A young Palestinian teenager wonders why.
Noor asked me why Israel would destroy her school. She asked why Palestinians don't have air defenses and why the good Americans are not fair.
Her uncle wonders what is going to happen to her and the other traumatized children of Gaza.
Noor is not alone in her pain. Many children in Gaza are wetting their beds, unable to sleep, clinging to their mothers. Worse are the long-term consequences of this severe trauma. Palestinian children in the first intifada 20 years ago threw stones at Israeli tanks trying to wrest freedom from Israeli military occupation. Some of those children grew up to become suicide bombers in the second intifada 10 years later
An Israeli wonders what it's doing to his country's soul.
The level of pressure the Israel Defense Forces has been exerting on Gaza may be squeezing Hamas, but it is destroying Israel. Destroying its soul and its image.
In a few days the fire will cease and the fog will disperse, revealing the horror. Hamas will be crushed, but pictures of outrageous destruction and killing will flood the world. Beirut's "Waltz with Bashir" will pale by comparison to Gaza's waltz with Olmert.
And in the midst of this horror..... a small light in the darkness. A baby is born.
It has been the bloodiest, most violent day yet here in Gaza City. Israeli tanks came in from the south, shelling and bombing in the residential areas. But even with this death, bloodshed and chaos all around us, we are filled with joy. Twelve days after my father was killed by an Israeli airstrike, our first baby has been born, healthy at 3.8 kilos, with dark hair, just exactly as her mother wanted.
Thank goodness for small miracles. Welcome to hell Somaya.
End the madness NOW...
I am just so desperate to get Michael Ignatieff or any of the other apologists in a room and ask them, "Is there anything Israel can do in the name of 'self defence' that you would find unacceptable?"
ReplyDeleteHi Jennifer....don't hold your breath. It's all politics and posturing. The media don't like the story either because it's too controversial. The CBC National ran the Gaza story TWENTY minutes into their newscast. Can you believe that? I don't expect people to be unbiased, but I do expect them to be moral. It's all so cowardly and so wrong...
ReplyDeletePalestinian Astrophysicist in US loses 11 year old son in Gaza when Israeli Warplane BOMBED his Family Home.(Democracy Now.org)
ReplyDeleteOnly 1 family member allowed into Egypt, where severe casualties are transferred to hospital for more advanced care.Pathetic.
Imagine not being able to be with your child.
I can't bear these stories any further.Its NOT FAIR.
Canadian politicians: where is your HUMANITY. Have you no compassion?