Tag: Rafah

In memory of a hero: Rachel speaks truth

Click here to visit the Rachel Corrie Foundation

16 March 2012 | International Solidarity Movement

On the anniversary of Rachel Corrie’s martyrdom today, the rain fell in quiet tears that watered Palestine in a confusing emotion of remorse and yet optimism—the same optimism we hear in the voice of Rachel’s diaries and actions.

It rained on Kufr Qaddoum where attack dogs clenched in their jaws the peaceful freedom fighters of Palestine, an image reminiscent of a segregated America.

It drizzled as the folks of Al Ma’sara demanded the wall to fall, an echoing cry humanity heard from Germany.

Puddles formed along Shuhada Street in Al Khalil where Apartheid still lurked despite South Africa’s continued victories.

And it watered on Gaza, where the dust never seems to settle between the murderous attacks of the Zionist military.

While Palestine is indeed special, it is obvious that it shares much with what the world has struggled for, and International Solidarity Movement threads the humanization of the world as the fabric of solidarity work with Palestinians.

Today Palestine and earth, the earth that has inherited the great sacrifices of Rachel Corrie, quietly wept and yet persisted with her memory for the very ideals she died for: freedom and justice.

Peaceful resistance against oppression never dies, and this reassures the international community that despite the images of Rachel facing the Israeli Goliath of colonialism, that she is still alive and with us in ISM, in Palestine, and in the world, as a spirit that will continue to inspire us.

In a letter she sent nearly a decade ago to her family, when she first left her hometown of Olympia, Washington in the US, she said:

We are all born and someday we’ll all die. Most likely to some degree alone. What if our aloneness isn’t a tragedy? What if our aloneness is what allows us to speak the truth without being afraid?

 While the struggle against occupation feels isolating at times, it is these words that reassure us that we are not alone, that Rachel is not alone, that the voiceless victims of Zionism are not taken for granted. This is not a tragedy which we mark, but the greatness of a peace activist. Nothing can crush the spirit of Rachel Corrie, one of thousands who sacrificed for the humanization and liberation of the Palestinian people.

Murdered in 2003 by an Israeli driven, military Caterpillar bulldozer, Rachel and seven other ISM activists in Rafah, Gaza, were trying to prevent the raising of Palestinian property and livelihood by Zionists. Dropping debris on her and then proceeding towards her is the exact lack of concern Israel has towards life that we see as Gaza faces continued collective punishment today.

 She ended her letter in humble realization of her role that would later translate into the sacrifices of a peaceful revolutionary.

 I can’t cool boiling waters in Russia. I can’t be Picasso. I can’t be Jesus. I can’t save the planet single-handedly.

She is with us now, from Susiya to Dora, Jabalia and Beit Hanoun, back down to Rafah and across to Jerusalem.

Rachel speaks truth. And so long as a grain of injustice exists in Palestine and this world, this truth will not settle for what is today’s reality of a violent, arrogant Israel that continues to demolish and kill.

It is in your memory, Rachel, that ISM continues towards justice, in memory of Tom and Vittorio, in memory of this week’s martyrs, in memory of the thousands of Palestinians who resisted.

Until freedom, we march.

31 December 2008: The Abu Areeda family

31 December 2011 | Palestinian Center for Human Rights

“Before my mother’s death we used to be very happy on 1 January, have celebrations and visit people. Now we are all silent in the last hour of each year and on 1 January we don’t celebrate the new year. We visit our mohter’s grave. We remember.”

(Photo: Palestinian Center for Human Rights)

Around 23:30 on 31 December 2008, an Israeli warplane fired a missile at Najma Parc, a small green strip in the main street of the residential al-Shaboura neighbourhood in Rafah, killing two civilians and injuring dozens of others. Iman Abu Areeda (34) was one of the two casualties, killed by a piece of shrapnel that penetrated her brain. Seven members of the extended Abu Areeda family who were also in the house at the time of the attack were mildly injured by shrapnel. The Abu Areeda family was displaced for several weeks after the attack as the external walls in the front side of the house were destroyed. The internal walls and furniture were also damaged.

It was about half an hour before midnight on 31 December when electricity in the area was cut. Iman went to cover her youngest son, Mohammed, who was sleeping in his room. As she was leaning over him, the missile hit a few dozen meters away from their family home. The shrapnel that came through the outer wall killed her. Iman left behind her husband Mahmoud Abu Areeda (now 39) and their 7 children: Majd (20), Randa (19), Basel (18), Hibba (14), Islam (12), Watan (9), and Mohammed (6).

“My mother died when I was 15 years old. It was the age that I needed her the most. I was in shock and I couldn’t believe that she died. I still do not believe it. I felt like not going to school any longer but I pushed myself and kept going because I know she would have wanted me to do so,” says Iman’s second oldest son, Basel.

His siblings, Majd, Randa, Islam and Hibba have been badly affected psychologically by the death of their mother. Since the attack they prefer to be by themselves, isolated from the rest of their family. Randa, Islam and Hibba received psychological support from a local NGO to deal with their loss and the traumatic experience of the attack. After a while their family noticed they started to recover and were able to interact again with the people around them.

Iman’s oldest son, Majd, says the past three years have been very difficult for his family. “We were all scattered after the death of my mother. I was alive but I didn’t feel alive. It took me a long time to believe that she had died. I had a very close relationship with my mother as I was her eldest child.”

Majd was in his final high school year when his mother was killed. “I didn’t prepare for my exams as I was suffering a lot psychologically. I thought ‘even if I pass my tawjihi [final exams] my mother is not here to be happy for me’. I failed my tawjihi. I hope I can redo it again and succeed. My mom wanted me to be an educated person, to get married and to take care of my siblings. I hope that I can live up to her wish.”

His brother Basel also faced difficulties in finishing his high school exams successfully. “Before the death of my mother I used to get high scores but after her death my scores dropped. My tawjihi was a disaster but thanks to the help of my uncle, the brother of my mother, I made it and I am now in university. I’m studying journalism,” says Basel, holding one of his notebooks.

The character of New Year has been changed forever for the Abu Areeda family. “Before my mother’s death we used to be very happy on 1 January, have celebrations and visit people. Now we are all silent in the last hour of each year and on 1 January we don’t celebrate the New Year. We visit our mohter’s grave. We remember,” says Basel. Majd adds that “our sadness is not limited on 1 January and we miss her on all special occasions, like on Eid holidays. On those days I prefer to stay in bed and sleep all day.”

Since he lost his mother, thinking of the future makes Majd anxious. “I am afraid of losing someone else who is close to me. Now my father is the closest one and I am afraid something will happen to him. After the death of my mother I feel like I have a dead heart. When I laugh I feel as if I do something wrong, I cannot laugh when my mother is dead.”

Basel tries to look at the future with hope. The memory of his mother motivates him. “I think of the future quite a bit. I know my mother wanted the best for us so for the future I hope that I will be able to finish my study, find work, get married and to have a family and to be respected in the community. Nothing can compensate for my loss and sadness, having lost the most precious thing I hold in my heart, but I know what my mother wanted for us and that is what I will try to achieve.”

PCHR submitted a criminal complaint to the Israeli authorities on behalf of the Abu Areeda family on 2 July 2009. To-date, no response has been received.

The series of narratives:

30 December 2008: The Hamdan family
29 December 2008: Balousha family
28 December 2008: The Abu Taima family
27 December 2008: The Al Ashi family

Act Now: Rafah border crossing closed for 6 days

5 November 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza

Only hours after activists from popular committees and youth movements throughout the West Bank formally presented the Egyptian ambassador, His Excellency Yasser Othman, with an appeal and a petition to open the Rafah crossing unconditionally and permanently, the Palestinians of Gaza learned that the crossing will in fact be closed for six consecutive days during the Eid holiday.

A petition was originally issued by Gaza-based civil society sectors including academics, students, workers, and youth. It was immediately supported publically by Egyptian revolutionaries and grass-roots organizations as well as renowned International human rights defenders such as Desmond Tutu and Richard Falk.

Despite assurances by the Egyptian ambassador that conditions at Gaza’s only lifeline to the outside world will improve in the coming days, it seems that the people of Gaza will continue to suffer from frequent and arbitrary closures on weekends and holidays.  This closure comes while the Taba crossing to the Israeli city of Eilat as well as other Egyptian border crossings, airport terminals and seaports are closed for only one day for Eid al Adha and continue their activities throughout the year without interruption.

While Palestinians and their allies continue to struggle against the criminal Israeli-imposed siege, the frequent closures of the Rafah crossing by the Egyptian authorities compounded with the quota system that only allows a limited number of people to cross every day results in long delays and significant hardship. At times, students miss their school terms and workers lose their jobs while waiting for their turn to cross. Family members who hold foreign passports are still prevented from visiting their loved ones in Gaza.This severely hinders the freedom of movement of the Palestinians of Gaza, a basic human right under international law.

 CALL TO ACTION

1. Organize a delegation to deliver the petition to your Egyptian embassy, consulate or representative office.

2.  Contact your Egyptian embassy.  In the US, fax, phone or email the DC Embass Fax: (202) 244-4319; Phone: (202) 966-6342; Consulate@egyptembassy.net

3. Sign and circulate the petition.

4. “Like”, “Share” and Post your activities on the campaign Facebook page

5. Sign this petition to unconditionally open the Rafah crossing

 

For more information and to send an email about your activities contact: rafahcrossingcampaign@gmail.com

 

Egyptian Ambassador promises to deliver petition to open Rafah Border

2 November 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On November first, activists from popular committees and activist youth movements through out the West Bank met with Egyptian ambassador , his Excellency Yasser Othman, in Ramallah to express their congratulations and support for the people’s revolution of Egypt and to formally present a petition to open the Rafah crossing unconditionally and permanently.

This petition was originally issued by Gaza-based civil society sectors including academics, students, workers, and youth. It was immediately supported publically by Egyptian revolutionaries and grass-roots organizations as well as renowned International human rights defenders such as Desmond Tutu and Richard Falk.

Meeting with Egyptian Ambassador - Click here for more images

The delegation expressed it’s commitment to the struggle against the deadly and criminal Israeli imposed siege on Gaza as an essential part of the struggle to end Israel’s Occupation and Apartheid.

The delegates welcomed the opening of the door of hope for a new Arab world grounded in solidarity and freedom by the peoples revolution. “Our hope from the new Egypt is to ensure that Gaza’s only exit to the outside world that is not under the control of Israeli soldiers will be open completely, permanently and unconditionally.

As we are sure your Excellency would agree, freedom of movement is a basic human right and should not be made subservient to political considerations, especially given that Rafah is the only lifeline the people of Gaza have to the outside world.”

The delegates pointed out that the current crossing process often results in significant, and in some cases inhumane, suffering on the part of the ordinary residents of Gaza. For example, Gazans often have to register and wait for weeks for “their turn” to leave the territory. The nature of the process often requires people to spend over 10 hours waiting to cross, including the time it takes to gather in a collection area in Gaza and be transported by buses to the crossing.

They also ask that Palestinians with foreign passports  (who do not carry Palestinian ID cards) should be allowed to visit their families in Gaza.

The delegates gladly acknowledge recent improvements to the situation in the crossing: the fact that the quota of people allowed to cross daily has been raised to 500-800 and the fact that some people who were banned from entering Egypt by the previous regime are now being allowed to cross.

These improvements are welcomed but are not enough to eliminate the suffering caused by the closure of the crossing.

They asked that the last remnants of the old era’s policy, the daily quota and the list of banned individuals, be eliminated as we the people of Palestine and Egypt work together for a future of Justice and dignity.

The ambassador responded that great changes and improvements have taken place since the revolution and that improvements would continue to happen in the coming days. He promised to deliver the petition to the responsible officials in Egypt. He responded positively to invitations of the activists to visit locations throughout the West Bank engaged in popular resistance against the Apartheid wall and settlements.

Three cousins die in Gaza tunnel collapse

30 September 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza

Shortly after 5:00 pm on Sunday, September 25, three Palestinians died when sewage leaking from an Egyptian pipeline caused a tunnel connecting the Egyptian and Palestinian sides of the Rafah border, in which they were working, to collapse.

It was the second time that the pipeline, which pumps sewage east into the Sinai, had sprung a leak in the area.

The three, all cousins, lived in the south of the Gaza Strip. Feras Ahmed Al-Shaer, 18 years old, lived in Khan Younis with his parents, one brother, and seven sisters. He was completing his last year of high school. Fady Mostafa Al-Shaer, also 18, lived in Rafah with his parents, four brothers, and two sisters. He had decided to work in the tunnels to help support his family, which lived in two rooms. Anwer Eid Al-Shaer, age 22, lived in Rafah and needed money to finish his final year of studies at Al-Quds Open University.

After the collapse, other tunnels workers were able to escape to the Palestinian side. The bodies of the three Al-Shaer cousins, who had been closest to the Egyptian side, lay in rubble and sewage for two days until Egyptian rescue workers were able to excavate them at 5:00 am Tuesday.

Mohammed Abu Al-Shaer, the cousins’ uncle, spoke of the helpfulness of Egyptian authorities and said that the Al-Shaer family had brought oil to fuel the rescue workers’ lights.

“We hope that this siege will end soon, so others won’t be forced to take similar risks in the tunnels. We want to live like people everywhere else,” he said.