Showing posts with label JEWISH CRIMINALS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label JEWISH CRIMINALS. Show all posts

Thursday, February 5, 2009

PEACE WITHOUT JUSTICE



Israeli occupation on gaza
A view in Beit Dajan (Jaffa District) soon after Nakba where you can see the persecuted European Jews who had usurped a Palestinian shop.

By Abu al-Sous (Salah Mansour)*

Since the inception of the Zionists movement, its founders and the Western Powers proclaimed that if Arabs accepted the Zionist vision (which aims to turn Palestine to a “Jewish majority state”), then “peace”, prosperity, and democracy shall follow soon after. Paradoxically, what happened on the ground has been the complete the opposite. It should be noted that up to this date, all Arab countries who accepted the Western version of “peace” and recognized the “Jewish state” have become

  • more repressive against their own people,
  • have the best intelligence services and torture centers the West can to offer,
  • their democracy is almost non-existent at all levels, and
  • their economies cannot survive without foreign aid.

Because this version of “peace” ignores that facts that the Palestinian people have been ethnically cleansed and dispossessed of their homeland, it’s extremely unpopular among Arabs. Consequently, Western Powers have resorted to all sorts of methods to impose this version of “peace” on Arab regimes, and as a result repression and corruption have reached unprecedented levels. The examples in the Arab World are too many to enumerate, especially in the occupied West Bank and Egypt.

Such a version of “peace” requires the West and Israel to continuously shore up corrupt Arab regimes to prolong the unpopular “peace” treaties with Israel, and without corruption and repression these unpopular treaties won’t last for a day. As repression and corruption increases, these Arab regimes become even more unpopular which entails even more sustainable repression and corruption. This vicious circle of repression and corruption (which are required to sustain this version of “peace”) has become a kind of a ponzi or a pyramid scheme that will eventually crumble under its own weight. If history can be a judge, this version of “peace” (which is based on usurping Palestinian national rights) will be a curse on the Arab regimes and people who choose it as their path. In that respect, it is helpful to point out that even David Ben-Gurion (the first Israeli Prime Minister) recognized that peace without justice is simply impossible, he stated in 1919:

“Everybody sees the problem in the relations between the Jews and the Arabs. But not everybody sees that there’s no solution to it. There is no solution! . . . The conflict between the interests of the Jews and the interests of the Arabs in Palestine cannot be resolved by sophisms. I don’t know any Arabs who would agree to Palestine being ours—even if we learn Arabic . . .and I have no need to learn Arabic. On the other hand, I don’t see why ‘Mustafa’ should learn Hebrew. . . . There’s a national question here. We want the country to be ours. The Arabs want the country to be theirs.” (One Palestine Complete, p. 116)

Similarly, Ze’ev Jabotinsky (one of the most influential Zionists leaders) recognized that Arabs will accept Zionist vision only by the force of arms, he stated in his famous iron wall article in 1923:

“…. Settlement can thus develop under the protection of a force that is not dependent on the local population, behind an iron wall which they will be powerless to break down. ….a voluntary agreement is just not possible. As long as the Arabs preserve a gleam of hope that they will succeed in getting rid of us, nothing in the world can cause them to relinquish this hope, precisely because they are not a rubble but a living people. And a living people will be ready to yield on such fateful issues only when they give up all hope of getting rid of the Alien Settlers. Only then will extremist groups with their slogan ‘No, never’ lose their influence, and only then their influence be transferred to more moderate groups. And only then will the moderates offer suggestions for compromise. Then only will they begin bargaining with us on practical matters, such as guarantees against pushing them out, and equality of civil, and national rights.”

“Peace” without justice for the Palestinian people is equivalent to some kind of a financial transaction between individuals not people. The Palestinian people are a patient people and like all people eager for a justice peace; they shall wait for the day when a just and lasting peace comes.

Our DATE is 60 years LATE, God willing sooner or later we shall return.
* Salah Mansour is the founder and editor of PalestineRemembered.com, the largest Palestinian online community.

Boycott israel
صورة نادرة للمغتصبين الصهاينة في قرية بيت دجن (محافظة يافا) تم إلتقاطها بعد النكبة وتظهر إحدى المحلات التي تم سرقتها من سكانها الفلسطينيين.

السلام غير العادل
بقلم أبو السوس (صلاح منصور)
منذ بداية الحركة الصهيونية، أعلن مؤسسيها وداعميها في العالم الغربي أنه إذا وافق العرب على المُخطط الصهيوني –الذي يطمح لتحويل فلسطين لدولة أغلبيتها من اليهود– فإنهم سينعمون بالسلام والرخاء الإقتصادي والديموقراطية. بالفعل قامت عدة دول عربية بالإعتراف “بالدولة اليهودية” ومُخططها الصهيوني في فلسطين ولكن النتيجة كانت معاكسة تماماً للتعهدات الغربية، فهذه الدول أصبحت:

  • تنعم بالمزيد من القمع وتراجع الحريات،
  • تنعم بدوائر مخابرات ومراكز تعذيب تعد من أحدث ما يُصدره العالم الغربي،
  • تنعم بديموقراطية شبه معدومة،
  • تنعم بفساد يشمل كافة طبقات المجتمع،
  • وتنعم بإقتصاد شبه مُنهار يمعتمد على المِنح الخارجية.

تحظى نظرة الدول الغربية “للسلام” في الشرق الأوسط بشعبية عربية شبه معدومة وذلك لأنها ترتكز على ظلم الشعب الفلسطيني ولأنها تنتقص من الحق العربي والإسلامي في فلسطين. ولذلك لجأت الدول الغربية وإسرائيل بإستخدام كافة أنواع الضغوطات لإلزام بعض الأنظمة العربية بالقبول بهذا “السلام” غير العادل. فبسبب إنعدام شعبية هذا “السلام” –المبني على اُسس ظالمة– إزداد القمع والفساد في الأنظمة العربية التي إعترفت بالدولة اليهوية، وهذا يقلص من شعبية تلك الأنظمة مما يُجبرها على إستخدام المزيد من القمع والفساد للمحافظة على سدة الحكم، فالفجوة ما بين الأنظمة وشعوبها تزداد ولا تقل.

فبإختصار، تمرير المفهوم الغربي والصهيوني “للسلام العادل” يتتطلب إفساد الأنظمة العربية وهذا يستوجب قمع وإفساد شعوبها، وبدون ذلك فإن معاهدات السلام المُوقعة مع “الدولة اليهودية” لن تصمد ليوم واحد؛ فالأمثلة على ذلك كثيرة خاصةً في الضفة الغربية المُحتلة وجمهورية مصر التي تعتمد على دوامة الفساد والإفساد للمحافظة على مراكزها. فللأسف الشديد إستمرارية هذه المُعاهدات يتتطلب المزيد من القمع والفساد، واُشبهها بأنظمة الإستثمار الهرمية التي ستنهار في يومٍ ليس ببعيد تحت وطأة وزنها. فالوعودات الغربية والصهيونية بالرخاء والسلام والديموقراطية تتحول أمام أعيننا للعنة على الأمة العربية، عسى أن يعتبر منها البعض الذين يتهافتون لتوقيع مُعاهدات “سلام” جديدة على حساب الحقوق العربية والإسلامية في فلسطين. وهنا تجدر الإشارة بأن ديفيد بن غوريون–أول رئيس وزراء إسرائيلي– إعترف بأن سلام عادل مع العرب غير ممكن مهما تم التلاعب بالكلمات، فقال في عام 1923:

“الكل يرى بأنه يوجد حل للمشكلة ما بين اليهود والعرب، ولكن لا يرى الجميع بأنه لا يوجد حلّ لهذه المشكلة. ليس هنالك حلّ! … فتضارب المصالح العربية واليهودية في فلسطين لا يمكن حله بالتلاعب بالكالمات … أنا لا أجد عربي يوافق بأن تتحول فلسطين لنا حتى وإن تكلمنا العربية ….. وعلى الجانب الآخر لماذا ينبغي على ((مصطفى)) تعلم العبرية … يوجد هنا تضارب بالأهداف الوطنية، فهم يريدون فلسطين لهم ونحن نريدها لنا.” (One Palestine Complete, p. 116)

وبالمثل إعترف زئيف جابوتنسكي –أحد أهم مؤسسي الفكر الصهيوني– بأن العرب لن يتقبلوا المُخطط الصهيوني إلا إذا فرض عليهم بقوة السلاح، ففي عام 1923 كتب في مقالته المشهورة ((الجدار الحديدي)):

“الإستيطان ممكن فقط من خلال الإعتماد على قوة السلاح وأن لا يعتمد على موافقة السكان الأصليين… فهذا الإستيطان ممكن فقط من وراء جدار حديدي يصعب إختراقه …. فالتوصل لإتفاق بملئ إرادة السكان اللأصليين ببساطة غير ممكن. فكلما بقي عند العرب البصيص من الأمل بإقتلاعنا، فإنهم لن يتخلون عن هذا الأمل مهما كان الثمن وذلك لأنهم ليسو بأنقاض بل شعب حي. والشعب الحي لا يتخلى عن أمور مصيرية إلا إذا فقد الأمل بالتخلص من المستوطنين الأجانب، وعندها سينتقل نفوذ المجموعات المُتطرفة التي ترفض التسوية معنا وينتقل نفودها الى مجموعات أكثر إعتدالاً وعندئذٍ المعتدلين سيقدمون إقتراحات للتسوية معنا وبعد ذلك يبدأون بالتفواض عن الأمور المصيرية، مثل ضمانات بعدم طردهم والمساومة على حقوقهم المدنية والوطنية.”

وهنا أطرح الأسئلة التالية:

  • ألم يتنبأ جابوتينسكي بما يحدث لنا الآن منذ أكثر من ثماني عقود؟
  • هل بإمكاننا الإعتبار مما قاله جابوتينسكي ؟

“السلام” في المفهوم الغربي والصهيوني هو مفهوم مُضلل لأنه يعتمد على نكران الحق العربي والإسلامي في فلسطين، وما هو إلا نوع من أنواع الصفقات التجارية التي لا تمت للسلام بأي صلة. فالشعب الفلسطيني شعب صبور يطمح بسلام عادل وشامل الذي سيضمن له كافة حقوقه الوطنية والمدنية خاصة حقوقه في العودة والتعويض. فالشعب الجزائري قدم تضحيات أكثر من الشعب الفلسطيني وتم إستعمار وإحتلال وطنه لأكثر من 130 سنة، ومع ذلك لم يتخلى الجزائريون عن أنملة من حقوقهم الوطنية. عسى أن تعتبر الشعوب الأنظمة العربية بالتجربة الجزائرية وأن تناصر الشعب الفلسطيني كما ناصرت الشعب الجزائري لضمان كافة الحقوق العربية والإسلامية في فلسطين، فصبرنا هو مفتاح الفرج والله الموفق.

فرحتنا فقط بعودتنا إن شاء الله
صلاح منصور / أبو السوس
شيكاغو - الولايات المتحدة

boycott baby killers

Friday, January 16, 2009

OLMERT’S DREAM IS PALESTINE’S NIGHTMARE

HERE is a collection of Latuff’s cartoons dealing with the situation in Palestine.
You are free to download all the collection, reproducing and
sharing with people.

THE ISRAELI HUMAN SHIELD

By Abu al-Sous (Salah Mansour)*

During the Israeli war on Gaza, Western media propagated Israeli propaganda that the Palestinian resistance have been using their family members as human shields. Sadly, Israeli propaganda is often presented in Western media as facts, and the Israeli version has been accepted with little verification. The goal is simple: dehumanise the Palestinian by showing that he does not care about his family members, and once that is done it becomes much easier to accept him as a legitimist target.

This dehumanizing campaign is as old as the Zionist movement; it was articulated by Golda Meir (a former Israeli Prime Minister) when she said: Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us. This racist and derogatory comment is often propagated in Western media without a second thought to its dehumanizing consequences. It paints the Arab as a sub-human creature, who has neither affection nor love towards his or her children. When I first heard this racist comment from an American, I felt as if he was telling me: you are not much of a human as I”!

To this date, the Israel Occupation Army (IOF) still refuses to comply with orders from the Israeli Supreme Court to stop using Palestinian civilians as human shields (click here for a BBC article about this subject). If the IOF is a “professional army” as it claims and it treats Palestinians according to International Law, then:

  • I wonder why Israel’s highest court would issue such an order?
  • I wonder why IOF refuses to stop using Palestinians as human shields?

It has been an Israeli strategy from the start to use civilian target as a strategic weapon. Israeli leaders assume this would cause the civilian population to pressure Arab leaders to submit to Israeli dictates. Sadly, this Israeli tactic has been historically effective with the corrupt and unpopular Arab leaders who are more interested in protecting their corrupt regimes than defending their countries. The reader should be reminded of the “Grape of Wrath” agreement between Hizbullah and Israel 1996 which restricted both sides from hitting civilian targets. This agreement signaled the end of the Israeli occupation in southern Lebanon, and as a result a new era in the Arab-Israeli conflict have begun where Israel’s deterrence power suffered a major setback. It should be noted that Israel has been determined not to fall into this trap again; that would explain why Israel rejected signing similar agreements with Hamas.


A Palestinian killed by Israeli Occupation Soldiers used as a trophy.

The allegation that Palestinian resistance use their own family members as human shield has been concocted by Zionists to delegitimise any Palestinian resistance, and to deflect from the war crimes that are being perpetrated on the people of Gaza. Palestinians are no different than other colonized people; they’re simply defending their homeland from foreign aggressions. The following list of pictures, articles, movies, and Israeli quotations will conclusively prove that the Israeli Occupation Army is the one who use civilians as human shields.

* Salah Mansour is the founder and editor of PalestineRemembered.com, the largest Palestinian online community.

الدروع البشرية الإسرائيلية
بقلم أبو السوس (صلاح منصور)


صورة لطفل فلسطيني مقيد لدورية إسرائيلية يُستخدم كدرع بشري لحماية الجنود الإسرائيليين من عناصر المقاومة.

تقوم وسائل الإعلام هنا في العالم الغربي بترويج الدعاية الإسرائيلية بأن عناصر المقاومة تستخدم أفراد أسرهم كدروع بشرية، وللأسف الشديد تروج هذه الدعاية العنصرية كأنها حقيقة وقلما يتم التحقق منها قبل نشرها. الهدف من تلك الدعاية العنصرية بسيط وهو تجريد الفلسطيني من إنسانيته، وبذلك يصبح الفلسطيني هدف مشروع ولا يتم التعامل معه كمظلوم أو كضحية.

الحملة لتجريد العربي من إنسانيته حملة قديمة بدأت منذ نشوء الحركة الصهيونية وعبرت عنها غولدا مائير(ورئيس وزراء إسرائيلية سابقة) بوضوح عندما قالت: السلام بيننا وبين العرب سيتحقق عندما يُحب العرب أطفالهم أكثر من كراهيتهم لنا. عادةً تردد هذه المقولة العنصرية في الإعلام الغربي تلقائياً بغض النظر عن العواقب العنصرية لها. فهذه المقولة ترسم في ذهن الغربي صورة غير إنسانية عن العربي لأنها تجرده من العطف والحنان تجاه أطفاله؛ فمن لا يملك مشاعر العطف والحنان لا يمكن أن يكون إنسان. في يوم من الأيام قام أمريكي بترديد هذه المقولة أمامي مما جعلني أشتاط غضباً، فشعرت بأنه يقول لي بأني لست إنسان مثله.

هنا تجدر الإشارة بأن قوات الإحتلال الإسرائيلية لا تزال ترفض الإمتثال لأوامر محكمة العدل العليا الإسرائيلية بالتوقف عن إستخدام المدنيين الفلسطينيين كدروع بشرية (أنقر هنا لمقال من ال ب ب سي عن الموضوع). فإذا كان جيش الإحتلال كما يدعي بأنه “جيش حضاري” يلتزم بالقوانين الدولية:

  • لماذا تصدر محكمة العدل العليا الإسرائيلية أوامر لقوات الإحتلال بالكف عن إستخدام المدنيين كدروع بشرية؟
  • لماذا لا تزال قوات الإحتلال ترفض الإنصياع لتلك الأوامر؟

منذ البداية قامت الحركة الصهيونية بإستهداف المرافق المدنية والمدنيين كسلاح إستراتيجي لتحقيق أهدافها السياسية والعسكرية، وللأسف الشديد سياسة إستهداف المرافق المدنية والمدنيين كانت فعّالة ضد الأنظمة العربية التي يهمها المحافظة على سُلطتها أكثر من حمايتها للوطن من العدوان الصهيوني. هنا يجب التنوية لإتفاقية عناقيد الغضب بين حزب الله وإسرائيل (إتفاقية مضمونه ومراقبة دولياً) التي وُقعت بعد العدوان الإسرائيلي على جنوب لبنان عام 1996. فهذه الإتفاقية نصت على عدم إستهداف المرافق المدنية من كلى الطرفين. فهذا كان الفخ الذي وقع فيه الإحتلال من قبل المقاومة، ومنذ توقيع المعاهدة في 27 نيسان 1996، بدأ العد التنازلي لللإحتلال الإسرائيلي في جنوب لبنان، وذلك يُفسر رفض قبول الإسرائيليون توقيع معاهدة مماثلة مع قوات المقاومة في غزة الصمود.


جنود الإحتلال يأخذون صورة جماعية بعد قتلهم فلسطينياً في خليل الرحمن.

لقد قمنا بجمع العديد من المقالات والصور والأفلام عسى أن يجدها القارئ مفيدة لدحض هذه الدعاية العنصرية:

الرجاء مشاركة هذا المقال مع كل صديق وقريب، ولكم منا جزيل الشكر، والله الموفق.

أنقر هنا إذا ترغب بإضافة تعليقك لهذا المقال

روابط ذات صلة

فرحتنا فقط بعودتنا إن شاء الله
صلاح منصور / أبو السوس
شيكاغو - الولايات المتحدة

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Blaming The Victims

image ‘Copyleft’ by Carlos Latuff

TODAY’S TOON ~~ NOBEL PIECE PRIZE

Nobel Piece Prize???

Image ‘Copyleft’ by Carlos Latuff

DAY 18 OF THE ISRAELI BLITZKRIEG

Dear Editors, Journalists and Friends,

” Israeli MP and Leader: Afghdor Liberman says that “Gaza has to be
erased from the Map by Nuclear bombs like what Americans used in
Heroshima and Nagazaki.”

Israeli military operation is still increasingly killing more
Palestinians mostly civilians. The victims are in contrary of the
announced aim of targeting militants. Around 370 of the victims are
children while 160 are women. Israeli Artillery intensified the
shelling scale leaving more victims and destruction.
This is a new report for the 18th day of Gaza War and the outcomes of
Israeli invasion.

*******************************************
Day 18 of Israeli War On Gaza
By Sameh A. Habeeb, A Photojournalist, Humanitarian & Peace Activist
in Gaza Strip.

Daily Feed About Gaza War:


1. Israeli war ships bombard two weeding halls, Al Jazeera and Shab
palace on Gaza beach.


2. Heavy shelling in East of Gaza City resulted in the killing of many
people and injuring several others.


3. Continued artillery attacks on Bait Lahi town.


4. The Israelis destroyed many houses in Khoza’a south north of
Kanyounis where 24 citizens were injured by the white phosphorous
bombs, most of them are suffering from third degree burns.


5. Expanding bulldozering houses and farms in Khoza’a and Najar
neighborhood south north Khanyounis.


6. Killing a woman and injuring a girl in her arm and leg as well as
wounding several citizens for their rejection to evacuate their
houses.


7. Continual clashes between resistance men and the Israel army on Al
Rayyes and Al Sorni hills.


8. Shelling a house belonging to Al Barawi family in Twam, north west
of Gaza, four people injured by white phosphorous bombs. Injured
people waited for long time until the ambulance men managed to reach
them .


9. One Palestinian citizen killed and ten injured on Khnyounis Highway.


10. Targeting Al Ahli Sports Club in west to Nusseirat Camp.


11. Targeting by war planes missiles a house belonging to Al Shanti
Family in Nusseirat .


12. Targeting a group of citizens in Nusseirat, four casualties.
Ambulance personnel were prevented to reach them.


13. Targeting a house belonging Al Zwaidi Family south of Beit Hanoun
.
14. Bombardment by two F16 rockets on farms in Abbassan south of Khnyounis


15. Artillery shelling in an open area near Jabalia refugee camp;
three people were injured.


16. Warning rockets at residential areas in Beer Al Na’a Ja west of Jabalia.


17. Detonating an evacuated house in Al Attatra area where Israeli
special Forces were inside the house. Al Qassam Brigades claimed one
Israeli officer was killed and other soldiers were injured , while the
Israeli sources have not referred to that incident.


18. A Palestinian citizen is killed and four other were injured, one
of them is serious in Al Falouja while they were trying to get bread
for their kids.


19. Alaqsa brigades calim killing 12 Israel soldiers in an ambush
south of Baitlahi. Israeil sources kept silent.


20. Al aqsa Brigades shells by home- made artillery Soufa Crossing.


21. Five Palestinian citizens were killed and 10 people were seriously
injured near Al Sekka area in Jabalia.


22. Destroying a villa belonging to Mohammed Madi in Raffah..


23. Targeting a group of citizens in Baitlahia, one was killed.


24. Bombardment on a house belonging to Mr. Amin Al Zwaidi for the
third time, adjacent houses were affected.


25. Bombardment on Fatouh street close to Mosab Bin Omair mosque ,
three citizens were killed and several people were injured.


26. Air raids on Jabalia refugee camp where forty citizens were injured.


27. Bombarding a house belonging to Al Najar clan in Khanyounis where
Mr. Khalil Ahmad Alnajar age 75 was killed and seven of his family
members were injured.


28. Bombarding Raffah border area by 100 F16 to destroy tunnels; 25
houses were destroyed.


29. Thirteen resistance men were killed in clashes with Israeli
soldiers south west of Jabalia.


30. Recovering of the dead body of Mikbel Abed Aljarbeeh,an old
Palestinian who was killed on the second day of the ground attack. The
corpse was found rotten.


31. Eight resistance men are killed in clashes with Israeli soldiers
in Tal Al Hawa neighborhood south east of Gaza.


32. The Israeli solders shot dead two Palestinian civilians from Ayyad
family in Al Zaitoun Neighborhood and one resistance man was killed by
a rocket in the southern area of the same neighborhood.


33. Two Palestinian civilians, Hassan Shtaiwi age 68 and Mamdouh
Shaiber age 18 were injured and later died in Al Zaitoun
neighborhood.


34. Mr. Jaji Ramzi who was injured on Jan. 6th and then transferred to
an Egyptian hospital died.


35. The total toll of the Palestinians victims have been 980 killed
and more than 4400 wounded in the War.


36. Naval forces open heavy fire on Gaza shore and many houses were destroyed.


37. A Palestinian Killed in Shikh Ridwan area as a rocket his car and
5 other wounded.


38. Israeli allows some few vans of aids to get into the Gaza Strip.
Hoever, Gaza needs thousands of food trucks a day.


39. Israeli Leader: Afghdor Liberman says that Gaza has to be erased
from the Map by Nuclear bombs like what Americans used in Heroshima
and Nagazaki.

40. Palestinian figthters fired 15 rockets into Israeli settlements.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Story Of Palestine



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Sunday, January 4, 2009

The pain and suffering of just one family in gaza


The following was written by a very dear friend….
Shiv'a is the traditional seven day mourning period observed by Jews at the loss of a loved one…..
In this report, Deb describes the suffering of just one Palestinian family, one of hundreds…

Shiv'a in Gaza: December 2008
By Deb Reich

My heart has been broken so many times, writes Alice Walker somewhere, that it feels like an open suitcase with the wind blowing through it… But maybe, she muses, hearts are made to be broken, and what is required of us is simply a steadfast acknowledgment: Open up and let the wind blow through; that's what hearts are for.

If so, Gaza 2008 is good cardiac training.

I am an American-Israeli Jewish woman of 60 living now in an Arab town in Israel and working for Jewish-Palestinian-Arab-Israeli reconciliation. I have two friends in Gaza and I will tell you how we came to be acquainted.

The first step was simply refusing to be enemies. There are thousands of Palestinians and Jews like me, in the Middle East and worldwide, who refuse to be enemies. We rarely make the headlines in your local paper, but we are here. One day we will prevail - not over anyone, but with everyone together. We are creating a new reality together and the paradigm, sooner or later, will shift decisively. Meantime, people needlessly bleed and suffer and die and mourn; the scenarios are endless but the outcomes are identical: death, injury, pain. What distinguishes Gazan suffering at the moment is that the noncombatants have nowhere to run to. The borders are sealed. The bombs fall. The world watches.

* * *

In 2006, one of my several informally adopted children, business consultant and "business for peace" activist Sam Bahour of Al Bireh, Palestine, started an Arabic-English-Arabic translation service, AIM Word Factory. A key goal was to provide employment for underemployed Gazan translators. To have the honor of being one of the first customers and helping that great idea launch, I sent him, for translation into Arabic, an anti-war story I wrote many years ago called "Dudu in Heaven [1]," about an Israeli woman who loses her brother in the 1967 Six-Day War. The translator in Gaza was a young professional named Maha M., and the shared literary mission led to some email exchanges, all conducted via Sam. "Maha says the story is too sad," Sam reported at one point. "She likes it very much, but she says you ought to write a happier one next time."

Not long ago, I discovered that Maha's nephew Mohammed, 14, is the boy whom Sam has been helping for some years now in a very personal struggle with a rare inherited immune disease, CGD. Sam donates and helps raise money from private donors for Mo's treatment and medication and has been successful in assisting Maha to get the necessary "permits" from Israel to enable her to accompany Mo for his treatment. Mo became a patient at the Edmond and Lily Safra Children's Hospital, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, an excellent Israeli facility near Tel Aviv. ("Everyone on the medical staff will go straight to heaven someday," says Sam.) Mo and Maha recently spent two and a half months at the hospital and the nearby Bet Hayeled ("Children's House"), the hostel for young patients and their families on the hospital grounds; their "permits" do not permit them to leave the campus and their travel documents are deposited with the guard at the hospital entrance. This is the reality of Israel and Palestine, so far; the change we are struggling to midwife is not yet. In November, Mo underwent a bone marrow transplant at Tel Hashomer.

I only discovered that our Gaza-based translator of "Dudu in Heaven" was in Israel toward the end of their stay, early in December when Sam mentioned it by chance. I got organized fairly quickly and went to visit them, accompanied by Abdalla, the 22-year-old son of my landlord upstairs. I figured Mo would enjoy an Arabic-speaking visitor and Abdalla was happy to oblige. We invested in an enormous basket of chocolates - "the absolutely correct gift to bring to a Palestinian child in the hospital," according to Abdalla - chocolate being one of those things that evidently transcend cultures. Also for the young patient, Abdalla's mom Faryal contributed some never-worn boy's jeans and sweatshirts that her sister Shadya in New Jersey sent recently for Abdalla's kid brother, who is too big to wear them. For Maha, I raided my bookshelf and selected Garrison Keillor's anthology, "Good Poems for Hard Times," and a couple of other books I thought she might enjoy.

We drove to the hospital and found Maha and Mo and a parking space, and had a wonderful visit, everyone bonding instantly after the first hug. Maha is a writer-editor-translator type just like me, only a couple decades younger. She and Abdalla took a bunch of digital photographs and I prayed inwardly - even though some ghastly crisis in Gaza was already clearly imminent - that all four of us would be back together again one day soon for a reunion. Mo is a great kid: undersized, on account of the illness, but with a smile like a lighthouse and a passionate interest in airplanes. His dream to become an airline pilot someday is not the most realistic dream for a seriously ill Palestinian child from Gaza in 2008, but insofar as our dreams keep us going, maybe it's very functional. The boys talked soccer and other guy topics and there was a lot of laughter. The chocolates were a big hit.

Abdalla was rather subdued afterwards and I saw that the experience had deeply affected him. We talked mostly of inconsequential things during the drive home.

* * *

Around the time of that visit in early December, after a battery of tests, Mo's bone marrow transplant was declared a guarded success and he was discharged the week before Christmas to make room for the next young patient, despite the iffy situation in Gaza and the near-impossibility of obtaining "permits" to return to the hospital for the required twice- monthly follow-up treatment. There are never enough beds, apparently, for the sick children in this world.

Mo's prospects soon took a dramatic turn for the worse with the Israeli assault on Gaza launched last week - two days after Christmas, on December 27, 2008. Not even the indomitable Sam Bahour can get a child out of Gaza right now. The date for Mo's first post-op intravenous treatment at Tel Hashomer - December 30th - came and went. The treatments are - how shall I put it? - not optional. As I write this, cosy at my desk with a fresh cup of coffee and plenty of everything, Mo and Maha are sitting in Gaza in the dark, in the cold, with little fuel and no reliable supply of food and water, along with Mo's parents and six siblings. Right about now, the family are surely thinking of Mo's seventh sibling, Nora, who died four years ago of CGD at the age of 16, in a hospital in Egypt, before the doctors were able to diagnose her. Mo has a good chance to manage his illness, if only he can somehow get back to Tel Hashomer. I think of them sitting there, listening to the bombs whistle in flight and waiting for the planned Israeli ground assault, while tanks mass along the Gaza perimeter. In the lethal game of mindless violence and counter-violence playing out in Israel and Palestine lo these many years, Mo and his family are innocent bystanders. His innocence will not get Mo to his IV treatments, however.

Can you feel that wind blowing right through your heart?

* * *

While Abdalla and Mo were talking sports at the hostel that day in early December, Maha and I were chatting about the things women talk about. She told me about her shopping, at the minimarket on the hospital grounds, in preparation for their expected return to Gaza. "My sister-in-law told me to buy us a lot of candles," she remarked, "because, you know, there's no electricity most of the time now." We contemplated this bleak picture together in silence for a few moments.

"So I asked the clerk at the shop to sell me some candles that will last a long time," Maha continued. "And he showed me these fat, tall ones that are encased in a solid glass container…" I could feel the hair lifting on the back of my neck. "He said they would burn for a week, so I bought a whole bunch of them," concluded Maha, oblivious, as I sat there, dumbstruck. She was describing the traditional Jewish shiv'a candle - the candle of bereavement lit by Jewish families all over the world for the seven days of mourning on the death of a loved one.

As this ghastly December drew to its grim close, Maha still had enough fuel left to run a small generator for an hour every day or two, so she could get online and do some emails or charge her mobile phone. I got an email saying they are OK ("bombs falling nearby but not on us, so far") and I sent my love and prayers for the family. As of New Year's Eve, I knew they were still alive because I got an e-card from Maha yesterday. Her message said: Dear Deb, I wish you and your children a Happy New Year and a long, happy, healthy and successful life. May every day of the New Year glow with good cheer and happiness for you and your family… Love and best wishes, Maha.

WE ARE HUMANS ::: SAYS GAZA


Residents of Gaza were warned earlier today "to get out of harms way"…. Where are they supposed to go?????
All entries to Israel are locked…. the border to Egypt is nothing but a huge wall…. the people of Gaza are virtually imprisoned in the Strip…

I just got off the phone with a dear brother in Gaza, Sameh Habeeb… he is at home with his family awaiting the 'promised attack'….. I'll keep you posted as soon as he sends me his latest report.

In the meantime read the following report from CNN….

****************************************

Leaflets signed by the commander of the Israeli military were dropped over northern Gaza on Saturday morning, warning residents to "leave the area immediately" to ensure their safety.

A Palestinian man in Gaza sits on rubble to read a leaflet dropped Saturday by Israeli warplanes.

A Palestinian man in Gaza sits on rubble to read a leaflet dropped Saturday by Israeli warplanes.


Israeli tanks and troops have massed on the Gaza border, and an Israel Defense Forces spokeswoman said ground forces are prepared to enter Gaza when they receive orders to do so.


"Due to the terrorist actions undertaken by terrorist elements from the region of your residences against the state of Israel, the Israel Defense Forces are compelled to respond immediately in the region of your residences. For your safety, you are ordered to leave the area immediately," the leaflets say.


The geographic area covered by the word "region" was not defined.