Father of Dead West Bank Girl Seeks Peace With Israelis

By GREG MYRE

ANATA, West Bank, Jan. 22 — Even as Bassam Aramin mourns his 10-year-old daughter, killed last week during a clash between stone-throwing Palestinian youths and the Israeli police, he says he wants to talk to Israelis about making peace.

It has been a long journey for Mr. Aramin, 38, a former Palestinian fighter. He spent seven years in Israeli jails, from 1986 to 1993, for weapons possession and for belonging to the Fatah movement, which was banned at the time.

But his views gradually changed, and for the past two years he has been an active member of Combatants for Peace, a group of former Palestinian militants and former Israeli soldiers who have teamed up to urge reconciliation to both sides.

With his Israeli partner, Zohar Shapira, a former member of an elite commando unit, Mr. Aramin has been speaking to students and community groups in Israel and the West Bank.

“Over time I became convinced that we couldn’t solve our problem with weapons and we had to talk to the other side,” said Mr. Aramin, who lives in Anata, on the outskirts of Jerusalem. “I want to keep talking to Israelis so they can understand what happened to my daughter.”

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