Subscribe to Common Dreams News Updates
Most Popular This Week
Popular content
Today's Top News
Gaza Needs Many Years to Heal
I am still in Cairo. With a sad heart I am watching home from a distance. The hardest days were when I went to the Rafah Crossing point. I was only one kilometer away from Gaza, but could not enter. I was told that as a Palestinian with dual nationality, I can get in but not out.
While at the border I was greatly touched by the expressions of solidarity with the Palestinian people. I met doctors from Bahrain, Yemen, Egypt, Greece, Turkey and many other countries who came to help the people of Gaza in defiance of Israel's savage attacks on children, women, and men. We must all work on continuing and expanding these solidarity efforts on different levels. We cannot let Israel get away with its crimes against humanity in Gaza.
I want to thank you all for your solidarity as well as for your practical support. Whether you donated one pound or thousands of pounds, your support and your continuous protests let the people of Gaza feel that they are not alone and will never be forgotten.
I am still in daily contact with friends, relatives, and fellow doctors back home. And I conveyed to them your messages of support and solidarity. I also visited dozens of the injured who were transferred to Egyptian hospitals. They are in great need of rehabilitation after their wounds heal.
I want to share the results of the concrete support for Gaza that the Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA) delivered:
- 3 ambulances
- 20 tons of medicine
- 30 tons of powdered milk and fortified baby cereal
- 50 wheelchairs
- Thousands of coloring books and crayons for kids
- Thousands of meals handed-delivered daily to displaced families taking shelter at UN schools
I thank you all, with a special thank you for the teams of volunteers in different areas of Gaza who worked under fire to meet the needs of our community, and for the emergency workers who worked tirelessly to reach the injured and dead. Time is gold in saving lives but Israel deliberately delayed and shot at emergency vehicles leading to the death of 15 emergency workers and countless Gazans.
The 22 days of Israeli attacks on Gaza was just one episode in a long line of catastrophes for Palestinians. Our struggle for justice and freedom continues.
To help MECA send more medical aid to Gaza for thousands of sick and injured people living under siege, visit www.mecaforpeace.org
Dr. Mona El-Farra is a Palestinian physician and human rights and women's rights activist. She was born in Khan Younis, Gaza and has dedicated her live to improving the situation for women, children and families in Gaza. As MECA's Director of Gaza Projects, Dr. El-Farra oversees the distribution of food and medical aid and support for educational and recreational programs for children. She is also on the board of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society of the Gaza Strip and a member of the Union of Health Work Committees. Dr. El-Farra has a son and two daughters.
30 Comments so far
Show Allmaybe the funds the german government pays to the state of israel as reparations for ww2 should be redirected to the palestinians
all of the holocaust shrines should be dismantled - the jews are no longer worthy of this special status - now that they have evolved into nazi murderers themselves
their heartlessness will long be remembered
cheers, b
The holocaust card is really starting to show its worthlessness. Same goes with the antisemitic charge...
The holocaust today is just a source of a funding scheme for the zionist war machine.
Arabs have certainly over-used the Holocaust. They say that Arabs are the true victims of the Holocaust---not the Jews. Arabs are also the true victims of the European migration to the Americas---not the Indians. Arabs are the true victims of South African apartheid---not the Zulus. It's just Arab talk. No one else is truly listening.
Get back on topic Doyle let's hear you defend Israeli war crimes.
its time to leave him on ignore until he replenishes his meds.
To me he is no more delusional and immoral than the Obama-supporting CD posters that make up excuses as to why Obama has said nothing about Israeli war crimes.
Obama has made his opinions known and he does not view Israel's actions as war crimes. Quite the opposite in fact.
"Those who threaten Israel threaten us; Israel has always faced these threats on the frontlines and I will bring to the White House an unshakable commitment to Israel’s security. That starts with insuring Israel’s qualitative military advantage. I will insure that Israel can defend itself from any threat from Gaza to Tehran. Defense cooperation, defense cooperation between the United States and Israel is a model of success and it must be deepened. As President I will implement a memorandum of understanding that provides $30 billion in assistance to Israel over the next decade, investments to Israel’s security that will not be tied to any other nation."
-- Barack Obama, DEMOCRAT, June 4, 2008.
I think you could all learn a thing or two from Obama, if only you would open you mind and stop reflexively defending Hamas.
What the word "holocaust" registers in the Arab brain: Holocaust....reparations....Arabs deserve.
HA! Good one.
The kind of society that Gazans wish to build already exists in Somalia. Darfur has lately been cleansed and prepared for an expansion of the Master Arab Race. They ought to go to one or the other.
It is clear now that you are truly a zionist fuckwit....The only master race here are the so-called "God's Chosen People".
Your comments are racist. There is no doubt that Israel is guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. I only hope those responsible for the crimes will some day be brought to justice. If the war criminals that run our government weren't arming and supporting the criminal state of Israel they wouldn't be getting away with their crimes.
One month of fighting, and 1300 deaths doesn't even add up to a "war," much less to "war crimes."
I'd agree it wasn't a war. It was a slaughter, a massacre, an atrocity. It was the same thing the ole us Calvary did in the western states, ride in shoot as many people (women and children mostly then too.) as possible before the locals can organize any real resistance, then vamoose. Sure was brave of those troopers to fight those who cannot fight back. Real brave.
No it wasn't. Strangely, Hamas's own account of the number of militants killed went down from about 50% after the first airstrikes (when there was a total of about 400 killed), to the claim that a TOTAL number of 47 militants were killed in the whole operation.
Here's an interesting analysis of the reports coming from the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), which claims that between December 27 and January 14 1042 palestinians were killed, of which 698 were civilians.
http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=118&x_article=1603
Israel's action in Gaza was, in fact, very different from what you describe. You may claim that Israel did not use enough restraint and caution, but the IDF certainly did not kill civilians indiscriminately. Most of the casualties were Hamas combatants. Right now it's the word of Hamas against the IDF, hopefully the facts will become more clear with time.
In the Battle of Jenin, during the second intifada, palestinian sources spoke of a massacre of hundreds of civilians, and these figures were widely accepted in world media. The aftermath, confirmed by several investigations including those of the UN, was that about 52 palestinians were killed, the vast majority of which were Fatah militants.
In Gaza the situation is different. There is a higher percentage of civilian casualties (probably between %25-%40), but the fighting conditions were also different. Hamas can't use civilians as human shields, engage children in warfare, use guerilla doctrines that purposefully draw the opposing army into the residential areas, and then cry to the world about civilian losses. Blindly supporting Hamas abandons the human rights of those palestinian civilians that do not wish their lives to become a commodity used in warfare.
Amnesty International (AI) has joined several other human rights organizations in accusing Israel of war crimes because of its use of white phosphorus munitions in Gaza’s densely populated residential neighborhoods. Referring to the napalm-like material—which covers the skin and continues to burn through muscle and bone until it is deprived of oxygen—Donatella Rovera, a researcher with AI, said, “Its repeated use in this manner, despite evidence of its indiscriminate effects and its toll on civilians, is a war crime.”
In an action aimed at sheltering military officials from prosecution for war crimes, Israeli Army Radio reported that the full names and pictures of battalion commanders involved in Operation Cast Lead would not be released. According to the Jerusalem Post, the decision was made in anticipation that international war crimes lawsuits would be filed against IDF officers, who could face prosecution when traveling overseas.
-wsws.org
Amnesty International has all of the credibility of the Arab League.
Ok,,,this proves it that you are nothing but a zionist fuckwit.
Israel has all the credibility of a Nazi concentration camp for which you would make a good apologist and spokesperson. The world knows what they did and are doing.
Only a monster would defend the war crimes committed by Israel against innocent men, women, children, hospitals, schools, residential neighborhoods, and UN Relief Centers etc.
If Iran had done to Israel what Israel is doing to Gaza their buddies in Washington would have already nuked them off the map.
The thing about totalitarian socieites, like Hamastan, is that the dissenters are expelled or taken out and shot. Once that process is done, there really aren't any people left who are "innocent." There are only backers of the regime.
JJDoyle posts are, in my opinion, actually attempts to create negative feelings with his posts on this subject for the past few weeks.
JJ, you admitted that you are just trying to annoy people in another comment from another article. It is a shame that people keep reacting to you, but maybe it says as much about the responders as it does about you.
It doesn't take much thought to realize that you are just getting a kick out of stirring the pot.
Would you care to explain what you mean by "it says as much about the responders as it does about you"?
He means, don't feed the trolls! JJ is a classic troll.
---USAn---
Thanks, that's what I figured but how on Earth do you know they are trolls until you read a lot of their posts. This is the first time I've read his crap because the Israeli/Gaza conflict is barely a month old. It's not like I've been reading his posts for years and can't figure out he's a troll. The remark sounded condescending.
Sorry, i didn't mean to sound condescending.
I have seen his posts over the past couple of weeks. I think he just throws out remarks to create anger. I don't think he is ideologically behind anything in particular. He just things he knows will piss off 'progressives'.
Thanks for telling me that. Now I know better than to waste my time on that fool.
There does seem to be a clear parallel between the psychology of the abused child growing into a child abuser, and the decendants of holocost, launching their own well framed rebuttal. And with all the wierd exchanges on this link,... this world we live in, and this time is a HALL OF MIRRORS.
All of our fears and hatreds come back to us flipped and reversed and distorted. The time of weeping and gnashing of teeth is here. I dread the moment when we really SEE what we have done to ourselves.
For all our information technology we really do have to struggle to find out what is really going on, We know that love is the answer, so why do we keep digging ourselves deeper and deeper into this ugly hell of guilt and pointless suffering? The answer has been staring us in the face the whole time?
Time is speeding up suckers, and you behave as if you will live forever.
The real irony is that all this madness is the work of people of "faith". REALLY TERRIFYING.
The Holocaust taught them that when vast crowds form, and start chanting "The Jews are our dogs" and "With our blood and souls..." they really, really mean it.
Don't blame the Israel government. They are just doing what they are paid USD 15M per day to do: maintain access to oil and pipeline routes. If you are upset about all the killing -- look out your window, do you see that thing parked there?
.
http://frepubtra.blogspot.com/2009/01/tell-us-congress-fund-transit-not-roads.html
Please PLEASE!!!!! This is supposed to be a Happy occasion!!! Let's
not bicker and argue about who killed who!!!!!!!!!