Khader Adnan, a gifted baker, devoted father, husband, and activist, leaves behind a special legacy of anti-occupation struggle.
This year’s Eid al-Fitr celebration was the worst Abd al-Rahman Adnan had ever had.
The 12-year-old chose to participate in protests with his siblings in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah in support of his father’s release from Israeli jail rather than celebrating it with family and friends.
It was evident that his father, the well-known campaigner Khader Adnan, was losing health as he entered the 76th day of his hunger strike.
Rahman told reporters, “Dad would take us to the amusement park on every Eid holiday, play with us, make us happy, and buy us things.
“Eid this year was the most tragic. This holiday season was the toughest for my father’s imprisonment by the occupation despite his hunger strike, he said.
After an 87-day hunger strike, Khader was discovered dead in an Israeli prison cell ten days after Eid.
Palestinians in the occupied areas and beyond were horrified by his killing. Both marches and rocket fire were launched from Gaza into Israel.
Mourners went to the funeral home in his birthplace of Arraba, which is located south of Jenin, to pay their condolences to the family. Everyone remembered their own interactions with the “Sheikh” from memory.
A Good Father and Husband
The 45-year-old was one of the most well-liked activists in the West Bank. He was known locally as Sheikh Khader.
After embarking on a 66-day hunger strike in 2012, which resulted in his release from administrative detention—Israel’s policy of holding Palestinians indefinitely without trial or charge—he achieved international notoriety.
He developed into one of the most vocal supporters of the Palestinian cause over the subsequent decades.
He is regarded as a person who never skipped a march in support of Palestinian resistance, prisoner rights, or the families of those killed by Israel. He was always on the front lines and led chants that were echoed by the crowd.
But he was much more to Randa Musa, his wife.
“In the event that you get some information about affection, it is Khader,” said Musa, as additional individuals showed up at the burial service home to offer their appreciation. ” Khader is the one to ask about tenderness; Khader is the person to go to if you want unconditional love.
Khader and Musa tied the knot in 2005 after receiving their bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economic mathematics from Birzeit University in Ramallah in 2001.
Musa tells reporters that Khader, despite his academic success, believed in independence and did not want to work for anyone. As a result, he opened a bakery near his house, where he worked alongside his family, including his children.
Musa recalled, “His day would begin at three in the morning, kneading dough, baking bread, and crafting manaqeesh.”
After that, he would make his way to the Qabatiya market and yell, “za’atar, cheese, za’atar, cheese,” selling the results of his labor with affection and contentment.
Ma’ali Adnan, Khader and Musa’s eldest child, began recalling a side of her father few people knew as she sat next to her mother.
She stated that he was as busy at home as he was on the streets.
assisting with homework, playing games with the kids, taking care of the house, and preparing meals for the family.
The 15-year-old stated, “He would always cook for us, preparing the most delicious food with his unique recipes, which he invented himself, adding his creative flair to each dish.”
She continued, “Nothing can describe Ma’ali’s sadness,” but her consolation is that Khader died the way he wanted.
“I’m happy and sad at the same time; I’m crushed for losing the most valuable individual in my life, but on the other hand I’m pleased in light of the fact that he achieved his objective,” she told reporters.
“At the point when he went to jail, not set in stone to either be delivered as a liberated person or bite the dust as a saint.”
