NO parent should have to bury their children, and yet the Palestinian woman who had that outburst at the transit point in Kuala Lumpur last week had to do that not once but three times.
She was with a group of injured Palestinian children and their caregivers who were flown into Malaysia for emergency medical care. There was a disturbance at the transit centre where the Pales-tinians are staying, and the woman was involved; the video went viral on social media and angered many Malaysians.
The woman went on TikTok on Saturday to apologise. She said she’s anxious as she still has children in Palestine and does not know their fate. No mother should have to go through such agony and helplessness.
Most of us who work will likely have had a bad day once in while when nothing goes right, and some will take the frustration and anger out on the road with road rage or, worse, on our family, colleagues, and friends. The bad day at work wouldn’t have physically harmed us or threatened to be fatal and yet some of us may behave worse than this woman.
This mother suffered tragedy and trauma in a war caused by the ambitions and folly of a few in her region. A whole lifetime of frustration from living in a blockaded Gaza, along with fear for her remaining children that was bottled up, likely just boiled over at the transit point. She has apologised, just as I’m sure most of us would after realising it is wrong to take out our frustrations on others.
Cut her some slack, she has been through much more than a bad day at work.
Let us stop the rancour and viciousness against this mother that is spreading on social media, and hope and pray the Pales-tinians here will recover fully soon. We should also hope and pray the war will be over soon and they can return home to rebuild their war-torn country and lives.
KOO WEE HON
Petaling Jaya
