Gaza

My last post was written whilst I was still in the West Bank. The blog had been written to inform my family and friends what I was doing when I was away. Once I returned home the need to continue didn't seem to be there.

A few things over the last week or so have changed this. The major factor being the project I am intending to work on over the next few years. My time in the West Bank effected me profoundly and I now see it as the start of my journey not a one off experience. I am increasingly interested in education in emergency settings and hope to raise awareness about this as well as committing myself to improving it. Another incident that has prompted me to write again is the situation in Gaza today. A desire to do something when in reality I can do nothing.

I was horrified when I turned on the news this morning. Israeli air strikes in Gaza resulting in the deaths of 155 people (the number is now higher as I write this). I never cry but I did this morning. I couldn't believe what I was witnessing. It took me a few hours to realise how naive I was being... My overwhelming feeling was that of powerlessness. There was nothing whatsoever I could do. Swearing at the TV and throwing the remote around the room would change nothing. The commentators annoyed me as much as the footage I was watching. No matter which channel I watched they were patronising, seemed to have no real understanding of the context and were clearly biased towards Israel. Hardly an expert myself after a matter of weeks in the region but I still do not understand how this conflict can be presented as two sided; As if the two sides are equal and that the only difference is the desire for peace.

If you are Palestinian you have two choices: either slowly suffocate to death through the stranglehold imposed by checkpoints, barriers and nightly incursions or you try to fight back and get met with a massively superior force with overwhelming fire power.

Hearing Israeli officials on the TV talk about rockets fired into Israel and human shields is laughable. There are 1.5million people living in the 20sq km of the Gaza strip. They have limited access to medicine and food and cannot escape from the prison they are in. Talk of 'surgically targeting Hamas' in such a densely populated area is absurd. What's worse is that international leaders from the non-existent international community ask for Hamas to show restraint! Not for Israel to stop!

My earlier comment about my naivety... On the day of the US elections Israel attacked the Gaza strip. I have become increasingly cynical about the news and what is presented to us and what isn't. I purposefully look for what is 'really' going on when a story consumes all of the air time on TV. I half expected something to happen on Christmas day when lots of people would be preoccupied with other things and looking the other way.

I put my Palestinian football shirt in my bedroom window as a way of showing my solidarity with Gaza. Not that anyone here will care but like the Palestinians I had to do something and couldn't do nothing.