?TAKE A PHOTO of me now, for tomorrow I may be dead,? young Gazans shout as they attend their friends? funerals. Death found the man buried today, for example, while he was at yesterday?s funeral for his friend. Such uncertainty about life, with everyone aware that for them tomorrow may not come, spawns a darkly tragic humor. If an Israeli sniper doesn?t hit his mark, perhaps a tank, F-16 or Hellfire missile will. And God help those who survive. Israel?s ongoing siege of Gaza leaves the hospitals nearly bare of life-saving medicines and bandages. The lack of fuel means that, even if the medicine can be found, one still may die because the machinery does not run, tests must wait, and electricity is at a premium.
?Today?s people who die are luckier than survivors,? an elderly man comments. ?At least someone is taking care of their body. Who knows if there will be someone to bury our bodies should we die??
Daily Casualties Days in Gaza begin with a recounting of those injured and killed. Death may have arrived via Israeli guns, or as the result of medical shortages or denied permits to hospitals in Israel, the West Bank, Jordan or Egypt. Today an infant tops the list, dead due to Israel?s blockade of medical care. As with most such casualties, Israel offers no excuse. The dead baby brings the total killed in Gaza from a lack of medical treatment to more than 151 since November 2007.
To fight the oppression, Palestinian militant factions continue to launch crude homemade rockets toward Israel. Unlike the tank shells and Hellfire missiles Israel shoots into Gaza?s neighborhoods, the homemade rockets fired back at the occupier cannot be aimed and have a maximum distance of 9 miles?in most cases, much less.
Despite the death, destruction and damage caused by Israel?s occupation and aggression, life in Gaza strives for a harsh normalcy. The lack of fuel caused by Israeli restrictions grows worse by the day. In protest of the pittance Israel allows in to appease international condemnation, Gaza?s Association of Petrol Stations Owners wages a nonviolent protest, refusing to accept less than the adequate amounts needed to service their communities. Too little petrol leads to riots, price gouging and internal conflict, something the service station owners prefer not to occur.
Falafels and Fuel
The ramifications of an imposed fuel shortage include a significant reduction in U.N. programs, in school attendance, as well as in the daily activities of a normal life. Owners of vintage cars and taxis, with their simpler engines, have taken to substituting falafel frying oil for gasoline. While initially the scent of fried food wafting in the air was a source of some amusement, after a while the smell becomes nauseating. Other Gazans prefer to fill their tanks with fragrance-free, unused cooking oil. When cooking-oil-fueled cars are unavailable, donkey carts must suffice; under siege, necessity overrides prestige.
No matter how nauseating, the scent of cooking oil remains preferable to that of burned human flesh?with its disturbing and unmistakable pungency, courtesy of Israeli Hellfire and DIME missiles. According to medical sources, the use of these weapons is prohibited under international law. Test samples sent to Italy produced conclusive evidence that Israel continues to use such internationally prohibited weapons in violation of its agreements with the United States and other suppliers.
Not a Drop to Drink
Water continues to be at a premium, with the lucky few obtaining it once every five days, most of it stored in rooftop water tanks. Without electricity, however, there is no way to pump the water from the roof to the faucets, forcing people to use as little as possible and forego such basic necessities such as bathing, cleaning, and caring for gardens.
No water and electricity means no sewage treatment, resulting in a fouling of the environment?added to the ever-present stench as rubbish rots in the streets or festers in pools. With the heat of summer approaching, water consumption increases, despite the fact that the current supplies already have been deemed unsafe by health workers.
Indeed, there are many things that cannot run without fuel: refrigerators, heaters, air conditioners, pumps for clean water, garbage collection, plumbing, street and indoor lights and powered wheelchairs. The shortage extends to industry, which lacks fuel for cars, busses, trucks, ambulances, fire trucks, hospitals, clinics and food delivery. Without fuel, gas stoves sit silent; in several parts of Gaza donkey and horse carts now serve as ambulances.
The Human Toll
During the week of April 24-29 alone?by no means an atypical week in Gaza?Israeli occupation forces killed nine Palestinians, including five children and a woman, the mother of four of the children. Israel?s military court absolved its soldiers of these murders, saying the children and their mother?who were eating breakfast at home, before the school day commenced?were to blame. During that period, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), one Israeli soldier was injured?during an Israeli attack inside the Gaza Strip. In the West Bank, Israeli settlers attacked and injured a Palestinian civilian. The attackers, of course, being Jewish, were able to act with impunity.
All told, Israeli occupation forces carried out 40 attacks on Palestinian West Bank and Gaza communities during that one week in April. They also razed 140 dunams (34-and-a-half acres) in the southern Gaza Strip, most of which held orange groves, olive trees and the greenhouses which have been instrumental in feeding besieged Gazans. In addition, Israeli troops arrested 37 Palestinian civilians and continue to hold another 50. Six Palestinian civilians were arrested at military checkpoints in the West Bank.
Meanwhile, in violation of international law and of its agreements with the United States and other nations, Israel continues to build and expand its settlements on seized Palestinian land. The Israeli High Court granted legitimacy to Israel?s war crimes by authorizing the demolition without compensation of more than 60 percent of the homes in the Jordan Valley?s Al Aqaba village.
Indeed, Israeli courts permit Jewish settlers, illegal under international law, to continue terrorizing, killing and destroying Palestinians and Palestinian property around Hebron. As Israeli attacks escalate, Palestinians respond with more homemade rockets. And thus the cycle of violence continues, and it becomes difficult to keep track of the killings?the who, when and where. One can find mourning tents throughout Gaza, however: if the Israelis don?t attack the south, they attack the north, and if not the north then the center of Gaza, and if not the center, then Israeli warplanes bomb places where many civilians are killed.
By comparison, Palestinian militants fired 40 homemade rockets and 31 mortars from Gaza toward the south of Israel, according to the UNOCHA. Its data also show that no Israelis were injured or killed as a result of these attacks.
Meanwhile, Palestinians navigate from catastrophe to catastrophe, whether instigated at gunpoint or by siege, as they try to get on with their lives. Each day they pray for no news?for in Gaza, that means that, today, nobody has died.
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