Two successive big explosions wakened me up, Sondos jumped quickly to my bed , frightened, shivering and covered her head, with the blanket. It was two big explosions ,but not sonic booming, I am an expert now. The power has been off, it was a great blessing last night we had it for 5 hours. I switched on the local radio, the Islamic university building was hit, as well as the Foreign Ministry building, 200 meters from my place. I decided to write in the morning, my daughter was too frightened, and I felt strong enough to stay by her side.
Yesterday the Palestinian Ministry of health officially declared that 82 people had been martyred and 271 injured from 30 – 6 – 2006 to 12 – 7 – 2006. Among the martyrs are 22 children. The number is expected to increase because there are still casualties in the intensive care units
My visit to Attar Family 11.7.2006
I feel emotionally strained after visiting the Attar family, in Beit Lahia village North of Gaza. It was my second visit, I went there with 2 of my colleagues with some little presents for the kids. 50 kids received little parcels donated from MECA for peace (USA people).
The Israeli army reoccupied the village for continuous 3 days as part of its military operation in Gaza, and during these three days the army made great damage into this family 3 storey building, before occupying it, to use the roof as a base for snipers. 40 members of this extended family were kept in one room, unable to go out for 3 continuous days, with no water and no electricity. I was told that the whole family were forced to get out of their house, and made to stay in the very hot afternoon sun for 4 hours at least, standing in front of their house, Then they were put into the one room for three days. I met 40 children, 5 at least are infants, and feeding those babies was a big problem.
I met seven members of this family, who had visual impairment disability. It broke my heart, when I asked the grandfather of this extended family, why do you think they have chosen your home? He answered me simply, I only have children and people with special needs, I am a soft target. He did not know that his house position is a strategic location for snipers, it lies on a hill that overlooks the whole village, it is just right place for snipers.
One of the small girls hold my hand, and said: look there, we were in the sun for long period, next to the donkey place, it was hot, I was thirsty, my baby brother was crying, and I was terrified, I wet my pants.
What happened with this family is happening every day in Gaza, with different shapes. Those children will suffer from PTSS, and waiting for years ahead to be healed, as an outcome the hatred will grow, inside themselves, with painful memories.
I handed the gifts to the kids, telling them it is from American people who care, and thinking of you, they are not the American government that helps this army to have free hand in our country.
I always think of the safety of the Israeli kids and civilians, and I am totally against hurting civilians, but I do believe that the comparison of suffering is unfair, and not objective. I have an offer for Israel to send 1.5 million Israelis to live in Gaza, under those circumstances! Any way both of us suffer, it is an outcome of injustice and the occupation.
A shorter version of this article was scheduled to appear Thursday, July 13th inYediot Aharonot, but postponed to next week because of the developments in Southern Lebanon. (1)
Whatever may be the fate of the captive soldier Gilad Shalit, the Israeli army’s war in Gaza is not about him. As senior security analyst Alex Fishman widely reported, the army was preparing for an attack months earlier and was constantly pushing for it, with the goal of destroying the Hamas infrastructure and its government. The army initiated an escalation on 8 June when it assassinated Abu Samhadana, a senior appointee of the Hamas government, and intensified its shelling of civilians in the Gaza Strip. Governmental authorization for action on a larger scale was already given by 12 June, but it was postponed in the wake of the global reverberation caused by the killing of civilians in the air force bombing the next day. The abduction of the soldier released the safety-catch, and the operation began on 28 June with the destruction of infrastructure in Gaza and the mass detention of the Hamas leadership in the West Bank, which was also planned weeks in advance. (2)
In Israeli discourse, Israel ended the occupation in Gaza when it evacuated its settlers from the Strip, and the Palestinians’ behavior therefore constitutes ingratitude. But there is nothing further from reality than this description. In fact, as was already stipulated in the Disengagement Plan, Gaza remained under complete Israeli military control, operating from outside. Israel prevented any possibility of economic independence for the Strip and from the very beginning, Israel did not implement a single one of the clauses of the agreement on border-crossings of November 2005. Israel simply substituted the expensive occupation of Gaza with a cheap occupation, one which in Israel’s view exempts it from the occupier’s responsibility to maintain the Strip, and from concern for the welfare and the lives of its million and a half residents, as determined in the fourth Geneva convention.
Israel does not need this piece of land, one of the most densely populated in the world, and lacking any natural resources. The problem is that one cannot let Gaza free, if one wants to keep the West Bank. A third of the occupied Palestinians live in the Gaza strip. If they are given freedom, they would become the center of Palestinian struggle for liberation, with free access to the Western and Arab world. To control the West Bank, Israel needs full control Gaza. The new form of control Israel has developed is turning the whole of the Strip into a prison camp completely sealed from the world.
Besieged occupied people with nothing to hope for, and no alternative means of political struggle, will always seek ways to fight their oppressor. The imprisoned Gaza Palestinians found a way to disturb the life of the Israelis in the vicinity of the Strip, by launching home-made Qassam rockets across the Gaza wall against Israeli towns bordering the Strip. These primitive rockets lack the precision to focus on a target, and have rarely caused Israeli casualties; they do however cause physical and psychological damage and seriously disturb life in the targeted Israeli neighborhoods. In the eyes of many Palestinians, the Qassams are a response to the war Israel has declared on them. As a student from Gaza said to the New York Times, “Why should we be the only ones who live in fear? With these rockets, the Israelis feel fear, too. We will have to live in peace together, or live in fear together.” (3)
The mightiest army in the Middle East has no military answer to these home-made rockets. One answer that presents itself is what Hamas has been proposing all along, and Haniyeh repeated this week – a comprehensive cease-fire. Hamas has proven already that it can keep its word. In the 17 months since it announced its decision to abandon armed struggle in favor of political struggle, and declared a unilateral cease-fire (“tahdiya” – calm), it did not participate in the launching of Qassams, except under severe Israeli provocation, as happened in the June escalation. However, Hamas remains committed to political struggle against the occupation of Gaza and the West Bank. In Israel’s view, the Palestinians elections results is a disaster, because for the first time they have a leadership that insists on representing Palestinian interests rather than just collaborating with Israel’s demands.
Since ending the occupation is the one thing Israel is not willing to consider, the option promoted by the army is breaking the Palestinians by devastating brutal force. They should be starved, bombarded, terrorized with sonic booms for months, until they understand that rebelling is futile, and accepting prison life is their only hope for staying alive. Their elected political system, institutions and police should be destroyed. In Israel’s vision, Gaza should be ruled by gangs collaborating with the prison wards.
The Israeli army is hungry for war. It would not let concerns for captive soldiers stand in its way. Since 2002 the army has argued that an “operation” along the lines of “Defensive Shield” in Jenin was also necessary in Gaza. Exactly a year ago, on 15 July (before the Disengagement), the army concentrated forces on the border of the Strip for an offensive of this scale on Gaza. But then the USA imposed a veto. Rice arrived for an emergency visit that was described as acrimonious and stormy, and the army was forced to back down (4). Now, the time has finally came. With the Islamophobia of the American Administration at a high point, it appears that the USA is prepared to authorize such an operation, on condition that it not provoke a global outcry with excessively-reported attacks on civilians. (5)
With the green light for the offensive given, the army’s only concern is public image. Fishman reported this Tuesday that the army is worried that “what threatens to burry this huge military and diplomatic effort” is reports of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Hence, the army would take care to let some food into Gaza. (6) From this perspective, it is necessary to feed the Palestinians in Gaza so that it would be possible to continue to kill them undisturbed.
Notes
(1) Parts of this article were translated from Hebrew by Mark Marshall.
(2) Alex Fishman, Who is for the elimination of Hamas, Yediot Aharonot Saturday Supplement, June 30, 2006. See also Alex Fishman, The safety-catch released, Yediot Aharonot June 21, 2006 (Hebrew), Aluf Benn, An operation with two goals, Ha’aretz, June 29 2006.
(4) Steven Erlanger, U.S. Presses Israel to Smooth the Path to a Palestinian Gaza, New York Times, August 7 2005. The planned July 2005 offensive is documented in detail in my The Road Map to Nowhere – Israel Palestine since 2003, Verso, September 2006.
The irony is almost beyond belief. Since the capture of an Israeli soldier on June 25, the Gaza Strip has been subjected to a large-scale military operation, what Israel calls “Summer Rain.” Because Israel bombed the power plant, and the area needs electricity to pump water, most of Gaza now has almost no access to drinking water. In the heat of summer, rain would be a blessing far more welcome than the ongoing bombings.
I am already starting to lose track of days and nights, of how many bombs have dropped. Since the main power plant was destroyed, we have had to live with no electricity. What we do get is patchy, and barely enough to recharge our mobile phones and our laptops so that we do not lose all touch with each other and with the outside world.
As a physician, I fear for our patients. Twenty-two hospitals have no electricity. They have to rely on generators, but the generators need fuel. We have enough fuel to last a few days at most, because the borders are sealed so no fuel can get in. The shortage of power threatens the lives of patients on life-support machines and children in intensive care, as well as renal dialysis patients and others. Hundreds of operations have been postponed. The pharmacies were already nearly empty because of Israeli border closures and the cutoff of international aid. What little supplies were left have gone bad in the absence of refrigeration.
Food too is spoiling without refrigeration, and food supplies are low. West Bank farmers threw away truckloads of spoiled fruit after sitting for days and then being denied Israeli permission to enter Gaza. Children grow hungry as we watch the food that could nourish them thrown into the garbage instead. More than 30,000 children suffer from malnutrition, and this number will increase as diarrhea spreads because of the limited supply of clean water and food contamination.
As a mother, I fear for the children. I see the effects of the relentless sonic booms and artillery shelling on my 13-year-old daughter. She is restless, panicked, and afraid to go out, yet frustrated because she can’t see her friends. When Israeli fighter planes fly by day and night, the sound is terrifying. My daughter usually jumps into bed with me, shivering with fear. Then both of us end up crouching on the floor. My heart races, yet I try to pacify my daughter, to make her feel safe. But when the bombs sound, I flinch and scream. My daughter feels my fear and knows that we need to pacify each other. I am a doctor, a mature, middle-aged woman. But with the sonic booming, I become hysterical.
This aggression will leave psychological scars on the children for years to come. Instilling fear, anger and loss in them will not bring peace and security to Israelis.
Ostensibly, this bombing campaign started because of the soldier’s capture. To the outside world it might seem like an easy decision for Palestinians: Let the soldier go, and the siege will end. Yet for Gazans, even in the face of this brutal violence, another decision comes, not with ease, but with resolve. He is one soldier who was captured in a military operation. Today, several hundred Palestinian children and women are locked in Israeli prisons. They deserve their freedom no less than he does. Their families mourn their absence no less than his family does. So while Gazans endure Israel’s rainstorm, most want the soldier held — not harmed — until the women and children are released.
Most Gazans also believe that Israel’s latest assault was pre-planned, that the soldier’s capture is merely a trigger. Israel dropped thousands of shells on Gaza, killing women, children and old people, long before his capture. This time, Israel attacked Gaza within hours of a national consensus accord signed by Fatah and Hamas, which could have led to negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis. That would have pushed Israel to give up control of Palestinian land and resources. Gazans believe that the goal of Israel’s military campaign is the destruction of both our elected government and our infrastructure, and with it our will to secure our national rights.
Though we do not now live with ease, we live with resolve. Until the world pressures Israel to recognize our rights in our land, and to pursue a peace that brings freedom and security to Israelis and Palestinians, we both will continue to pay the price.
Mona El-Farra is a physician and human rights advocate in the Gaza Strip.
July 8th: In response to the incursion in the Gaza Strip, many national and international organizations have condemned Israel’s violence. This release is intended to highlight some of the entities speaking out in support of the Palestinian people and in opposition to Israel’s unchecked aggression. Please visit the following sites to read more about the individual condemnations:
The European Union condemns the Gaza offensive:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5159050.stm
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3272507,00.html
The United Nations condemns the Gaza offensive:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5154594.stm
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=19108&Cr=middle&Cr1=east
The Swiss government condemns the Gaza offensive:
http://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/e/home/singlem.html?id=5978
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5145654.stm
The National Lawyers Guild (US) condemns the Gaza offensive:
http://www.nlg.org/news/statements/gaza0706.htm
A group of 300 British Jews condemn the Gaza offensive:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5154838.stm
In addition to the the above mentioned voices, a collection of 71 international and Palestinian social justice groups have co-signed a plea to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan asking the United Nations to take action to protect the residents of Gaza. The letter entitled, “Immediate International Protection for the Palestinian People in the Occupied Territory,” was addressed to the entire security council and called on the UN to take the following three actions:
1.) “Forming an international force to protect Palestinian lives against
violent attacks by the Israeli military.”
2.) “Calling for the immediate release of Palestinian prisoners held in violation of international law;.”
3.) Holding Israel accountable for its war crimes against the Palestinian people, its violations of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Right and the Convention Against Torture, and its blatant disregard for the principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Following the capture of an Israeli soldier near the Gaza Strip thirteen days ago, Israel has launched a major offensive in Gaza killing over 40 Palestinians and decimating the infrastructure. The air strikes have destroyed bridges, power facilities, structures within the Islamic University, the office of the Prime Minister, the Interior Ministry, and countless civilian targets. In tandem with the constant air strikes by the Israeli airforce, Israeli ground forces have led an invasion into the north and south of Gaza. During this time, the Israeli military has arrested over eight hundred Palestinians, including democratically elected members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, and Palestinian civilians living in Israel.
Since the incursion began, Israel has modified its public rationale and objective; Israel now states that the offensive has expanded its focus from freeing its captured soldier to eliminating “institutions of terrorism.” Despite Israel’s new claims, many analysts have explained that the attacks and arrests are aimed at destabilizing the newly elected Palestinian government. It is beyond an abridgement of international law for Israel to attempt to undermine, by force, the democratically elected government of Palestine. Israel must allow the Palestinian people political self-determination and must abide by their choice of an elected government.
The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) joins these voices and strongly opposes the ongoing Israeli violence in the Gaza Strip. ISM activists will continue to support the Palestinian people on the ground, and remain committed to opposing occupation, violence and oppression at the hands of the Israeli military.
Palestinian women sit in a bedroom in Beit Lahiya, Gaza where Israeli soldiers shot into a home. (AFP/Thomas Coex)
From Mona Elfarra, a Palestinian physician and women’s rights activist living in the Jabalia refuge camp in the Gaza Strip.
Friday, June 30, 2006
The power is still off. It comes on and off irregularly. The electricity company is trying hard to supply power to 1.5 million people who used to get electricity from the power plant that was completely destroyed two nights ago.
Tonight another electrical generator was attacked and destroyed completely. I tried to explain to my daughter the complicated mechanisms of power distribution and how the electrical company is trying hard. But she was so frustrated to learn that we will be receiving patchy power for another three months at least.
They are attacking Gaza City right now, Jabalia and Beit Lahia. The emergency room at Al Awda Hospital received seven casualties. They launched at least 15 missiles, and the noise of the jet fighters and Apache helicopters interrupted my already interrupted sleep. I am fully awake now. I have not gotten good sleep for four days.
Saturday, July 1, 2006
My friend Hoda lives next to the Ministry of Interior building in Gaza, which was hit last night with two rockets. The attack occurred at 2 a.m. yesterday. (Please forgive me about the accuracy – I am starting to lose track of days and nights, and how many times we were attacked). Hoda told me that her whole building was shaking. She went out in her pajamas, and all the residents were out in their nightwear; children’s faces were too pale, some of them were crying hysterically. The fumes filled the place. I live 150 meters [about 164 yards] from Hoda’s place. Nobody is safe, no one is immune.
The power is still off. We had it for three hours yesterday, enough to recharge my laptop and mobile phone and to do some cooking. I am highly concerned about the hospitals; the fuel supply to run the local generators is running down. The medication and medical supplies are running down too. Water is scarce too. We need to ration our water use. We are going through a big humanitarian disaster.
Sonic booming happens when the jet fighters go quickly through the sound barrier. We experience this sort of terrifying raid at least seven times during the day and night. How can I let you know my personal feelings during these raids? If I am sleeping, my bed shakes tremendously; my daughter jumps into my bed, shivering with fear and then both of us end up on the floor. My heart beats very fast. I have to pacify my daughter; now she knows we need to pacify each other. She feels my fear. If I am awake, I flinch and scream loudly; I cannot help myself. OK, I am a doctor and a mature middle-aged woman with a lot of experience, and an activist too, but with this booming I become hysterical – after all we are all humans and each have our own threshold.
Monday, July 3, 2006
We in Gaza face great pressure. For those who need to be reminded, since the start of this intifada (in September 2000), Gaza’s economy has been severely affected by the continuous Israeli atrocities: roadblocks, border closures, destruction of agricultural areas and home demolitions. The current rate of unemployment more than 50%. The vast majority of Palestinian families are living on humanitarian aid, and an increasing number of families live under the poverty line. Gaza is just 360 square kilometers [about 139 square miles] with nearly 1.5 million residents, so we have a very high population density.
After four months of economic sanctions, we in the health field face a collapsing health system. We do not have medications in our stores and have had to prioritize surgical operations due to lack of medical supplies. The last thing we needed is the power cut off.
Wednesday, July 5, 2006 – 1:45 a.m
Big explosion, very big and so loud; I’m fully awake, and so is Sondos, my daughter. We hardly can see anything. It is very dark. The drone hit the Ministry of Interior building again with a missile. That completely destroyed the building, according to the news from the radio.
I contacted Hoda, who lives next to the building, and found her hysterically screaming and shouting in pain, trapped under her broken windows, all the windows of her flat broken, the fumes filling the place. She is waiting for the emergency team to evacuate her.
I can hear the hysterical sounds of her neighbors over the phone. I feel helpless and don’t know what to do. Five of her neighbors were injured, some of them the terrified kids I mentioned in one of my previous blogs.
When I visited Hoda four hours ago, we both were tense. A third friend asked us to talk about anything but not politics or what is going on in the Palestinian scene. We tried to but couldn’t. I left her, walked home.
I have no analysis. Maybe you can try to help me to know why they would hit an empty building twice. I see it as desperation, eagerness to revenge themselves.
It is not because of the soldier. They dropped thousands of shells on Gaza, killing women, children and old people, even before he was captured. Fatah and Hamas signed a national agreement. There could have been negotiations.
But Israel would have to give up control of our land, our resources. They want to destroy our government. They want to destroy our will to get our rights, to live a normal life in our land.
Wednesday, July 5, 2006 – 3 a.m
It is dark. Sondos is asleep. I cannot go to bed. I have no batteries for my transistor. I do not know where Hoda is. My mobile needs to be recharged. I have no power; I am restless, anxious and helpless. My laptop is gasping too.
Thursday, July 6, 2006 – 8:13 p.m
It seems that the Israeli military operation is escalating. 1:30 p.m. our local time, casualties started to reach the Al Awda hospital (Jabalia refugee camp). The hospital medical team received 13 civilians seriously injured and 2 dead militia men. The hospital’s 3 operating rooms worked with its full capacity, for continuous 5 hours. I was told by Mr. Abusaada, one of our ambulance drivers, that they evacuated the injured under heavy fire. Mr. Abusaada, told that they were working under fire, I always think of him and others and how they work under the most difficult circumstances, the worse, he faced when he evacuated the Galia family from the beach 3 weeks ago.
Today he told me he was not allowed to reach one of the injured who bled on the ground for at least half an hour (when one minute can make a difference for bleeding case ), before passing away. Other hospitals received 15 injured civilians as well, different ages, no children, were hurt in this incident. I hope I will not give news about dead or injured children. 18 Palestinians were killed today in Gaza strip tens were injured, mainly in the north of Gaza.
My main concern now is to find a way to get medications and medical supplies through the borders, into Gaza. The hospital medical resources are exhausted, the borders are completely sealed, some very crucial medications are lacking.
The Rafah borders in the south, was opened today for 3 hours. There are at least 2,000 Palestinians on the Egyptian side, waiting to enter Gaza. They have been waiting since last Sunday. When the “summer rain” operation started, internationals were asked to leave Gaza, via Eretz checkpoint, that was opened for 2 hours only (for us here in Gaza this is alarming sign). Karni checkpoint, the commercial checkpoint, was opened to let in some stuff for 4 hours, maybe to let in more candles, transistors and torches.
It seems that this business is booming in Gaza those days. On my way back from the hospital, I could see people queuing to purchase candles.
Saturday, July 8, 2006 – 1:00 a.m
The Gaza hospitals medical resources is critically decreasing , the number of causalities increases as the operation continues, in 2 days 34 Palestinian were killed, of the many injured 33 were children. The city’s 3 hospitals are working round the hour they urged people to donate blood. I told you earlier on that the civilians are not avoided, it is a battle that lacks the balance of power; with the resistance men and their comparatively limited weapons, and the most powerful army in the region, with the full support of the USA.
I was at Al Awda hospital this morning. The staff enjoys good spirit, but they are exhausted. They complained of their worries regarding the shortage of the fuel that runs the electrical generators. It has to be used for the ambulances too. It was quiet in the morning, casualties started to arrive in the late afternoon. I shall be there tomorrow.
I hate war, it is ugly so is the occupation.
Saturday, July 8, 2006 – 12:40 a.m
I did not tell you before about my mother. She lives in Khan Yunis, 22 km to the south of Gaza City. I was born and brought up there, until I was 16, when I left to university in Egypt. My mother is 84, she is living alone after the death of my father, and she is physically disabled. She is well looked after. I visit her whenever I have time, and this happens twice weekly at least, my elder sister lives next door and since the start of the “summer rain” operation, by the occupying Israeli forces, I couldn’t reach her.
I was overwhelmed with the situation, besides the 2 bridges that connect Gaza in the north and Khan Yunis in the south, were destroyed in the 1st few hours of the military assault, as well as the power plant. I was afraid to use the unreliable side roads. I was not ready to risk by leaving Sondos alone, with all the consequences, air raids, sonic booming, no power, complete road block, and staying away of my daughter and my work.
