Gaza

As most of you know, the attack on Gaza started last Saturday. We were sitting in a café at the time, meeting a well-known Palestinian poet, Ghassan Zaqtan, when he got the news on his phone that the Israelis had bombed Gaza. Needless to say, our meeting with him was cut short. On our way home to check the news, the demonstrations in Al Manara had started and people started to gather in the streets. We had just heard from Neta about the conditions in Gaza before the attack, how the siege had taken its toll on the population and how dire the humanitarian crisis was. The siege was bad enough, but to hear of the scale of attack and that Israel planned to continue, was unbelievable. And have they ever. Last night we were at a demonstration in Tel Aviv when they announced that the ground invasion had begun. Despite the news, and the right-wing nationalists who were protesting our protest, it remained non-violent. It may have had something to do with the hundreds of police officers standing between them and us.

The po-po is everywhere these days, in both Israel and Palestine. We have been to many demonstrations in Ramallah in the past week, kept in control by the Palestinian police and army. Of course that in such a potentially explosive situation there would be, yet we have also seen army gathering in front of our house and riot police by the Muqata, lying in wait for a potential outbreak. The official explanation we were given was that they were protecting their people from the Israelis, yet the Israelis are not in Ramallah. The more likely reason is the PA, controlled by Fatah, is intent on quashing any visible support for Hamas. We have heard from friends how if anyone at these demonstrations raises a Hamas flag, it will be ripped out of their hands. Considering the first statement by Abbas after the airstrikes was to condemn Hamas for bringing this on themselves, this is not surprising. The other reason lurking in everyone’s mind is that Fatah is collaborating with the Israelis, and keeping everything under control in the West Bank while the Israelis beat-up Hamas (and everyone else who happens to get in the way). While he claims he ‘will not ride into Gaza on an Israeli tank’, who will fill the void if Hamas is destroyed? The one statement from Israel on this invasion that I do believe is that they don’t want to re-occupy Gaza. Who wants to be in charge of all those troublesome and expensive Palestinians again?

As you can imagine, the mood around here on New Year’s was less than celebratory. We attended a candlelight vigil at Al Manara, and for the first time, encountered a bit of hostility. “Why are you here? Who is the real terrorist?” a man asked us. When we apparently answered his questions correctly, he then tried to befriend us, but this was not the ‘Welcome, welcome” we were used to. But in addition to being angry, people are depressed. Cut off from Gaza, controlled by the PA and the Israelis, they feel helpless. But beyond their anger and rage at the Israeli attack, the Palestinians are disgusted with the rest of the Arab world who have completely abandoned them (again). As the Arab states schedule their meetings, and the UN debates the wording of their ceasefire statement (to be rejected by the US again), the tanks are rolling in and the airstrikes continue.

I don’t need to give you my list of top 10 statements by Livni, Barak, Olmert and Peres (although I think “there is no humanitarian crisis” wins) because I’m sure you have heard these campaign slogans on the news. Elle has written a great piece on the injustice of this attack on Gaza (see http://landed-graphicpictures.blogspot.com). In the meantime, we have been trying to adjust to the new reality around here, which is still a bit of an unknown. As I have mentioned to all that are worried about us, Ramallah has been very calm and we are for the most part, ensconced in our apartment planning some kind of guerrilla-girls propaganda piece, or watching the television at Huda’s while she prepares our next meal.

Simultaneously, it was Elle’s birthday (change of plans), Elle’s beloved dog Sigmund was put down (haram….), our friend Chelsey arrived and is in the middle of her Birthright tour nightmare, and, we rescued another animal (puppy headed for the trunk of a car). We are trying to find a home for this sweet little mutt but so far, no luck….not exactly the best time. We thought of advertising her as a refugee from Gaza who made a dash for the door when the tanks rolled in. Any takers?