Its a conspiracy, I tell you!

I'm convinced. Yousuf has secret ties with the Israeli government. How else would Sharon have known my mother was in Khan Yunis visiting my grandmother, and closed the Abo Holi checkpoint to coincide with her visit there?

It was sealed off to all Palestinian traffic 3 days ago, after Palestinian fighters killed two settlers travelling on the road above it to the Kissufim settlement. The problem is, the closure is a form of collective punishment, as we are reminded by a large sign posted near Abo Holi: "Terror has negative repercussions on Palestinian society."

Abo Holi divides northern Gaza, where we live, from southern Gaza, where my grandmother lives. Thousands of Palestinians have been stranded on either end as a result, and prevented from attending university, jobs, and hospitals, while settler traffic continues uninterrupted.

In the end of the day, its all in Yousuf's interest of course. The boy's energy has no bounds I tell you. Without my mother's help, I could hardly keep up with his mischief (and my work), as he emptied the kitchen cupboards to make an ideal hiding space, hosed down the bathroom walls, and couloured his face red (war paint perhaps?) with a marker he conveniently found tucked away in the corner of my desk-all within the span of one hour. I can just see Sharon snickering smugly in his Negev ranch now. *Sigh*