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'Real hero': Dearborn mourns loss of resident killed by Israeli air strike in southern Lebanon

Community members sayd Hajj Kamel Jawad's death spotlights the strong ties between the Lebanese diaspora and their homeland
Photos of Hajj Kamel Ahmad Jawad and his family (Lebanese Americans/Facebook)
By Maysa Mustafa
Published date: 3 October 2024 19:42 BST | Last update: 1 day 6 hours ago

Members of the Dearborn, Michigan, community have expressed their grief online after losing one of their own, Hajj Kamel Ahmad Jawad, to an Israeli air strike in southern Lebanon on Monday, which made him the first US citizen to be killed from the ongoing Israeli assault on the country. 

Jawad, 56, is among the upwards of 1,000 Lebanese who have died from Israeli attacks within the last couple of weeks. Thousands have been wounded and over a million have been displaced, according to Lebanese officials. 

Jawad was a businessman in Dearborn and was heavily active in the community. Condolences – from leaders of the community to his lifelong friends' children – have taken to their social media accounts to tell stories of Jawad and his impact on those in Dearborn, the first Arab-majority city in Michigan, more than half of which are Lebanese.


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"Today, my friend, Kamel Jawad of Dearborn, Michigan was murdered by an Israeli air strike in Lebanon. Israel killed an American citizen with weapons provided by the US government," a person posted on X. 

His wife and four children, who are not speaking to the press at this time, said in a statement that Jawad spent his last days near the main hospital in his village, Nabatieh, “to help the elderly, disabled, injured, and those who simply couldn’t financially afford to flee”.

Detroit News reported that Jawad was also taking care of his elderly mother. 

His daughter, Nadine, wrote: “Many others, just like him, risk their lives every day to alleviate the mass suffering caused by Israel’s genocide in Gaza that now spreads violence through Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Iran and Lebanon. My father’s actions are part of a much larger movement of people who refuse to stay silent in the face of oppression."

“The fact that he was an American citizen should not make his story more important than others.” 
 

Jawad’s death has put a spotlight on the US government’s failure to protect its citizens on the ground in Lebanon. 

President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that it contracted its first flight to evacuate US citizens from Beirut to Istanbul, Turkey, nine days after Israel started its offensive in Lebanon.

Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib mentioned Jawad’s death in a tweet criticising the State Department for “failing to protect their own citizens”.

She also dedicated a post to Kamel on Facebook where she said, “this killing hit hard”. 

Tlaib’s colleague, Michigan Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, also expressed her condolences and said that she and her husband have known the Jawad family for more than 40 years. 

The White House also expressed its condolences, and that they ”are deeply saddened” by his death, Reuters reported. 

While condolences from state officials continue to pour in, social media platforms have been flooded with pictures and messages dedicated to Jawad. 

A friend of Jawad's took to Facebook with a picture of them at a wedding, writing, “We miss you already brother, my HS (high school) classmate and a brother to me.”

Another community member, who said Jawad was a close friend of his father, wrote, “For years, Hajj Kamel would go down to Lebanon with all the money he had and help everyone he saw. He would come back to Michigan, work all day, every day, take down all the money the following trip, and do the same. Everyone has seen this with their own eyes. This man was the real deal old-school Hajj legend.”


"No one would ever know how much he really did for the people - they have no clue he exists," the post continued.

"Unknown on earth, known in the heavens. Real hero."

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