Qana victims remembered in Dearborn, Bitar family still seeking justice for two sons killed in attacks

By Nick Meyer
Saturday, 04.23.2011, 03:05pm

DEARBORN – Many are familiar with the old saying,  "Time heals all wounds." But for Haidar Bitar of Dearborn, dealing with the deaths of his two sons Hadi and Abdulmohsen, who died in 1996 when Israeli forces shelled a clearly-marked UN compound in southern Lebanon, gets harder with each passing year.

"The more the time passes the more difficult it gets," he said. "Today, they would be 24, 25 years old, they left this life for nothing, no reason.

"If they were here today they could be something in society and do something to help their community, do something good; as time passes by it hurts more and more."

Bitar was among the speakers on Sunday, April 17 at the Islamic Center of America's 5th and 15th annual commemorations of the tragedies in Dearborn's sister city in Lebanon, Qana, which occurred in 1996 and 2006.

Both of the Bitar children were Dearborn citizens at the time visiting their grandmother. The last time Haidar spoke to his sons, they told him they had to flee with their grandmother from her home because the Israeli army announced they were going to bomb the area. She was old and did not drive so the closest place to seek safety was the UN compound.

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