The scenes today in Gaza feel familiar. And yet, at the same time, what we are witnessing today is worse than anything we have seen before in Gaza.
Nowhere is safe in Gaza as Israel commits massacres in the areas it designated as “safe zones” for civilians. People fear that Joe Biden’s visit will give Israel the green light to wipe Gaza off the map.
At a family gathering last May, everyone in Basma Ismail Kurd’s family was looking forward to her niece playing doctor. But after the last escalation between Israel and Hamas, and witnessing death and destruction around her, she no longer wants to become a physician. What do you tell a ten-year-old who has witnessed carnage around her, when you’re also traumatized yourself?
Palestinians plan to continue protests at the fence separating Gaza and Israel this week, following clashes over the weekend where 24 protesters were wounded. “We can’t stand doing nothing while our people are suffering death due to Israeli siege,” Talal Abu Zarifa explained.
Mohammed Moussa recounts his harrowing attempt to travel from Gaza to Turkey, which included interminable waits, abuse, and extortion. “I did not feel alive again until I arrived at Istanbul airport, and was considered and treated like a normal human being. ”
A small town theater company’s presentation in New York of “My Name Is Rachel Corrie,” 17 years after her death, shows the impact her writings continue to have. As four young women voice her idealism.
Travel restrictions are among the most incapacitating consequences of Israel’s military occupation — so extreme that the very idea of travelling has become a phobia for many. And if you’ve spent days in lockdown trying to get in and out of Gaza, as Emad Moussa has, you know how these fears prey on all Gazans.
18 students in Gaza who were supposed to travel to study in Malaysia, Turkey, Jordan and Germany have been prevented from doing so. Said al-Yacoubi was one of the lucky ones.
As scenes of carnage fill the screen with news of another grotesque Israeli attack on…