18-11-2012 Attack on Gaza

My uncle called my mother and told her that Israel threatened to bomb a house next to their home, and people there are evacuating their homes. Al-Askri house is just few blocks from my home, the time we heard about the threat. We all gathered in one room waiting for the strike. We were very nervous, the house threatened is 3-floor building, that means it will cause damages to all the neighborhood.

My grandfather home is right in front of the Al-Askri's. 70 persons live in my grandfather's building, most are children. They all gathered at the building's first floor. Kids were crying of horror, and everyone was extremely worried.

As we were waiting anxiously for the strike, Israel launched 5 drones missiles at Al-Askri home, then it targeted the house with F16s missiles. The sound was unbelievable. We could hear the windows of the homes around smashing. We for a moment thought that our house is destroyed, my father went around and checked if everything was okay. Thanks God, everything was fine.

The other day, I went to see Al-Askri's home. The scene was unimaginable, the house is flattened and leveled to the ground. The houses around partially destroyed. Residents of Al-Askri were sitting in front of their destroyed home! They have no shelter now.

below are some photos I shot of Al-Askri house.

                           

Double Occupied

Photo by: Tamam Abu Salama Photo by: Tamam Abu Salama

My legs have never stepped on the soil of the holy land of Jerusalem. Nor have my eyes ever sighted the splendid golden dome of the rock glittering in the middle of Jerusalem. Nor have my ears ever heard the Adan, call for prayer, being announced from the Aqsa mosque, yet my thoughts are always there, thinking of Jerusalem, the holy city.  I've been dreaming for years and years to visit Jerusalem if only for few minutes, if only for one single glimpse of the city. Alas, it seems that in Palestine, the simplest dreams are not likely to happen.

Everybody recognizes that I have the right to go to the other part of my own country. Israel deprives us of every human right we're supposed to have. The fact that anybody other than Palestinians can go to Jerusalem easily is so ironic.  While we, Palestinians, have to go through checkpoints, borders, investigations and along path of legal papers in order to get to our country's capital.

Palestinians are so connected to the holy land of Jerusalem. I can assure you that every Palestinian have the same dream of mine. If you ask anyone, where he/she wishes to go. You will definitely hear the same answer. "Jerusalem" and you'll hear them saying "If I were to choose between going to any of the whole world cities and Jerusalem, I will absolutely choose Jerusalem.

Months ago, I applied for a new media program in the U.S, and I was accepted. I couldn't believe it when I read the message telling me that I was selected along with my friend to participate in the program. I kept jumping up and down shouting and dancing, because I knew that in my way to the U.S, I will pass by Jerusalem, and my dream will eventually  come true.

I got the approval in April, and I was supposed to go to Jerusalem for the VISA interview on the 3^rd of May. I counted the days and nights for the day I would see Jerusalem, I couldn't believe that I would finally step there

You know, Palestinians from Gaza cannot go to Jerusalem unless they get an Israeli permission. I waited for the permission till the last day, my friend got one, but I never had a response regarding the Israeli permit till the mid of May. I kept telling myself that Jerusalem worth all the waiting, I'll wait for the day I'll go there till the end of my life. I kept waiting, and I finally got a call from the American consulate in Jerusalem, I expected that they would inform me of the date of my visa interview. Alas, what I expected was wrong.  I was told that I need to have a security interview with the Israelis first, then they will decide if I would get a permission to Jerusalem or not. I felt upset and angry as well after that call. I mean Jerusalem is few miles away from Gaza, and I can't go there unless I pass through tens of obstacles.

The security interview was set on the 4^th of June. Before that date, I couldn't stop thinking about Jerusalem; I was feeling worried and nervous. Would the Israelis give me a permit and I would finally see Jerusalem? Or they would just send me away and prevent me from going? What Israelis are due to do is never expected.  I couldn't help but thinking even though I had final exams and I was supposed to get ready. Jerusalem totally occupied my thoughts.

Finally, the day of the interview came. I couldn't sleep the day before but only for two hours. My father decided to come with me to Erez border so I would feel less worried. We went there at 7:40 am, the interview was set at 8:am.

I thought less of Hamas crossing security at Erez border, I thought that I would pass without any obstacles from there, and no one would stop me and prevent me from entering. My thoughts were centered on my interview with the Israelis, and I cared less about Hamas and its checking point, but lucky us. We're double occupied. The Israeli occupation on one hand, and the two governments in The West Bank and Gaza on the other.

My father and I entered the crossing security room in order to get a passing ticket. I gave the border employees my ID, and they checked my name on their computer. He whispered something to his colleague, then the security guy said that there's just a small problem with me, and he wrote in my ticket (Not allowed, a member of the youth movement). I read what he wrote in the paper and laughed. I told the security guy sarcastically "do you mean I am not allowed through because of my participation in the youth movement, the movement when thousands of Palestinians took the streets calling for the end of division between Fatah and Hamas.? That's very funny!"   He made no reaction, and asked us to go to the internal security forces room. 

We went there and a guy with a beard and sandals was sitting in the room. My father told him the problem. He said carelessly "well, she can't go anywhere; you should go to Abu Khadra and see what the problem is." It was around 8:30 am then, and I was already late for the interview, it seemed that the story with Hamas security would take a long time. My father told the guy to let me go and he will go to Abu Khadra and get things done but the guy refused, and talking to him was a total waste of time.

I was confused, I had mixed emotions inside, I was angry, upset and sad for what our country has turned to be. How can they prevent any person from travelling for such insignificant reasons? How can they crash our dreams easy just like that?

We went to Abu Khadra, the place where people pock for travelling and the place where interior security is. We were told that we should meet the manager of the borders, we found him walking in the place yard. My father gave him my ID and told him that we were sent from Erez in order to cancel the travelling prohibition that is imposed on my daughter. The man looked at my ID and said without even looking at us "You are not allowed" and kept walking.

I was traumatized by the way he dealt with us. My father told him calmly " You should talk to us first and then you can leave" He accepted, and my father introduced himself to the guy but the guy refused to tell what his name is. My father told him " Why do you refuse to tell your name, don’t be like Israeli interrogators, only the Israeli interrogators refuse to tell their names, we're all Palestinians and you should tell who you are" The Hamas guy got annoyed and said " you can't compare me to Israeli interrogators" I was looking at him and thinking " you’re not a less of an occupier, just like Israel"

"You claim we live in democratic state under your government, then you should listen to me. It's never your right to prevent my daughter from travelling only for she participated in the youth movement for ending the division, it's her right to participate in whatever she wants, and your reasons are totally insignificant and dictatorial." My father said.

"I can't believe your preventing me for I participated in the youth movement, we were calling for ending the division, are you afraid of that?" I said.

The guy said that the movement was meant to put Hamas down, it started with a call for ending the division, and it would end with a call to put down Hamas"

The guy took my father's phone number and told him not to worry, and he will call him in an hour and inform him with the updates. I told him that I had no time, and I am already late for the interview. But he refused to talk to me; he even didn't look at my face.

We went back to Erez and waited for an hour, and no one called. My father talked to the security guy again, and told him that it's very unacceptable to keep us waiting like that, you just give us a clear response, either yes or no. I am sick of waiting, I waited so many long hours in the Israeli investigation rooms when I was in prison, my father was jailed inside Israeli prisons for 15 years, we're not waiting anymore.  And we went home 

The security forces of Hamas prevented me from excising my right to freedom of movement, and the Israeli occupation is preventing me from entering Jerusalem. Hamas is apparently afraid of activists or any individual going outside Gaza to attend workshops of any kind. It therefore impose restrictions on the movement of the People from Gaza whom it think they are *endangering its existence*

I didn't give up though, I'll keep dreaming of Jerusalem and of a free Palestine. Free from the Israeli occupation, and the corrupted governments of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Victory or Death

Naje El-Ali once said “The road to Palestine is neither far or near but only at a distance of a revolution.”  Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli jails have started a revolution against the repression and cruelty of prisons and the hard conditions they live in. Following Naje El-Ali's statement, I say that the road to freedom is neither far nor near, it's at a distance of an empty stomach.

When my father tells me about  the 15 years he spent in Israeli barbaric jails, my thoughts immediately goes there, to the Israeli jails, where there are still more than 5000 prisoners experiencing what my father had experienced.  Locked in their dark cells, deprived from seeing the sun and breathing the fresh air of the beautiful Palestine, away from their homes and friends, not allowed to see or to hug their families, feeling hungry, lonely and cold.  This is how the Palestinian prisoners live and this is what they are obliged to experience every day.

5000 Palestinian detainees are locked up behind Israeli jail bars, dreaming of the day they shall see the sun again. Their life at Israeli prisons is a miserable one. They are deprived of their basic rights that any human being should have. Israel is trying its best to make the Palestinians suffer more and more. Inside the Israel jails, there are young and old men, children, and women. Israeli jails are spread all over Palestine; they do never stop arresting Palestinians.

 

Palestinian detainees do never accept the injustice and oppression they are subjected to.  You might think they are powerless and can do nothing to end the injustice because they are jailed, chained and have nothing but their bodies. Then you're wrong. Palestinians have their strong will, their desire for freedom, they have their empty stomachs.

Palestinian detainees have long used their empty stomachs to rebel against the cruel and unjust Israeli jails. They used to start the battle of hunger. And today, they continue, and will never ever stop till they get their right of a free and just life.

The least we can do to support our heroes is to show our solidarity with them.  They are eager to know that their people stand by their side and will never ever forget them.

April 17^th Hunger strike.

Palestinians inside Israeli jails initiated a mass hunger strike on the 17^th of April and they are still going on. Today is their 16^th day of hunger strike; they vowed to continue until their demands are accomplished.  More than 3,000 prisoners are now on an open-ended hunger strike in protest of the Israeli policies at jails and the miserable condition of detention in which they are subjected to. They are deprived of their basic human rights. Palestinian prisoners demand to end solitary confinement and administrative detention, put an end to night raids and searches, allow family visits particularly for the prisoners from Gaza who have been deprived of family visits since 2007, ensure the opportunity to continue their education.

Their demands are very legal and they have the full rights to have them accomplished. Israel is violating the very basic human rights of the Palestinian people in general and the Palestinian detainees in particular.

Those Palestinians are not doing so only for the sake of their own freedom, but for the sake of every single Palestinian freedom and dignity. They are the unknown soldiers who suffer to make us live in peace and freedom.

Hunger strikers' life at Risk

Bilal Thiab and Thaer Halahla 

Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahla are two Palestinian detainees who are held illegally in administrative detention. Bilal and Thaer have declared their open hunger strike on 29 February 2012. They have been hunger striking for more than 60 days to protest administrative detention. Bilal and Thaer decided not to stay silent over their miserable conditions at the Israeli jails. They have followed the steps of Khader Adnan who hunger striked for 66 days protesting his administrative detention and who has made victory over the Israeli occupation and gained his freedom, and the steps of Hana Shalabi who hunger strikred for 44 days.

Bilal Diab and Thaer halahla's health condition is deteriorating. They  suffers from unbelievable pain, they started vomiting blood, their families are very concerned about their health and said that they are afraid that they might die in any moment.

There are a group of another prisoners who have been hunger striking before April 17^th.

Hassan Safadi, on his 58th day of hunger strike.

Omar Abu Shalal, on his 56th day of hunger strike.

Mohammad Taj, on his 40th day of hunger strike.

Mahmoud Sarsak, on his 42nd day of hunger strike.

Abdullah Barghouti, on his 20th day of hunger strike.

Jaafar Azzedine, on his 35th day of hunger strike.

Fares Al-Natoor, on his 35^th day of hunger strike.

Palestinian prisoners have started a revolution using their empty stomachs. Their empty stomachs speak louder than their voices. Nothing matters to them when it comes to freedom, neither hunger nor jailers will make them stop the battle, The battle of empty stomachs. 

When I Tried to Kill the Dark

"What the hell? Why they cut it now, there are still two hours to go, the electricity is supposed to be cut at 12" I yelled angrily. I am sure that many Gazans had the same reaction when they cut the electricity before its scheduled time. Well, if you're asking about who the hell are "they". I can barely give you a clear answer, as me myself do not even know!  Is it Fatah? Is it Hamas? Is it Israel? Is it Egypt? Or all of them together?  I do not know.

The electricity crisis is not something new to the Palestinians in Gaza, It has been hitting the Gaza Strip since 2006. However, we managed to adjust ourselves to it as it was just cutting off for 8 hours a day. The current electricity crisis is a literally a crisis, now we have only six hours of electricity a day. We have never felt such depression and misery because of the electricity just like how we feel these days. 

Okay, back when the electricity was cut at 10 pm rather than 12 am. I adjusted myself to that day's electricity schedule. Our area was supposed to have electricity from 6 pm to 12 am, but they "cheated" and deprived us of two full hours of electricity. I felt so angry, but I decided to "try killing the dark."

We couldn't turn the generator on because we didn't have fuel. Fuel is getting more and more expensive and no one can afford buying it every day. So my sisters and I decided to watch a movie. My sister's laptop had 93% battery so we used it to watch the movie. We watched "The Shawshank Redemption" We were following every second of the movie impatiently to know what the end would be.  We loved the movie and it made us forget about the electricity. We imagined ourselves as we were in a cinema as the cinema requires no lights.

Unfortunately for us, the battery died 30 minutes before the end. My sister ran to bring my laptop so we can watch the rest of the movie. My laptop had almost 50% battery and it lasted just for 20 minutes (my laptop's battery is somehow useless, I know) both laptop batteries died and we couldn't watch the rest of the movie… We watched it the other day.

Now as our laptops had failed us.  I decided to do something else and not to surrender to the dark. I decided to complete reading "Fast Times in Palestine". PS: (you should read that book, it's amazing and informative.)

Everything that day didn't stop failing me. I had a candle left so I used it to read and kill the time but the candle unluckily died. It was the last candle we had.

It's turning to a boring, non-stopping story, I know. Anyway, that how it went and how it goes every day in Gaza.  After I ran out of candles, I decided to use my phone flash. I turned it on and start reading, forgetting about the dark, and the roaring noise of the generators around.  My phone battery lasted for almost 40 minutes then it died. IT DIED! And now nothing left. No candles, no laptop battery, no phone battery, no generator. I had no choice now but to surrender and force myself into my bed.  

I went under my covers. I was not sleepy at all, but there was nothing I could do. All my sisters went to sleep already, and it was just me awake. I kept staring at the ceiling till I finally fell asleep….


copyright Viva Palestina Malaysia  vpm.org.my

Khader Adnan,The True Human Being.

I seriously do not know how to start. I am full of anger and distress. Being a Palestinian means that you will never pass a day without hearing bad news, or even experiencing some. I waited 12 hours to start writing this piece as the power was off almost half of the day. I do not want to talk about the electricity crisis in Gaza or the serious consequences of this crisis on us because there is something far more important to talk about.

The detainees cause has always been a main one in the Palestinian cause in general. Palestinian detainees suffer harsh conditions of detention behind the Israeli jail bars, they are subjected to injustice, oppression, and they are subjected to the ugliest methods of torture by the Israeli occupation. 

Hunger-striking has always been used by Palestinian detainees as a non-violent method to fight the prolonged Israeli occupation and his barbaric policy adopted at prisons. The first hunger strike was in 1969 and it lasted for 19 days. There were many other hunger strikes which followed the first one. The Palestinian detainees start hunger strikes to protest Israel injustice and to force the Israeli occupation into applying their just demands.

As I am writing this I suppose you already learned about Khader Adnan's cause.

Khader Adnan, A Palestinian detainee in the Israeli jails, has been hunger striking for 61 days in protest of his illegal detention and Israel cruelty and injustice against the Palestinian detainees in the Israeli prisons all over the occupied Palestine. Khader Adnan was detained on December 17/2011 from his own home outside Jenin, Israel Occupation forces (IOF) broke into his house and arrested him aggressively in front of his two young children and his mother. Khader was handcuffed and blindfolded. IOF drove him to a military jeep and they started beating him ferociously and slapping him on the face.

On Khader's first day under arrest, he started a hunger strike to protest against his illegal detention.  Khader Adnan is held in prison without charge or trial. This is the administrative detention where people are held in prison for political reasons rather than criminal reasons. Israel violates the international laws and standards of fair trials by detaining Palestinians without charge and without giving any evidence against them.  Palestinian detainees are often arrested because they fight for their freedom and dignity; they are not criminals nor terrorists.

Khader Adnan's health condition is deteriorating and his life is at risk.  He has had nothing other than water since December 17^th. His wife says that he is always dizzy and his condition is getting worse and worse. Even though his life is at risk, Israel keeps him shackled to a bed . A doctor from Physicians for Human Rights said

"He has lost 30kg and weighs 60kg. He suffers from stomach aches, vomiting, sometimes with blood, and headaches … His general condition is pale and very weak, his tongue is smooth, he has slight bleeding from the gums, dry skin, loss of hair, and significant muscular atrophy. His pulse is weak, blood pressure 100/75. He is permanently connected to a heart monitor."

As I am writing this, a hash-tag on Twitter about Khader Adnan (#Khader61Days) has trended worldwide, I felt a little bit relieved after I saw people from different countries talking and tweeting about Khader Adnan. However, I am too disheartened that the mainstream media has said a little regarding Khader's cause.  One wonders what if Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier who was arrested by Hamas and released months ago, was the one who  is hunger striking for more that 60 days? I assure you that the whole world would start talking about that and accuse Palestinians of terrorism.

Khader Adnan's cause reveals the inhumane face of the Israeli occupation. Israel who claims to be the only democracy in the Middle East has been breaking the international laws since the year it came into being sixty years ago. The entire world is watching the suffering of the Palestinian people but has decided to keep their mouths shut and their eyes closed. Khader Adnan, with his strong determination will spread awareness about the Palestinian detainees cause and he will never stay silent.  

Khader Adnan is the new Palestinian legend of the non-violent resistance. He's the Palestinian Gandhi. His only weapon is his empty stomach; his only food is his dignity. We all stand in solidarity with you and all the Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons. 

This Month in Palestine

Well, it's December, The last month in the year, which is supposed to be the month of celebrations or it's how I suppose it should be, a special month. However, this is not the case in Palestine. It's always different in this part of the world, we celebrate, but in different way! We don't choose how we celebrate it. Israel always does.

I remember In the eighth of this month I was going back home from school, the weather was gloomy and I felt that something wrong is going around, I was in a taxi when I heard the news of an air strike that targeted a car in the central Gaza Strip and killed two men. I stayed silent and I was taken by my thoughts. I thought of the moment they were targeted, did they know that this would be their last day alive? Did they say goodbye to their families? How is that possible anyways? Israel had planned to kill them that day and it would never give a hint that it's targeting that particular place. They kill whoever they want without even thinking of the consequences! Consequences?! Why should Israel even think of the consequences of killing the innocents? Israel is protected by the international community, and it's very easy for them to justify such practices. They would say that the two men are terrorists, yes, simply like that!

One day after that happened; someone from Nabi Saleh was tweeting about a guy who was shot in the face by an Israeli soldier during the weekly demonstration in Nabi Saleh that is held against the expropriation of their land for the illegal settlement that surrounds the tiny village of Nabi Saleh.  Mustafa Tamimi was protesting peacefully. It his right to stand against the Israel illegal settlements that is taking over the West Bank and growing like cancer. Mustafa Tamimi's scene holding the Palestinian flag, demanding his legal rights, had provoked the Israeli soldiers so they shot him in the face at a distance of less than 10 meters.  I was following the updates from Nabi Saleh on Twitter and my whole body was occupied with anger and distress.  I kept thinking of Mustafa since I knew he was shot in the face though I've never heard of him. Should I know him anyway to mourn over his soul? He's a Palestinian, a resistant. He was living under the same occupied land, the same occupied sky! He was dreaming of free Palestine just like we do. Israeli Nazis have killed him but never killed his dream. We shall continue the path. The path towards Freedom! RIP Mustafa. 

This month again, another story happened that had shattered my heart into pieces. Two of the detainees who were released lately in the exchange deal and deported to the Gaza Strip are Anees and Akram Al-Namoura. The two brothers happened to be related to my mother's family. I was very happy when I learned that Akram and Anees are our relatives somehow. They are real heroes who had to pay the price defending our Palestine inside the Israeli cruel prisons. The two brothers had spent ten years in the Israel jails and were released lately. However, they haven't enjoyed being free to the fullest as they were deported from Hebron to Gaza. They wanted to see their mother and their family. Their sick mother managed to get into Gaza after a long and tiring journey. She saw her two sons and had the chance to hug them. She spent 6 days with them and then she passed away…

 I always try avoiding being pessimistic and I am sure that Palestinians still desire to live life to the fullest.  Despite the Israeli practices against us, and the continuous violations of our rights. Palestinians do always survive and will always do. 

Three Years Left. Today, I close my eyes; recall in memories the Gaza massacre

Today, memories flow into my brain. My brain goes back 3 years ago, the scenario starts playing in my mind, I recall every minute happened that Saturday; I rehear every bomb, every cry of fear. I re-witness the scene.  I recall each and every second happened on Saturday, December 27^th, 2008 as if it was still today. I recall the silence, the shock, the horror that took over my body that day. I recall in memories, the still living memories in my mind.

Today, 3 years ago, I was still 17 years old, a Tawijihi student, the last year and the most important year in school time. It was final exams time for most of the students but Tawjihi students were not having exams. At 11:00 am I was done with the management class and ready to go back home. I waited my sister who was still having her Arabic exam; I waited here in the school yard where a lot of students were standing there.    As I was waiting for my younger sister, a very thunderous series of explosions started hitting the sky. I looked up at the sky immediately, and then I looked around, I stared at the faces surrounding me, they were all looking up at the sky. I looked around and around trying to find my sister among those shocked, terrified faces. I finally found her.

We hold hands.  "There is nothing to worry about, they are just sonic bombs." I told her. We walked out of the school. I could see school students shouting, crying or sitting in the street unable to walk because of the fear and panic. I remember laughing at them at the very first moments as I thought the bombs were just sonic. I walked home with my sister. The streets were very crowded with people. Women were all out looking for their children. Children were crying not knowing where to go. As we were walking many bombs were falling, we could hear them falling, and every time we hear an explosion we look around to make sure that we are in the safe side. We managed going back home safe. However, many others did not.

Home, I shouted, " Basil, Semsem, where are you?" I shouted my little brother and sister's names to make sure they are safe. I found them hiding in a corner holding each other's hands at the staircase. They were scared and their small faces looked pale and bewildered. I calmed them down, and I turned on the radio to understand what was going around. "120 martyrs were killed so far in the last series of explosions and many wounded" the reporter said.  I shouted placing my hands on my mouth then stayed still.  I was dominated by shock. Unable to talk, I stayed.

One of my sisters was still at her university and we were unable to contact her as all the communications went down. There was no network coverage. My family was very worried but thanks God she finally came back home safe. My family and I kept following the news. The number of the martyrs was increasing, bombs were still dropping, the electricity went out and the situation was getting from bad to worse.

I never thought that Saturday, that this day would be the start of the war. I do not know what to call it. A war? A war is supposed to be between two parallel forces. But it was not. It was a brutal genocide against unarmed civilians. It was Israel using all the military forces and all illegal weapons against the so called Gaza terrorists who have nothing to defend themselves or even their home.  It was something inhuman, something unbearable.

First day had gone, the second had begun, and the same scenario repeats itself every day.  Explosions, destruction, martyrs, wounded, orphaned, horror, shock were the main characters of that nightmare.

My family, 6 sisters along with me and 1 brother, used to sleep in one small room. We used to gather around the radio and listen to the news. The radio which works on batteries was our only mean to follow the news because there was neither electricity nor phones.  The horror was living among us. We would ask ourselves a thousand questions a minute. Are we going to stay alive till tomorrow? Will Israeli army attack our home and kick us out? Are we going to sleep in our home tomorrow or in UNRWA schools such as many of Gazans did? Are my friends safe? Are we going to find something to eat, something to drink the next days? And many many other horrible questions and thoughts were terrifying us and dominating our mind.

The sound of the bombs became as a rhythm. A loud explosion then sounds of ambulances then the news reporting the place that was targeted and if they could identify the martyrs, they would announce their names. However, tens were not identified or even mentioned as they were buried under the rubble and they lost all their face's features.
  

I used to sit on the roof in order to study because I was a Tawjihi student and I am required to study even if over 10 drones were droning over my head. The sky was not the normal sky we used to know during the 23 days of the war. It was most likely a gloomy gray sky filled with black drones, F16s, helicopters… I remember studying history, World War 2 in particular, while looking at the sky counting the drones. I had no doubt that I would pass the history test as I was living a war already! I proudly passed Tawjihi with an average of 96.6% and that is to send a message to Israelis that your crimes would never stop our dreams of the future.

The massacre ended in January19, 2009 but had left behind, 1085 martyrs, 420 of which are children, 105 women, 510 men, 14 medics, 4 journalists, 5 internationals.  Israel still claims that the war was against Hamas while most of the killed were innocent civilians. The number of children who were killed during Gaza war amounted to more than 45% of the total number of civilian victims!  We demand that Israeli criminals should be brought to justice.

Yes the massacre ended yet the pain it left behind never did.  I went to school after a week. I was literally scared to go back to school, I didn't want to learn that any of my friends or classmates have been hurt during the massacre; unfortunately, many of my classmates were affected directly by the massacre. Two were wounded, one lost her father, one lost her mother, two lost their cousins, one lost her home.

"I saw my mother dead, her head was separated from her body, I saw the blood covering her" the one who lost her mother said with a broken voice and teary eyes. I imagined her seeing her mother dying and couldn't help but cry with her and weep over all the martyrs who were killed in a cold blood. Today, after 3 years, I remember the martyrs again and their families who remember them every single day. I wish I can put a rose over every martyr's grave. I pray they are now resting in peace.

Today, I am twenty years old and the Gaza massacre is three years old. As I grow up, the memories of the brutal massacre will stay unchanged in my mind. 3 years had left but every Gazan commits to memory every second of the twenty-three days massacre. I assure you that tens of thousands of Gazans have a story to tell about the massacre.  The black Saturday will remain a shame on all the Israel criminals. People of Gaza shall never forget the Gaza genocide and shall never forgive.