For almost two years,
the Israeli military forces have completely surrounded Gaza. Israel
has built tall, ugly walls around the borders of Gaza, including the
border between Gaza and Egypt. The Israeli military forces patrol
and attack the civilians of Gaza from the air with US helicopters,
F-16s, and with drones. Israeli/US tanks and bulldozers attack from
the ground, storming through Gaza villages and refugee camps, destroying
homes and killing more Palestinian victims. Israeli gunboats sit poised
in the once peaceful waters off Gaza’s shore, intent upon shelling
unarmed fishing boats and massacring families daring to enjoy picnics
on the beach. With all Gaza borders tightly closed, and with no way
out by land, sea or air, approximately 1.5 million Palestinians are
trapped in Gaza making it the largest and most inhumane prison on
earth.
In September of 2007,
after sealing all of the borders, Israel declared the civilian population
imprisoned in the Gaza Strip a “hostile entity,” and as
such justified Israel’s next plan to block the delivery of all
supplies including water, food, soap, paper, textiles, fuels and electricity.
At this moment the civilians trapped within the closed borders of
Gaza, most of them refugees, await their fate at the hands of the
Israeli military force. This is a military force that is funded by
the US, and it is a force from which the civilians cannot now defend
themselves, nor have they ever been able to defend themselves.
Palestinian man tries to carry a wounded friend
after invading Israeli
military forces shelled villages in Gaza. July 2006 Photo by
Mohammed al Zaanoun, photojournalist armed only with a camera.
In speaking with photojournalists
Mohammed al Zaanoun, and Mohammed Omer via email yesterday, I asked
if the people of Gaza had access to clean water. The answer received
from both was, “No.”
“Dear Mary,”
Mohammed al Zaanoun wrote, “Gaza has many problems now, such
as the electricity was cut off, and they [Israel] will not allow food
and water to enter and many young are infected and dying due to closure
of crossings.”
This is a photo of Mohammed
al Zaanoun at his desk
while working for Ma’an News in 2006.
This photo was taken before he photographed the above Israeli massacre.
At this time, therefore,
the 1.5 million people trapped in Gaza have little or no access to
clean water. Building supplies to repair water pumps and homes that
have been bombed, shelled and bulldozed by Israeli forces are denied
passage through the closed borders. Electricity is denied. Free trade
beyond the borders is blocked. Transfer of emergency relief funds
into Gaza is denied. Cement is denied, leaving Gazans unable to even
properly bury those already murdered by Israeli forces. Soap is denied.
Postal service is denied. Bottled water is denied. Medications are
denied. The sick are denied access to medical care across the blocked
borders, as Mohammed pointed out. During the past three months, 70
of the desperately ill and innocent waiting for “permission”
from Israel to cross the border for medical care have died. In 2007
alone, the Israeli forces slaughtered 290 people outright in Gaza,
including children (this does not include those slaughtered in the
West Bank). Now Israel is starving the remaining 1.5 million in Gaza,
while also denying them access to clean water. (2)
One might wonder what
the people of Gaza have done to provoke such a barbaric demonstration
of hatred, racial rage and collective torture that is being displayed
by the Israeli military forces. While the published reason is that
some Palestinians in Gaza have fired homemade, primitive Qassam rockets
towards an Israeli settlement (while glossing over the fact that this
settlement was built on land stolen from the Palestinians), we now
know that much of what is promoted in the mainstream US news is far
from the truth. A more careful search reveals that Israeli Defense
Minister, Yaakov Toran, is quoted as saying, “we need to remember
that Qassams are more a psychological than physical threat. Statistically
they cause the fewest losses. . . ” (3)
Qassams, which were first
fired into Israeli settlements in 2002, are extremely inaccurate,
short-range homemade rockets, and when they are fired from Gaza, they
are generally fired in the direction of the Israeli settlement of
Sderot. Sderot is located upon the ashes of the Palestinian village
of Nadj. According to Dr. Walid Khalidi, the Palestinian inhabitants
of Nadj were driven out when this village was ethnically cleansed
by Israeli settlers in 1948, the year Israel announced its statehood.
In Dr Khalidi’s book, “All That Remains: The Palestinian
Villages Occupied and Depopulated By Israel in 1948,” Najd
is said to be one of 418 ethnically cleansed villages. Not a trace
of this peaceful farming community remains, but in the ashes of this
village and the other 417 racially cleansed villages, there is a hint
of the true reason behind the Israeli overkill, its frantic rage,
and its racial violence against the Palestinian refugees. (4)
According to international
laws regarding the Right of Return of refugees to their homes,
the Palestinian refugees must be permitted to return to their own
ancestral lands or be compensated justly for what was taken from them
by Israel. The simple truth is that Israel, with its ever-mutating
Swiss cheese borders, cannot remain in existence if this law is enforced.
Israel cannot possibly give back all that it has taken from the Palestinian
refugees, because every Israeli settlement that is dotting what was
once the Holy Land, is built upon land stolen from the Palestinians.
Incredibly, the only “Right of Return” law that Israel
acknowledges, is the right of any Jewish person on earth to “return”
to a land where neither they nor their ancestors have ever stepped
foot, and call it home. (5) (6)
Therefore, one must ask
a critical question. In order to protect the scattered-around “state”
of Israel and all of its illegal settlements and rather than abiding
by the international Right of Return laws, are the Israeli
forces instead attempting to destroy as many Palestinian refugees
as possible? One of the largest concentrations of Palestinian refugees
is now being held captive, starved, deprived of water, bombarded daily,
and slowly murdered through neglect and the withholding of basic needs
in Gaza.
Bush recently visited
Israel, at which time he was “thanked” by Olmert for the
$30 Billion package of US funds promised to Israel. For those of us
who are increasingly opposed to the activities of the state of Israel
(as well as the activities of the US war machine abroad), this “gift
package” is the equivalent of forcing all Americans into aiding
and abetting what now appears to be a true terrorist state. Forcing
Americans to support the Zionist Israeli military and its host of
illegal terrorist activities is an abomination. Americans should not
have to helplessly watch as Zionist politicians in the US government
hand US money over to the brutal, racist state favored if not worshipped
by all Zionists. This is especially egregious because numerous US
politicians have dual citizenships in both the US and Israel and many
zionist politicians enjoy frequent lavish trips and vacations to “Israel,”
the land forcefully stolen from the Palestinians. No one can support
the state of Israel while also upholding his or her oath of office
to support and uphold the US Constitution. (7)
This Christmas was bleak
in Gaza. There were no winter clothes or toys to buy, and almost no
money with which to buy goods. There were few sweet treats for the
children. There was little food. There was little medicine. There
is no clean water. But, there was something else that remains in abundance,
something that has never been taken away from the Palestinians. It
is something that one can see well in the Palestinians if one takes
a moment to look. It is something that continues to leave me in awe
as well as with a profoundly growing respect.
The Palestinians have
been patiently asking the world for help in ending the Israeli occupation
of their homes and lands for 60 years now. Despite the fact that little
help has been given to them and they remain refugees without human
rights in their own land, there is something about them. Even after
60 years, they have not been broken in spirit. They have remained
steadfast, patient, and still somehow in possession of a sense of
humor that allows a ready smile, but they are also not ashamed of
weeping when their hearts are broken. They have never given up, and
they are determined to live in peace again on their ancestral lands
- but there is something even more: They are filled with grace. Blocked
from selling even their beautiful flowers abroad by the inhumane US-backed
Israeli border closures, poverty stricken, jobless through no fault
of their own and possessing almost nothing now, they gave each other
those flowers for Christmas. (8)
Christmas in Gaza was
also bleak for my friend, Mohammed al Zaanoun, although to date I
have never heard him complain about his own situation even when I
have asked him about it. With the typical grace shown by many Palestinians,
he does not focus attention upon himself or his own suffering. With
rare and brief exception, I have only heard him speak on behalf of
others whose suffering he has witnessed and photographed. I, however,
am aware of his personal suffering.
This photo, below, is
one taken of Mohammed as he lay fighting for his life shortly after
he dared to photograph the above Israeli carnage in 2006. That was
carnage the Israelis did not want the world seeing, and so they stopped
the unarmed cameraman with typical Israeli force.
As Mohammed photographed
and documented the July 2006 Israeli military attack on Gaza civilians
as shown in the opening photos of this article, he was struck by Israeli
fire first in the face and hand, but he continued photographing. He
was then targeted and gunned down by an Israeli shell fired directly
into his abdomen. Upon impact, the shell fragmented into over 100
pieces inside him. Mohammed fell to the ground and as rescue workers
ran to help him, he told them to save his camera.
“There are photos
in the camera that bear witness to the truth,” he said. “They
will help awaken the world,” Mohammed said.
They helped awaken me.
#
- - - - - - - - -
Please feel free to copy
this article about Gaza and send it to anyone in need of an awakening.
Mary is committed to helping Mohammed receive the reconstructive surgeries
that he still desperately requires. If you would like to help, contributions
for Mohammed can be sent via paypal to her email address sparrowdancer1@earthlink.net
- or her mailing address in care of Tenth Moon Press, 529 East Jennings
Street, Tallahassee, FL 32301. Please earmark, “For Mohammed.”
Mohammed al Zaanoun was
willing to stand unarmed and face a military force in order to help
bring the truth to the world. It is now time for the world to help
Mohammed.
Mary wishes to thank Congressional
Candidate Mark Yannone, (AZ, Congressional District 3) for his input
regarding oaths of office, and his brief, one-word comment suggesting
that she include the photos in this article. He said, after looking
at them, “Jesus.”
mary sparrowdancer is an independent
journalist and author of a bestselling book about the return of the
Messiah, “The Love Song.” www.sparrowdancer.com
---------------------
References:
1. Gaza map. (1/14/2008)
http://images.nationmaster.com/images/motw/
middle_east_and_asia/natural_resources.jpg
2. 2007 Statistics. (1/14/2008)
http://www.btselem.org/english/Press_ Releases/20071231.asp
3. Yaakov Toran talks about qassams.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/ 0,7340,L-3222783,00.html
4. Najd. (1/14/2008)
http://umkahlil.blogspot.com/2006/06/ sderot-built-on-ashes-of-ethnically.html
5. UN Human Rights Resolution
194.
http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/ 361eea1cc08301c485256cf600606959/
c758572b78d1cd0085256bcf0077e51a !OpenDocument
6. International laws. (1/14/2008)
http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/israel/return/ crsr-rtr.htm
7. Thanks for the $30 Billion
(1/13/2008
http://www.lebanese-forces.org/vbullet/ showthread.php?t=29111
8. Flowers for Christmas (1/13/2008)
http://bbsnews.net/article.php/ 20080107121400252
............