A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy

Five-year-old Milad Salama is thrilled for a class trip the following day. His father Abed took him to a nearby store owned by his in-laws to buy snacks, and the next morning, Abed feels a pang of worry at the heavy rain and winds. On his way to work, Abed hears from his friend Atef that there is terrible traffic between a Palestinian refugee camp and an Israeli military checkpoint, and Abed soon learns that there has been an accident involving a school bus. Abed speeds to the site of the accident and tries to find out what is happening.

Milad had nearly been prevented from attending the trip, as his father had forgotten to pay his fee to the school. He and his cousin Hilmi hurried to the school, passing through ancestral land that has since been annexed by Israel and either subject to military control or opened up to Jewish settlement. They just barely made it to the school in time to pay the fee and allow Milad to join.

At the scene of the accident, Abed runs through traffic to find the bus overturned and scorched by fire. Another cousin who works for the local security service tells Abed that people have died.