Nurit Peled-Elhanan

After the death of Nurit Peled-Elhanan's 13-year-old daughter, Smadar, in a Palestinian suicide bomber's attack in 1997, she became an outspoken critic of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. "My little girl was murdered because she was an Israeli by a young man who was humiliated, oppressed and desperate to the point of suicide and murder, just because he was a Palestinian. Now their blood is mixed on the stones of Jerusalem that have long been indifferent to children's blood. We, who were not wise enough to free our children from the grip of hate and racism before they found their final rest, need to look at their mutilated bodies and innocent faces, and ask ourselves, with the poetesse Anna Akhmatova, Why does that streak of blood rip the petal of their cheek?"

Nurit Peled-Elhanan is the recipient of the Sakharov Prize 2001 awarded by the European Parliament.

Standing up for the principles of the Universal Declaration
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights protects "the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas" In addition, Article 20 affirms that "Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association."

Learn more:
>>Wikipedia: Nurit Peled-Elhanan
>>More information about Bereaved Families for Peace

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