Incredible last words of a fallen Bedouin IDF soldier: ‘We must stand together united’

Israel has several minority groups serving in the army, including from the Bedouin community, an Arab ethnic group traditionally known as nomadic sheep and goat herders in southern Israel's Negev Desert.

On Monday, 26-year-old Ahmad Abu Latif, a Bedouin reservist soldier, was killed in the horrific Gaza tragedy, when at least 21 Israeli soldiers died and several more seriously wounded when terrorists fired two RPG anti-tank missiles near a pre-rigged demolition site, causing a detonation that collapsed two buildings on dozens of soldiers.

Ahmad, the father of a one-year-old daughter, worked at the Ben Gurion University in southern Israel.

His words offer a window into the soul of a courageous soldier who chose to live and die for the sake of unity during wartime.

Here is what he wrote shortly before his death:

“Hello, My name is Ahmad Abu Latif, father of little 11-month-old Mansoura. I have lived in Rahat all my life and worked for two years in campus security at the university, and I am proud to be a Bedouin-Israeli!

In my view, the people I live and work with are my brothers and sisters, and we all live together and respect one another in our shared homeland.

I am proud to be a Bedouin who served in the IDF as a Desert Reconnaissance Battalion fighter. I had the privilege to defend and protect my homeland in meaningful service that I will never forget. During my service, I discovered my own inner strengths and abilities to face challenges, and I met amazing people who became friends for life.

I am happy when I have the opportunity to connect with people in our society and build bridges between cultures. I am glad I can invite my friends to eat grilled meat and maqluba in Rahat, and I can be invited to Kibbutz Shoval to play guitar and sing together songs by Yehudit Ravitz. I am happy when I can travel around the country with my friends, and I am most happy that they are learning Arabic, trying to speak Arabic with me, and asking me to help them with the language.

I want to tell you about an event on October 9th at 8 pm. I drove with my brother-in-law, firefighter Kaveen Elhazaily (who also worked 4 years in campus security and is now a respected firefighter), to distribute food to soldiers at Beit Kama. Along the way, we noticed the police vehicles and at the same time received messages about terrorist infiltrators in the Mishmar Hanegev area near Rahat. Because we are armed and professional security personnel we jumped over there immediately and joined the police forces. We assisted in searches to locate the terrorists, with an adrenaline rush and a crazy sense of mission. It was the little we could do and we had the privilege to take part in protecting the homefront. Soon the terrorists were located and dealt with by the police.

Since the outbreak of war, much has been heard about the involvement of Arab citizens – sadly among the fallen are Bedouin and Druze soldiers, Muslims and Christians, who fell as heroes while defending the state, and there is no greater honor than that!

The Bedouin community mourned the civilian victims murdered for no fault of their own – Jews, Christians and Muslims.

And I want to take this opportunity to raise a wake-up call to anyone reading this! We all share the same fate and we must stand together united.

Unfortunately, there are people who do not believe in coexistence between different groups, people who try to frighten, provoke and destroy relationships and trust. Do not believe them and do not allow such a thing to happen.

Beer Sheva is a diverse city, especially when it comes to the student community. Every day at the university I see students helping each other through good deeds and in times of distress, always seeing the human being in the other. We must safeguard this security and friendship!

I also hope that soon, all of you reading this could return to the classroom with a feeling of 100% security.”