Let’s be inspired for a moment. Let’s imagine that we have power to effect change, and make our own future. We all do. We just have to be it– if you are a liberal person, not a racist person, then you must be it. This is from Ofer in Israel: “Leehee Rothschild, a young Israeli activist, spent Nakba day (15/5/2011) in Qalandiya, near Jerusalem. Her report, about the suffering of real people, with names and faces, follows.”
Scattered pictures… I am rolling a white bandage around Huria’s head. She was hit by a rubber bullet in her temple. She is surrounded by friends, holding her and supporting her… Someone was directly hit by a gas canister in his chest. Luckily, the canister did not break the skin. Nonetheless there are some hectic moments. We can’t find the statoscope, or the blood pressure monitor. He will be fine… Two little girls half-fainted from the gas. In their tears the gas and fear mix together. I hug one of them as I put an alcohol pad to her face.
Her mother and her sister are on the floor, on the other side of the room. Someone is taking care of them. Several moments go by. They sit and hug, leaning against the wall, trying to breathe, together. I give them one last look. There are many others that need my caring…. In a sideway look I spot a guy leaning against the wall. None of us has paid any attention to him, because he had already been treated. His head drops, his hand becomes limp, I run over to him, hold his hand, and start calling him “Mumtaz, Mumtaz”. I am having a basic conversation, using my poor Arabic, trying to make him stay with me, so that he will not lose consciousness. So that we will not lose him… More, and more, and more.
After an hour, and dozens, if not more than that, of injured people taken care of, the improvised medical clinic is moving to a different location. I follow the paramedics down the street, as I spot someone falling, I rush over to take care of him. In all the turmoil I lose the others, so I rejoin the demonstration that goes on and on.
And all of that happened before they started shooting LIVE ammunition.
