There have been a great many news articles, blogs, essays and reports written about the children of Gaza, what they have been through, what atrocities they have witnessed. And no doubt those of us who have followed the plight of Gaza since the last genocide on civilians last December believe we truly understand the depth of the human devastation we blog about and read about on a daily basis.... But I tell you that we really know nothing at all. It's in their eyes........
During my visit I spent time outside of Gaza city visiting a community centre with local friends who work with children. On this day I had the opportunity to see a group of children from a refugee camp. There are now some 60,000 refugees in the town and I was told that all the children I would see were homeless refugees and many of them are now orphans since the genocide Israel inflicted on the civilians of Gaza.
I was standing in a hallway beside a door where the children were to be assembled. Soon I began to hear lots of little footsteps coming up the stairs, as I stood waiting to see the first little face, they began to pass by me, one by one and I was overwhelmed with sadness and grief for them. It's in their eyes.........
As the children passed by, what I first noticed were their tiny faces, devoid of emotion or expression, robotic, and blank. Their eyes were lifeless with nothing behind them, no spark, no joy, just blank and expressionless, just like their tiny faces. They are the walking dead of Gaza, without one word spoken, their eyes were telling the story of the evil genocide they witnessed. These children are living casualties of Israel’s war crimes and Americas enabling of Israel’s wanton unbridled aggression. The walking dead will not appear in the Goldstone report, or on the casualty list from this war. But they are the walking dead of Gaza, it's in their eyes.....
I was told many of the children were emotionally damaged, even much older children had begun sucking their thumbs, and the younger ones had begun to sit and rock, over and over, as if in a trance, left stranded in a terrible place with no escape. Proof positive of the horrendous damage inflicted onto their tiny souls. Many had simply stopped speaking after the war, no longer verbal, no longer willing to engage. Their little mouths silenced from the horror of seeing their mothers murdered, homes destroyed and life as they knew it, come to a spectacular fiery end. Others felt the need to hide behind furniture or adults. I wondered how these children could ever begin to deal with having seen their parents slaughtered, along with everything that meant safety, family and home to them. Their entire world was rocked off its axis, and all of this was taken from them in a mere matter of seconds, only one year ago. All wiped out in the time it takes you to switch channels on your television or unwrap a chocolate bar. Think about that for one moment! Delivered with surgical precision from un-manned drones equipped with US made bombs, DIME missiles and white phosphorous from above; Very clean, very deadly, and very life destroying. ...
Tuesday, January 19, 2010; 2:13 PM
JERUSALEM -- Israel is arresting a growing number of prominent opponents to its policies toward the Palestinians, say critics who are accusing the government of trying to crush legitimate dissent.
In the most high-profile case yet, Jerusalem police detained the leader of a leading Israeli human rights group during a vigil against the eviction of Palestinian families whose homes were taken by Jewish settlers.
Since the summer, dozens of Palestinian and Israeli activists have been picked up, including those organizing weekly protests against Israel's West Bank separation barrier as well as others advocating international boycotts of Israeli goods.
Some of the Palestinians were released without charge only after weeks and months of questioning.
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The main protest efforts are Friday demonstrations against the West Bank barrier in the Palestinian villages of Bilin and Naalin and vigils in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheik Jarrah, where Palestinians have been evicted.
There appears to be an increased police crackdown on the protests with greater numbers of activists being arrested.
In the West Bank, troops fire tear gas, stun grenades, and live rounds - even midnight arrest raids - to disperse anti-barrier protesters. Israel says the protests are illegal, and the harsh tactics are a response to stone-throwing and violent rioting.
In east Jerusalem, police have arrested some 70 demonstrators during marches in recent months, according to Israeli rights groups. At Friday's protest, police arrested 17 Israelis, including Hagai Elad, head of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.They were released 36 hours later by a Jerusalem court, which found the gathering to be illegal, but the arrests unnecessary.
Elad said the arrests represent a "dramatic increase in attempts to silence dissent" that he believes began during last year's offensive in Gaza, when Israel arrested hundreds of anti-war protesters, mostly Arab citizens of Israel.
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Since June, Israel has arrested almost three dozen villagers, mostly during night raids on the village, organizers say. More than 100 have been arrested in Naalin, including 16 in the past month.
Schoolteacher Abdullah Abu Rahmeh, a leader of the Bilin protests, has been held since last month on charges of incitement and weapons possession - the latter stemming from spent Israeli tear gas canisters, stun grenades and other munitions he collected to show visitors.
Two high-profile Palestinian activists were recently released without being charged.
Jamal Juma, coordinator of the Stop The Wall campaign, was held for 17 days. Mohammed Othman, who encourages a boycott against Israel, was released after nearly four months.
Othman, who was arrested upon his return from an advocacy trip to Norway, said he was interrogated almost daily. "The questions focused on the boycott movement, 'How do you work on this and who are your contacts?'" said Othman, 33.
Interrogators searched his computer, his cell phone and e-mail accounts, he said. He had to pay a $2,700 bond.
Othman said he would continue with his activism. "I don't do anything illegal," he said. "All my work was out in the open."
Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip constitutes collective punishment against its civilian population, Amnesty International claimed in a report released for publication Monday to mark the one year anniversary of the end of Operation Cast Lead in the coastal territory.
In the report, Amnesty calls on Israel to immediately lift the blockade on the Gaza Strip. The report, entitled "Suffocating: The Gaza Strip Under Israeli Blockade," contains testimony from residents of the Strip, who say the blockade has prevented them from putting their lives back together after the offensive.
The report also criticizes Israel for delaying travel permits for Gazans seeking medical treatment outside of the Strip, and says that such delays have exacted a humanitarian toll on Gazans. The report also says that the blockade is largely responsible for the 40 percent unemployment rate in Gaza.
The release of the report comes only days after the Defense Ministry presented figures showing improvements in Gaza's humanitarian situation, noting that even during Cast Lead some 1,400 trucks carrying supplies were allowed to enter....
