.Gaza Strip: Scenes from an aftermath
I'm clearing through my notebooks after a dizzying first week in Gaza. Here are a couple of random scenes that didn't make it into the paper.
'Where is the Arab street?'
Jammed up against the stick shift in a packed communal taxi making the 15-minute drive between the southern towns of Rafah and Khan Yunis. Playing on the radio is what seems like a generic and rather bouncy Arabic dance diva song, until you catch the words.
"Where where where/Where are the millions," she sings. "Where is the Arab street? Where is the Arab rage?"
Who's to blame?
**Standing in front of the massive crater that used to be their family home, Ibrahim Madi, 65, and his son-in-law Ahmed Shaer break into a spontaneous political debate.
Madi is a lifelong supporter of the Fatah faction and opposes Hamas' control of Gaza. But even if he blames Hamas for bringing destruction onto Gaza, he blames Israel more.
"It's true that Hamas is responsible for this, but then [Israel] should go and strike Hamas, not a residential neighborhood," he say. "They're trying to erase the word Palestine from the map."
Shaer, 28, chimes in and the debate ensues:
“Who’s to blame here? It’s one word: Hamas.”
“No, Israel is to blame”
“They fire rockets, what do they think will happen?”
“Why shouldn’t they fire rockets? Be quiet.”
A final message
On Jan. 18, the day the unilateral Israeli cease-fire began, Ibrahim Muammar, who works with a non-governmental organization in Rafah, says he picked up his phone and heard a recorded message declaring that Israel, "didn't use the full extent of its power. You need to know that we are capable of much more."
The message warned Palestinians in Gaza not to try an launch anymore missiles against southern Israel or attack Israeli troops. Otherwise, the Jewish state would "respond with its full power."
Amazingly, the message ends with an Arabic proverb that loosely translates as: "The rational man knows what's good for him."
Babylon & Beyond
'Where is the Arab street?'
Jammed up against the stick shift in a packed communal taxi making the 15-minute drive between the southern towns of Rafah and Khan Yunis. Playing on the radio is what seems like a generic and rather bouncy Arabic dance diva song, until you catch the words.
"Where where where/Where are the millions," she sings. "Where is the Arab street? Where is the Arab rage?"
Who's to blame?
**Standing in front of the massive crater that used to be their family home, Ibrahim Madi, 65, and his son-in-law Ahmed Shaer break into a spontaneous political debate.
Madi is a lifelong supporter of the Fatah faction and opposes Hamas' control of Gaza. But even if he blames Hamas for bringing destruction onto Gaza, he blames Israel more.
"It's true that Hamas is responsible for this, but then [Israel] should go and strike Hamas, not a residential neighborhood," he say. "They're trying to erase the word Palestine from the map."
Shaer, 28, chimes in and the debate ensues:
“Who’s to blame here? It’s one word: Hamas.”
“No, Israel is to blame”
“They fire rockets, what do they think will happen?”
“Why shouldn’t they fire rockets? Be quiet.”
A final message
On Jan. 18, the day the unilateral Israeli cease-fire began, Ibrahim Muammar, who works with a non-governmental organization in Rafah, says he picked up his phone and heard a recorded message declaring that Israel, "didn't use the full extent of its power. You need to know that we are capable of much more."
The message warned Palestinians in Gaza not to try an launch anymore missiles against southern Israel or attack Israeli troops. Otherwise, the Jewish state would "respond with its full power."
Amazingly, the message ends with an Arabic proverb that loosely translates as: "The rational man knows what's good for him."
Babylon & Beyond
posted by madtom at 1:08 AM
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