|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
More on Ummid : International l National l Regional l Politics l Sports l Religion l History l Culture l Education |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gaza diary:Are we not human?Posted on January 11, 2009Mohammed Ali in Gaza City , Aljazeera As the death toll from Israel's war on Gaza continues to climb, Mohammed Ali, an advocacy and media researcher for Oxfam who lives in Gaza City, will be keeping a diary of his feelings and experiences.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The air, the sea and the earth in Gaza City are now occupied by the
Israeli military. They occupy Gazans' minds, nerves and ears too.
We ran out of fuel for our generator, which meant that we were
confined to a small room filled with eleven people, with little
light for three days. Unlike many other families, we were fortunate yesterday to find 20 litres of benzene to power our generator. No fuel has come in since the onset of this attack on Gaza so we had to pay seven times its usual price. We have one day's worth of food left and the nappies I bought two weeks ago are nearly gone. They are not good quality as little has been able to enter this strip of land since the blockade was imposed on us 18 months ago. Bad quality nappies mean unpleasant leakages, and for the last few days the little ones have had to be bathed in freezing cold water. My sister who was with us the last time I wrote decided to return home in spite of our protests. She feared that with food reserves running out we might have to eat one meal a day rather than the two we have been having of late. At home she has a little food left, enough to keep her and her family going for a while longer.
We are now 11, huddled together in my parents' dining room. My
brother and I and our families moved there, thinking that the first
floor may be the safest option. I have had 8 hours sleep since the beginning of this conflict; we can hear attacks almost every minute.
I think to myself, if one of us is injured or needs medical
attention what will happen? Ambulances are finding it difficult to
reach civilians, roads are blocked by rubble, Israeli forces in
their path - you could bleed to death. Hospitals are now running on back-up generators making life even more difficult for the doctors who are trying to cope with the influx of the injured. If fuel runs out for the generators, those on life-saving equipment will perish.
I heard a woman calling into a radio station today - ambulance
services could not reach her and I guess she thought the radio
station might be able to do something. She was wailing down the
phone "our home is on fire, my children are dying, help me". I do
not know what happened to her and her children - I do not want to
imagine. I am not afraid of dying - I know that one day we all must die. But not like this, not sitting idly in my home with my children in my arms waiting for our lives to be taken away. I am disgusted by this injustice. What is the international community waiting for - to see even more dismembered people and families erased before they act? Time is ticking by and the numbers of dead and injured are increasing. What are they waiting for? What is happening is against humanity, are we not human?
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ummid.com: Home | Contact Us | Disclaimer | Terms of Use | About Us | Feedback |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ummid Business: Advertise with us | Careers | Link Exchange |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ummid.com is part of Awaz Multimedia & Publications providing World News, News Analysis and Feature Articles on Education, Health. Politics, Technology, Sports, Entertainment, Industry etc. The articles or the views displayed on this website are for public information and in no way describe the editorial views. The users are entitled to use this site subject to the terms and condition mentioned. |