Ayman Quader – The Gaza Strip: Still suffering from 23-day war and ongoing siege
By Guest Post • Dec 22nd, 2009 at 21:12 • Category: Features, Israel, Newswire, Palestine, Somoud: Arab Voices of Resistance, War
Gaza Strip, Occupied Palestine
Gaza, December 22, 2009 (also on Pal Telegraph) One year has passed since Israel’s cruel 23-day war on the 1.5 million people of Gaza. 1,400 people were brutally killed and tens of thousands were seriously wounded. It was 23 days that violated Palestinian human rights and put justice further out of reach. It was a war that utilized ‘state of the art’ phosphorous missiles to achieve levels of suffering and destruction that had not been seen in a generation. Tens of thousands of Gazans were made homeless and schools and hospitals were directly targeted.
The horrific 23-day bombardment of Gaza ended last January. However, the siege of Gaza and the suffering of its people continues. While UN and NGO reports describe the bombardment of Gaza and its aftermath in the abstract, talking to Gaza’s children provides an important reminder of the human side of the pain inflicted by Israel.
Anas’ Experience
Anas, a 9 year-old boy living in Bureij Refugees camp, narrated his own experience during the war.
"It was such an unbearable 23 nights of hell. Sometimes I had to hide forcibly staying under my mattress for almost 4 hours or more. I was terrified each time my father went to fetch bread for my family. My mother had to shout at my older brothers not to go outside our house so they wouldn’t be harmed by the continuing attacks. We were without electricity for up to five days at a time which made things even harder.”
“One day I woke up in complete shock, with my father’s voice shouting at us to close all the windows because an Israeli warplane fired a phosphorus missile that landed just by our home. My mother brought us pieces of cloth to cover our mouths so we didn’t breathe in the toxic chemicals.”
Research by the Gaza Community Mental Health Program shows that more than 70% of the Strip’s children remain traumatized and display symptoms of serious psychological difficulties. Understandably, Anas has found it difficult to adapt to life after the war.
He explained, “Recently I have had dreadful nightmares about the war. When I got back to my school in Bureij Refugees camp, I noticed the bad smell of gunpowder and missiles. I was really upset when I found out that five of my mates were killed and lots were gravely wounded.”
Like all of Gaza’s children, Anas is also fearful of the future, “It would be catastrophic if the Israeli government launches another war on us. I keep dreaming of a calm future for me and for children of the Gaza Strip. I hope this bad experience will never happen again."
Diana’s Memory
Diana, a 13 year-old girl, has also spoken about her experience of the war.
“The war was very hard for our family because our house is made of asbestos. An Israeli missile hit our neighbor’s house and completely destroyed it. The shrapnel from the explosion was falling down around our house like rain and was flying around inside as well."
One year on, Diana has little hope for the future, and she does not look at her house as a place of safety and security. There are many children who have lost their houses and their source of comfort and security.
A war against humanity
During the military offensive, at least 280 schools and kindergartens were severely damaged, and 18 schools were destroyed. Six of the destroyed schools are in North Gaza alone, affecting almost 9,000 students who had to relocate to other schools according to UNICEF, UNRWA. Furthermore, six university buildings were destroyed, and 16 were damaged. Because of the ongoing drastic siege on the strip, it has been hard to rebuild the damaged schools.
According to Dr Hasan Zeyada, a psychologist with GCMHP http://www.gcmhp.net/ ‘children are victims of aggression with all its forms; killings, injuries, imprisonments, loss, and economic & physical siege. The generations of Palestinian children have accumulated, through years of exposure to long term traumatic experiences, negative psychological and behavioral reactions that pose a significant threat to their psychological well-being."
The harrowing experience of the siege prevents the children of the Gaza Strip from having any kind of normal childhood. Children become more acquainted with the names of the dead rather than the names of games.
Anas and Diana are two examples of children whose only crime was being born Palestinian in the Gaza Strip. They hope and dream of a time when they can live in peace and stability with a right to their childhood.
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when i read this, i wonder what did Hamas expect?
I think Hamas expected this kind of attack on Gaza back when they kidnapped Gilad Shalit.
Hamas certainly expected an Israeli attack inevitably, and wanted it, especially to create a human rights tragedy so they could blame Israel.
This is why Hamas continued to shoot rockets at Israeli civilian targets.
I think any country would react to rockets the same way that Israel did.
That price Palestinians are paying to take a ISrael soldier as a POW hate to put that way but, the World will do nothing stop Israel so why should not do it to Palestinians living Gaze strip. For that matter Israel deside kill all the Palestinians then world watch and cry.
There are a few latest events which has shaken the very foundation of the Zionist entity. For example:
1. EU under Sweden presidency – in its latest proposal has stated that its member states would recognize a unilateral Palestinian declaration of independence if direct peace talks with Israel fail. Historically Europe has never recognized Israel’s 1967 annexation of East Jerusalem which Palestinians want as capital of their future country.
2. Gilad Atzmon in his recent article titled Anti-Smeitism Up, Islamophobia Down, wrote: “As much as Israel uses every possible means to drag us all into an endless war against Islam, the Europeans are coming to terms with the devastating reality of Zionist murderous brutality. Some 47.5% of European either “somewhat or strongly” agree that “Israel is conducting a war of extermination against the Palestinians”. In case someone fails to understand the meaning of it all, I will say it plainly, almost half of the Europeans accept that Israel employs genocidal tactics. They basically, agree that Israelis are the Nazis of our time.
3. Surprisingly, a recent Pew Research Center survey among the members of America’s most powerful Zionist think tank, Council on Foreign Relations (allegedly have 400 of its members in Obama administration including Hilary Clinton, Dennis Ross and CFR’ Jew president Richard Haass) – showed that two-third of them believe that US has gone over board in favouring Israel. The CFR’s negative views of Israel are twice as that of the general public.
4. American Jews are becoming disenchanted with the Zionist regime – thanks to several Israeli websites. As increasing members of US Jews are learning about Israeli Nazism, they’re building up healthy resistance to Israeli Hasbara (propaganda) lies.
Is Zionist-regime doomed?
http://rehmat1.wordpress.com/2009/12/19/is-zionist-regime-doomed/
Israel has been wating for a Palestinian peace partner for a long time. In 1999 Israel agreed to a Palestinian state.
Arafat rejected that, because:
1. he had not prepared his people for co-existence;
2. he feared being killed by radical Palestinians
Instead Palestinians launched intifada, increasing suicide bombing.
Israel continued to make offers, and withdrew from Gaza – which led Hamas to violently take over, and push Fatah politician off of buildings.
Today Natanyahu continues to wait for a Palestinian like Egypt's Anwar Sadat, who was willing to make peace with Israel.
As for European thinking on this subject, even a Holocaust denier must acknowledge that Europeans are not fond of Jews. Europe is afraid of Islamic terrorism so they are making superficial gestures to pacify Palestinians.
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