“Can we testify to repeated crimes? »
Can we describe a crime in the ruins? Or rather, can we survive under such a deluge of fire in Gaza? As a Palestinian citizen of Gaza, I am accustomed to witnessing the atrocities of the occupation. However, a week after the ceasefire, it is a difficult task to describe the darkness of these three dark days and the degree of devastation that befell civilians during this umpteenth Israeli military aggression in early August 2022.
A large-scale military assault from August 5-7, 2022, with airstrikes and artillery fire against residential homes, farmland and civilian infrastructure. As a result, 49 Palestinians, including 17 children and 4 women were murdered, and 360 others were injured.
Our calamity has known causes, but the international community lets it grow and drink the blood of women and children plunged into darkness for three days. Let everyone know that our resistance for our survival and our desire to take back the reins of our freedom confirm our devotion to this magical and beautiful land, which the lies of Israel and certain foreign media complicit in crimes cannot shake.
Distressing, terrifying these three days of deluge of fire on women and children ! Their blood would not be enough to write the slow agony of a civilian population in its survival. Despite the ceasefire, this population remains traumatized, the psychological shock of the deafening noise of the bombardments is etched in our memories, how is this possible? ? It was a real carnage, no one was safe, everyone was waiting under this deluge of Israeli fire for death to come and snatch them.
Personally, I did not expect this surge of bombs. But, for the Israeli apartheid regime, nothing is sacred. These criminals stalk the Gaza Strip with force and violence at all times.
During this aggression, the Israeli occupation army has sown chaos, terror and horror in a region which has already suffered an inhuman and illegal blockade for more than fifteen years, and which is surviving in an unprecedented economic crisis. The real Israeli objective was to break the remarkable will of this civilian population which, despite the blockade, four previous offensives and the humanitarian crisis, continues to resist and to exist.
Like all the population, I lived in anguish under the fire of bombardments every three to four minutes, deprived of electricity 20 hours a day, with a minimum of water to survive, few medicines and food products. Despite the lack of means, overwhelmed and under pressure, I gave priority to my duty to write a daily report of the assessment of the aggression, which I sent every day, via the Internet and social networks, to all the solidarity in the world and to associations supporting Palestine.
A very difficult task in these times of blitzkrieg , due to the permanent power cuts. I testified every day, even every hour, thanks to a generator that provides some electricity. I intervened on several radio and television channels, in newspapers and on various French-speaking sites which solicited me unceasingly, without counting the daily telephone calls coming from French-speaking countries.
I can say that, during this aggression, I was filled with joy at each return of the electric current, if only for two hours a day, to send the balance sheets and to charge the batteries which gave me two or three hours of current in more.
The transmission abroad of the daily assessment of the Israeli aggression was for me essential, because I am very keen on popular solidarity towards our cause, in particular to reveal the extreme brutality of the Israeli bombardments and the silences of the complicit countries.
As soon as the power returned to my house, at any time of the day or night, it was the commotion at home. I decreed a “ state of emergency ”, with a formal ban on speaking to me or asking me anything .
I am convinced of the importance of this international solidarity. I wanted to inform of the sacrifice of all my obligations as father and husband, I had to inform the foreign media of the daily toll of the killing of women and children with total impunity by the Israeli army. By taking maximum advantage of the electric current, I gathered information from several local sites, photos and medical sources, to transmit them abroad.
During the three days of Israeli bombardment, I managed to send my daily report to thousands of people. And even though I didn't have time to read and respond to all the messages they sent to me, oh how!, I was comforted by all the support of the peace and justice activists who spoke tirelessly for the Palestinian cause all over the world.
My daily life during this attack was very trying. Just shopping at the market every day to feed my family, or visiting neighbors to check on them, carried major risks of dying. No matter where you were in the Gaza Strip, death hung in the sky. The rest of the time, I remained locked up at home to follow the information of the foreign media, which discovered that the Palestinian people were martyred, whereas this has been going on for 73 year !
As soon as the electric current came back, I applied myself to doing my duty as a Palestinian citizen in front of my computer by my reports, to counteract the disinformation of certain French-speaking media with great listening. I did my duty to inform, so that the sacrifice of our martyrs, men, women and children, would not be stifled by the media echo chambers in the pay of the occupation. I was doing my duty to inform for Palestine martyred by an army of criminals, which has defiled our land to its roots. I was doing my duty to inform, because information is part of the Palestinian struggle and resistance.
However, like my people during this attack, I was overwhelmed by several feelings: pride, confidence, strength, courage, fear, anger, indignation, concern and relief. Despite the blood, the tears and the pain, I gained a great number of new friends, I discovered extraordinary people from several countries with whom I keep in touch, united people who want to support Gaza and Palestine.
Defenders of the Palestinian cause who have been deeply concerned about the evil fate that this occupation and its complicit allies have been inflicting on Palestine, and Gaza in particular, for several decades. I had the chance to speak live at several demonstrations in French-speaking countries during and after the Israeli aggression. Their slogans (“Palestine will live, Palestine will conquer”) overwhelm us with courage and resistance, because we know that behind us there are millions of people in the world who express their anger against the despicable crimes committed by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip.
I am proud of the volunteer team of the French-speaking channel "Gaza La Vie", and the site "Gaza en français", these motivated young people who, at the risk of their lives, informed the French-speaking world to denounce the horrors of Israeli aggression, by posting videos and photos on their social networks.
Two days after the ceasefire, I accompanied these young people to organize animation and psychological support activities to reassure deeply traumatized children. It is imperative, during these dark hours, to bring love and humanity to these little angels, who were already deprived of everything before this new carnage.
Despite these three days of terror during which Gaza endured the unbearable, the two elements that reassure me are, on the one hand, the prodigious will and the exemplary patience of our civilian population despite the scale of the genocide, and, on the other hand, international mobilization and popular support all over the world. Our population appreciated this solidarity which helped to put pressure on the governments.
To bend civil society in Gaza, the Israeli apartheid regime relied on three objectives :
– military objective by bombardments without distinction of targets ;
– psychological objective by sowing terror ;
– economic objective with the reinforcement of the closure of the sea, land and air crossings of Gaza, which has been under blockade for more than fifteen years, in order to deprive civilians of food and medicine ;
But the Gaza Strip has never yielded and it will not yield if the Israeli army attacks it again, because this army of criminals has never respected the human rights of the Palestinians. Especially since ten days after the interruption of this new aggression, nothing has changed in Gaza, which is still suffering from the inhuman blockade imposed by this apartheid regime.
Fundamental questions remain : occupation, colonization, blockade, and apartheid. So that as long as the Israeli crimes are not judged and as long as the impunity of this colonial regime lasts, a new genocide is preparing.
The strong mobilization for Gaza all over the world, during and after the recent Israeli aggression, is highly appreciated by our people. It must be continued because, before and after this attack, the situation is still marked by the absence of prospects.
Despite the appalling human losses and massive destruction, despite these three days of terror, I am more than ever determined to continue the resistance through writing, information, education and work with young people for an opening on the world, with the unwavering support of sympathizers abroad who campaign tirelessly for a Palestine of freedom and lasting peace, a peace that will come first and foremost through justice.
I'm sorry as I couldn't find the author's name or proper address, but I'm sure it's authentic, as always my profound thanks to all my good readers, stay safe and well.
No comments:
Post a Comment