|
Cry me a river
Things were better when Israel ruled GazaGaza resident speaks out against factional fighting, says situation in Gaza was better when Israel was in charge Im afraid to say this out loud, they may execute me for it, but there are a lot of people, including myself, who think it would be better if Israel came back here. Things would be much better than they are now, said Samara (alias), a graduate of the Islamic University living in the Gaza Strip. According to Samara, who lives nearby one of the Fatah strongholds taken over by Hamas in recent days, fear reigns in Gazas streets, and apart from gunmen and military officials, no one leaves their homes. The children are afraid all the time, Samara says. My nephews ask, Why are the Israelis shooting at us?, and we tell them its Palestinians. Then they ask, Why are Palestinians shooting at us?, and I have no answer for them. We have no food at home. Weve been living on soups and canned food for days. There is no electricity or continuous water supply, let alone medicine or essential hygiene products, she explained. The gun battles taking place in the streets keep all of Gazas residents in a state of constant fear. I hide in the house all day long, but even that might not be enough. Our neighbor was shot while he was inside. Men with black masks, weapons, and bags are walking around on the streets and Im afraid to leave. They could shoot me even if Im not what they are looking for, Samara said. She blames both sides for the escalating violence. According to her, both Hamas and Fatah need to understand that they are one people. They promised us a better life, and the situation is only getting worse. Im afraid that by next week well become a Taliban state. Cause, meet effect. Effect, meet cause. The minute Hamas takes over, it will become an Islamic state. It must be understood they were elected out of a sense of desperation. The people here are poor and desperate, and when they chose Hamas they had nothing to lose, but now it turns out they had a lot to lose. Eh, what can I say? Who did you vote in the last elections? My sympathy meter is ... broken. Israel is not free of blame in Samaras eyes either. According to her, despite the Israeli governments desire to wash its hands of Gaza, it should have done so the right way, and left it with economic infrastructures. One word: Greenhouses. Another word: Total bullshit. (okay, that's two words, then) When people have money, they dont turn to violence, she said. Especially valid for those chubby Hamaseen, that seem to have no problem stockpiling and expending ammo...NOT! Samara explained that the economic boycott on the Palestinian Authority punished residents of Gaza, and not Hamas. But it's Hamas that is violent, not the residents, so riddle me this, Samara. She called on Israel to open the Rafah crossing and allow those who could to leave Gaza. The Strip is like a jail, and we could die, she said. I won't even look at my sympathy meter. You made your bed, you fear in it. Samara also had harsh claims against Arab states, saying they do nothing to improve the situation. Everywhere we go, even Arab states, they consider us to be terrorists, she claimed. Well, they have a point. It seems that it is not just a biased consideration, but a well know factoid. Posted by: twobyfour 2007-06-16 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=190881 |