The Murder of Saleh Aljafarawi is a Low Point for Me and for the Entire Genocide

When I got the news yesterday I so badly hoped it was a lie. Seeing this man who was SO ALIVE now lifeless crushed me.

I am a writer, but I want to admit to you all today that it is difficult for me to even form the words to express just how sad I am that this wonderful young brother was martyred yesterday in Gaza.

Saleh was so special, so gifted at everything he put his mind to, so energetic, so full of life and still so hopeful about the future of Gaza that his loss has crushed all of us who knew and loved him.

My organization, the Grassroots Law Project, hired attorneys for Saleh to represent him before Meta after they banned him from Instagram, and also represented him as a witness and victim of genocide before the ICC and ICJ.

Saleh and I spoke on Friday and Saturday and he was seeing himself less as a journalist and more as a leader who was going to help Gaza rebuild. I believed in him. He asked me to help him get more gasoline/fuel for the bulldozers so that they could immediately begin clearing the streets.

I texted him late on Saturday night and was surprised when he didn’t respond but assumed he was either trying to rest or working hard somewhere. I am now told that he had been kidnapped, tortured, then killed by a group of Palestinian men who were literally armed and funded by Israel to cause mass chaos in Gaza.

I was in a class in my local masjid when a leader from our community texted me the news. My heart sank. And sure enough, my phone was full of photos and videos of our dear brother - now gone from this world and existing in the next one.

I hate Israel with every fiber of my being. I think I always will.

Ultimately, as a Muslim I trust Allah. Saleh trusted Allah every single day of this genocide. He was a devout and pious believer in Allah and in His Messenger, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Saleh had memorized all 77,000 words of the Quran and was a beautiful reciter of it.

He was an internationally ranked table tennis player and represented Palestine. He was a YouTuber with a huge base there. The world knew him as one of the single most fearless journalists in Gaza, but he was that and so much more.

Forgive me for not being able to say more. I am just so angry.

Love and appreciate you all.

Shaun