Mounting Violence in Gaza

Alquds radio, a Palestinian station broadcasts from Gaza city, is counting the names of those victims killed today by the Israeli bombardment. The number keeps increasing and I keep following. It started with 4 then jumped to 6. The radio is naming the martyrs. My son, Tarek, aged 7, asks me: are those the same killed yesterday? Briefly, I said no. They are new victims. It is time to go school.

While walking with him, Tarek kept raising different questions and I kept replying with short answers. And before getting into school he asked: will you be angry mom if I get eight out of ten at my spelling test? It was not expected question and I said no, just do your best. I gave him a hug and walked back home.

When I reached home I found that the number of the dead reached 7. Then in few hours it rose to 12. Among them were five children, three from the same family aged 7, 8, 11, 12 and 15. Needless to mention the infant Mohammed Nasser Al Bura'i, aged five months, killed last night in an Israeli strike on Gaza town. Overall, 25 victims has been murdered over the past 36 hours. Meanwhile, I keep flicking the web sites and world channels. From Aljazeera, I move to the BBC then to the breaking news of the Alquds paper then back again to alquds and Alaqsa local radios.

I look to the telephone next to the laptop: shall I ring Gaza or shall I not? I want to talk to my family. I want to talk to my mom. I want to talk to my friends and neighbors. I want to hear any voice from Gaza and ask for more news. But I already know the news. What more can they tell me about situation? I will only increase the status of worry they live as they would definitely feel my worries. Therefore, I decided not to call.

Again, I return to the laptop to search for more news. The reports from Tokyo speak about Condoleezza Rice, US Secretary of State, concerns over the Israeli attacks against Palestinian citizens in the Gaza Strip that are in retaliation to Palestinian rockets against Sederot. In the article, there was no mentioning to any numbers or names or identity of those murdered today or yesterday or the reasons for what Rice and the world called rockets, their kinds or the causalities they caused at the other side. The main concern was that Palestinian attacks against Israel must stop, saying, "The issue is that the rocket attacks need to stop. We have to remember that the Hamas activities there are responsible for what has happened in Gaza. It is very clear where this started."

No single word was mentioned about the state aggression against a whole population numbered over 1.5 million. For Rice, the blockade of Gaza, the boycott, the closure of borders, the daily attacks and human loss, and the rest of human violations don’t count or perhaps don’t matter. No one reminded the Secretary of the State that such horror lived by Gazans is not a result of the rockets or any other kind of resistance activities over the past 8 months or the past two years or even the past decade.

The situation in Gaza is and has always been horrific. There is no doubt that it worsens from time to time but the overall situation has always been the same. No fundamental change has ever occurred since I opened my eyes in this life. If Rice memory is short, then the logical question that should be posed at this juncture: is the world memory the same?

Moreover, there is no change for better is expected to occur in Gaza or for Palestinian Gazans as far as the Israeli occupation remains in control of Gaza outlets, space, movements and water. That occupation is the source for yesterday, today and tomorrow’s misery. The story of peace process is a big lie. The story of Gaza withdrawal is big joke. The story of Palestinian rockets is a false justification for more aggresion and invasions.

When I finished reading Rice words, I said to myself of course I won’t get angry today if Tarek gets 8 out of ten in his spelling test.