Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, December 2006, pages 10-11

Gaza on the Ground

Welcome to Hell

By Mohammed Omer

ACCORDING TO the Third Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1791 by the world’s first representative republic, no soldier in time of peace shall be quartered in any home without consent of the owner. The Fourth Amendment guarantees the right of all citizens to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable search and seizure.

More than two centuries later, Palestinians have yet to experience these rights.

Welcome to hell. In a land under constant repression and lacking the most basic recognition of humanity, is it any wonder that Suliman Abu Safra, a gentle man of 70 suffering from diabetes, found himself arrested, torn from his home, tortured and imprisoned? For age offers scant protection from oppression. Abu Safra simply wished to be secure in his home, and thus denied the demand by Israeli occupation soldiers that he let them use it as a sniper’s nest.

Awoken from his sleep at 4 a.m., his refusal earned Abu Safra a trip to jail, hours of torture, and, finally, 48 hours later, his release—Mafia-style—in the middle of a field, early in the morning, miles from home and with no transportation. Struggling through the dark, suffering from his torture-inflicted wounds, the incessant biting of insects and the effects of diabetes untreated for two days, the elderly man fell into a ditch dug by Israeli bulldozers. There he lay for several hours, until morning light made him visible to others. Mercifully, once discovered he was carried and admitted to Rafah’s Al Najjar hospital—alive, but far from well.

Israeli Immigration Minister Ze’ev Boim vowed that the Gaza Strip shall not become a “second Lebanon,” where Hezbollah was able to fight back on semi-equal ground. Hence, against the hardly existential threat posed by rocks, small arms and homemade rockets available to the Palestinian resistance, a nuclear power possessing the world’s fourth largest military beats its chest and threatens further violence on a population where over 60 percent of the residents—nearly 900,000 Gazans—are children under 18.

Taking advantage of the world’s focus on North Korea’s nuclear threat—laughable compared to the Jewish state’s—Israel escalated hostilities in Gaza. On Oct. 17, 2006, its tanks and troops, backed by helicopters and drones, began another indicriminate rampage through the most populated areas of the Gaza Strip, killing 22 more people and injuring hundreds in just three days.

Since June 28, over 250 Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers have died in Gaza. The international response to Israel’s incursions and assassinations dutifully adheres to Israeli hasbara (propoganda): first, that the goal is to rescue one captured Israeli soldier—even though the re-invasion was planned months before that event. Israel’s next excuse is that it is trying to halt the smuggling of weapons through tunnels, or stop Palestinians from launching rockets (made in kitchens, with a maximum range of three to five miles) toward Israel. Should that fail to convince, the excuse focuses on exit points on Gaza’s eastern border or on the Rafah crossing into Egypt. 

In fact, Gaza’s 1.4 million residents are no more than fish in an Israeli barrel—locked out from the world on all sides, trapped by the cross-fire, with neither exit nor recourse. Crossings are closed to prevent people from leaving—or, in the case of Palestinian Interior Minister Said Syiam, to prevent his returning to Gaza after a diplomatic tour of Iran, Syria and Egypt.

Closures often function as a pretext to surgically remove from Palestinian society those individuals Israel considers leaders—whether they are affiliated with a political party or part of the resistance to Israeli occupation. This does not mean, however, that ordinary Palestinians have nothing to fear.

Balancing atop the ruins of her demolished home, 34-year-old Umm Hashem grasps for a reason behind this insanity, unable to comprehend why she became a target. Her only warning was an approaching patrol of Israeli soldiers.

“We were all sleeping inside our home,” she said in disbelief. “All we heard were helicopters hovering. We thought it the usual, then we heard shooting—but we weren’t sure, because of the noise of the helicopter.”

Looking down at the rubble that was once her home, Umm Hashem paused. “It was a sound I have not heard for a year,” she explained. “I tried to wake all of the children. Hearing the bulldozers, it was like a nightmare—but it was too late. There was no way to get out. My neighbor was yelling at me, panicked, ‘They are back! They are back!’

“Then I heard Hebrew coming from a walkie-talkie,” she recalled. “Realizing it wasn’t the right time to evacuate, we decided to stay.”

The Israelis opened fire, killing four people and leaving in their wake several demolished homes, along with uprooted olive and orange trees. In a matter of minutes Umm Hashem’s neighborhood was transformed into a ghost town, with not an ambulance, press vehicle or stray animal to be seen.

Asked she felt about the Israeli attack, Umm Hashem responded, “I was afraid of course. They are criminals! There are no rules…you never know what they will do. Killing people is an easy option for them. I don’t want to die. I don’t want my children to die!”

Further upsetting the Muslim community was the timing of the Israeli attack, which came just before the beginning of Eid, the feast marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan. This would be like attacking Christians during Advent or Jews in the week between Rosh Hoshona and Yom Kippur.

Eid normally is a joyous time of feasting, gifts and socializing for Muslims. In Gaza, however, the Israeli offensive, and the threat of further escalation, cast a dark shadow over Gazans, especially the young. Returning home from their secondary school, students Mohammed and Basel Qeshta spoke nervously of another Israeli attack. When asked how serious the assault might be, Basel replied: “Do you think the Jewish soldiers are coming to play in Gaza? Of course not. They won’t let us live in peace. They will come and carry out their massacres.”

“What the hell else are they going to do?” Mohammed added quickly. “Look at the hell we’re in. What more can they do to us other than kill us?”

For 60 years Palestinians have endured wars, confiscations, demolitions, kidnappings, torture, and seizures of their homes, land, families and lives. As one surveys the Gaza landscape littered with spent Israeli artillery shells and bullet casings bearing U.S. identification marks, it seems like a dream to hope that the basic rights enjoyed by Americans—to be secure in their homes, persons and possessions—will be extended to Palestinians any time soon. After all, Israel is free to declare a state of war whenever it is so inclined, and claims it is upholding cease-fires when it is not. Nor need it fear that Washington will insist that Israel keep its word, much less abide by international law.

In 1947 Israel’s founders agreed to abide by the United Nations partition resolution creating a Jewish and Palestinian state, to extend full and equal rights to all persons living on the land, and to create a constitution guaranteeing these rights. Six decades later, Israel has yet to fulfill even one of these conditions of statehood. To this day Israeli has yet to adopt a constitution. Without a constitution, there can be no Bill of Rights. Without a Bill of Rights or its equivalent, how can any nation call itself a “democracy”?

Trying to remain human while living in hell taxes one’s morality, patience and will. Yet for Palestinians one truth tempers anger and a longing for revenge, thereby allowing hope to endure: “Let no man pull you so low as to hate him. As you press for justice, be sure to move through dignity with discipline using only the weapons of love.”

This wisdom comes from someone Muslims consider a prophet. His name was Jesus Christ.

Mohammed Omer, winner of the Best Youth Voice category for the First National Ethnic Media Awards, reports from the Gaza Strip, where he maintains the Web site <http://www.rafahtoday.org>. He can be reached at < This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >.

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