The Massacre of Palestine

Ahmad is a Palestinian Journalist, living in Hebron. He is a member of the International Council of the World Social Forum, integrating the Palestinian Committee of The World Social Forum Free Palestine. Member of Alternative International Center (AIC) staff in Hebron, he writes for the independent media and social networks. His articles are regularly published in the Ciranda website.

We asked him how things are going on for him, his community and his people. We expressed our solidarity, to show him we are worried about the way the Palestinian people are being massacred by the bombs and the cruelty that we are seeing today in the social networks. We wrote to tell him about demonstrations and protests that his friends around the world are engaged in.

He wrote a few lines on the tragic days that the Palestinians are facing. He sent us this brief report few hours before the invasion of Gaza by land and the order for mass evacuation. We hope he is safe, working for AIC and for all of us in Hebron.

Ahmad Jaradah

I would like to say frankly that what you and others do (public actions) is more than important and needed at this time. First, it is important to show solidarity with my people. It is important for real justice and for a real future in the Middle East, mainly in Palestine. Life here is not acceptable at all. I am 50 years old. I didn’t see sadness and hard times like what I saw this time. It is a real massacre happening in Gaza… Real massacre.

I live in a town called Saeer, 5 km to the north east of Hebron city, in the South of West Bank. As you know the events and problems happened first in my district, Hebron, then in Gaza and so on. For two weeks, Hebron was closed totally by military checkpoints. 2500 soldiers, according to Israeli Authority, were sent to the District.

People from the district were prevented from travelling outside. We couldn’t go to the hospitals in others places for treatment. The farmers couldn’t reach their fields, so they have lost a lot. Workers couldn’t reach their work places. Curfew was imposed on many towns and villages. More than 150 were arrested from the district. Students couldn’t reach their universities in Palestine and outside.

I don’t know if you know that all Palestinians in West Bank are prevented from using Ben Gorion airport since 2000. So, if we want to travel, we have to cross to Jordan to use the Amman Airport. In this situation, from Hebron, all people who are under 50 years old are prevented from leaving. Imagine dozens of students who are studying in other countries who came to spend their summer holiday with families and now they can’t leave. They will lose a semester.

When Israel started the war 12 days ago, the situation became darker. In Gaza, which is a very small area of just 360 km2, around 1500 air force attacks happened, 237 were killed, 1770 were injured and dozens of buildings and houses were totally damaged. 48% people died and many of the injured are children under 18 years old. All of them were killed or injured when the air force shot missiles on them.

Just one day ago, they killed 5 children on Gaza beach. Now it is a big case in the world media. The children were attacked and killed while they were enjoying near the sea, with no military events in the area, at time of the attack. It was so clear that they were children but they were still attacked. Why??? More than 85% of the people who were killed or injured are civilians, mostly children and women.

From my work as a journalist and researcher in the Joint Organization Alternative Information Center, our project is to follow the situation in Palestine and circulate the information through many means. One of them is the website of the Center. I wrote many articles, reports and many interviews with people in Gaza. Most of the Gaza Strip is without electricity because of the attacks and shortage of fuel.

Basic supplies should come through passages between Gaza and Israel but those passages are closed. Electricity works sometimes just for 8 hours in a day. This shortage created problems for the hospitals in the Gaza Strip. There is shortage of food too. The farmers in Gaza couldn’t go to the fields for harvesting, to bring it to the markets of the cities there. The timing of the closure of all passages is the cause of shortage of food.

Residential units (apartments) have been completely destroyed, and about 16,000 have been partially destroyed. There is clarity that the attacks are not against military targets but against the area of civilians and mainly crowded areas. We know that Gaza is the most crowded area in the world, with 1.5 millions living inside a small space of 360 km2. Some families have lost most of its members because of the attacks against civilian areas. E.g.: houses like the family of Kaware whose seven members were killed. While writing this paper, news reported that the Israeli Air Forces bombed the house of the Shabeer family in Sabra side, where 4 from the family were killed.

Because of the shortage of gas, people are using alternatives to cook, like wood. Here and everywhere in Palestine, views that we see on TVs of the massacres and how people are living in Gaza under such war, negatively affect the children.

In spite of all difficulties, when you meet anyone or walk on the streets, people are very proud of the resistance and how bravely the people in Gaza are facing the Israeli attacks. It is a real war and it is an important time when Palestinian resistance is facing the Israeli Army strongly. All the Palestinians are in good unity these days against the occupation. In West Bank, East Jerusalem and Palestinians in 48 areas are organizing demonstrations, marches and events every day, protesting against the war and loudly expressing their solidarity with Gaza and with their resistance.

Palestinians believe that this war is against all Palestinians and against our freedom and we hope to live without occupation. It is not true that the war is against only this party or that. In the social media, we can see Palestinians expressing this reality. And it is not only against Gaza but against all of us.

Social media is being using in a good way to circulate information and organize events through Facebook and so on. Many journalists were targeted by the Army in Gaza and other cities in West Bank. At least five were injured and a lot of them were arrested.

Public solidarity with my people is the most important need at this moment. It is important too for real justice and for a real future in the Middle East, mainly in Palestine. Life here is not acceptable at all. I am 50 years old. I didn’t see sadness and the hard times like what I saw this time. It is a real massacre happening in Gaza. Real massacre.

Warm Greetings

Ahmad

Courtesy: Ciranda.net (minor copy-editing by Newsclick)

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are the author's views, and do not necessarily represent the views of Newsclick.