Abu Hamad, Shafiq

Shafiq, son of Chemda and Iyov Abu Hamad, was born in 1985 in a small Bedouin settlement in the Negev. In August 2008, he married his wife, a young wife from the Bedouin village of Wadi Hamam. For four months, the newlyweds lived in a rented apartment in Tiberias. Like many members of his community, Shafiq decided to volunteer for army service, and on December 1, 2008, he enlisted in the infantry brigade and was assigned to the Desert Patrol Battalion, known as the “Bedouin Battalion.” Because of the nature of his military service, Shafiq and Maha moved to Wadi al-Hamam in the Kinneret Valley. Private Shafiq Abu Hamad, fell during his service on April 4, 2009. He was laid to rest in the Wadi Hamam cemetery, leaving behind a wife, parents, three brothers and a sister.