Wassem Mahmoud is dead. He was killed in action at the age of twenty in Rafa in Gaza on June 24th. Wassem is Arabic for “blessed” or “handsome” and Mahmoud means “praiseworthy” and is an informal cognate of Mohammed. He shared his name with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian hardliner who seeks the extermination of Israel, and with Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority.
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