Greetings and Salaam from Palestine.
I hope that this message finds you well.
As some of you have heard that my father (Saliba Rishmawi, Abu George) have passed away at sixty six years old last Tuesday August 18th at 15:40 Pm while sleeping in his house in Beit Sahour, which was the biggest shock for my entire family.
My Father Saliba, was my best friend, my teacher and inspiration, because of him, I do what I do now. He has taught me how to live with honor and dignity, how to seek justice and freedom, how work with the community.
He used to host elections campaign for his political party in our house, since I was a little child, campaigning for how making Palestine a better place to live, so from early age, I used to see people coming to our house, organizing for demonstrations around the area, preparing for strikes, and working hard solving people's problems.
My father was an active volunteer in the workers trade unions, helping to make the struggling people have a better working hours and wages. Hard to remember the number of cases he solves in cooperation with his friends and comrades.
My father was conflict resolution man, he used to solve problems for many people in the town and for people from my family, until the last day of his life, he was helping people solving their problems, hard to be believe.
My father was very active in the popular committees during the first Intifada, he used to urge me to participate in the demonstrations if one day I did not go, he will get mad at me, he always told me you should be their with your comrades all the time, never miss any event.
My father was active in the voluntary working committees, always participating in helping farmers and people in our community by volunteering his time and labor for them.
Words can not help me describing how he was, some of you reading this message have met him in person and have spend time with him, he meant the life for my family and I. He was the compass for our journey, he was the captain of our ship, he was the leader he was he was,
It is very hard for me to write this message about loosing him, very hard to go home and not seeing him, very hard to say that he is dead now, I wish he is in a better place now watching over me and my family.
The only thing we could do is to continue his journey for Justice and freedom for Palestine. One of my friends wrote to me, that my father is lucky and privileged that he was never a refugee, lived, died and buried in Palestine, yes very true, he is privileged that he is buried in his hometown, in Beit Sahour the town he loved.
The funeral was attended by hundreds of people, a local poet from the town had written a long poem about him, and one of my cousins read it in the church, during the funeral, it was really moving for all the town seeing an honorable beloved man departing. Thousands of people came to the wake after the funeral, according to the Palestinian traditions all families in our town came and gave their condolences and all of the people who loved him, came also.
My of you has written to me and my family, one behalf of my family, we are so grateful for all of them we are grateful for those of you who came to Beit Sahour and spend time with my family and got to know him, we are grateful for all of you who prayed for him while he was sick, we are grateful for you of thought about him.
Please help us continue his journey by bringing Justice and Peace for this part of the world. Salaam and Peace for all of you.
George Rishmawi and family
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