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anuary 23, 2009
Dear Kate,
I entered the Gaza Strip on Wednesday night with my friend
and fellow activist Sharon Wallace after waiting ten hours
at the Egypt/Gaza. The destruction and trauma is even
greater than I expected.
In just two short days I met with families who were given
minutes to evacuate their homes and are now living in
overcrowded UN schools; I saw the ruins of bombed
greenhouses; I looked out the window at fields and roads
torn up by the tread of Israeli tanks; and I visited two
universities where MECA supports students with
scholarships-severely damaged by Israeli bombs.
Out of all the devastation I have seen so far, there is one
story in particular that I think the world needs to hear. I
met a mother who was at home with her ten children when
Israeli soldiers entered the house. The soldiers told her
she had to choose five of her children to "give as a gift to
Israel." As she screamed in horror they repeated the demand
and told her she could choose or they would choose for her.
Then these soldiers murdered five of her children in front
of her. The concept of "Jewish morality" is truly dead. We
can be fascists, terrorists, and Nazis just like everybody
else.
I spent the first morning visiting Rafah then drove north to
Nuseirat Refugee Camp where our partner organization Afaq
Jadeeda Association is buying food a delivering cooked meal
to displaced families with funds MECA provided. Then to Gaza
City.
Today I visited Jabaliya Refugee Camp and the Zaytoun
neighborhood of Gaza City, two of the areas hardest hit by
Israel's
brutal attacks. Pharmacies, schools, and homes were
indiscriminately hit in Jabaliya. Mohammed, one of our
volunteers in
Gaza,
and his family were forced to evacuate their home because of
intense bombing in their area.
In Zaytoun, I saw families gathering wood from charred
trees. The almost two-year blockade of Gaza has deprived
people cooking gas, so these terrified families build fires
to keep warm and cook the little food they can get.
I talked to people on the street who told stories of wild
dogs coming to eat their dead neighbors, relatives bleeding
to death because Israel would not allow emergency workers
into the area, and Israeli soldiers entering homes to beat
and kill.
But despite the immense mourning and devastation, people are
starting to put their lives back together. Sabreen, a young
woman from Rafah, told me, "We are a strong people. No
matter how many times Israel bombs us we are not leaving. We
will keep trying to live as normal a life as possible."
Sincerely,
Barbara Lubin
Gaza
City, Gaza, Palestine |
