It has been three days since Israel began raining indiscriminate death carnage on Gaza, and three days of deliberately terrorizing the civilian population there: 350 killed, over 1,600 wounded, 200 in extremely critical condition in overstretched and understocked hospitals. The numbers don’t seem real anymore. It is hard for the sheer scale of the murder to register on one’s conscience.
The first day was shock and horror; 250 killed in the bloodiest day in Palestine for 40 years. The second day was terror; the realization that so many friends and loved ones had been slaughtered, the endless and indiscriminate nature of the bombings targeting every conceivable civilian structure, the continuous presence of fighter jets in the sky, the unstoppable flow of dead and wounded.
But today, after getting off the phone with my uncles there, I was reminded just why the Palestinian people are still around, refusing to give up in the face of superior military prowess, refusing to be daunted by the history of massacres perpetrated against them, refusing to stop fighting, 60 years on, for the rights they were stripped of three generations ago.
The bombings and the killings are ongoing, and the array of civilian targets continues to expand: ministries, the Islamic University’s Laboratory Building, the fishermen’s port, a UNRWA school, three more mosques (for a total of seven so far), five of Gaza’s scarce ambulances, three firetrucks and many homes. The warships have been attacking homes and buildings near the coast all night.
And yet today, in the voices of those I know in Gaza, I heard little of the shock and terror of the last two nights. I heard defiance, I heard a will to remain steadfast no matter the cost, I heard life. The voices that were monotonous and quiet yesterday were hearty and strong today, even through the pain. There were even a couple of laughs. It was amazing. In Gaza, amidst the hurt and the blood and the rage, they were raising my morale.
I went to step away from Gaza for a little, just to give you a picture of the reactions outside the Strip. In the West Bank, there is rage. I’ve never experienced such a unified surge of anger here. Much has been made of the split between the West Bank and Gaza, and the disconnect between us and the suffering there. But in these times, the Palestinian people in the occupied territories (and in the Green Line) are one.
Unfortunately, the Palestinian Authority has proved, beyond doubt, its cowardice and its connivance. As 350 are slaughtered in Gaza, the PA and the illegally appointed government of Salam Fayyad have barely had a thing to say. And when they do make any statements, they are disgraceful — whether it is Abbas blaming Hamas for Israel’s massacre or Yasser Abed Rabbo ruling out making a call for an emergency Security Council summit because everybody is on their end-of-year holidays. Fayyad’s government, facing intense criticism for using the security forces to break up rallies in recent days, explained that it does not ban demonstrations, just anything that criticizes the PA and anybody who attempts to clash with Israeli troops.
These characters are an insult to the spirit of resistance that is synonymous with the Palestinian people.
A day after claiming that Hamas could have avoided Israel’s mass murders by agreeing to extend the ceasefire whose terms were never respected by Israel, Abbas had the audacity to invite them and other factions to discuss the massacre. His insincerity was turned down flat.
The protests continued throughout Europe, the Americas and the Arab world. In Cairo, demonstrators chanted for Mubarak to step down and against Abbas. In Beirut, hundreds of thousands heeded Hezbollah’s call for a rally supporting Gaza. Hassan Nasrallah made another speech on the topic, again calling on Egypt and the Egyptian people to open the Rafah crossing. The attack on Hamas, he said, was not because of the movement’s Islamic character, but because of its refusal to accept Israel’s diktat. Whether religious or secular, anybody resisting Israel would be a target for Israel and its allies. He added his voice to that of many calling for a third intifada against the Israeli occupation, in Palestine and across the Arab world.
In a joint press conference with his Egyptian counterpart, Turkish foreign minister Ali Babacan stated that what is happening in Gaza makes it impossible for Turkey to continue mediating indirect peace talks between Syria and Israel.
In Gaza, police spokesman Islam Shahwan revealed the final number of policemen killed in that first wave of airstrikes: 120 civilian police officers. No matter how much Israel tries to justify their murders by pointing out that they were working for the Hamas government, these were civilian members of a police force that, like any other police force in the world, is an institution independent of the ruling party. These men were law enforcement officers, detectives, traffic wardens, and narcotics officers. It is disgusting that their brutal murders are so easily dismissed. Meantime the airstrikes did not stop. The skies over Gaza were buzzing with unmanned drones and Apache helicopters. The F-16 fighters, however, are usually not heard until they have already unleashed their terrifying missiles of carnage and death.
Overnight, five sisters of the Balousha family were crushed to death when a nearby mosque was destroyed and collapsed on top of their asbestos-roofed home as the girls slept.
I wanted to call my uncles and check up on them and their families, but for most of the day I couldn’t. I was too afraid to know the state they might be in. But when I did call, I was pleasantly surprised.
My uncle Jasim told me things were much better today, there was still a fear but people had begun to recover. We’ve managed to absorb the shock of that initial attack, he said, and that is helping us get by today. He said the sky had been quiet for about half an hour over Khan Younis, but the warships were attacking the shore. His voice was strong, just like it was when I’d talk to him at any time before the massacre began, and told me to not worry so much. They had no power, as usual, so I told him about the ongoing demonstrations and clashes in the West Bank and the outpouring of support across the world. I told him that nobody has forgotten them, and he told me to just keep praying for them. His youngest kids were asleep, but his daughters, Haneen and Yaqeen, were still up. I told him to tell them we’re all thinking about them.
Next I called my uncle Mahmoud. Yesterday, he told me he was waiting for death. The Israeli army had called him and told him they would bomb his home within a few minutes. It had left us all terrified, but today he told me it had become apparent that the Israeli army had sent that message to tens of thousands of homes. It is a sadistic and cruel tactic, designed to terrorize hundreds of thousands inside their own homes.
I asked him how his wife and brothers-in-law were doing. He said they were doing as well as you could expect having just lost their brother. They were still sleeping at his apartment because their home was only 700 meters from the border. That entire area, he said, is evacuated at sundown, as the Israeli shoot at any sign of life after dark.
His youngest daughter, Hanan, had woken up at the sound of one of the explosions and began running around the house in hysterics. He told me he’d held her and tried to comfort her but felt her heart beating unnaturally fast when he put his hand on her back. He was genuinely afraid for her life, but kept holding her until she’d gone back to sleep, telling her it was thunder, not hundreds of tons of missiles.
We talked about the psychological damage being wrought on these kids. We could understand what is happening, but to them it must seem as if the sky had just started raining death upon the living.
But I was buoyed
by his resoluteness. They can’t destroy us, he said. They can bomb and kill as much as they want, they can’t destroy us as a people and they can’t replace Hamas with any other imposed group. Even the families of those killed, he said, know they will probably sacrifice more in the days to come, but nobody is thinking of surrendering. He told me the fear was still there, but that everyone had already adjusted to the new reality, even if it meant expecting death and destruction at any minute.
The strength of Gazans in the face of suck an overwhelming military power and in the face of such death and destruction and fear is truly epic.
My final call was to my uncle Mohammad. He had stayed up until 7 in the morning, unable to sleep amidst the ongoing airstrikes that did not stop throughout the night. He told me the kids had woken up several times during the night, and he’d tried to explain to them that all the explosions were around them and not at them, that they’d have to get used to the booms and the shaking building from now on, and try to sleep through it. Again, in the cold, he had kept the windows open for fear they would be blown out. He lives in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood in Gaza City, which bore the brunt of the Israeli attacks.
After having breakfast with the kids, he decided to walk around and see the destruction to the Interior Ministry and Islamic University. One of the streets in the neighborhood had been cordoned off; a missile had landed in the middle of the street without exploding. It was about four meters in length and about half a meter wide-large, and silent. Who knows how many it had been sent to kill.
Mohammad, being in the middle of the most concentrated bombings, sounded wearier than the others, but he too was resolute despite the night of endless bombings. He told me there was no way Israel would achieve any of its goals, that the people could not be defeated even if they were suffering greatly. He told me the skies had been quiet for half an hour over Gaza City; hopefully the very worst was over.
Nobody but Israel’s war criminal leadership knows if the worst is over or if more is lined up for the people of Gaza. But Zionist ideology has no place for the idea that the Palestinians just will never give in. That is one of the main reasons why Israel cannot understand the simple solution to this asymmetrical conflict: stop denying the Palestinians their human and civil rights. It is what drives the Palestinians to fight, and it is what keeps them from giving in, no matter the cost.
Remember Gaza.
Related posts:
- Israel’s intent: Gaza’s Terror
- Gaza: the slaughter of a people
- Gaza burning
- Breaking: Israeli incursion into Gaza
- Gaza Blackout Update
Thank you for yet another jaw-dropping account. It was some small comfort to hear how your family members are so resolute and how that made you feel better.
I hope it’s ok with you that I linked your articles in another blog. Here is a link to the post where I put up your links in the comments section;
Real Ways to Stand With the People of Gaza
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/12/28/15922/162/550/677791
Posted by alfannaan | December 29, 2008, 4:36 pmHere is how the debate is going on the other side of the wall.
http://tinyurl.com/8s2v4n
Posted by David | December 29, 2008, 4:44 pmWith all due respect, David, this post you link to is just delusional. The writer says for instance “We were very careful not to make the lives of the civilian people in Gaza difficult.” HELLO, BLOCKADE!!!! and, “They themselves have violated the ceasefire. Again, we didn’t know why, until it came to a point where we were left without a choice but to bring an end to it.”
WE DIDN”T KNOW WHY?????
and my personal favorite – WE WERE LEFT WITHOUT A CHOICE!!!!!!!!
Ya Allah!
Posted by alfannaan | December 29, 2008, 5:02 pmMohamed, once again, thank you so much.
Thank you for humanizing the demonized.
Posted by Super Sayyin | December 29, 2008, 6:41 pmalfannaan
“We were very careful not to make the lives of the civilian people in Gaza difficult”.
Clarification for people with a single braincell: …before the atonomous Gaza became the source of kidnappings, terrorist activities and continuous bombardment
Posted by shlemazl | December 29, 2008, 7:13 pmWell shlemazl, here is the entire paragraph:
“The story is simple. Israel has left Gaza completely, out of our own free will, at a high cost. In Gaza there is no single Israeli civilian or soldier. They were evacuated from Gaza, our settlements, which called for a very expensive cost. We had to mobilize 45,000 policemen to take out our settlers from there. We spent $2.5 billion. The passages were open. Money was sent to Gaza. We suggested aid in many ways – economically, medically, and otherwise. We were very careful not to make the lives of the civilian people in Gaza difficult. Still I have not heard until now a single person who could explain to us reasonably: why are they firing rockets against Israel? What are the reasons? What is the purpose?”
The reason I inserted – BLOCKADE – in my earlier post, after an excerpt from above paragraph, was because the writer conveniently skipped the last 2 years of border closings, aid having been cut off, taxes withheld, and on and on – as though Israel had no part in provoking resentment, anger and even, yes, stupid rocket attacks, which by the way I do not condone.
Then the writer goes on:
“And I must say also that the phenomenon about Israel is the restraint of the army and the unity of the people. The army waited and waited; the Palestinians asked for a ceasefire, and we agreed. They themselves have violated the ceasefire. Again, we didn’t know why, until it came to a point where we were left without a choice but to bring an end to it. The operation was planned carefully and the army was true to its principles: namely, to be precise in its targets and careful not to hit civilian life. There is a problem because many of the bombs were stored in private houses. We have contacted the owners of the houses, the people that dwell there, and told them leave it. You can’t live with bombs. We have to bring an end to the source of the bombs.”
Here we are told how only the Palestinians violated the cease-fire – no mention of the Israelis never keeping up their end of the cease-fire bargain to open crossing and the like. This business about “we were left without a choice but to bring an end to it” is either willful ignorance or plain stupidity on the part of the writer.
Now, I don’t know if you are of a mind to continue referring to me as “people with a single braincell” or such other insulting things, but if so I will not respond to anything else you say. I am here for constructive dialogue and won’t tolerate trolling.
Posted by alfannaan | December 29, 2008, 9:20 pmLet us check out the actual sequence of events:
1. Complete Gaza pullout by Israel, uprooting Israeli citizens and population centres; which were in some cases established almost 100 years ago – September 12 2005.
Means of production, such as greenhouses were left in place and destroyed by the mob immediately after the pullout. The same thing happened to synagougues.
2. Five Israelis were injured when Palestinian terrorists launched about 30 rockets on Israeli communities from the Gaza Strip. This attack followed an incident the previous day, in which 20 Palestinians, including 16 civilians, were killed when a vehicle carrying Quassam rockets exploded during a Hamas rally in Jabalya – September 24th 2005.
Qassams have NEVER stopped. Not after the pullout and not after during your so-called “ceasefire”. This “cease-fire” went into effect on June 19th 2008. Israel was attacked by missiles on June 23d, June 24th 2008 and most days since.
Israel has to defend her citizens, which involves a proportionate response. That means response which is sufficiently strong to repulse the aggression. So far Israel’s response has been disproportionately weak because Israel has not achieved the objective. Then again Israel has only used a tiny fraction of her firepower.
Posted by shlemazl | December 30, 2008, 6:55 amIt has been three days since Israel began raining indiscriminate death carnage on Gaza
Hilarious characterization. If Israel’s goal were maximal destruction, you’d see entire neighborhoods leveled, not individual buildings. You’d have tens of thousands killed every day, not merely a hundred (with a strong majority of them being Hamas). Your disconnect from reality is unbelievable.
It does give us some insight into the Palestinian mindset, though. Why do they rocket Israel? Because they have the minds of teenage boys. Kind of a “Dude, it’d be f*kin’ awesome to blow up somebody. Look at the power I have!” Without even being able to conceive that someone might retaliate with some real force. Then it’s all “This is so unfair! I wasn’t really hurting anybody!”
Posted by Roy | December 30, 2008, 8:28 amDude! Lets force an entire population out of their homes and make them destitute refugees then occupy their refugee camps and oppress them there and then lock them all up! We’ve got bigger guns so its cool!
Posted by Mohammad | December 30, 2008, 9:17 amMohammed,
Do you see how you just made my point? Israel actually has some kind of plan beyond just blowing shit up. Your description of it is, of course, counterfactual, but you at least get the idea that they have goals and achieve them.
The Palestinians have ridiculous goals (the destruction of Israel) and no means to achieve them. So they entertain themselves with irresponsible and ultimately self-destructive acts of pointless violence.
Or, as you like to call it, “resistance”. By the unoccupied. Against those who aren’t occupying them.
So here’s an interesting question: do you care whether you make an argument that can stand up to scrutiny, or are you only interested in writing for those who already agree with you?
Posted by Roy | December 30, 2008, 10:32 am“The Palestinians have ridiculous goals (the destruction of Israel) and no means to achieve them.”
Actually Roy, even Hamas has agreed to the Arab initiative proposed in 2002 which would allow the creation of a Palestinian state in the 67 borders at peace with an Israeli state in what is the rest of Palestine. The iniative would also give Israel full diplomatic relations with all its neighbors in the region. So far Israel has rejected. The proposal was presented again in 2006, Israel rejected again.
Furthermore, Hamas has stated multiple times that they are willing to have a permanent peace with Israel with the 67 borders as the basis of a peace deal. That sounds alot like what most Palestinians and Israeli’s understand to be the road to peace.
“Or, as you like to call it, “resistance”. By the unoccupied. Against those who aren’t occupying them.”
Under international law Gaza is occupied by Israel. Israel controls its borders, its airspace, and its access to the sea. Israel has also implemented a crippling blockade on the territory. As I recall Israel initiated the 6 day war because Egypt imposed a tiny blockade on Israel.
“You’d have tens of thousands killed every day, not merely a hundred (with a strong majority of them being Hamas).”
You mean most of them are civil servants? Right? I have yet to see a report saying that the majority of the dead are fighters.
“So here’s an interesting question: do you care whether you make an argument that can stand up to scrutiny, or are you only interested in writing for those who already agree with you?”
I believe you meant to direct that to yourself?
Posted by Super Sayyin | December 30, 2008, 11:03 amActually Roy, even Hamas has agreed to the Arab initiative proposed in 2002
Actually, Super, even Israel “welcomed the initiative”. “Israeli Prime Minister Olmert has welcomed the plan”.
So far Israel has rejected.
Well, no. So far Israel has not achieved explicit acceptance. There is a difference.
I’m curious: do you think that Hamas has signed the agreement, and Israel has not?
In the meantime, Hamas continues to have the destruction of Israel as a goal. Certainly the rocketing of civilians in Sderot is not a way to get Israelis to the table, and Hamas has not issued any calls for Israel to come to the table and sign the plan.
As I recall Israel initiated the 6 day war because Egypt imposed a tiny blockade on Israel.
And Gaza initiated this (phase of the ongoing) war because of the blockade. News flash: what’s going on is a war. That doesn’t justify targeting civilians, which is what Hamas rocketeers are doing, and Israel is not.
You mean most of them are civil servants? Right?
Because civil servants can’t possibly engage in militancy. Right? Let me bring you up to speed: Hamas is a terrorist organization that does not distinguish between military and civilian, either for itself or for its enemies. You pretend that Israel is like that (and it’s bad), but actually Hamas is like that, and you love them.
I have yet to see a report saying that the majority of the dead
A majority of the targets have been Hamas installations. Hamas, as you’re probably aware, makes use of a variety of locations to house their rockets. And the rockets are a prime target. Because they’re a prime problem.
I believe you meant to direct that to yourself?
You believe a lot of stupid shit, mostly because you really, really want to.
Posted by Roy | December 30, 2008, 11:27 am“Abbas had the audacity to invite them and other factions to discuss the massacre. His insincerity was turned down flat.”
When we start arguing in terms of what we think about the other side’s thoughts, we rarely have a strong argument. If the Hamas leadership were responsible, they should have met with Abbas if he was asking, and been happy to do so. If nothing came of the talks, it would be a joint failure to reach agreement, which both sides could explain. If they don’t even turn up to talk, whilst our brothers in sisters in Gaza are dying, (and the Israelis are our brothers and sisters too) then their self-righteousness laughs at their people’s suffering.
Hamas is letting political calculation get in the way of serving their people. That is not heroic, it’s callous and weak.
Posted by Chris | December 31, 2008, 1:13 amI completely disagree Chris. Abbas is complicit in what Israel and Egypt are doing. Perhaps there can be national unity between Fatah and Hamas down the line. Abbas, however, does not represent Fatah. He represents the interests of Israel.
Posted by Mohammad | December 31, 2008, 10:55 amI disagree that Abbas is complicit, but even if he were, TALK.
TALK to the Israelis.
TALK to the Egyptians.
TALK to anyone who will listen, and even those who won’t. If you kill people, then other people will try to kill you. That stands for both sides.
People are dying, and self-righteous refusals to talk won’t help them any more than killing Israelis with rockets will.
Posted by Chris | January 1, 2009, 10:56 amIn response to shlemazl…
I don’t even know where to begin…after reading some of these comments, my blood literally begins to boil. I find it amazing how ignorant so many people are. WE are the terrorists?? REALLY? are you freakin kidding me? and shlemazl, since you want to look at the sequential order of events, please try to have a memory span longer than 4 years.
This is an ongoing problem that dates back to 1892, not 2005 as you would like to believe, with the Jew Theodore Herzl, who established the idea of political Zionism and was determined to establish an independent Jewish state, aka Israel…
Now let’s skip the next 56 years, otherwise this would go on forever. 1948…that date should ring a bell. But just in case, maybe I should clarify for those “with a single braincell”. 1948 is just 3 years after the end of WWII…a time that people were still coping with the aftermath and shock of the war. As we all know, WWII is most infamous for the mass murder and extermination of millions of Jewish men, women, and children. Why? Because they, along with other minorities, were deemed inferior to the Aryan race.
Before the war, no country ever really wanted Jews. After the war however, mass numbers (4.8 million)were immigrating to the US, and another 608, 000 to where other than Palestine? It was here that these optimistic survivors decided to start over…in a land that was rightfully ours.
In 1947, under British administration, Palestine was divided amongst Arabs and Jews (UN Partition Plan); the Arabs opposed their immigration, and the British could not resolve their growing tension. Arab leaders rejected the Plan; Jewish leaders reluctantly accepted it and began setting up a Jewish state in their prescribed zones. On May 14, 1948, the British left, and the Jews declared the independent State of Israel. Jews danced in the streets and waved the Israeli flag. The next morning, the Arab-Israeli war had begun.
By 1950, more than half of the Jewish survivors were living in Israel.
With the progression of the Arab-Israeli war, this was the one country that Jews, for once, felt superior.
My point being: worse measures have been and are being inflicted on Palestinians, especially Gazans, than the Nazis ever inflicted on Jews. It amazes me every time I watch the news or read an article how ignorant people are. And it is people like you (shlemazl) who are blinded by sheer stupidity and simple arrogance and ignorance, and cannot comprehend the fact that it is Israel who is inhumane and it is Israel who is a terrorist state.
“Five Israelis were injured when Palestinian terrorists launched about 30 rockets on Israeli communities from the Gaza Strip.” Five Israelis died? 30 rockets were launched? God forbid. Hundreds of missiles, bombs, nuclear weapons have been used against Palestinians. Oh, but I forgot…that’s okay. Over the past THREE DAYS, over 2000 innocent civilians have died or been injured. But that to you is insignificant, just as the worthless lives of your soldiers are insignificant to us. How can you honestly have the audacity to encourage and, worse, to justify the war crimes against Palestinians? Don’t you find it just a little bit ironic that the SAME group of Jews that had once been oppressed are now the oppressors? How can you possibly encourage such hypocrisy? That’s the one thing I find so unbelievably difficult to fathom… how these people, who were so humiliated throughout the war, who had everything stripped from them, whose families were murdered before their very eyes, can willingly inflict the same horrors on others, and only 3 years later of all things. How? Why?
Did you know that studies have been done on young Palestinian children, and it has been concluded that they have actually lost the will to live. When asked, they reply “What do I have to live for?” How many kids do you know suffer in the same way they do? NONE. But you could care less.
Did you know that the only two countries, out of about 195 independent countries, support Israel and its policies? (the US and Micronesia, which is a minuscule, or “micro” if you will, island in the middle of nowhere). What does that tell you about the State which you support?
Did you know that Israel holds the world record in the amount of times a single country was condemned by the UN? (over 500 times)
Did you know Israel holds the world record in homes demolished? (60, 000).
Did you know that Israel has legalized home demolition as a method of collective punishment?
Did you know that Israel is the only country in the world to legalize torture and assassination?
No, I can safely assume that you did not. I could go on listing more horrific facts about this terrorist state, but it wouldn’t make a difference. Even if you were to witness it first hand, you would still be in denial.
Let me ask you a question. If someone, today, right now, walked into your home and pulled a gun on you, held it to your head, as his accomplice searched your home for anything he found worthy of taking, raped your mother or sister, beat your father… how would you react? Would you not instinctively attempt to fight back? So WHY would it be okay for you to do so, but not us? When our entire world has been taken from us, should we not fight back?? Should we sit there and watch it happen, LET it happen? HELL NO. No. What sense would that make? NONE, it wouldn’t. To sit back and let it happen…that would be cowardice, that would give them what they want. Palestine will prevail, and Israel will fall. It is simple as that. God is with us and our efforts. It is as simple as that, whether your “single brain cell” can comprehend that fact is a different story.
I’m very sorry to have opened your eyes to the true horrors, the reality, of the situation. I know that Israel and the US have done absolutely everything in their power, and have tried with all the energy they could muster, to conceal the truth. But the truth is coming out, and now more than ever Palestine has the support of the world. And Palestinians are determined now more than ever.
I would highly suggest watching a documentary called “Occupation 101”. It is an amazing film which has won several awards and can be found on YouTube. It without fail shows the heinous crimes against Palestinians which you so proudly support. If you do not watch it, that is fine… but all it does is prove that you are a coward and you know that I am right; it means you are afraid that watching it might prove something, and I think we both know full well what that something is…
PS, alfannaan, thank you for being one of the few who helped bring the light the actualities. May Allah swt reward your efforts Inshallah
Posted by GAZA | January 1, 2009, 4:37 pm