Try and imagine the suffering of one family that loses 27 family members in one bombing. Then imagine getting the news from CNN or AP, or over a shaky phone line, interrupted by the long distance static coming from the Israeli occupied and locked-down Gaza strip.
"There hasn't been a Palestinian in this world that isn't directly or indirectly impacted by what's happening right now in Gaza," said Lara Kiswani, of the San Francisco-based Arab Resource and Organizing Center. "There are family members, or friends that have been killed, several of our youth organizers have lost family members in Gaza, and are distraught, as a result. Often times when we are sitting here organizing these demonstrations or actions, a lot of the time is spent trying to get a hold of our family members in Palestine, as well. People, due to the electricity short outs, were not even able to actually get a hold of people. And when we do, the news that we are getting is quite devastating," said Kiswani. "We already know of three prominent families here in the bay area that have had family members killed, as many as 50 or more altogether. The Al Jamah family most recently. There's a cousin here in San Jose whose holding a day of condolences at the south San Jose."
This was the plight of Palestinian-American Dentist, Hani Al Jamah. The 41 year old San Jose California based dentist was devastated by the news from Khan yunis on Sunday July 20, that dozens of family members of his extended family had been killed in a Gaza Strip air strike, their charred and shredded bodies lay buried beneath the dust and rubble of their four-story home, in the northern Gaza strip.
Dr Jamah had last seen his relatives on a visit to Gaza two years ago. "When I visited, they came to greet me, and they were so friendly and giving -- they didn't have much but they were so generous with what they had," he told reporters.
Jamah told reporters that the
dead included "babies and children, three pregnant women and the 60-year-old
matriarch of the family. Only her husband survived because he'd gone on a trip
to the grocery store just before the missile struck at sundown on Sunday." The
crestfallen dentist said "Sunset is when they end their Ramadan fast," he said.
"He'd just gone to bring back something to eat."
Millions of Palestinians, like Dr. Jamah, generations of them cleansed from their homeland by Israeli occupiers who have continued non-stop from 1948 to occupy more and more Palestinian land, are living a daily long distance nightmare. They scan the headlines and the internet, and all of social media, looking for details of the latest Israeli bombing, to see if their friends and relatives are among the over 800 dead, as well as thousands who have been wounded by Israeli's massive attack by land, air and sea.
Jihad, a Palestinian student living in the Bay Area, has also been devastated by Israeli attacks on civilian neighborhoods in Gaza. He has been on the phone non-stop, trying to see "who is dead and who is alive, whose house or block or neighborhood has been destroyed since I left the Gaza strip in August of last year."
"My family is there," he told me in a radio interview on Wednesday...
"My father, mother, two brothers and my little sister are there. And I'm really worried about them because of the situation. Their situation is so difficult because they had to leave their home, after our neighborhood was heavily bombed by artillery. You mentioned drones, sea, and air, but also all the Gaza population who lives close to the border area with Israel, is being heavily shelled by artillery, which randomly bombs populated areas. So their situation is so hard, it's really hard to connect with them. It's hard to call them, and to make sure they are fine. And now it's more difficult to get to them because they have been evacuated from a place that is being bombed to another place that is being bombed."
Jihad had just spoken to family members an hour before our interview.
"I spoke to them a few hours ago. The neighbors in their area received a warning from the Israeli army that the house will be hit. And, you know, how they knock on the roof with these empty rockets. And unfortunately, they're now freaking out for many hours because until now, this targeted house hasn't been targeted. And people are really afraid so there is nowhere to go...my cousin's house was bombed today without warning. They tried to bomb the mosque in our neighborhood, but the bomb didn't hit the mosque; it hit my cousin's house. And luckily they were in a room that is a little bit far away from the explosion. So luckily, they survived."
But Jihad said, given there are no shelters, and even schools are being hit, there is nowhere to hide. The problem in Gaza now is that there's nowhere to live. "People have nowhere to go. They escape from an area that is being targeted, to another area that is being targeted. All these explosions, and all these bombings happen randomly, and they don't take into consideration the amount of civilian casualties that might fall."
The young Palestinian was distraught to learn that a close friend, someone with whom he had played in the streets, gone to school with -- had been blown to bits in an Israeli bombing.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
1
1
