The families of the three victims tell Gihan Shahine of their anger at both Israel and the Egyptian government The winding, unpaved roads and shabby brick houses in the impoverished village of Bamb in Menoufiya were especially gloomy this week. Women in black galabiyas were wailing near the dilapidated house where Hani El- Naggar used to live. El-Naggar, 21, was one of the three Egyptian border policemen who were killed when Israeli troops "accidentally" fired across the border at Gaza last week. Israel said one of its tanks mistakenly fired at the policemen, who were patrolling the Egyptian side of the Gaza border; the Israelis said they had taken the men for Palestinian resistance fighters. The other two victims were Mohamed Abdel-Fatah Rabi' from Daqahliya and Amer Abu Bakr Amer from Gharbiya. Dozens of villagers were crammed into El-Naggar's house in Bamb to offer their condolences and express their rage over the "Israeli crime". Israel's swift apology and promise of investigation seemed to hardly appease the public uproar; an "absolute rejection" of the Israeli "excuse" was almost unanimous. Almost everybody, including the victim's families, their neighbours and the public in general, was highly sceptical of Israeli claims that the shooting was a "mistake"; many were demanding both a rapid investigation, and even revenge. "My son was the victim of Israeli recklessness," cried Sobhi Ali El-Naggar, Hani's father. "All the money in the world would not compensate the loss of my son," the health clinic officer said. El-Naggar said he saw no logic in Israeli claims that his son was killed by mistake. "There is no way my son would be mistaken for a resistance fighter." First of all, El-Naggar said, "my son did not move an inch across the border. He was wearing his uniform, and his rifle did not even fire a single shot. Why, then, would they mistake him for a terrorist?" Bitterly, El-Naggar exclaimed, "it's a farce, and the Israeli apology is unacceptable." Everybody in the room nodded in approval. MP Gamal Essam El-Sadat, secretary-general of the Sadat Charity organisation, joined in. "Any attack on an Egyptian citizen on his own land is an attack on Egypt," El-Sadat said in a high-pitched tone. "The Israeli apology is absolutely unacceptable. Our blood will not be spilt without a price, and we are not going to give up our sons' rights." El-Sadat then turned his wrath on the Egyptian government. "Where is the dignity of the martyr?" he shouted angrily. "Why did they bring El-Naggar's corpse home in a plastic bag, and not wrapped up in an Egyptian flag? El- Naggar and his colleagues were on duty, protecting Egyptian land, when they were shot dead. They should thus be treated with a martyr's due respect, and the least the government should do is finish all the necessary paperwork so his family can get their pension." El-Naggar shook his head in agreement and sorrow. "They asked me to issue a death certificate from Rafah. I don't even know how to get there; it's like a maze for me, and I can't leave my work and only source of income to get lost in that maze. All I need from the government is for them to finish the paperwork for me so I can get the pension and find jobs for my other children. My son was my only support in life. Now that he is gone, I wonder how we'll be able to survive." Hani, the second of three siblings, had left school at the preparatory stage after his mother's death to help his father make ends meet. "My son was destined to work for his bread since childhood," El-Naggar, heavy with regret, said. "It was his choice to help his siblings get educated and help me with life's expenses. He was extremely tender and selfless. He never thought of himself, and had even refused to get married before his siblings finish their schooling." This year, however, marriage was a possible prospect. "But he died before he achieved any of his own dreams," El-Naggar said with a sigh. El-Naggar was watching television last Thursday at 2pm when he saw a news ticker saying three policemen were shot on the Egyptian border in Rafah. Even though the ticker did not include the names of the policemen, he said, "that was the moment I knew my son was dead." He immediately tried to call his son at work. "Hani's colleagues tried to hide the truth, until one had the courage to tell me my son was dead." El-Naggar paused for a second, then snapped: "That was the worst moment in my entire life." In the equally impoverished villages of Gasfa and Kafr Demto in Daqahliya and Gharbiya, grieving families were also gathered to mourn the deaths of their sons Mohamed Abdel-Fatah Rabi' and Amer Abu Bakr Amer. Like El- Naggar, Amer and Rabi' were the main sources of financial support for their poor families. "My son was the victim of a merciless hate crime," said a shattered Abdel-Fatah Mohamed Rabi', Mohamed's father. "My only condolence is that my son is a martyr. He was on duty protecting his land when he got shot." The last time Mohamed had called his family was on the first day of the Eid feast, earlier that week. His mother said her son was "always worried about his father's health, and was always willing to help his father provide for the family." Mohamed was "planning to get married soon", she said, "but was also worried that marriage would hinder him from fulfilling his financial obligations towards his family. He wanted his brothers and sisters to finish their education first. He was very tender and kind." The third victim -- Amer -- had also been dreaming of starting his own family. "But fate did not let him," his father said. "We demand a thorough investigation, and retaliation, for this atrocious Israeli crime." That also seemed to be a unanimous public demand. The incident has triggered public uproar nationwide: protests swept the country for at least three consecutive days, and the media had a field day reporting on the public's rejection of the Israeli apology. The 10,000 students who protested at various universities across the country on Saturday and Sunday pressed for an official rejection of Israel's apology, and called upon the government to sever its diplomatic ties with Israel and the United States, and open the door for jihad against Israel. "Down, down with Israel! Down, down with America!" shouted protesters at Cairo University. Similar slogans echoed at Ain Shams University, where around 4,000 students protested on Sunday. At least 2,000 students at Alexandria University and a reported 3,000 at Tanta University chanted similar slogans in response to the shootings. Following Friday prayers at Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo, about 100 worshippers protested, holding banners reading "Don't forget 6 October 1973" -- referring to the day Egypt initiated its last war with Israel -- and "The pigs' apology doesn't quench our rage."
