Family of Palestinian teen killed in Jenin receive his high school diploma

A Palestinian family received the high school diploma of their son who died during a major Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank this month.

The Israeli forces' attack on the Jenin camp at the start of July lasted for two days and included the use of airstrikes for the first time in decades, leaving 13 Palestinians killed and scores more wounded, with large scale destruction.

Amira Ararawi, the mother of 17-year-old Majdi Ararawi who died on 3 July, said she was celebrating her son’s accomplishments even after his death.

"Our house has been bustling with people, as if he [Majdi] is still with us receiving well-wishers. I distributed sweets and drinks, prepared coffee, and prepared everything in advance to receive guests," Amira told The New Arab’s sister site, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

She said the Palestinian education ministry contacted her the day before the results came out, requesting permission to publish Majdi’s certificate, to which his family agreed.

"On 26 June, he wrote down his predictions for me on a piece of paper and placed it on his desk," his mother said.

He had predicted he would pass with a grade of 90% to 94%. He passed at 90.4%.

"I went to his grave, to tell him that he got a score of 90 [percent], and that God honoured me with him in this world and the hereafter, by obtaining martyrdom in this world and in the hereafter."

تفوق في التوجيهي بنسبة 90.04٪.. والدة الطالب مجدي عرعراوي الذي قتلته قوات الاحتلال قبل أيام تستقبل نتيجته عند قبره#فلسطين @AnaAlarabytv pic.twitter.com/owYAhWmzUu

— التلفزيون العربي (@AlarabyTV) July 20, 2023

Majdi dreamed of studying electronics and was adamant on doing well in school, his sister Sajida told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

He "was a polite, principled student, and excelled in his previous years of study. His score was no less than 97%. During the examination period, he was interested in his studies, but his thinking was more about fighting and resistance," she said.

The teen was a member of the Jenin Brigades, a Palestinian group founded in 2021 with the aim of confronting Israeli occupation and aggression.

Majdi spent about two months in Israeli captivity before the start of the high school exams, for allegedly trying to hit an Israeli soldier with his vehicle near the Ma'ale Adumim settlement, near occupied East Jerusalem.

He had said the incident was merely an accident.

Israel has stepped up deadly raids in the occupied West Bank since a far-right Israeli government came to power in December 2022.

More than 200 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the start of 202d, according to a tally by the Palestinian Information Center.