She was a shadow in a doorway looking at me as I walked away from the devastation of the Samoni family compound where 27 members of the clan had been killed by Israeli forces. A few minutes later a man cautiously walked up to me and asked if I would like to speak to Ranya Samoni, the wife of Eyad Samoni, one of the Samoni clan who had died? I hesitated long enough for him to say She wants to speak to you.
The massacre of the Samoni clan at the hands of Israeli soldiers has be reported by every major print, TV and internet news organization covering the aftermath of Israeli's Operation Cast Lead. But that afternoon I and writer Elliott Woods were the audience to one woman talking about her one husband and explaining to us the meaning and consequences of her one, personal loss.
Behind the story about the clan there were still the individuals left to carry individual pain and loss.