As Israeli Bombs Continue to Rain Down on Gaza
As Israeli bombs continue to rain down on the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian population is struggling to survive without power or water infrastructure. Said Abdelwahed, a Professor of English Literature at Al Azhar University-Gazawho and a colleague of our partner, the Palestinan Agricultural Relief Committee (PARC), shares his late-night thoughts:
It’s 2:25 a.m. in Gaza right now. According to the rules of life, and by the nature of things, everbody is supposed to be in bed right now (except the Italians who won the World Cup – they deserve it.)
Gazans huddled around TVs operated by small generators to watch the final World Cup match. They watched local TV stations that « illegally » transmitted the match because they cannot afford paying for ART (a Saudi satellite cable broadcast) to watch it. They tried to forget their plight and enjoy the match. They stood in suport of one of the two playing teams. Some supported Fance because Zinadine Zidane and Henry are Muslims! But the majority supported Italy because they cannot forget that the captain of the Italian team who won the World Cup in 1982 said a good word in favor the Palestinains as they were beseiged in Beirut.
By the end of the final match, an Israeli heliocapter launched a missle attack on a ground target in Gaza. Believe me, I heard the hissing of the rocket when it was launched! It was the second attack for the day.
Now I am up again. I am unwillingly up! I have been awakened by the horrible buzzing of an unmanned reconnisance plane. It sounds as if it is 15 meters over my head; it is an unbelievable noise. The good part of it, just imagine, is that the electric power is on. This time, it’s delivered by the municipality and it’s our our neighbourhood’s turn to receive power. It does not matter whether we use it or not. Our turn has come in the early hours! Each neighbourhood has its turn according to a schedule.
This situation looks like wartime. Water delivery is controlled by a timetable as well. Yes, it is a wartime and even worse because this situation has been imposed by a regional super power on a poor people with no real military power. The resistance fights with small arms and some primitive explosives. However, they have been deemed terrorists.
More than 40 Palestinains, mostly innocent civilian women and children died in the last 48 hours.
I want to go back to sleep.
Said Abdelwahed