[Marxism] Obama's words won't heal Gaza's wounds

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.rabble.ca/news/2009/06/obamas-words-wont-heal-gazas-wounds

Obama's words won't heal Gaza's wounds

by Monia Mazigh

President Obama was giving his speech to the Arab world while I was in 
Gaza, a few kilometres from the borders of Egypt along with 65 members 
of an international delegation.

We were, at that time, speaking with Mr. Samir Nasrallah. He is a local 
pharmacist who knew Rachel Corrie, the young American woman who was 
killed by an Israeli bulldozer in 2003 while she was trying to stop the 
bulldozer that was going destroy his house.

Mr. Nasrallah, a thin tall man, and his wife came to meet us very 
briefly. He had a story to tell. A moving story shared by the 1.5 
million Gazans trapped in this little piece of land called Gaza.

His words, while very simple and only lasting a few minutes, were very 
emotional and resonated in my ears for days and weeks to come. He told 
us that since the siege started in 2006 he can’t see his elderly parents 
who live in Cairo. He has been afraid they would die and he wouldn’t be 
able to see them again.

Many Gazans have stories to share with the rest of the world. The siege, 
the big prisons they live in, the lack of medication, the lack of 
building materials, the spare parts that need to be replaced in order to 
let the medical equipment (dialysis, imagery, scanner, etc) function 
again in order to diagnose patients' many illnesses. Add on top of all 
this misery the fear and anxiety they live in on a daily basis. When 
will be the next incursion? Are we going to die?

I wished that President Obama could answer these questions. His words 
were almost scientifically chosen but they were incapable of removing 
the feelings of sadness and helplessness I had inside of me each time I 
remembered the children of the crowded streets in Jabalia camp or 
Nusairat camp which I visited with the delegation, running around us and 
following us with their hungry eyes full of curiosity.

His message of hope couldn’t erase from my memory the teary eyes of the 
young woman, who was working with UNRWA and helped us visit many places 
in Gaza, when we boarded our bus and as she was left there looking at us 
dreaming that may be one day leaving and entering Gaza can be part of 
the normal routine.

Before leaving my comfortable and so organized country, Canada, I had my 
doubts about being allowed to enter Gaza and see with my own eyes the 
humanitarian situation there. Indeed the crossing points from the 
Israeli border and the Egyptian border were all closed for the last few 
months. Only the Rafah border from the Egyptian side was opened 
sporadically and some humanitarian aid was allowed to enter from there 
as well as some foreign delegations.

Many times during the six days I spent in Gaza, I wished the whole 
international community could see the level of destruction and the 
misery I saw in those long busy days. Some of the minarets, from which 
comes the recorded voice of the muezzin call for prayers five times a 
day, were brought down to earth by some missiles or bombs. Buildings of 
the Islamic University of Gaza were totally destroyed; they contained 
laboratories where students were supposed to discover and learn. The 
Shifa hospital still bears the scars of the bombs and the shells that 
were sent towards it.

A school in Jihr El Dik, a Bedouin village near the Israeli border, was 
half destroyed not to mention the many houses in many neighbourhoods 
which were not rebuilt and still offered their wounds to the sun, wind 
and to visitors like us. Even the Palestinian Legislative Council wasn’t 
exempted from the destruction. The elected members lost the only place 
they had to discuss the questions relevant to the lives of the population.

Everywhere I went in Gaza, there was a picture, a person, a place, a 
building to testify or to remind me that a terrible war had happened and 
that only a lifting of the siege can bring some hope to the people.

Monia Mazigh was born and raised in Tunisia and immigrated to Canada in 
1991. Mazigh was catapulted onto the public stage in 2002 when her 
husband, Maher Arar, was deported to Syria where he was tortured and 
held without charge for over a year. She campaigned tirelessly for his 
release during that time and has written a book, Hope and Despair, about 
her pursuit of justice.

Mazigh and others have participated in delegations to Palestine 
organized by Codepink this year. You can read more of their reflections 
from Gaza here.

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