IC Magazine

On this day, 29 October 2000, 14-year-old Palestinian Faris Odeh stood alone in front of an Israel Defense Forces tank in Gaza and threw a stone at it, during the second intifada against Israeli occupation Associated Press photographer Laurent Rebours took an iconic photo of this "David and Goliath" moment. Odeh had begun skipping school in order to throw stones at Israeli tanks, despite his parents doing everything they could to try to stop him: locking him in his room, beating him, and even tying him up. Because of these punishments, he tried to avoid being photographed. His mother, Anam Odeh, later recalled: "he was afraid that if he was filmed on TV his father would see him, so he'd run away from the cameras. One day, after I'd gone and dragged him away from the clashes every day for a week, I told him: 'Okay, you want to throw stones? Fine. But at least hide behind something! Why do you have to be at the very front, even farther up than the older kids?' And he said, 'I'm not afraid.' " Ten days later, on 8 November, Odeh was again throwing stones at the Karni crossing when he was shot in the neck by Israeli troops. Soldiers left him to bleed on the ground, as he was so close to the tank that his friends could not retrieve his body until an hour later. He was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital. Of the photograph, his mother reports: "When I see his picture my heart is torn to pieces… I guess I feel proud for him being called a hero, standing in front of a tank and all that. But when I see his classmates come around after school, all I can do is cry." More information, sources and map: stories.workingclasshistory.… Learn more about Palestinian history in these books: shop.workingclasshistory.com…