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Al - Aqsa Intifada |
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Intifada message from Gaza
by Dr. Mona El-Farra
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How should I start, I asked myself, to send a message of love, hope,
and steadfastness on this 3rd anniversary of the Intifada?
I am not a politician or a political analyst to write an analysis
about Palestinian people's life under 36 years of Israeli
occupation. I am an activist in social and health work, I am one who
has experienced and witnessed many acts of aggression, violence and
injustice by the Israeli army against my people.
I personally went through the traumatic experience of losing my
childhood home, when the Israelis demolished my parents' home and
destroyed our citrus grove. That grove was one day full of fruitful
trees and a main lifeline for many farmers who used to work there,
and then it was gone. Nobody is allowed to set foot there any more.
Later a bridge was built there to allow a safe passage for the
Israeli settlers who are illegally living there. There are plenty of
UN resolutions on occupation and occupying forces, which spell out
this illegality.
In the Gaza Strip of 360 square kilometres where I live, 5000
settlers occupy 40% of the land, while 1.2 million of Palestinians
live on the rest of the land on one of the most highly populated
areas of the world.
On my way to visit my mother in Khan Yunis town 20 km south of Gaza
City, I have to cross the Abu Holi checkpoint and pass under that
bridge. It should be a twenty-minute drive to my parents' place
where my mother, an 80-year-old widow, lives on her own, but the
journey usually takes 2 hours.
To travel from Gaza to Khan Yunis, I have to pass by Nusseirat camp.
Last time, while on the road I met the smell of death and bombs.
Four hours before, the Israeli army made an incursion into the
refugee camp, killed one resistance fighter, Jehad Abu Sweereh, and
left dozens of people injured and homeless, they demolished the
house on top of its residents, as they have several times before,
the last time was the assassination attempt against Dr. Mahmoud Al-Zahaar,
a Hamas political leader and a colleague whom I have known for a
long time. He escaped, but his son was killed in the attack.
On my drive to Khan Yunis, I couldn't help but feel deeply anxious
with the attack helicopters and fighter jets visible overhead, who
are they going to hit next??? Is it the car in front of us, or the
one behind us??? This is the constant worry for all Gazans, since
Israelis intensified its attacks against the resistance activists
both military and political scores of civilians have been caught in
the blasts and either killed or injured.
Before the checkpoint, I can see a long queue of cars waiting to
cross. I watch the vast area of agricultural land that is completely
destroyed. Once it was a fruitful, beautiful, area. Now the damage
is clear and choking for some one like me who knows the area very
well and can painfully realize the difference and the extent of the
damage inflicted on the environment.
The Israelis try to assassinate our history and human feelings
beside our physical existence in the area for hundreds of years.
They insist on treating us as numbers, as 3rd grade citizens that
are only entitled to the least of human needs. But they are daily
faced by the Palestinian people's ability to continue living,
tolerating the most tragic events. We are a nation that is looking
forward towards a normal peaceful life. We deserve it, and we
deserve our independent state and identity so that we can take part
in the area's development. This is what I think about as I sit in
the car watching people being treated like dirt, young soldiers
ignoring even our human identity.
60 thousand dunums (60 square kilometres) of Palestine agricultural
land has been destroyed since the eruption of the second Intifada;
3877 houses were demolished; 3338 people killed and 46647 injured;
of whom 6188 are left with grave disabilities; 594 children have
been killed, either directly through military acts or due to the
inability to reach hospital medical facilities, being stopped at the
checkpoints or being under curfews; 199 women were killed in the
attacks 54 women gave birth while waiting at the checkpoints, 31 of
them had dead babies, 424 ambulance drivers were targeted while
rescuing casualties, at clash points 25 were killed and more
injured, 99 patients died at the checkpoints while waiting to cross
and denied access to hospital.
Hospitals and medical facilities have come under attack from the
Israeli army on 303 occasions.
Statistics can tell you the size of the problem, but I believe even
one mother who has to give birth to her child on the road and was
prevented from reaching the hospital by the occupying forces is
enough of a violation of human rights to be utterly condemned.
On one occasion I was the witness in Jabalia refugee camp of an
attack on some children who were playing football on a makeshift
football pitch. The weapon used was a flechette tank shell, which is
highly destructive and banned internationally.
Another terrible story was of an old deaf man who was buried under
the rubble of his home when the army destroyed his house
disregarding his family's pleas to evacuate him.
But there are too many stories to tell of this daily aggression and
injustice. In my work with the Union of Health Work Committees, a
local health NGO, there have been several occasions when we received
medical donations from abroad, but the Israelis did not allow it in
for a long time. This has happened with various donations, including
children's milk
Mothers of Palestinian children kiss their children goodbye in the
morning uncertain to receive them safely home from school in the
afternoon. On many occasions children were killed while returning
home from school. I am one of these mothers, worried all the time
about my children's safety. I feel that no place is safe in Gaza
under occupation; an attack can come any time and anywhere
From my balcony I can watch the Gaza's beautiful sea, but the same
sea carried Israeli frogmen at night to kill silently and in cold
blood five of Arafat's guards under my window. The smell of death
was too intense that night.
As a result of this daily stress 90% of the population in Gaza
suffer from different sorts of psychological disorders, 41%suffers
from post traumatic stress syndrome, mainly women and children. 35%
of children suffer from anaemia due to lack of balanced food that
they need for normal healthy development.
My message on the 3rd anniversary of the Intifada is a message of
continuing resistance against the occupation, with your support, and
the solidarity of humans worldwide who don't accept injustice
against fellow human beings. People, who reject injustice imposed on
other nations, speak out for us.
Just to remind you that despite this daily ordeal we face under
occupation we are still going on with our lives, going to work,
school and university. We help each other; we help our people to
resist, and our children to cope with the most stressful situations.
We implement different health and social programmes to help our
women and children, we offer our health services at the most
difficult times and yet we insist on developing these services too,
with your support and solidarity that has been tremendous and
effective through the past 3 years. We shall continue until we only
see smiles, not tears, on the world's children faces, including
Palestinian children.
We shall continue our struggle against occupation, and our battle is
not only a Palestinian battle against Israeli occupation, it is the
battle of all genuine people against injustice worldwide.
Dr. Mona El-Farra
UHWC
Gaza
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