Mother of the Year Award Goes to Gaza Widow
Aisha Abu Shannab lost her husband and son to war, but has managed to raise her remaining children and run a small NGO for widows in Gaza, Rami Almeghari writes.
Aisha Abu Shannab, or Om Hassan, a woman in her 50s from the Gaza Strip, was awarded the Mother of the Year prize on Feb. 28. She received the honor from the Ex-Warriors Association, a local chapter affiliated with the Arab League.
Om Hassan is also the widow of late Hamas leader Ismail Abu Shannab, who Israel extra-judicially killed in 2003, breaking a 51-day truce between Israel and Gaza-based armed factions.
"My husband Ismail left us for his final rest in 2003, and since then, I have been taking care of our seven children, including two little daughters. Besides being a widow and mother, I began taking care of this association since 2004,” she told Al-Monitor at the office of her non-profit organization in Gaza City, Lighting Candles.
"Abu Hassan (Ismail) was such a great husband and his greatness also showed in several life experiences, particularly when the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority would arrest him. Once I shouted some prayers against those who came to arrest him, but he responded by telling me: ‘Please do not pray against them, but rather pray for them, so that they could get better.’ He was such a great educator and a man of tolerance,” Om Hassan recalled.
