Apartheid Exiles await returning home

Photo copyright : der Spiegel

It has been 11 years since they last seen, touched, or enjoyed the smiles of their beloved ones. 39 Palestinians, 26 of whom were exiled to Gaza, and 13 to European countries, after Israel had besieged the Church of the Nativity for 39 days on May 10,2002.

They were deported according to an agreement between the Israeli occupation forces and the Palestinian authority, according to which they were to be exiled to Gaza for two years only, yet they are still exiled despite the continuous calls to see their families.

For 11 years the power of the gun has been separating these men from their families, children, wives, parents, friends, and beloved ones. May 10 remarks the 11th anniversary of these people's forcible exile from the cities where they were born and raised. Each passing year and every day adds centuries of pain to these people, and aggravates their psychological and social suffering, with many of them losing beloved ones, parents or other family member who died during those hardly passing eleven years. They attempted numerously but didn't success to obtain a permission to attain their funerals. The only one who was allowed to return home was Abdallah Daoud who was exiled to Europe, and returned in a coffin to his birthplace in Balata refugee camp in Nablus. Repeatedly they announce "we want to go home on our own feet, not carried in coffins", their calls get no reply save the echo.  

Israel still exiles Palestinians, notably administrative detainees who were in hunger strike, Hanaa Shalabi, she was promised a return home as well, and experience shows no Israeli Treaty Integrity whatsoever and it can't be viewed away from a continuous ethnic cleansing, a war waged by the last apartheid regime in the world against all human values, and human rights laws.

Exile

                It has been a long time since I had written anything, long enough to doubt my ability to produce anything that makes any kind of sense, thus I decided to give it a hit, thanks to my friend Alina.

                My fellow Gazans have been celebrating too much recently, thus my imperfect mind can't understand the reasons. Reason is the only thing that should be relevant to sense, relevant to you dear reader, as reason is the man. what is man if he lacks reason, a machine programmed to perform specific tasks, nothing outside a pre-defined script -no independency. I think man without reason would fit Étienne de la Boétie's  Voluntary Servitude, for that this is no place for drama, reason prevails.

Gaza, Unedited

               In the very beginning god said let there be light, but there was plight. 63 is the age of this bleeding wound. 63 years I have been waking up to the sounds of bullets and bombs, I have been expelled from my home, oppressed, tortured, murdered, and besieged. For 63 years miles of barbed wires have been separating me from my sons, cousins, brothers, and friends. 63 years of fear as my children go to school they might come back not.

reminder

29.Nov. International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People

30.Nov. The anniversary of UN assembly declaration of Apartheid and Racism publishable crimes


Shall these two days pass without a solid stand for the Palestinian people who have been suffering ethnic cleansing, murdering, torturing, and apartheid?

Pal-Politics Re-Defined

The greatest Arab thinker ever, Averroes said: “Believe what you see and some of what you hear”. In terms of his wisdom and in terms of what we observe since the unity paper was signed, it is fair to say the situation doesn’t look so promising. There are still so many political prisoners both in Gaza and the West Bank, and more are being arrested, we still have hundreds of closed youth organizations, and our basic rights are being violated.

where are we going?

the question played in my mind over and over again like a broken record ... I thought Palestine would finally have a functioning civil society and NGOs ... but it seems having sky-wide dreams and hopes would always cause severe disappointment ... 


the March 15th Movement, was supposed to be the base of a strong affective lobby work, but as it all seem clear now, that movement isn't free anymore, and is being rubbed towards one political faction. for that reason many guys including myself, find it the right thing to do to quit being members of such movement. we believe the society needs a functioning and independent alternative wither it is civil movements, or political organizations ... but going all the way back to be a part of traditional entities like Fatah and Hamas, doesn't seem the right thing to me, and isn't the right path to what  would be in favor of the whole nation ...


live and see ...

In Memoriam

                        Few months ago, I had a discussion with a friend, he said memories are past, while I had an opposing idea, memories aren’t past as long as they impose any kind of emotional state and have implications on our lives.

            I want you to concentrate on this quote: “some refugees from Darfur weren’t allowed to return to their homes”. The government is violating the basic Human Rights and violating International Law, hence a refugee is guaranteed the right to return to his/her own house. What do you feel about the poor refugees of Darfur? The quote is not news, I only want you to imagine such a miserable situation, how would international media deal with it and how would you feel about it?

Unity agreement, with and against

In March 15^th hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Youth and elders demonstrated for their national unity. The protestors were marginalized and attacked brutally, a gun and a stick aren’t necessary to marginalize one’s opinion and voice, although Hamas used them in the worst possible ways, Hamas also introduced a less harmful way to marginalize, using super noisy speakers.

All indications in March 15^th and the days after, arresting, beating, and stabbing do directly show that there wasn’t any real attitude within Gaza de facto Hamas government to deal in peaceful way or to step to the demands of the crowds, for many reasons nobody in Gaza was impressed about the way Hamas behaved.

Gaza's Known Soldier

In the place where Gazans used to have the status of the Unknown Soldier, Gazans announced solidarity, and a collective shock and standing against the unacceptable crime which aggrieved all of us deep inside.

Vittorio, was – is a man like no other man. He risked all in the way to give us a space and voice, to make the world hear us, feel us, and understand us as human beings made of blood and flesh. He made them hear the cries of our children loud and clear. He gave Palestine more than we did.

Vittorio loss opened our eyes, there is still much to be done, that we shall not let the hands of oppression shut our voices or marginalize our souls, the struggle and message of Gaza’s Known Soldier shall go on, and his dream of seeing Gaza free shall come true.

Vittorio, Vittorio, Vittorio, thou shalt be remembered. Thy light will never be forgotten or fade.

R.I.P. Vittorio .. Justice will prevail. 

about me

The story started in the fourth of September 1985, that midnight witnessed my first cries for life; I opened my dark brown eyes to realize I was born in Gaza, with no basic rights like those you enjoy anywhere else. In my early childhood days, just like any other Palestinian child, I had nightmares, and fear as nights fell down knowing the soldiers would come search the houses from time to time. Witnessing the clashes every day, the injured, and the killed people is not something that the stomach of grown up people would accept, and of course it is not for kids.