Eight-year-old Shani Avrahami looked down at the gaping hole into which red-bereted soldiers were lowering her father's body and cried ''no...Dad.'' Thunder boomed, warning that the skies would soon unleash their wrath on the hundreds of people who had gathered to bury Yosef Avrahami on Sunday, one of two Israeli soldiers lynched by a mob of Palestinians in the West Bank last week. A rabbi chanted mournfully as the funeral procession gathered around the grave in the drizzle. Shani wrapped her arms tightly around a soldier's shoulders, crying ''no, no, no.'' Soldiers lined up to shovel earth over Yosef, father of Shani and five-year-old twin boys, Idan and Roi. One by one, men from the family and close friends joined in. Yosef's mother shouted incoherently to her slain son. Shani, her braid bouncing, was pulled away from the grave.She whispered to the soldier holding her in his arms, asking him about the burial and pointing to her father's new resting place. The army rabbi read a psalm. A soldier closed his eyes tightly. ''Yossi, on my son's grave I have to say the mourners' prayer. How is it possible?'' Nissim Avrahami said before reciting the blessing for his 38-year-old son. ''God accept him...Amen, bye Yossi, Shalom Yossi, see you Yossi,'' he said. Yosef Avrahami and Vadim Novesche, who was buried on Friday, were stabbed and beaten to death by a mob of Palestinians after straying into a Palestinian checkpoint on their way to reserve duty. Palestinian Police took them to Ramallah Police Station.
Bureau Report