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Suffering in Gaza

Thanks David for sharing the clip.  Showing the actual living circumstances of a family such as this brings a new light to the condition.  You noted that the commentator said that he used to be permitted to work as a construction worker but is no longer.  During the withdrawal from the settlements in 2005, the two areas Israel and Gaza were separated and as a result 10,000 Palestinians lost their jobs.  

As I shared with you in an email earlier, for the past couple of days I have been at a conference of American Jews.  There were a number of people there from Israel and I had a chance to talk to some from Sderot.  They said that the Kassam rockets have been coming as many as 30 per day into Sderot.  I met a guy whose leg was blown off by a Kassam.  They have been hit with 10,000 Kassam rockets since 2000.  He asked me, “What would the US do if Cuba started launching missiles and rockets into Miami or if Mexico did that to San Diego.  The US would hit with full force and so would any other nation in the world.  Yet, Israel is not permitted to respond without facing harsh criticism.”    

Then he said there is the media bias.   Remember the UN school that was supposedly bombed by Israel.  He said it is not true.  He has pictures of it he showed me that were taken after the conflict.  It is still there unscathed.  A retraction was issued in the Israeli media but the media in the US and Europe refused to pick it up.  Sderot is only one half of a mile from Gaza.  I went on line to see if I could find any articles that supported his claim and I found one from a newspaper in Canada.  //www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Page/document/v5/content/subscribe?user_URL=//www.theglobeandmail.com%2Fservlet%2Fstory%2FRTGAM.20090129.wgazaschool29%2FBNStory%2FInternational%2Fhome&ord=69692365&brand=theglobeandmail&force_login=true

According to this article: "Most people remember the headlines: Massacre Of Innocents As UN School Is Shelled; Israeli Strike Kills Dozens At UN School.

They heralded the tragic news of Jan. 6, when mortar shells fired by advancing Israeli forces killed 43 civilians in the Jabalya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. The victims, it was reported, had taken refuge inside the Ibn Rushd Preparatory School for Boys, a facility run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency....There was just one problem: The story, as etched in people's minds, was not quite accurate.

Physical evidence and interviews with several eyewitnesses, including a teacher who was in the schoolyard at the time of the shelling, make it clear: While a few people were injured from shrapnel landing inside the white-and-blue-walled UNRWA compound, no one in the compound was killed. The 43 people who died in the incident were all outside, on the street, where all three mortar shells landed.

Stories of one or more shells landing inside the schoolyard were inaccurate.

While the killing of 43 civilians on the street may itself be grounds for investigation, it falls short of the act of shooting into a schoolyard crowded with refuge-seekers."

Interestingly, several Israeli rabbis I talked to support a one nation state where the Palestinians are permitted to live in Israel.  There would be separate regions consisting of the East Bank and Gaza then Israel proper but it would be one nation and everyone would have equal rights. I said, “You guys have been reading your Torah haven’t you.”   

Dear David

Sufferings of wars of any kind are heart breaking.  No doubt that many families mourn loss of their loved ones and loss of their livelihood. The clip you posted has been prepared to dramatize the bitter reality of wars and in particular, suffering of children, the symbol of innocence . The clip in a very subtle tone intended to condemn the Israeli attack on Gaza without even mentioning it. However, I think the producer has made a few unintended blunders. The most obvious one is denying the belief that Gaza had been a ghetto before the war and the image that Gazan had been living in unbearable condition.  Their living condition before the war, according to the father, would be envy of most working class in the US.

Most certainly many other families may have suffered worst than those in the clip and I don’t intend to underestimate the gravity of their loss. I think a true documentary style  clip could have been more effective. IMHO.

You are absolutely right, children “understand no nationality, no division and no wars”, “love is the only thing they understand”.  

Thanks for posting.

Bijan  

David Jaan

Sepaas for sharing.

Ebi aka Haaji

Thank you..

It is not until on sees the detailed reality on the ground until one can appreciate

the immense suffering...

thanks for posting 

faryarm