“Nobody
Is safe”
By Mona El-Farra
13 July, 2006
From Gaza Blog
MONA EL-FARRA is a physician
and human rights activist living in Gaza. She has been writing a blog
from her home since the beginning of Israel’s assault--when the
flow of electricity permits. Here, we reprint excerpts from her blog
entries.
Saturday, July 1
MY FRIEND Hoda lives next to the Ministry of Interior building in Gaza
that was hit last night at 2 a.m. with two rockets (please forgive me
about the accuracy as l am starting to lose track of days and nights
and how many times we’ve been attacked).
Hoda told me that the whole
building was shaking, and that she went out in her pajamas along with
all the other residents out in their sleepwear. Children’s faces
were pale, and some were crying hysterically. Fumes filled the place,
and the flat next door where a family with six children lives was severely
damaged. There was a large fire, and the fire department used her flat
to put it out.
I live 150 meters from Hoda’s
place--nobody is safe, no one is immune.
What happened with Hoda reminded
me of the night when the late President Yasser Arafat’s headquarters
in Gaza were attacked two years ago. I live nearby--too close--and that
night 37 shells hit that building.
The power is still off. We
had it for three hours yesterday--enough to recharge my laptop and mobile
phone, and to do some cooking.
I am deeply concerned about
the hospitals. The fuel supply to run the generators is dwindling, and
the borders are completely sealed since the attack. No fuel has been
allowed into Gaza since then, and drugs and medical supplies are also
running out.
Because of the previous and
ongoing sanctions, our stores of drugs are exhausted. The water supply
is scarce too--we must ration use. We are experiencing a humanitarian
disaster.
When the jet fighters break
the sound barrier, we experience sonic booms--a terrifying sort of raid.
These happen at least seven different times a day--throughout the day
and night.
How can I explain the experience
to you? If I am sleeping, my bed shakes tremendously, and my daughter
jumps to my side, shivering with fear. Then, both of us end up on the
floor, my heart beating very fast. I try to calm my daughter, and she
tries to calm me.
If I am awake, I flinch and
scream loudly--I cannot help myself. Okay, I may be a doctor, a mature
middle-aged woman with a lot experience, and an activist too, but this
booming makes me hysterical. After all, we are all humans, and we each
have our own threshold.
As a result of the booms,
hospitals take in a large number of psychologically traumatized children.
With 1.5 million residents
in Gaza facing collective punishment, feelings of hate will grow larger.
These savage assaults on the population will not bring peace or security
to Israel, only justice and peace will.
Israel is talking about security
of its citizens in the face of militiamen armed with some homemade rockets,
Israel is talking about terrorism--but what are these sonic booms and
attacks on power plants but state terrorism?
Wednesday, July 5
A BIG explosion, and so loud,
and I’m fully awake. So is my daughter Sondos. We hardly can see
anything--it is very dark. A drone hit the Ministry of Interior building
again with a missile, completely destroying it.
I contact my friend Hoda
to find her screaming, shrieking in pain, trapped under the windows
of her flat, which were broken by the blast. Fumes fill the place, and
she is waiting for the emergency team to evacuate her.
I can hear the hysterical
sounds of her neighbors over the phone. I feel helpless--I don’t
know what to do for my friend. I phone again to offer help, and she
tells me that she is okay, but I know she’s not.
When I visited Hoda four
hours ago, we both were tense, and a third friend asked us to talk about
anything but politics or what is going on in the Palestinian scene.
We tried to, but couldn’t. I left her and walked home.
The sound of airplanes is
high in the sky, and I can’t go to Hoda, because I cannot leave
my daughter alone. I expect more air raids, but I’m sure some
other friends are with her now (she lives alone).
I hear another explosion,
and I learn that they hit an empty school in another neighborhood.