying and had many dreams, he wanted to become an engineer.”
 
Mahmid however, had very harsh words against the government and the police.
 
“In another month, Muhammad would have attended the graduation ceremony at his high school, if it wasn’t for one bullet fired by a fascist police officer who unfortunately represented our institutions, Netanyahu and the internal security minister who gave permission to fire live bullets against the demonstrators,” he said.
 
“As a Palestinian-Israeli citizen, since when is it allowed to fire live bullets against Israeli citizens?” he cried. “What is the function of police? It is to protect citizens, only with Arabs this is not what they do. We are at the lowest level, under haredim, under Ethiopians and more. Our blood can be spilled with no problem.”
 
Mahmid said that they are referring to Muhammad as a “martyr.”
 
“As a Palestinian citizen of Israel I demand real equality,” he added. “We have a right to be here, we have a normal life, we work and we work shoulder by shoulder with Jews in hospitals and more.”
 
Asked why the family chose to donate the organs, Mahmid responded that it was a hard decision.
 
“The family wanted to send a message to everyone,” he said. “Despite this racist fascist policeman who shot Muhammad, despite the racism, the neglect and the discrimination, the response of this brave, learned family is to show to every citizen of Israel what is humanity, compassion, religion and life.”
 
All the recipients of the boy's organs except one are Jewish.



 

Qiyan’s heart was transplanted into a 37-year-old at Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer. His lungs were donated to a 66-year-old, also at Sheba. A 69-year-old at Petah Tikva's Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus received the boy’s liver, while a liver lobe was transplanted into a one-year-old baby at the Schneider Children’s Medical Center for Israel, also in Petah Tikva. Finally, his two kidneys were given to a 16-year-old at Haifa's Rambam Health Care Campus and to a 35-year-old at the Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv.

 
“The fact that the life of five Jews and one Arab were saved make Muhammad’s mother and me very happy,” Mahmoud, the boy’s father, told the Hebrew-media Walla. “We respect all people, both Arabs and Jews. I really live in this country, and I ask that all the people in the country to think the same way I do. A Jew or an Arab is the same. That’s what I would like.”
 
Last week, the family of 56-year-old Yigal Yehoshua, a Jewish man struck with a brick in Lod during riots, also decided to donate his organs. Among the recipients was a 58-year-old Arab Christian woman.