Assalam Alaikum

The topic about which we wish to speak or write is so disturbing that after scribbling few facts in mind ,one can find one's self glaring at the screen unable to express any thoughts or feelings in any meaningful way....One's emotions start from full cynicism and despair about the situation arising from the seeming hopelessness of the Palestinians. They are battered, murdered, destroyed as military targets, remain defiant of the onslaught to the only apparent alternative - capitulation to Israeli desires - "a land without people." Intermingled with these emotions run rage, disbelief, an odd sense of admiration for the Palestinians for that very defiance in face of truly overwhelming odds.

How can I smile...how can I cry...emotions seem to loose its way...One can go on and on with opinions, facts, write-ups...but here I would like to share some heart-touching stories...an insight on the reality...a glance at the homes...a look at the dead and the living and the in-between....the writer of one of the column I came accross went through this experiences that he cannot forget...Reading the harsh realities I felt the pain of the helpless life ,the tragic deaths the Palestinians are going through every minute. Every pain, every drop of blood had it's own story to say..It will touch your heart and Soul.

"________The morgues of Gaza's hospitals are over-flowing. The bodies in their blood-soaked white shrouds cover the entire floor space of the Shifa hospital morgue. Some are intact, most horribly deformed, limbs twisted into unnatural positions, chest cavities exposed, heads blown off, skulls crushed in. Family members wait outside to identify and claim a brother, husband, father, mother, wife, child. Many of those who wait their turn have lost numerous family members and loved ones.Blood is everywhere. Hospital orderlies hose down the floors of operating rooms, bloodied bandages lie discarded in corners, and the injured continue to pour in: bodies lacerated by shrapnel, burns, bullet wounds. Medical workers, exhausted and under siege, work day and night and each life saved is seen as a victory over the predominance of death.

The streets of Gaza are eerily silent- the pulsing life and rhythm of markets, children, fishermen walking down to the sea at dawn brutally stilled and replaced by an atmosphere of uncertainty, isolation and fear. The ever-present sounds of surveillance drones, F16s, tanks and Apaches are listened to acutely as residents try to guess where the next deadly strike will be- which house, school, clinic, mosque, governmental building or community centre will be hit next and how to move before it does. That there are no safe places- no refuge for vulnerable human bodies- is felt acutely. It is a devastating awareness for parents- that there is no way to keep their children safe.

The ambulances, join the Palestinian paramedics as they risk their lives, daily, to respond to calls from those with no other life-line, our existence becomes temporarily narrowed down and focused on the few precious minutes that make the difference between life and death. With each new call received they ride in ambulances that careen down broken, silent roads, sirens and lights blaring, there exists a battle of life and death...The areas are filled with clouds of dust, torn electricity lines, slabs of concrete and open water pipes gushing water into the street. Amongst the carnage of severed limbs and blood one could see bodies of innocents, their chest and face lacerated by shrapnel wounds, but alive- conscious and moaning.

There was one perosn that was found amidst that area......the ambulance took him out and speeded him through the cold night while applying pressure to his wounds, the warmth of his blood seeping through the bandages reminder of the life still in him. He opened his eyes iand closed them again as Muhammud, a volunteer paramedic, murmured "ayeesh, nufuss"- live, breathe- over and over to him. He lost consciousness by the time he reached the hospital, received into the arms of friends who carried him into the emergency room. He is Majid, surviving and recovering.

A few minutes later there was another missile strike, this time on a residential house. The crowd had rushed to the ruins of the four story home in an attempt to drag survivors out from under the rubble. The family the house belonged to had evacuated the area the day before and the only person in it at the time of the strike was 17 year old Muhammud who had gone back to collect clothes for his family. He was dragged out from under the rubble still breathing- his legs twisted in unnatural directions and with a head wound, but alive. There was no choice but to move him, with the imminence of a possible second strike, and he lay in the ambulance moaning with pain and calling for his mother. One could think he would live, he was conscious though in intense pain and with the rest of the night consumed with call after call to pick up the wounded and the dead, we forgot to check on him. This morning we were called to pick up a body from Shifa hospital to take back to Jabaliya. We carried a body wrapped in a blood-soaked white shroud into the ambulance, and it wasn't until we were on the road that we realized that it was Muhammud's body. His brother rode with us, opening the shroud to tenderly kiss Muhammud's forehead.

This morning we received news that Al-Quds hospital in Gaza City was under siege. We tried unsuccessfully for hours to gain access to the hospital, trying to organize co-ordination to get the ambulances past Israeli tanks and snipers to evacuate the wounded and dead. Hours of unsuccessful attempts later we received a call from the Shujahiya neighborhood, describing a house where there were both dead and wounded patients to pick up. The area was deserted, many families having fled as Israeli tanks and snipers took up position amongst their homes, other silent in the dark, cold confines of their homes, crawling from room to room to avoid sniper fire through their windows.

As we drove slowly around the area, we heard women's cries for help. We approached their house on foot, followed by the ambulances and as we came to the threshold of their home, they rushed towards us with their children, shaking and crying with shock. At the door of the house the ambulance lights exposed the bodies of four men, lacerated by shrapnel wounds- the skull and brains of one exposed, others whose limbs had been severed off. The four were the husbands and brothers of the women, who had ventured out to search for bread and food for their families. Their bodies were still warm as we struggled to carry them on stretchers over the uneven ground, their blood staining the earth and our clothes. As we prepared to leave the area our torches illuminated the slumped figure of another man, his abdomen and chest shredded by shrapnel. With no space in the other ambulances, and the imminent possibility of sniper fire, we were forced to take his body in the back of the ambulance carrying the women and children. One of the little girls stared at me before coming into my arms and telling me her name- Fidaa', which means to sacrifice. She stared at the body bag, asking when he would wake up.

Once back at the hospital we received word that the Israeli army had shelled Al Quds hospital, that the ensuing fire risked spreading and that there had been a 20-minute time-frame negotiated to evacuate patients, doctors and residents in the surrounding houses. By the time we got up there in a convoy of ambulances, hundreds of people had gathered. With the shelling of the UNRWA compound and the hospital there was a deep awareness that nowhere in Gaza is safe, or sacred.We helped evacuate those assembled to near-by hospitals and schools that have been opened to receive the displaced. The scenes were deeply saddening- families, desperate and carrying their children, blankets and bags of their possessions venturing out in the cold night to try to find a corner of a school or hospital to shelter in. The paramedic we were with referred to the displacement of the over 46,000 Gazan Palestinians now on the move as a continuation of the ongoing Nakba of dispossession and exile seen through generation after generation enduring massacre after massacre.

Today's death toll was over 100, one of the bloodiest days since the start of this carnage. Over 1,110 Palestinians have been killed in the past 21 days. 367 of those have been children. But the actual figure and surely be a million injured and countless dead. The humanitarian infrastructure of Gaza is on its knees- already devastated by years of comprehensive siege. There has been a deliberate, systematic destruction of all places of refuge. There are no safe places here, for anyone.And yet, in the face of so much desecration, this community has remained intact. The social solidarity and support between people is inspiring, and the steadfastness of Gaza continues to humble and inspire all those who witness it. Their level of sacrifice demands our collective response- and recognition that demonstrations are not enough. Gaza, Palestine and its people continue to live, breathe, resist and remain intact and this refusal to be broken is a call and challenge to us all. ___________""


By now after reading this my eyes are flooded with tears....the writers experience is something we just felt...the innocent sufferings is something we just read sitting on our couch...But I did feel the pain...I felt an orphan calling me for help with his helpless tone....a widow asking to have mercy on her...a mother weeping for her dead son...Gaza waiting for a saviour to to save them...every eye there was looking at me and calling me.....I cried out to Allah for help...to have mercy on mankind...to forgive them...to save them...what more can I say....to go on further all I can say Israel is at war with every single man, woman and child in Gaza, with every muslim community, with every single house that shows humanity.This is one of the horrified examples in the history of mankind.

Palestine has a long sixty year history of torture, of innocent kiling,of being expelled from their own land... a harsh reality a stab at humanity...Israeli cabinet ministers, Generals and field officers need to be brought to justice form their crimes. And sooner would be better than later. ""Through its criminal actions of violent attacks for the past three weeks, Israel must surely have succeeded only in digging its own grave. And no decent-minded person will shed a tear at its funeral...."". The mass slaughter that is occurring while I write this, I say that "the state of Israel has no moral right to exist period".

Now the fear in my mind is as to how things will stop? who will save Gaza...Who will wipe the blood...who will bring life in every home thats dead now....who will built gaza again?.Will the Arab states now step forward and help rebuild Gaza? Will Israel let them? Will the U.S. put pressure on to allow this to happen? Will the U.S. contribute equitably to Palestine as much as it does to Israel to ensure economic prosperity and the health and welfare of the people? Will the UN be able to administer a neutral guard that would permit Gaza borders crossings to be opened to the goods and services of a civilian population? Will the readers here do something? Will the sky of Gaza see a new morning of peace? Will the night be as peaceful as we have.? Will the smile of every child be bought back? Will the families of Gaza forget the wounds given to them in years? Will Hope for anything good last for a while? Will the world open its eyes ? Will our prayers be answered? Will every minute now in pain change to happiness? Will time take care of everything? Will humanity finds its way back? Sorry , but like millions here I have no answer...I only have a hope towards my Allah...I only have pain and prayers in my Heart.


The thunder of Israeli war planes
shakes the rubble of a mosque.
The call to prayer echoes
All?hu Akbar, God is great,
through the dusty smoke.
The faithful kneel toward Mecca.
Behind them, bodies draped
with the green flags of Islam
lay on makeshift stretchers.
Some still trapped under
collapsed concrete, some
still scattered on the streets
beyond safe reach. Starving dogs
dig through the rubble. No one
should have to die this way.
Fires burn supplies in a warehouse,
bullets fall like rain. A shopkeeper
has lost both legs but still feels
the ghosts of his feet. He is propped
up by dirty blankets, stares out
at nothing. His wife sits by his side
and weeps. A family flees their home,
carrying suitcases, the white flags
of peace. They hurry along a dusty road
to nowhere. A small boy watches
as his grandmother dies in the street.
He will never forget nor forgive.
Grief is the only room- a woman
who has lost all of her children
walks into the sea......




Compiled and Written By
Muskaan

Rrahi Wrote:How can I smile...how can I cry...emotions seem to loose its way.........
******
That's what I could say....!
That's what should I pay...?
But what I can say and pay......... atleast to lend my prays and wishes....
Oh, God....My Allah.....! Help them....save them.... because we are all helpless...!!!!
*******
Sis, this is a great write-up.....may Allah bless you...and me....and all the muslims in the world...specially in Gaza...!!!

Shoaib Wrote:A complete write up, hats off to you aapi, great work

Bigb Wrote:This is excellent , Muskaan. And really, after reading this one would forget smiling for a while.