Amos Tajouri

Aug 30, 2001 - Amos Tajouri, 60, of Modi'in, was shot in the head at point-blank range by a masked gunman in the Arab village of Na'alin, while dining at a restaurant owned by close friends.

Tajouri, 60, father of three, was born in Libya and was fluent in Arabic. He was a frequent visitor to Na'alin, a Palestinian village under Israeli security control, west of Ramallah. He was on good terms with a number of families there, particularly the Amira family, to whom he had lent money to help them set up their restaurant. He also brought them goods he purchased in Israel.

On Thursday morning, Amos Tajouri arrived at the restaurant in Na'alin at about 10:00 A.M. While Mursia Amouri was in the kitchen preparing him an omelette, terrorists entered and killed him.

The Amira family sat and sobbed in the dusty ground outside their modest restaurant, speaking of their friendship with Amos. "He was like my brother," one family member said. "We are all weeping for him." Tajouri knew half of the village residents by name. The village children, to whom he often brought candy, used to run after him, shouting "Amos" or "flower" - the nickname he used for them.

Amos Tajouri was buried in Ramle. He is survived by his wife and three children.