Parha Yousouf, mother of fallen Druze soldier Madahat Yousouf, passed away Saturday morning, 24 years after her son’s death. She was 85.
On October 1, 2000, a mob of Arabs, including Palestinian Authority policemen, rioted at Joseph’s Tomb and attacked the Jewish holy site with stones, Molotov Cocktails, and shooting. Border Police officer Madahat Yousouf was shot by a sniper.
Madahat waited for four hours to be evacuated by IDF forces so he could be treated for his wounds, and perished before help arrived. The IDF commanders had decided not to send in IDF forces to extract the Israelis from the site, but instead waited for the Palestinian Authority to send its own forces to evacuate those trapped there. This decision was sharply criticized and blamed for Mahadat’s death.
In recent years, Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan has supported the family. Two years ago, Parha and Salman Yousouf dedicated a monument to his memory together with Samaria Regional Council chairman Yossi Dagan. The relationship between Dagan and the parents began about two years prior, when he arrived at the head of a delegation from Samaria and the “Od Yosef Chai” yeshiva at the family’s home in Beit Jann.
Dagan spoke with Parha’s husband Salman and her son Mahadi, sending condolences from the Jewish residents of Samaria.
“I send the dear family my feelings of deep sorrow at the passing of their mother, the honorable Parha,” he said. “The settlements in Samaria embrace you with love. There is a pact of blood between us – we are brothers! You are part of the Samaria family, forever. We love you and salute you. Your heroic son fell in defense of the State of Israel, protecting the gravesite of Joseph the Righteous, protecting the yeshiva at the site. There is nothing greater or more holy than this.”
“We are with you always – including in these moments of sorrow, and with G-d’s help, only in happy moments from now on. The holy Madahat was injured and abandoned to die before we abandoned the holy site, by the pitiful government which we had then. Dear Yousouf family, our hearts are with you. We will not forget Madahat – he is with us always. We will continue to work together to correct this horrific act and return completely to the holy site which connects us all.”
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