She talks, she walks...

ok so she doesn't quite talk (more like squeaks). Or walk. but it was a catchy blog entry title, no?

I did snap these pics of her attempting to crawl-she's really anxious to get moving and exploring! So much to see and do, why limit yourself to a play gym?

Nakba at 60 and my blogger suspension

I just want to start by saying that the reason for my absence of the past few days (besides the obvious preoccupation of motherhood!) is that Blogger suspended my blog and I had to request a review to get it unlocked! I received an email telling me that "Your blog, at http://a-mother-from-gaza.blogspot.com/, has been identified as a potential spam blog" and that though this was likely an error I had to request a review. Eventually, it was unlocked.

However I was curious and obviously upset, and upon further investigation, I found that several Palestinian and Pro-Palestinian blogs have suffered a similar fate-they blogs being targeted as "potential spam blogs". Some took months to get unlocked.

According to Haitham Sabbah, "Zionists are sending claims about pro-Palestine blogs and signaling them as spam blogs so that Google closes them. Some of these blogs got reviewed and cleared in few days, other stayed blocked for few months. there is no guarantee that Google will review the blog within certain period."

Cyber-terrorism, perhaps, to mark the 60th anniversary of the Nakba? If so, shame on Google, shame on blogger.

In other news, my parents remain in Egypt. They are making their way tonight to the border to attempt to get in on the single day of 3 days (the first in almost a year) that the Crossing will be open for passage into Gaza.

Meanwhile, with Gaza's only power plant forced to shut down for lack of fuel, Gaza is suffering blackouts once again. The dead are being carried to morgues and cemeteries on donkey carts now. Cars are no longer in use. Light--and hope--are being shut out of people's lives. A bag of flour is now 160 shekels, with many bakeries threatening to shut down. Meats have doubled in price. Fida tells me in Rafah, people are seen going door to door begging for morsels of food.

I hope to post a more personal reflection on the Nakba in the coming days.