Avraham (Avi) Boaz 72 (dual Israeli-American citizen) kidnapped at a PA
security checkpoint in Beit Jala and murdered Source: Israel Foreign Ministry Jan 15, 2002 - Avraham (Avi) Boaz, 72, of Ma'aleh Adumim was kidnapped at a
PA security checkpoint in Beit Jala. His bullet-riddled body was found in a
car in Beit Sahur, in the Bethlehem area. Avi Boaz, a dual Israeli-American citizen, was an architect. Together with
his partner, a Palestinian engineer, he planned and built many homes in the
Bethlehem area. On Tuesday morning, he used his U.S. passport to enter
Bethlehem with his partner in order to purchase building materials for his
new home in Har Gilo. He was stopped at a PA security checkpoint in Beit
Jala. His murderers abducted him at gunpoint from the roadblock, manned by
Palestinian police, who reportedly witnessed the kidnapping and failed to
intervene. They brought him in his vehicle to Beit Sahur, where they shot
and killed him. Avi Boaz immigrated to Israel from the United States in 1961. Here, about 40
years ago, he met and married Eve. Although they later divorced, they
remarried just two weeks ago, when Eve was on her deathbed, suffering from
cancer. She passed away several days later. His daughter, Idit Cohen, said that her father had been on friendly terms
with Palestinians in the Bethlehem area, often eating with them and
attending their family celebrations. "The Arabs of Bethlehem were more than
his friends, they were his family," she said. "He knew Beit Jala better than
he knew Jerusalem. He worked there for many years. He trusted them, and
always believed that things would turn out well. I always worried about him,
because of his travels to that area. He always answered: Nothing will to
happen to me." Residents in Bethlehem and Beit Jala responded yesterday to Boaz's murder
with disbelief and anger, noting that he had been a fixture on the local
landscape for 20 years, and had become "part of the local society." They
said that Boaz maintained good relations with many in Bethlehem and Beit
Jala, and was "never involved in acts which harm Palestinians." Avraham Boaz is survived by his daughter, Idit. |