A Life Cut Short Eyad. Five-month-old Eyad is one of the happiest babies I've ever met. Barely touch his cheeks and he smiles and giggles; tickle his little belly and he bursts out in laughter, kicking his feet up in the air. When he laughs, it involves his whole body, pushing out this loud giggly sound that's full of happiness. Eyad doesn't cry like other babies when he is alone. He just lies there quietly and plays with his hands and feet. But if he sees you, or senses you anywhere near him he starts to laugh again and kick his feet up in the air with excitement so you can play with him. Jamalat, his mother, says his laughter is a blessing from God for it fills her heart with joy and takes away some of her heartbreak and sorrow. Eyad has never seen his father, and his father has never seen his son, nor will he ever. Jamalat was just five weeks pregnant with Eyad when his father, my cousin, was killed by an Israeli sniper during an incursion into the town of Sufa in the south-east of the Gaza Strip. He had just asked Jamalat to prepare some tea for him and went to sit in front of his house with his then two-year-old daughter Malak. It's clear that the sniper had every intention of killing him rather than just injuring or disabling him, for he did not shoot him once or twice or in the leg or arm but rather he aimed and shot him three times, in his stomach, his chest and his neck. The stomach wound was deep enough to kill him, but he was shot again in the chest anyway. He fell to the ground and laid there, half alive, hanging between life and death. He was still moving and the blood was running through his veins until the final shot to his neck came minutes later. It eliminated every ounce of life left in him. Jamalat did not rush to see what had happened for incursions occurred regularly in Sufa and she had gotten used to hearing them. She didn't think to see where the gunshots came from until Malak ran over to her crying with her father's blood over all her face and clothes. Ironically, the sniper aimed and shot from the house of another one of our relatives, just 50 meters away. The house was raided the night before and transformed into a military site. He shot from the roof. It's a common tactic of the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF). To use the cover of night to quietly enter an area of Gaza and occupy civilian homes in order to -- according to them -- diffuse military activities. Once the Israeli soldiers occupy a home the family living there is often forced and locked into a room without electricity or access to phones which are taken by the soldiers to prevent any contact with anyone outside. The IOF station themselves inside the home which is deemed a military site, or base, against the will of the home's residents. When this happens it is possible that no one else in the area knows that the IOF have taken over a home or even that they are in the neighborhood. Typically, for the next day or so, the army assesses the area and quietly plans. When it's ready, the army leaves the home to make arrests, kill so-called "militants" or raze Palestinian homes and agricultural lands. When they've finished they pull back their tanks and bulldozers only a short distance to the border with Israel where they are always stationed, sitting and waiting for their next incursion into Gaza. Jamalat and my cousin had only been married for four years when he was killed. They had just moved into their new house they built on the land he inherited from his father. Jamalat says God has taken her husband away from her, only to give her a son with the same face as his father's, like the name they also share. It's hard to watch and hear Eyad laugh without experiencing heartbreak. He has no idea about the world in which he will grow up. He will grow up with only stories and pictures of his father. He will see his mother struggle to feed him and his siblings. He will be told he is a refugee, and get used to waiting in line with his mother for their food packages. He'll learn to sleep with the sounds of Israeli planes over his head. He will recognize the loud rumbling sounds of tanks coming into Gaza from the border and how that sound means it's time to run home. Anger will fill his heart when he witnesses Israeli bulldozers crush his father's olive trees. And he will live his entire life under Israeli occupation in an unjust world where he will think such conditions are normal, knowing no other life than this. He will never see the face of the Israeli solider who killed his father, nor receive reparations for the life he will live. And the Israeli solider will never realize what he has done or whom he has hurt, for he has dehumanized Palestinians as well as himself. For a fellow human being would at least consider for a brief second while he aimed his rifle that the man in his sights was someone's father and was loved dearly by his wife and had a whole life ahead of him, one cut short with the pull of a faceless soldier's trigger. Yassmin Moor is a Palestinian-American writing from Rafah, Gaza. She is currently working to implement a gardening project through an organization she co-founded, Save Gaza.
I feel that the mainstream newspapers should report this more often, the human sufferings of war. Both on the Arab side and the Israeli side to make people realize war is horrendous. Politicians seemed to be immune to such sufferings, it is time to dig out the dirt of these wars.
Israel always shooting first and asking questions later. Actually, forget the questions part. They just shoot.
I read this entire story posted above. However, I only see one side of the story here. The depiction that the Palestinians are the only victims here is not entirely accurate. There are just as many snipers in the PLO as there are in the Israeli armed forces. Both sides are continually using the same tactics here and tragedies occur on both sides. When the days of war are over, we can finally have peace.
So very true, both sides were very brutal. I feel so sad for the children the most in this conflict. So much killing, so much suffering on both sides. Its so frustrating to see any kind of human suffering in this world. If only people would forget the past and try to forge a better future. People shoul;d never forget the inocent casualties of war on both sides. Lets not forget the havoc the plo caused in lebanon by starting its 30 year civil war also.
There is only one solution... Here are the main points below... - The historic land of Palestine belongs to all who live in it and to those who were expelled or exiled from it since 1948, regardless of religion, ethnicity, national origin or current citizenship status; - Any system of government must be founded on the principle of equality in civil, political, social and cultural rights for all citizens. Power must be exercised with rigorous impartiality on behalf of all people in the diversity of their identities; - There must be just redress for the devastating effects of decades of Zionist colonization in the pre- and post-state period, including the abrogation of all laws, and ending all policies, practices and systems of military and civil control that oppress and discriminate on the basis of ethnicity, religion or national origin; - The recognition of the diverse character of the society, encompassing distinct religious, linguistic and cultural traditions, and national experiences; - The creation of a non-sectarian state that does not privilege the rights of one ethnic or religious group over another and that respects the separation of state from all organized religion; - The implementation of the Right of Return for Palestinian refugees in accordance with UN Resolution 194 is a fundamental requirement for justice, and a benchmark of the respect for equality. - The creation of a transparent and nondiscriminatory immigration policy; - The recognition of the historic connections between the diverse communities inside the new, democratic state and their respective fellow communities outside; - In articulating the specific contours of such a solution, those who have been historically excluded from decision-making -- especially the Palestinian Diaspora and its refugees, and Palestinians inside Israel -- must play a central role; - The establishment of legal and institutional frameworks for justice and reconciliation.
By you using the term "Zionist" you are directly referring to Israeli citizens. It seems that all you want is to punish Israeli citizens and soldiers. You should be looking more at your own government and what they are doing as well. Do you really think that your own PLO has no snipers? Do you really think they are not killing innocent Israeli children as well? By this post, you are more of the problem, not the solution. You posted about ending the policies and practices of discrimination by Israeli soldiers, but your own people are just as racist. You flatly stated above that you wanted redress for "Zionist" colinization. Dont you think enough has been done already? I dont see why you think redress is necessary when your own people are out there doing the same exact thing that you want redress for.
Yes friend, PLO was corrupt, racist bunch of idiots. That is why it was voted out of power. I respect Jews. They are some of the brightest minds in the world.. But not zionists. What has been done about zionist colonizatio? After the annapolis conference, they just went ahead to create new settlements in West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem... How ridiculous and phony bastards... Source: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/937388.html Thsi is so, dumb, that ending discrimination is being challenged as wrong? how can it be wrong? I agree PLO has its own snipers. I wish there was no fighting, and both sides live together in peace.
No one is saying that ending discrimination is wrong. But until both sides decide that enough is enough, war will continue without end. Its sad, but the politicians love it.
Oh cry a tear for this man who was quite possibly a terrorist. But let's ignore the rampant murder of civilians across the world by Muslims. How many Israeli children have been made orphans by Muslims intentionally tossing rockets into civilian areas? But let's all care about this one man who you assume was innocent. You mean like Israel? Name one country ruled by Muslims that fits that profile. There is no such thing as "Right of Return" What year would you like to go back to? Or did you think that Muslims have always been there?
Yeah, cry a tear for him and his family, and for the Israeli families suffering the same loss. Though I'm not a Christian, I hear it's the Christian thing to feel. Wonder why this poster would believe the man is "quite possibly" a terrorist, with no further information? I mourn families suffering losses from both sides in this tragedy. I wish to hell I knew a true way out.
Well, assuming the story is true, the Israeli army is not a terrorist organization that goes around shooting innocent people. The other clue this person was not so innocent is that he was living with terrorists. Maybe I'm weird but if I lived in Nazi Germany and I knew that my neighborhood was infested with Nazis and there was a war going on, I'd leave. Which is exactly what a lot of people did. So the likelyhood of this person being innocent is very little. Snipers are emotionless killers. A split second hesitation can get you killed. You have to know your target and take it out the instant you have it. Does this sob story writing author write the same drivle about suicide bombers not thinking about who they're murdering? Lots of wicked people are married and have kids. Kids are not a get out of death free card. If he was a terrorist then it's unfortunate he lived to have a child. Because inevitly that child will be raised to follow the same mindless "hate, kill Jews" mantra and be killed when it's old enough and dumb enough to join the terrorist cause and try to murder civilians. Let the dead bury their own dead. Do you cry for serial killers too?
Absent any other information, the guy is a father, who is now dead. Mistakes, even, happen. But of course, the guy just has to be a terrorist. He might be, of course. Oh, and I'll raise Kalvin one Christ's compassion for his one avenging angel's spirit.
That's all fine and dandy when they're alive. It would be ideal that these people would turn from their wicked ways. Love is an effective tool to change some people. But some people just won't quit until they're dead. There is no need to love a corpse. He doesn't have to be. But he lived among them. So the army has to error on the site of caution to avoid orphans on their side of the fence that no one will write about. Serial Killers are nice people too. But, out of love for the rest of humanity, they need to be put down.
What do you say... What a comparison... 13 israeli casualties to 373 Palestinian casualties... It actually shows who real terrorists are... Oh! So, anyone living in Palestine automatically becomes a terrorist??? What a fantastic clue! Well, we all actually know who real terrorists are... So you can shove your clue up your ass
Tsk, tsk - editing a post after another post is made is a bit, well... "If" he was a terrorist is probably a key word. Leaping with glee over the guy's corpse, without knowing any more than that, seems just a bit loaded, at least to me. It's pretty basic, for me. I mourn all the families in this hell. I do not choose sides in grieving children growing up in mutual hate, and with loved ones killed by another.
That's right. More Nazis died than anyone else so we all know who the real victims are. What percentage were killed that never took part in hostilities? And that would have nothing to do with the Muslims trying to kill civilians. You must be a very miserable person to care so much for the whole world.
Poor old Palestinians. Thats all I hear in this thread. They can do no wrong. I know a different story. I bet you guys do too.