“Why you go?!” the waiter asks. I was sitting in a coffee shop, using their electricity when our own home lacked it. It was geting late, I was ready to sleep. “I have to get home,” my answer. “Hello,” a woman approaching me says. How do I know her? She sits down, asking “What’s your… Read More
Month: November 2008
no rest
[photo: Donna Wallach] Yesterday was deceptively calm for J. We were able to plant some potatoes, harvest more radishes, and begin laying piping to replace the irrigation pipes that were destroyed just last may when J.’s farmland was razed, his chicken barn (3,000 chickens and a couple hundred pigeons) was destroyed, and acres of olive… Read More no rest
no expense spared
Mazen, the taxi driver off-handedly gestured to the north as we drove through the outskirts of Beit Hanoun. “My house was over there. It was demolished in 2003. My father was crushed in the demolition,” he explained, the emotion of the time passed and the reality of frequent tragedies grounding. It was, he explained, an… Read More no expense spared
Israeli bulldozers & tanks destroying Palestinian land is normal
27 November, Khosar, east of Khan Younis, occupied Gaza Strip Called to Khosar by a family with farmland in Israel’s so-called ‘buffer zone’ –a band of land extending anywhere from 150 m to 1000 m from the border with Israel–we intended to accompany the farmers as they plowed their land for planting. Mohammed Suleiman explained… Read More Israeli bulldozers & tanks destroying Palestinian land is normal
blinding truth
(strawberries, Beit Hanoun. Before the siege, strawberries and flowers were exported to European markets. Since the siege, there has been no way to export the berries, and with local markets flooded, their value is relatively worthless.) 26 November, 2008 It has been nearly 3 weeks now that Israel has kept all crossings with Gaza closed,… Read More blinding truth
recognizing children’s right to exist
International Children’s Day celebration in Jabaliya camp, Gaza Strip. The youth worker wears a huge smile. He claps, he moves with exaggerated glee, he yells instructions in a sort of ‘Simon says’ way: sit down, stand up, sit, stand, sit…The children are loving it, squealing as they are tricked into sitting when they should stand…… Read More recognizing children’s right to exist
Israeli gunboats kidnap Gaza fisherman, peaceworkers
Israeli gunboats using high-pressure water cannon on a Palestinian fishing boat (photo: David Schermerhorn) 21 November 2008 By Eva Bartlett On the evening of Tuesday November 18, Khalid Alhabeel sat surrounded by his wife, family, and other concerned fishermen.Until the early hours of the following day, they had no idea what charges were being laid… Read More Israeli gunboats kidnap Gaza fisherman, peaceworkers
The Israeli navy would have already shot us by now…
Sunday, November 15, 2008 The Palestinian fishing boat trawls only about 2 km from the coast, moving south. An hour later, the catch is small, mainly crabs and a few fish. Nets are pulled in and the boat has gone south almost as far as Egyptian waters –as far as it dares to go. The… Read More The Israeli navy would have already shot us by now…
children in a crowd
Three children, large brown eyes, one with a curly mop of hair and bright pink shirt. Piled beside each other, they sit solemnly, grasping the gravity of the moment. While they are too young to understand death, at a very early age, like all Palestinian children, they are surrounded by it. From a tender age… Read More children in a crowd
booms
Two nights ago the rain poured and the skies thundered. It was beautiful, dramatic… Through the open windows of the apartment life poured in, in fresh wafts and booms. Yesterday, beginning around 11:30 am there were more booms. First, distant booms, unclear. Maybe it was something unloading…? But as Israeli fighter jets flitted overhead, north… Read More booms
In Gaza 