Mohammed's schedule:
Speaking Tour on Conditions in Palestine to Take Place as Debate Between U.S. and Israel over Expanded Settlements Continues
Chicago: 7:00 pm, Monday, April 5th at the Newberry Library, 60 W. Walton
with ALI ABUNIMAH, author, One Country, and founder, Electronic Intifada
Hosted by Haymarket Books, Contact: 773-583-7884, Free and Open to the Public
Houston: 7:00 pm, Tuesday, April 6th at the Rothko Chapel, 3900 Yupon
Contact: 713-524-9839, Free and Open to the Public
Albuquerque: 11:00 am, Thursday, April 8th at UNM Student Union Building (SUB) Ballroom
Hosted by the UNM Coalition, Free and Open to the Public
6:30 pm, Thursday, April 8th, at the Albuquerque Mennonite Church, 1300 Girard
Hosted by Middle East Peace and Justice Alliance, Suggested Donation: $20 (no one turned away), Contact: lorir@unm.edu
Santa Fe: 6:30 pm, Friday, April 9th at the Unitarian Church in Santa Fe, 107 West Barcelona
with DAHR JAMAIL, author, Beyond the Green Zone and The Will to Resist, and co-recipient of the 2008 Martha GellhornAward
Hosted by Middle East Peace and Justice Alliance and Another Jewish Voice-Santa Fe, Suggested Donation: $5 (no one turned away), Contact: ngharrison1@gmail.com
Following Public Pressure C
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Sarah Macaraeg, 312-315-8476
sarah@haymarketbooks.org
Following International Public Pressure Campaign, Award-winning Palestinian Journalist to be Allowed Entry to the U.S.
"Reflections on Life and War in Gaza,"
Featuring Mohammed Omer
Speaking Tour on Conditions in Palestine to Take Place as Debate Between U.S. and Israel over Expanded Settlements Continues
Chicago: 7:00 pm, Monday, April 5th at the Newberry Library, 60 W. Walton
with ALI ABUNIMAH, author, One Country, and founder, Electronic Intifada
Hosted by Haymarket Books, Contact: 773-583-7884, Free and Open to the Public
Houston: 7:00 pm, Tuesday, April 6th at the Rothko Chapel, 3900 Yupon
Contact: 713-524-9839, Free and Open to the Public
Albuquerque: 11:00 am, Thursday, April 8th at UNM Student Union Building (SUB) Ballroom
Hosted by the UNM Coalition, Free and Open to the Public
6:30 pm, Thursday, April 8th, at the Albuquerque Mennonite Church, 1300 Girard
Hosted by Middle East Peace and Justice Alliance, Suggested Donation: $20 (no one turned away), Contact: lorir@unm.edu
Santa Fe: 6:30 pm, Friday, April 9th at the Unitarian Church in Santa Fe, 107 West Barcelona
with DAHR JAMAIL, author, Beyond the Green Zone and The Will to Resist, and co-recipient of the 2008 Martha GellhornAward
Hosted by Middle East Peace and Justice Alliance and Another Jewish Voice-Santa Fe, Suggested Donation: $5 (no one turned away), Contact: ngharrison1@gmail.com
CHICAGO, IL— Back from the brink of cancellation, a speaking tour on conditions in Palestine will take place April 5th-9th with award-winning journalist and photographer Mohammed Omer. Subjected to an extended, and unexplained, hold on his visa, Omer and supporters launched a public pressure campaign, winning his entry from the U.S. consulate.
As Omer related, "The support has been essential, and it proves that public pressure is effective. I am immensely grateful and can't wait to thank all of you in person. I have always regarded the United States as the champion of freedom of the press. This is where I hope to practice this right."
In 2008, Omer became the youngest recipient of the prestigious Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism, for his firsthand reportage of life in the besieged Gaza strip. As his prize citation explained, “Everyday, he reports from a war zone, where he is also a prisoner. He is a profoundly humane witness to one of the great injustices of our time. He is the voice of the voiceless… Working alone in extremely difficult and often dangerous circumstances, [Omer has] reported unpalatable truths validated by powerful facts.”
Upon attempting to return to Gaza following his acceptance of the Gellhorn award in London, Omer was detained, interrogated, and beaten by the Shin Bet Israeli security force for hours; and eventually hospitalized with cracked ribs and respiratory problems (For the full story, visit Israel's Haaretz). He has since resided in the Netherlands and continues to undergo medical treatment there for his subsequent health problems.
Nearly canceling his planned speaking tour, the U.S. consulate held his visa application without explanation. Organizers decided to protest, as in recent years, numerous foreign scholars and experts have been subject to visa delays and denials that have prohibited them from speaking and teaching in the U.S.—a process the American Civil Liberties Union describes as “Ideological Exclusion.”
As his hosts at Haymarket Books commented, "The issue of Palestine, and particularly the voice of Palestinians is so frequently side-stepped and marginalized in mainstream political discourse. Yet the Israeli-Palestinian conflict plays a huge role in American foreign policy, as we can see in the ongoing debate between the U.S. and Israel over expanded settlements. We believe that the conditions in Palestine represent one of the great humanitarian catastrophes of our time; and we were simply not willing to accept that Mohammed did not have the right to travel to the U.S. to share his reportage—and that Chicagoans did not have the right to hear what he has to say."
Omer will visit Houston, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Chicago, as planned, to discuss his reportage, personal experience, and the struggle for Palestinian rights.
Background on Mohammed Omer:
Mohammed Omer was born and raised in the Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza strip. He maintains the website Rafah Today and is a correspondent for the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. His home in Rafah was crushed by an Israeli bulldozer while the family was inside, seriously injuring his mother. Yet, as Omer explained in an article he wrote upon winning the award, “My ambition was to get the truth out, not as pro-Palestinian or anti-Israeli, but as an independent voice and witness.” His reportage features interviews with regular Gazans attempting to survive amidst bombing, home demolitions, and the crippling economic blockade, which has created devastating shortages of electricity, water, fuel, and other necessities for survival.
Mohammed Omer is available for select interviews. To request, contact: Sarah Macaraeg, 312-315-8476, sarah@haymarketbooks.org
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AMERICANS MUST NEVER HEAR THE TRUTH ABOUT GAZA
Written by DesertPeace
During the Bush Administration, Mohammed Omer had a problem obtaining a visa to enter the United States for a speaking engagement.
Condoleeza Rice intervened and the visa was granted.
During the Obama Administration, Mohammed Omer WAS DENIED a visa to enter the United States for a speaking tour AND NO ONE INTERVENED.
We were promised a ‘CHANGE’….. it looks like we got it!
American Consulate Bans Award-Winning Palestinian Journalist from U.S. Tour
Source:
http://salem-news.com/articles/march212010/gaza-reporter.php
On his way back to Gaza after accepting the prize in London, Omer was detained, interrogated, and beaten by Israeli security forces and eventually hospitalized with cracked ribs and respiratory problems.
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Palestinian journalist Mohammed Omer was denied entry to the U.S. for a scheduled tour, and was beaten by the Israeli military and hospitalized upon his return to the Middle east |
(CHICAGO) – Palestinian journalist Mohammed Omer was denied a visa to the United States where he was scheduled to speak in Chicago about the living conditions in Palestine, tour organizers said.
“Effectively canceling a planned speaking tour, the U.S. consulate in the Netherlands has put an extended hold on the visa application of [Omer],” tour organizers in Chicago wrote in a news statement.
When contacted, a representative said, the US Consulate in the Netherlands said it could not provide an update, while the US embassy told organizers they could not help.
The tour would see Omer speak in Santa Fe, Houston, and Chicago, where he would have been hosted by Haymarket Books in Chicago at the Newberry Library, which will reportedly go ahead with the event via skype.
The event is funded by Lannan Foundation, whose focus is the promotion of “cultural freedom, diversity and creativity through projects which support exceptional contemporary artists and writers.”
Host organizations in Santa Fe and Houston are considering keeping their events in place as well, a Haymarket spokeswoman said.
Omer – journalist and photo journalist for Rafah Today and correspondent for The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs – will instead speak at all his engagements via skype or video conference, the statement said.
Omer was awarded the Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism in 2008 for “his firsthand reportage of life in the besieged Gaza strip.”
On his way back to Gaza after accepting the prize in London, Omer was detained, interrogated, and beaten by Israeli security forces and eventually hospitalized with cracked rib.
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Award-winning Journalist Mohammed Omer Kept from Entering U.S. for Speaking Tour on Conditions in Palestine
Demanding Omer Be Heard, Chicagoans Protest—and Proceed with Event
7:00 pm, Monday, April 5th at the Newberry Library, 60 W. Walton
MOHAMMED OMER (via live satellite or skype) and ALI ABUNIMAH,
CHICAGO, IL— Effectively canceling a planned speaking tour, the U.S. consulate in the Netherlands has put an extended hold on the visa application of award-winning Palestinian journalist and photographer Mohammed Omer, scheduled to speak on conditions in Palestine, on April 5th in Chicago.
In 2008, Omer became the youngest recipient of the prestigious Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism, for his firsthand reportage of life in the besieged Gaza strip. As his prize citation explained, “Everyday, he reports from a war zone, where he is also a prisoner. He is a profoundly humane witness to one of the great injustices of our time. He is the voice of the voiceless… Working alone in extremely difficult and often dangerous circumstances, [Omer has] reported unpalatable truths validated by powerful facts.”
Upon attempting to return to Gaza following his acceptance of the Gellhorn award in London, Omer was detained, interrogated, and beatenby the Shin Bet Israeli security force for hours; and eventually hospitalized with cracked ribs and respiratory problems (For the full story, visit
Haaretz). He has since resided in the Netherlands and continues to undergo medical treatment there for his subsequent health problems.
The U.S. consulate has now held his visa application for an extended period of time, effectively canceling a planned U.S. speaking tour without the explanation that a denial would require.
In recent years, numerous foreign scholars and experts have been subject to visa delays and denials that have prohibited them from speaking and teaching in the U.S.—a process the American Civil Liberties Union describes as “Ideological Exclusion,”which they say violates Americans’ First Amendment right to hear constitutionally protected speech by denying foreign scholars, artists, politicians and others entry to the United States. Foreign nationals who have recently been denied visas include Fulbright scholar Marixa Lasso; respected South African scholar and vocal Iraq War critic Dr. Adam Habib; Iraqi doctor Riyadh Lafta, who disputed the official Iraqi civilian death numbers in the respected British medical journal
The Lancet; and Oxford’s Tariq Ramadan, who has just received a visa to speak in the United States after more than five years of delays and denials.
Fellow Gellhorn recipient Dahr Jamail, expressed his disbelief at Omer’s visa hold. “Why would the US government, when we consider the premise that we have ‘free speech’ in this country, place on hold a visa for Mohammed Omer, or any other journalist planning to come to the United States to give talks about what they report on? This is a travesty, and the only redemption available for the U.S. government in this situation is to issue Omer's visa immediately, and with a deep apology.”
Omer was to visit Houston, Santa Fe, and Chicago, where local publisher Haymarket Books was to host his Newberry Library event, “Reflections on Life and War in Gaza,” alongside a broad set of interfaith religious, community, and political organizations (listed below).
Rather than cancel the meeting, organizers are calling on supporters to write letters and emails calling for the U.S. consulate’s approval of Omer’s visa. They are also proceeding with the event as planned, via live satellite or skype, if necessary. A petition currently underway will also be announced soon.
U.S. consulate information:
Ambassador Fay Hartog Levin
U.S. Embassy in The Hague
Lange Voorhout 102
2514 EJ
The Netherlands
T: +31 70 310-2209
F: +31 70 361-4688
Background on Mohammed Omer:
Mohammed Omer was born and raised in the Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza strip. He maintains the website
Rafah Today and is a correspondent for the
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. His home in Rafah was crushed by an Israeli bulldozer while the family was inside, seriously injuring his mother. Yet, as Omer explained in an article he wrote upon winning the award, “My ambition was to get the truth out, not as pro-Palestinian or anti-Israeli, but as an independent voice and witness.” His reportage features interviews with regular Gazans attempting to survive amidst bombing, home demolitions, and the crippling economic blockade, which has created devastating shortages of electricity, water, fuel, and other necessities for survival.
Omer was to visit Chicago to discuss, with Ali Abunimah, Chicago-based author of One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, his reportage, personal experience, and the struggle for Palestinian rights. If the delay on his visa continues, he will take part in the event via live satellite connection or skype.
**Mohammed Omer, Ali Abunimah, and Dahr Jamail are available for select interviews. To request, contact: Sarah Macaraeg, 312-315-8476,
sarah@haymarketbooks.org
Additional background:
Reflections on Life and War in Gaza: A Discussion with Palestinian Journalist Mohammed Omer
Monday, April 5th at 7:00 pm at the Newberry Library, 60 W. Walton, Free
Train: Chicago Red and Brown, Clark/Division Red. Bus: #66 Chicago, #29 State
Funded by the LANNAN FOUNDATION. Sponsored by HAYMARKET BOOKS
In cooperation with: American Friends Service Committee-Chicago, Committee for a Just Peace in Palestine and Israel, Episcopal Diocese of Chicago-Peace and Justice Committee, the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, International Socialist Organization, International Solidarity Movement-Chicago, Islamic Medical Association of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Jewish Voice for Peace, Middle East Task Force of Chicago Presbytery, National Lawyers Guild-Loyola, Neighbors For Peace, Students for Justice in Palestine-DePaul and UIC chapters, and Ta'anit Tzedek—Jewish Fast for Gaza.
Facebook:
Chicago event details
We Demand Mohammed Omer Be Heard!
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Life Upside Down: One Year After Israel’s Winter War on Gaza
By Mohammed Omer
On Dec. 27, 2009, a year after Israel launched its “Operation Cast Lead,” Kamal Awaja touches a poster outside his family’s tent in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahia picturing his son who was killed during the 22-day assault. (AFP Photo/Mohammed Abed)
SEVENTY-EIGHT year old Mustapha Al Jamal waits, hoping his home will be rebuilt. As Jan. 4—the one-year anniversary of his loss—approached, however, when and how remained unknown. His 30-year-old son, Mohammed, is less than optimistic: he believes Israel’s siege on Gaza, approaching its fourth year, will continue for a decade. “The world has just accepted that we suffer,” he explained in an interview.
A Fateful and Fearful Day
Al Jamal’s home was destroyed during the December 2008-January 2009 Israeli assault on Gaza dubbed Operation Cast Lead. “The sound of a missile next door was at first like a warning noise,” he recalled. “I ran out of the house. One hour later I came back to a pile of rubble and ruins that used to be our home. Nothing was left standing.”
Mohammed barely escaped with his life.
Israeli F-16s had launched three missiles at the nearby home of an alleged Hamas activist. The high-powered bombs destroyed that home—as well as Al Jamal’s and others nearby. Today, the al-Nakba survivor, his wife, son and daughter-in-law and their three children remain virtually homeless. (Of his 12 sons, 6 survive, and Al Jamal has 52 grandchildren.)
“We lost everything in the house—even our identification papers to prove we are living human beings on this planet,” the family patriarch noted sadly.
In retrospect, Al Jamal admits that his family was lucky. An acquaintance of his, Zeyad Al Absi, not only lost his house in southern Gaza, but his three sons—Mohammed, 14, Ahmed, 13, and Sudki, 4—were killed and four daughters injured. His wife is now paralyzed.
“Life has turned upside down—there are no apparent human rights in this country any more,” Al Absi stated.
A recently completed investigation by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem concluded that 1,387 Palestinians were killed during the Israeli assault, 773 of whom were noncombatants, including many women and children. Four Israeli civilians also lost their lives to rockets fired from The Strip, as well as nine Israeli soldiers participating in the assault, four from friendly fire. The Israeli government continues to dispute most findings.
According to Maxwell Gaylard with the U.N. Special Coordinator’s Office for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO), a year after the attack Gaza’s situation is not getting any better.
“It’s a slow, gradual deterioration in the standard of living of the people of Gaza,” he said in interview from his Jerusalem office. “Life is not getting better. It’s slowly getting worse for many people.”
As the one year anniversary approaches, Al Jamal notes little has changed.
“I survived al-Nakba in 1948 when I was 11 years old,” Al Jamal stated softly, his voice reflecting the surrealism of his situation. “Now I am living it again.”
An Epidemic of Homelessness
Today, even in the world’s most developed nations, families are losing their homes due to unemployment and economic hardship. In Gaza, homelessness is the result of two factors: the Israeli siege, and military operations—whether in massive assaults like Operation Cast Lead, or via demolitons by Caterpillar bulldozers. A family may survive the economic conditions, yet still lose its home in a missile strike, for example. Since Operation Cast Lead, the continuing Israeli siege has meant the unavailability of critical building supplies needed to rebuild hope and promise a life of future normalcy.
Most Gazan families made homeless by military attack, demolition or other means find themselves—if lucky—housed together in a single room. Not only is privacy nonexistent, but the crowded conditions may bring back memories of previous imprisonment. This is especially difficult on the most vulnerable: the young, elderly and infirm.
One year after the Israeli assault, the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) announced that it had rebuilt the first house in Gaza Strip. UNRWA operations directorJohn Ging handed it over to the Majed Al Athamna family, whose apartment building in northeastern Gaza’s Abed Rabbo neighborhood had been destroyed during Operation Cast Lead.
Since more conventional building materials are not available thanks to the Israeli blockade, the new dwelling is made of mud brick, similar to the adobe bricks used in centuries past.
Al Jamal wonders if these houses are considered an appropriate solution for Gazans. “Are we going to go back to the 17th century?” he asked incredulously.
Asked to comment on Gazans’ perception of the new housing, UNSCO’s Gaylard laughed, then paused before replying.
“I can understand their reaction,” he said, adding, “We at the U.N. have always called for lifting the siege on Gaza. “Israel and the international community have a responsibility to lift the siege.”
Like many in Gaza, Al Jamal is frustrated with the international community and its diplomatic efforts. “Turkey pledged millions of tons of cement, and Egypt, our neighbor, is the biggest steel producer in the Middle East!” he exclaimed. “Why are we still homeless?
“The siege is eating us up,” he continued. “There is no respect or compassion for children or senior citizens.”
Al Jamal then defiantly challenged Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas and his Hamas counterpart, Ismail Haniyeh, to come and live for just three days as he has lived for a year and counting.
“Of course, they would never accept, when they have cars, bodyguards, open crossings and free mobility,” he admitted bitterly.
With a shortage of housing, decent food and other basic necessities, disease and illness continue to plague the residents of the besieged Gaza Strip. The quality of life for people suffering from chronic illnesses continues to decline. The Ministry of Health in Gaza warned in the press that 141 much-needed medicines no longer are available.
According to Dr. Munier Al Barsh, an official with the Ministry, the most critically needed medicines are those used in renal dialysis, for the treatment of bones\ injuries, nutritional fluids, and hydration for babies in the nurseries.
“We have 10 medicines that must last for three months. We should have at least 26 different types,” he noted, imploring the international community to assist in obtaining the most vital medicines.
A Rumbling Volcano
“Humanity is finished,” responded Zeyad Al Absi, the man who lost his home and sons in Israel’s assault, when asked about his hopes for the future.
“Only the language of power speaks—Israel’s power,” he added hopelessly. “I was encouraged by the Oslo agreement, but Oslo is nothing more than empty words. I have lost everything, including my children and home. Israel violated my privacy and my family. One minute I was watching TV on the 29th of December. The next, I saw my children torn to pieces, their flesh scattered around the rubble and street.”
Asked if he feels hatred toward Israel, Al Absi warned that Israel’s continued actions are cultivating an anger and despair in Gaza far beyond what has ever been felt before.
“I am a peaceful man,” the bereaved homeless father explained. “But if I had had a bomb then [during Operation Cast Lead], I would have wiped out the world. Life is worthless when I have to collect the flesh of my children with my bare hands.”
The Rabbi, the Priest, the Imam and Egypt’s Steel Wall
By Mohammed Omer
A picture taken from the Palestinian side of the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah shows heavy machinery at work on the Egyptian side of the border installing an underground steel wall to block tunnel access to Egypt, Dec. 31, 2009. (AFP Photo/Said Khatib)
THE STEEL WALL Egypt is building along its nearly nine-mile border with the Gaza Strip extends almost 60 feet underground. Its purpose is to prevent Palestinians from digging the tunnels that have become Gaza’s only lifeline.
“The steel wall is a serious threat that will make life impossible for us here in Gaza,” said Abu Ayman, one of thousands of workers at the smuggling tunnels between Gaza and Egypt. The 41-year-old man, who declined to give his full name, explained that this is the only job that allows him to feed his four children, wife and two elderly parents. “What do you expect us to do,” he asked, “when there is a high rate of unemployment, and no other means of survival?”
Normally, Abu Ayman said, he would prefer to take on border-crossing and luggage-handling work, but “since the world does not allow it on the ground, we have to survive under the ground. It’s not easy—and it’s a very risky job—but it pays well, despite digging 20 meters underground and crawling a few hundred meters while digging, which causes pain and injuries to my knees.”
In July 2008, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was consulting with Egypt on the wall project. Despite an international outcry—with human rights groups charging that this latest wall “contributes to the cruel plan to further isolate Gaza’s population and violates their rights as an occupied people under the Fourth Geneva Convention”—the project has proceeded. According to media reports, the steel wall was designed and manufactured in the U.S. and will take 18 months to complete. Assembled like a jigsaw, it has been tested to ensure it is bomb-proof. An Egyptian security official denied these reports, but refused to comment further.
It is well known that, since all Gaza’s crossing points into Egypt and Israel have been closed since Hamas won the January 2006 parliamentary election, Palestinians have had to dig hundreds of underground tunnels to counter Israel’s ongoing siege by importing their basic necessities from Egypt (see Jan./Feb. 2009 Washington Report, p. 19). Issa Al Nasshar, Rafah’s mayor in the Hamas-led government, has estimated that 400 tunnels run under Gaza’s border with Egypt, employing 15,000 people and bringing in $1 million in desperately needed goods every day.
“The siege on the people of Gaza will be further exacerbated by the new wall of steel,” said Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, a participant in the Gaza Freedom March, after having spent some days on the Gaza border and denied entry. “The wall of steel and the brutal occupation of the Palestinian people supported by Egypt and the United States while the international community remains silent, violates human decency, international law and any hope for peace.”
“I wonder how the unarmed people of Gaza can pose a threat to the security of Egypt,” mused renowned Islamic scholar Dr. Yousef Al Qaradawi in a Friday sermon broadcast from Qatar’s Omar bin Khatab mosque. Calling on Egypt to halt construction of the controversial steel wall, he added, “We have been criticizing Israel for constructing a wall around Israeli settlements. Now we are doing the very same thing. We are in fact competing with Israel by deciding to construct a steel wall.”
Qaradawi expressed the hope that wisdom would return to the rulers of Egypt and that they would abstain from this move which, he said, amounts to a “premeditated criminal act.”
“I pray that Allah will show the right path to the Egyptian authorities. I hope they will correct their stance and do what every sensible Arab or Muslim would do,” he added. Furthermore, Imam Qaradawi said, “It is a pity that millions of pounds have been pumped into constructing this wall while unemployment remains so high in Egypt and many Egyptian people are struggling hard to find their daily meals.”
The issue of the wall has caused heated debate and disagreement among various Muslim scholars. In response to a statement made by the imams of Al Azhar University, Egypt’s most prestigious Islamic theological institution, who did not condemn the wall, Hamas marshaled Muslim scholars who decreed that the steel wall is haram, or forbidden.
Father Manuel Musallam, the senior Roman Catholic priest in Palestine, agrees with Imam Qaradawi. “We should remind the world that this siege is not only affecting the lives of 10 or 20 people,” he said. “It is 1.5 million Palestinians who are suffering every single day. Any obstacle put in our face,” he added, “is an obstacle in the face of our liberation.”
Given the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s efforts to bring together Arab states and broker a peace agreement between Israel and Palestine, it was ironic to hear Egypt’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Mahmoud Ouf, speaking at the unveiling of the new Egyptian Cultural Center in Riyadh, publicly dismiss charges that the wall being built by his country is aimed at starving the people of Gaza. The Arab News quoted him as saying, “Forced starvation is not possible because 95 percent of Gaza’s food, medicine and electricity do not come through these tunnels, but via crossing points along the border with Israel.”
The Egyptian diplomat failed to note, however, that Israel continues to prohibit most food items (except for flour and butter and other basic necessities), medicine and building materials from entering Gaza, and also controls electricity, which remains intermittent. Ambassador Ouf further maintained that the wall was not intended to force Hamas to resume peace talks with Israel.
Once completed, the steel wall would cut off besieged Gaza’s last lifeline. If that happens, said Father Musallam, “We will all die. But we will never die as slaves to others, nor in fear of American and Israeli hegemony. We will dig deeper in the ground, or go by sea. This steel wall will never stop our freedom,” he vowed.
Recognizing the role Egypt has played in the past, however, Father Musallam still doubts that Egyptians oppose freedom for the Palestinians, now or in the future, and has consistantly refused to accuse Egyptians of being traitors, as others have. ”We have shared a mouthful of food in the past, and we will share it again,” he said. “Egypt has always been there in the tough times.
“No Palestinian child has died yet due to shortages of food, and we will never allow it to happen,” vowed Father Musallam, who added that it is Israel alone which stands in the face of freedom for Palestinians.
According to Rabbi Gottlieb, such separation walls “are an abomination to every religious principle held sacred by Jewish tradition. Those of us concerned with human rights and human decency,” she added, “must continue to speak out and join our efforts at halting yet another layer of oppression piled upon a long-suffering people so that a just political solution can emerge, and all the children of the region can grow up with hope instead of fear.”
The New York-based rabbi and co-founder of Shomer Shalom Institute Network for Jewish Nonviolence has called on all Jews to resist the occupation “with every fiber of our being.”
During the night of Jan. 7, 13-year-old Mohammed Abu Hashish was killed while sleeping in the tent-door of a tunnel. Abu Ayman wondered sadly about this boy, who happened to be in the same class as his own children. He knew the boy’s hope was simply to work to help feed his family—just like Abu Ayman. “I just want to do my best,” the father said. “Advanced countries have reached the moon,” he observed bitterly, “and we are still made to dig under the ground.”
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Important note to all readers:
Mohammed is asking you all to please be patient and that he will respond to you when he can.
Yesterday he had surgical intervention with three injections in the spine. Doctors decided on the course of the intervention in the operation room following MRI scan results. He says it is hard to move and terribly painful and that he will be under medical observation for the next four weeks.
Mohammed lies in a hospital in Leiden, the Netherlands.
Letter from Gaza to President Obama [pdf].
