Seeing is not like hearing
Yesterday my father joined friend and local activist Fida Qishta and members of the ISM Gaza to visit the site of the al-Daya home- a four-story house that was leveled by Israeli forces on top of its occupants. My father told me there were still four unburied bodies underneath the rubble.
They then went to visit the area where the Samouni clan lived-some 15 houses, citrus groves olive trees, two green houses, and one chicken pen (with about 10, 000 chickens), a water well, cattle and other animals- ALL were eviscerated from existence. The only surviving animal was a donkey. The poor beast was shot in the neck but survived nonetheless with a battle scar and a bandage on his wound.
He sent me the following pictures (my father, not the donkey), of all that remains of the village; its residents showing their hospitality nonetheless as they served them coffee warmed on a small wood-fired grill. In another picture, surviving family members anxiously accept water donations from a truck.
"Seeing is not like hearing" he told me bluntly of the devastation they saw, the livlihoods that were destroyed, and the life that was extinguished.
posted by Laila @ Wednesday, February 04, 2009
9 Comments:
Salaam Laila, that is awful! I suppose the chickens were all Hamas members?
Thank you for this post. It is hard not to view what has happened in Gaza as a deliberate effort to drive people away and to rob them of hope, especially given how restricted the borders are still, and how little is allowed in. Thank you for what you do, Laila, to help people be seen.
But concerned to all that, the Hamas did not stop to launch rockets to Israel.
What do they want to achieve with it?
What do they expect with that?
What does your family want?
What do you really think that´s it´s going to happen after that?
What are those people doing against it?
Are they against it anyway?
It´s not going to change anything, talking and talking all over again about the same, the destruction, it´s going to be even worse, if you not change, the results are not going to change also, stop the rockets, show, prove, that you are against it, not only to be blind and crying about the lost CHANGE!!! Do something to change.
My family were very rich and they lost everything due the II war, those who survived, had to reestart all over again. And that´s what they did, from NOTHING.
Like you, we are also the second generation, what are we going to do? Cry to have it back?
How many Jews had to leave the arabs countries? Left everything behind. I can give you numbers if you like to have them. Are they criyng? fighting?
I´m not saying that I don´t care, or that I agree with the murdering or that I do not feel sorry, but I don´t see any reaction from your side, only cries.
Give a chance to the peace. STOP launching the rockets for G-d sake, it´s going to bring more descruction, more death, are you not against it? I don´t think so.
We all want only the same to have peace, that´s it!!!!
SALAM
SHALOM
It's tough for the family. If I recall correctly, the al-Dayas have been associated with Hamas' rival Islamic Jihad, and for they had one of their number executed by Hamas with a point-blank gunshot to the head a year or two ago. Battered by Hamas, battered by Israel, what does their future hold?
Hello from Ireland, we supprot the Palestinian people. To see what we are doing visit me here:
http://irish4palestine.blogspot.com/
God bless you all
to people who say "we all want only the same to have peace, that's it!!!!", stop for a moment. This reality isn't forced upon the Israelis: they are creating it. They too have the power to change it.
Give peace a chance. Stop killing, wounding, destroying, demolishing, and “exposing” (bulldozer clean a patch of land, uprooting every tree and demolishing every building in it) for whatsoever shake!
It's way beyond the rockets, don't you get it, still?
Carla: when someone comes to your house, INVADES your home and kills your loved ones, your reaction would be to want to have a peace deal with them? What kind of non-sense is that? Israel has OCCUPIED Palestine for the past 60 years, and this is under international law and is undeniable. What else would you expect the people there to do? They have lost everything, their land, their homes, their loved ones, everything.. and they want it back. I don’t believe Israel wants peace with the Palestinians, I believe it wants to eradicate us, to wipe us off the face of the earth, so no one would even mention the word "Palestine" and remember that there are people out there with no homeland. My grandparents were driven out of Palestine by the Zionists in 1948.. along with hundreds of thousands others. Hamas is fighting for our right to exist, for the right of owning land that is FULLY controlled by Palestinians.
Last words for you.. what law validates the occupiers to also be the victims? Has to be the Zionists’ law..
"What else would you expect the people there to do? They have lost everything, their land, their homes, their loved ones, everything."
Rebuild, of course. Where they are if possible, elsewhere if not. The world has seen lots of refugees over the centuries. Almost all of them have resettled and they and their descendants built new lives. (I am one.) Only the Arabs of Palestine and (to a lesser extent) the Hutus of Rwanda insist upon remaining in squalid camps and an eternal right to retain victim status and public charity while threatening to conquer and exterminate their neighbors.
I can agree with Solomon2's words.
No one of the hypocrate Arab world, or UN gives a damn about Palestinians. If they did, no Palestinian would have stayed in camps for 60 years, but given citizenship and real help.
No arab country had sent food supplies or medicine. They only drown Palestinian future with oil-money, but keeping them as victims for life.
Reality is harsh, and UNRWA haven't helped to the refugees but only made them victims of poverty. Instead of helping refugees to get a new life, just as UNCR does all over the world, UNRWA didn't help a single Palestinian. That is the sad truth :-(
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