Torch of Life

Yoni Jesner and Ahmed Khatib were, respectively, a Jewish teenager and a Palestinian boy, whose organs were donated to children from the opposite sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after their violent deaths. Yoni Jesner was killed in a Palestinian suicide bombing in 2002, while Ahmed Khatib was shot dead by IDF soldiers, who
mistook a toy gun Ahmed was holding for a real one.

A number of news organizations  focused on the generosity and faith of the two families, the Jesners and the Khatibs, in the midst of the conflict. Their story was also made the subject of an award-winning BBC World Service program, Heart and Soul, in 2007.

Following on from this, in June 2012 Marsha and Yael Gladstone were  invited to Canada to meet Khaled  Katib, brother of Ahmed, and to participate in the Torch of Life relay. Yael and Khaled carried the Torch of Life together, helping to increase awareness of the importance of organ and tissue donation and to show how the gift of life transcends all  boundaries, whether geographical or religious.

As part of the Organ Donation week of events, they participated in a Press conference at the Queens Park Toronto Parliament building.

While in Toronto, Marsha appeared on Canadian morning television, talking about her personal experience of organ donation.