The following from an Israeli who recently visited Gaza:

18 January
"A year or so ago, I visited the Mouwasi area in Gaza. It was a green paradise, on top, and in the midst, of white sand dunes. I particularly remember this Guava grove, where the guavas hanging from the trees were the size of large oranges; I hadn't seen anything like that ever before. Next to the guava grove, on land where many other guava trees had grown previously but were uprooted, settlers had put empty hothouses as an act of claiming the land. The day before yesterday, (probably) the (same) settlers went on a rampage, burning, demolishing, uprooting anything in their sight with the army standing by and doing nothing to stop them. Yesterday the army bulldozed and leveled the whole area. Tomorrow?"

And the following from Dr. Mona al-Farra in Gaza:

17 January
"Best wishes from Gaza,

I woke up this morning to hear the shocking news of my mother's house demolition. The Israeli Bulldozers demolished the water well adjacent to the house, as well as tens of houses in the area. They also uprooted vast areas of bountiful agricultural land, that includes orange, olive and guava groves. Many families in the area are homeless, with the Red Cross just recently supplying them with tents.

I cannot explain to you how bad I feel; all my childhood memories, our family's proud moments of when water was pumped from that well for the first time are damaged also by this act. I still remember my late father's rare photos, the minute I drank that water out of his hands. I still remember the joy of the relatives, friends and neighbors coming to celebrate this moment with us.

The olive, orange and Guafa trees, and many other trees do not carry symbolic value only, but also they have great economic value. They are the lifelines for many families in the area. To these people, agriculture is their only income. The Israelis aim to decimate our already annihilated economy, to uproot us, to destroy our culture and to deny our very existence on this land for thousands of years.

It is of worth to tell you that the Israeli army did not give any warning to us, or to the rest of the families, prior to the house demolitions. The houses were demolished with furniture inside. As you know my mother lives in that house, but recently I invited her to live temporally with me to be able to take care of her during this difficult time.

My mother feels so bad about what happened. Our thoughts are with our neighbors who are very poor and have no alternative homes. Beside all what I mentioned, these demolitions are huge blow to the environment. Some of the trees, especially what we call "Jummaiz" trees, are very rare species.

What is happening is a major violation of human rights, economy environment and peace. I feel angry, helpless, devastated and abandoned. The sad fact is that despite all these crimes against humanity, most Israelis do not care.

They know that they will, once again go unpunished by the international community. The support for the Palestinians is extremely fragile. The world is always willing to blame the victim, the Palestinians. However, I will not lose faith. During these difficult moments, I remember a very touching poem, written by the most gifted Palestinian poet, Mahmoud Darwish,

I came back from the dead,
To live
I represent an uncompromising wound,
The brutality of my executor has taught me,
To bite the bullet,
And carry on,
And sing,
I will sing,
I will resist,
I will resist.

I can assure you, that one day, we will replant these trees, rebuild our houses and water will flow again, even stronger than before, hopefully washing away the horrific memories of decades long Israeli aggression. We may be weak, but justice is on our side and one-day it will prevail."

All my love,
Dr. Mona El - Farra
Union of Health Work Committees - Gaza

Mid-East Realities

www.middleeast.org

Source: http://www.middleeast.org/articles/2001/1/30.htm