Gazan astrophysicist tells his story
Suleiman Baraka is a brilliant Palestinian astrophysicist from Gaza that my father met while he awaiting permission to leave to fulfill a scholarship he had attained. He is now working at Virgnia Tech with NASA. His eleven-year-old son Ibrahim was killed in an Israeli air strike on his house. His wife and three other children are now homeless in Gaza, along with seventeen members of his family. In his first broadcast interview in the US, Suleiman Baraka tells his story to Democracy Now.
The rest of the interview can be seen here.
posted by Laila @ Sunday, January 18, 2009
12 Comments:
I want to thank you for all your posts! I weep through many of them but I share what I learn to work for peace, to teach a better way between all ethnicities and religions. I cannot imagine your pain and grief, nor can I imagine the verbal abuse you have taken. So I thank you for your courage and ask if it is okay for me to pray for you and your family as I work for peace?
Bless you for your words! Peace, salaam,
Scott
Amy Goodman of Democracy Now had good interviews every single covering the war, the other day she had an Oxford professor that served in the Israeli army in the 60's that was really good and her interview with Helen Thomas the White house correspondent that has covered the last 10 presidents. Take time out to watch the previous shows if you can.
He spoke so profoundly and his words were so powerful.
I pray that other Palestinians parents who have lost a child or/and a love one find it in their heart to find the "inner peace" like Suleiman , despite all the injustice.
Sigh.
thank you for the link.
Shame, guilt, failure, pain, anger and regret; that's what I feel as an Israeli today.
Laila:
There was a cease fire announced. Israel is starting to withdraw troops from Gaza (still watching activities though) But has stopped military activity. Hamas agreed to a week long cease fire, yet I just received word from friends in Israel that rockets keep coming....huh...
I know nothing about telescopes and missile launchers- so I want to ask this very naive question. Does a telescope look like a missile launcher? Could this actually be a case of mistaken identity? Or is this just another extremist killing by the IDF?
Hey Laila,
I've been very depressed watching what's going on in Gaza for the past several weeks.
I have read extensively on this conflict and there is no doubt in my mind that the narrative in the US is strictly Zionist and fraudulent.
How can the American people collectively stand by and do nothing while innocents are being slaughtered?
Why can't people realize that this use of the word 'terrorism' has become an ideological and rhetorical weapon to bludgeon all those who offer another view?
I think I've lost my faith in people and in justice, due to the injustice inflicted upon the Palestinian people.
They have been reduced to, in the eyes of the Western world, the equivalent of the Native Americans. 'Savages'. Completely monolithic. Without any humanity.
Our society is slipping more and more into a state of moral degradation, sanctimony and lawlessness.
If we can't speak out the truth in such dire times as these then there is simply no hope for the future. It is in these darkest hours that you really see people for who they really are.
I know I'm ultimately just ranting on the internet but...
I wish I could go fight with the Palestinians against the tyranny that has been oppressing them since 1948. I wish I was as brave as any Palestinian child who lives side by side with the Zionists.
I wish I could do more. I wish my voice could change this country's foreign policy but clearly the American government has no moral center.
None does.
Sorry for being so negative. I think in the end, God will be on your side. My best wishes and prayers with you and anyone you know in Gaza as well as any family you may have there. Bless you all.
Salam Laila
Thank you for your amazing blog which portraits the truth that is happening right now.. you can't get any more reality than that. I live in little New Zealand, and I must say that a lot of people here see this as a war far far away from them, which they don't need to worry about. It saddens me when I see how the media has corrupted their minds and made them believe outrageous lies.
Although.. you can't change history. Whoever claims that this land is for Israel, clearly knows nothing about history. No matter what happens now or in the future, this land will ALWAYS be Palestinian land.
God bless you and your family in Gaza.
chai Time. in this modern time warfare. some country have the most and advance sophisticated high technology equipment that can identify and spotting the harmful weapons and harmless things above and below the ground or even airspace. well. thats my own analysis. if i am wrong. then please forgive me.
For all the supporters of Israel - please explain to me what they achieved by killing all these innocent children? Hamas is still there- and has defacto won the war. Rockets are still comming down Israel has vilified itself further more in the world. Please explain to me what was achieved? I would like to think there was some reason for all these children being killed.
My heart breaks for this father and yet we have to remember there are another 400 fathers who have lost their children because of Hamas and more importantly because of Israel.
Peace
Renee
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