Stories of Two Little Girls From Gaza - Must see video
By Haitham Sabbah • Jun 18th, 2008 at 19:25 • Category: Analysis, Children's Corner, Features, Grassroots Activism, Israel, Mary's Choice, Newswire, Opinions and Letters, Palestine, Quotes, Resistance, Somoud: Arab Voices of ResistanceHere are two stories from two very bright young ladies from Gaza, Occupied Palestine.
The first one is a moving clip taken from an Arabic TV show where she tells her story.
Watching it made me and my family cry, so I decided to translate it and share it with you. (Hat tip: Rasheed)
Code for embedding this video available here:
- http://blip.tv/file/1000517
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d96Ol3kAzU
- http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5tevj_story-of-little-girl-from-gaza_news
The second touching story is from Hanen Zaqout who is only 16. This is her letter to the world:
A Girl from Gaza Identified by her ID
We all spend a lifetime trying to figure out what makes someone who they are, and what defines them. Is it their characteristics, appearances, or behaviors? It may be a combination of all…for regular people. But for people who come from where I come from, figuring out who they are is not a choice for them. I come from Gaza City in Palestine, where surviving each day is a huge struggle for all Gazans. Leaving Gaza was the hardest thing I've ever done, partly because I miss my old life, and partly it is the guilt kicking in.
When I left Gaza, I had to go through this checkpoint. It's not ANY checkpoint. It is the Erez Checkpoint and its there to imprison the people of Gaza because as soon as the Israeli soldiers see a Gaza ID, that person is automatically considered an utter terrorist. Without knowing who they are, without any idea whatsoever about those people, they decide that they are criminals. Who has the right to take a person's identity from them? Or to judge them based on a piece of paper or nationality? How can they take away people's choice of trying to figure out who they really are? I don't know… but as I was walking through that long tunnel in that checkpoint, I realized that no matter what I do, no one will accept me for who I am. In that tunnel, they make no difference whether I am a terrorist or a person who is yearning for peace, not only for my people but also for the Israeli people.
I had the "privilege" to leave Gaza that others dream of having. Not because they don't love Gaza, nor for the fun of it, but because it is so hard to live there. Home became something you want to escape from instead of being the place you can run to when life gets too hard. As soon as I was through that checkpoint, after being treated like an animal, after being "numbered" like baggage, checked out by all the screening machines that never occurred to my mind that I would ever see them. I now live in Ramallah, which is only 2 hours away from Gaza. I left that exotic part of the world called Gaza; but still have it on my mind every second of the day, still influenced by my past there, and still motivated by its people's strengths.
On the news, the talk about how Gaza has NO fuel, NO food, and even NO electricity; but the TV is just a source of information to pass on how people are suffering…does that mean that anyone outside Gaza understands what the people are really going through? No, they listen to that devastating news, ‘feel bad' for the people going through it, and continue on with their lives like nothing happened. Maybe some people can pretend, but as for myself I can't! This is the main reason I'm writing this for as much as I know that words can be inconsequential, they can also make a difference in many people's lives.
I hate that I feel guilty every time I eat a piece of chocolate, knowing that a friend or a little child is craving one. I hate that when I'm bored I can open the TV or the computer and waste time, while my friends have nothing to do considering they have no electricity. I hate how I can go wherever I want, whenever I want, even outside Ramallah, while my friends are stuck at home because they have no fuel to even go around Gaza city! I hate buying new clothes, because my friends can't. I hate that I'm absolutely and utterly helpless.
However in Gaza, regardless of the situation, you always find love and hope, you find people struggling for their lives. A mother trying to put a smile on her child's face, a father trying to get the strength to protect his child's little body from a missile. In Gaza you find those mixed feelings between love and hatred, between hope and despair, between frustration and satisfaction. In Gaza, you find people smiling when they cross the borders, even when it takes them hours and even days to cross. In Gaza you find just what you need. You find home.
By: Haneen Zaqout
Grade 10
Friends School- Ramallah
[Via: Sabbah's Blog]
Haitham Sabbah is an uprooted Palestinian blogger. He is the webmaster and editor of Palestine Blogs, also webmaster and co-editor of Palestine Think Tank. His personal blog is Sabbah's Blog: http://sabbah.biz/
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I have a dream
I have a dream
When they stop bombing
No more shelling
To rush outside
And up a tall tree
To tie a string
Make a swing
Fly up so high
And touch the blue sky
Leave my tears up there
To come down as rain…
I have a dream
When tanks leave the camp
No BING … BONG … BANG
To run out and see
The deep huge sea
To swim towards his heart
Jumping up and down
Wishshsh … washshsh
Splish … Splash
Wash all my fears away
I have a dream
When soldiers leave my town
And the camp walls fall down
To go outside
And sitting on the sand
Write a sad story
With my own hand
Then wait for the tide
To wash my pain away!!
I have a dream
When they lift the curfew
To skip outside
Holding in my hand
The string of my kite
Racing with the wind
Fly it up so high
Tying to its tail
All my nightmares
And with the fluffy clouds
Rinse them all away
I have a dream
When we free our land
To open all the doors
Invite the rainbow in
Holding on his hand
To dance with my heart
Going round and round
Twirling like a derwish
Gathering love and joy
In my right palm
And down the other hand
To every needy child
Give it all away!!
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i want to try to compare anne frank, the holocaust and palestine and i am try to get a good story about a persons life in gaza for my Presentation does anyone have any Suggestions or does antone have any suggestions on what to do my presentation on for the class.
Thanks