Socialism is the Best Medicine

Socialism is the Best Medicine

Appeal from Gaza – Please Help Us!

January 1, 2009

Comments

by Mahmoud Abu Aisha

Dear Friends and Supporters…

At 3:30 am, I can still hear bombs exploding all over Gaza.

We are in unbearable conditions. Israeli missiles do not discriminate. The Gaza Strip is only 360 square kilometers in area and contains over 1.5 million people, over half of whom are under 18 years old.

We live in fear, panic and terror. Using the pretext of attacking the Hamas movement and ending the rocket shelling of its settlements, Israel has completely destroyed the Gaza Strip, its infrastructure and civil society.

Israel began this war at 11:25 am, the time that children leave school. They used over SIXTY F16 warplanes. This caused large numbers of injuries among school children. About 60 children have already been killed – a total of 400 dead and 1800 injured so far. Aren’t these war crimes?

Children terrorized

Our children are traumatized. When the electricity comes on, I try to prevent them from viewing scenes of the war on TV. Whenever a bomb goes off, my young brother and nephews scream, terrified from the extremely loud explosions. I tried to calm them down by saying these are the sounds of a party outside, but these lies can no longer deceive them. They hear the roaring of the helicopters and the terrible shattering of buildings from airplane strikes.

Our children suffer panic, fear and hyperactivity. They cannot hold their urine in the day and they are wetting their beds at night, clinging to the elderly, wanting to die with the elderly and fearing to be left alone.

We have very limited supplies of basic food and no electricity for most of day. Israel imposed its cruel siege against Gaza on June 15, 2007, denying us access to essential supplies. Because of the scarcity, prices have doubled. Eighty percent live in poverty and 85 percent are unemployed.

No food, no heat

At most, we have 6 hours a day of electricity. We must wait 3-4 hours to obtain bread, which is very rare in the Gaza strip as most of the bakeries have closed for lack of flour. December and January are the coldest months here, yet we have no electricity for heating or cooking.

Gazans had no choice but to dig tunnels under the Palestinian-Egyptian boarders and smuggle food, fuel and other necessities from Egypt. Israel has bombed these tunnels on the Gaza Side.

Israeli war planes have destroyed the whole community in Gaza. Neither mosques, nor universities, nor charities, nor sport clubs, nor ministries, nor civil homes have been spared from the Israeli bombardment.

My heart is bleeding about what happened to the Islamic University of Gaza, where I graduated last July. I feel honored to have two certificates from this university, a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature and a General Diploma in Education. Israel warplanes shelled and demolished many of the university buildings.

Buried alive

Israel practices hideous psychological warfare. Israeli authorities telephone families, calling them to evacuate their homes within 5 minutes before they are bombed.  When people do  evacuate, there is nowhere for them to live! If they are a few moments late, their homes collapse on their heads.

Yesterday, the Ba’lousha Family was given just two minutes to evacuate. The parents couldn’t evacuate all seven daughters in this limited time, because the children were sleeping, and the air strike was faster. FIVE daughters were buried under the rubble of their demolished home.

Please, do what you can to help us.

Blessings,

Mahmoud

Demand that your government press for an immediate stop to Israeli bombing.

Join a protest at the Israeli or American consulate nearest you.

TAKE ACTION to defend Palestinian lives!

4 Comments

4 Comments

  1. Dear Dr. Rosenthal

    I live in the City of Ashkelon in Israel. I have read Appeal from Gaza and I asked myself a very simple question.

    Why is this person not demanding that his chosen government for an immediate stop to the bombing of Israel and bring peace to end this situation?

    Me and my family live in a terrible fear. He describes “Israeli authorities telephone families, calling them to evacuate their homes within 5 minutes before they are bombed”

    Me and my family, don’t have any alert, as the Hamas don’t care about me and my family when they shoot their rockets.

    So please ask Mahmoud to press his government to stop the shooting and in this case both of us will be safe.

    You should ask Mahmoud instead of asking foreign governments to solve our problem, to act and stop this situation

    Yours
    Jonathan Rosenthal (no relation to Susan Rosenthal)

    Reply
  2. As long as Israel tries to crush the Palestinians, they will fight back with every means at their disposal, and no Israeli will be safe.

    Israel could put an immediate stop to the rockets being fired from Gaza. It only has to end the siege of Gaza. This it refuses to do.

    No matter how patient, how moderate, or how conciliatory the Palestinians have been, Israel continues to take away their land. There comes a time when people will choose to die on their feet than to live on their knees.

    Hamas fires rockets into Israel for the same reason that Palestinian children throw stones at Israeli soldiers and slaves spit in the soup of their masters — they refuse to submit to their oppressors.

    Israel must end its occupation of Palestine. That is the only way to secure the safety of everyone in the region.

    Reply
  3. Please be realistic. Israel has the technology to shoot down any rockets that come from Palestine.

    These rockets cannot justify what Israel is doing. Consider this: the death toll of these rockets has been 4, and this is over the course of several years.

    Please, look in the mirror and search inside yourself. This rocket fire cannot and does not justify the killing and maiming of innocent Palestinian children.

    Under no circumstances does bombing a house to kill one person justify the deaths of the other 10 that were in the home.

    Please, help the Palestinians in any way that you can.

    thanks.

    Reply
  4. January 14, 2009
    From The Heart of San Francisco

    Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
    Defense Minister Ehud Barak
    Chief of Staff Lieut. Gen. Gaby Ashkenazi
    OC Southern Command Maj. Gen. Yoav Galant
    Atty. Gen. Menachem Mazuz

    I have seen these names, i have seen the outcome of their policies to the peoples of Palestine… the political and military machine that has been the lead in the loss of life in and throughout the Palestinian landscapes. I have seen the pictures of their faces in the address of this present and ongoing holocaust of Palestinians and what has transpired of the horror in Gaza. The deliberate action to kill helpless, defenseless human beings, civilians; the intent actions to cut off their water, to starve, imprison, demean, deny lives from and in Gaza any freedom of movement tells me and millions of free civilians through out the globe, that Israel leaders are without conscience, period and are without boundries.This is not leadership!

    The days of when Israel was fully respected, “believed” – ‘trusted’ – ‘understood’ is long past.

    If Israel leaders or their military has no intention to listening to the United Nations, then we as free civilians of the globe, must pressure our leaders to ‘BOYCOTT’ Israel. To cut off funding, etc to do with Israel.

    Nations and Leaders around the world need to know: that it is by the sweat and brow of the peoples of your nation that you have your position and are employed.

    It IS your duty to speak and address our rights, our safety, and our accords that keep the security, the full address of our lives, our loved ones, and our children. You are being watched and we are in no mood to keep those of you whose only accord is to keep your positions and jobs. It is your official duty to respond and act effectively for our safety, period.

    I am a person with many disabilities, on life support, but make very sure, I have no reason to keep silent, or have my individual vote denied of what my nation does in my name and or who to give or not give support to. If you refuse to address our needs then you must understand what you do to and for the constituencies you are sworn to protect.

    There are millions of us hidden, not seen, heard, incommunicado, whose very lives depend on truth, safety, respect, care, medical and humanitarian follow through.

    Millions of us as civilians ARE more than truly alarmed by the savagery that has transpired in the violations of human rights to the Palestinian civilians and their children, the elderly, the disabled.

    We are surely alarmed at the political machine and the lies that continue to come from the Israeli military and the present leadership of Israel. For a peoples and nations whose own history has been so trauma filled, only to read that the victim has turned to violator, leaves you in reality from our perspective, ‘without a trusted leg to stand on’.

    You leaders of Israel and the military are the perpetrators, the violators of your own words, the violators to the respective lives of helpless, disabled civilians and children. You have not only become or will become the focus and the place where we will address our anger and messages of accountability.

    As a woman – mother – activist -advocate for disabled rights and for the elderly – a policy maker in and from a citified disabled council you leaders are the ones who blatantly have killed not only the hope of peace, but real human beings.

    I object to the ongoing human rights violations by the Military and the Present afore named leaders in and for Israel.

    In the name of Freedom and for Peace:

    I ask for ALL disabled lives across the globe to join with me in their outrage to the long term and present human rights, disabled rights, violations to civilians, youth, babies in Gaza.

    MHONA International is collecting signatures of peoples and youth from around the globe, who will not fear to send their names as disabled youth and elderly to fight back against the onslaughts and oppression, the disabling and murder of innocent lives of Gaza.

    Send just your signature to: zuban@foptybony.arg
    Subject: Disabled Lives United for Human Right in Gaza!

    Place this following statement on your e-mail to MHONA:
    I object to the ongoing human rights violations in Gaza presently by the military and leadership of Israel.

    Sign your name – city – nation date.

    Thank you.

    Peace and Love to you and yours,
    Tatiana A. Kostanian
    MHONA International

    Reply

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