Tragedy

Tragedy and the loaf of bread

Ahmed with his new hope with a simple project.

These swings were in our house store , and these swings were not used or investor . During this situation , I had an idea to use them to have our living, and you can see the children are very happy. If the situation changed and siege, I will develop this idea and these swings, under the siege I did not have any income and I barely get a loaf of bread for me and my family, I considered this idea and this project a gift from God to me and my family, and the children here, I did not work , and I stopped for a period of ten days, when children started their exams at schools to not affect them and their studies .

I am talking about the siege to say: its a slow death to Palestinian people

I'm a father 38 years old, the effects of the blockade was comprehensive and strict. Effects on children studies, and crossings, and what to say? Presidents are those who have experience in these things more than me saying. But I live this tragedy every day. I wish from the people in the world look at Palestinians, and the workers who do not get any salaries now, and who do not work , my idea is very distinctive but not enough to support whole family, we are powerless, and underdogs .In the siege , I and my family eat one meal daily as a result to keep up with this situation , and thanks God for this idea, which was welcomed and accepted from children and their families .

This project is simple if it compared with being without work , there are more than 70% of these children are unable to pay for the games , due to the exorbitant cost of living , my tragedy is that im saving money for a week to buy sack of flour, but I have not completed the amount to buy the flour sack or the cost of living, and now we hear that the crossings will be closed permanently . if thorn in xxxx dog leg, xxx will not sleep until his dog becomes safe ,but if rocket in Palestinian child leg xxx will be very sad and will not sleep his night to think why this rocket is not in his head. and he will say Israel is very kind because of this kind rocket made in USA.

These are children????

Amal : 10 years old ( Amal means Hope)
I hope that life will become sweet some day , and the workers return to their work , I hope to go on trip to visit Gaza and the sea .
Mohammed : 12 years old
I hope the crossings open , the end of siege , live in stability and peace , and I hope this wall fall down

Fatema : 9 years old
I hope to live safely , not lose more houses, play happy and safe as we were . the wall fall down because we are bored with this life and I hope to see the Egyptian children and play with them, talk to them , we want to go out , have fun, visit Egypt and other countries .
Yassmen : 10 years old
I hope this siege ends , I hope from the people out to help the poor here who are in need .
Yahea : 9 years old
I hope to go to Jerusalem, hope we have a big zoo and playground to play in it and go to have fun there.

City without life

City without life

At alnajar hospital

1-What about electricity?

We have a generator. But there is a gap in time between the time the electricity cuts off and the generator gets started. (For the operating rooms, they showed us battery backups designed to cover this gap.) We have a new x-ray section, but it is not ready. We need more machines.

2-Do you have enough diesel fuel for the generators?

We need 19,000 liters but have only 1,500. We lost a lot of diesel fuel in a storm that collapsed one of our tanks.

The hospital director, Dr. Ahmed Abu-Nekira, arrived and continued the interview.

I have five sons and two daughters. I was in a clinic before the hospital. The hospital has 40 beds. It hopes to have 60 when the expansion is completed.

I studied in Israel, at Beer Sheba University—anesthesiology and intensive care. I worked for ten years at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. I came here to Gaza during the second intifada. I am the director, but I do not identify either with Fatah or with Hamas. About 70 doctors work in the hospital, especially in surgery and anesthesia. About 40 of those 70 are without salary. Six months ago, Ramallah asked me as director to take a salary but not work. [Fatah is trying to pressure Hamas with this work boycott.] Because I insisted on working, they won’t pay my salary. I keep working because I love work and Palestine. The salaries of five managers here also stopped six months ago. There used to be 190 people working in the hospital and getting salaries from Ramallah, but now they stay at home, don’t work, and still get their salaries. Ninety people actually work at the hospital, but as volunteers without salaries. As manager, I used to receive 5,000 shekels a month [about $1,250.00.] Even that was not enough. Now that I do not receive that salary, I depend on my second job, at a private hospital, as an anesthetist. I earn 50 shekels per patient..There have been a lot of injuries from the intifada. The closure has also affected the hospital a lot. There are many medications we don’t have; also machines. We have one intensive care unit and an emergency room, but no monitors and no ventilators. Patients die because they can’t exit to Israel. Rafah lost ten this year; Gaza strip lost 55. Ninety percent need a kidney flush. Most used to go to Egypt. This summer we have a project to create a kidney section, especially since patients can no longer leave Gaza for dialysis. We have six machines here for dialysis, all in a 5 by 4 meter room (12 by 15 feet). We have two more machines, but no place to put them. We hope to have place for them in two weeks—we are trying to move dialysis to another section. We have 50 dialysis patients, ten with positive virus. They had to go to Nasser Hospital (in Khan Younis), which is expensive.We are not asking for money; we are asking for machines. They can’t get in now. We have one CBC machine. Last night I was told that it didn’t give the white blood count. We had to stop building a wall for lack of building materials. Working here is like breaking rocks in a prison. We are looking for help just to survive, not yet to get what we really need. We suffer especially from lack of gasoline and food—especially vegetables and fruits for patients .I was the first to try to help Rachel Corrie when she was run over by the bulldozer. I also was the first for Tom Hurndall. We help everyone. It doesn’t matter where you are from.

Are you seeing malnutrition?

Yes. Especially in children. No work, no salary.

How do people survive without a salary?

UNRWA gives food. Many people eat meat only twice a year—on Eid al Fitr and Eid al Adha. Most donations are to a limited number of people. They don’t share. 90% of people are without jobs.

How long can it go on?

It started in 2005 with the elections. It got worse in 2006 when Fatah was driven out. Ask the American people—not the government. They encourage democracy, then they don’t accept the results. It’s bad for U.S. history.

My son wanted to buy shoes for the winter. He couldn’t find any. He is still wearing his summer shoes.

We are hoping to find a U.S. sister hospital.

my cover

My cover goodbye , i wil miss you .
2 weeks a go I uncovered my face. For six years, I had been wearing the niqab, the Muslim veil that hides your face, leaving just the eyes exposed. I live in Rafah city in the Gaza Strip.
When I went to the shop with my sister, the same grocery shop we go to every day after work, the assistant asked my sister, is this another sister? Where is Fida? Is she OK?
My sister said, pointing at me, Yes, she is okay and, actually, she is here. The assistant didn't believe it. Not till I spoke to him and even then he couldn't believe I had taken off the niqab.
I teach at a children's centre. My students were staring at my face in disbelief, but all of them said, It is better, teacher. And I feel better too; at least the people know to whom they talking and they can see who is talking to them. I didn't always have this kind of confidence. It was in 2001 that I started covering my face, my first year in University. I started to wear the niqab because I was really timid with strangers and I got nervous when I spoke to men. Women here are supposed to be modest when they speak to men because we have a different style of life here, but I was very shy. At college, I found myself in a mixed male/female department. It was a first for me as Id been in an all girls primary school. Some of my male classmates started to call me tomato because my face would get red when I answered questions. I don't know why! Maybe a doctor can explain why some people blush and get confused and bashful.At first, my family wouldn't accept that I was wearing a niqab. Especially my dad. He told me Id never get a good job with a veil over my face, that I wouldn't be accepted in society. My mum and sisters who don't wear the niqab said its your decision. For those who don't know what is the difference between the scarf (Hijab) and face cover (Niqab)
Hijab means a scarf to cover the hair so people can see the face of the woman they are talking to. Niqab means scarf to cover the hair plus the face so people just can see the eyes. Some women even cover their eyes with a sheer piece of cloth but they can see through. As a joke, some people here call women with niqabs ninjas. Its a term I used to laughingly apply to myself!
Once when I was working with a group of Americans, interpreting. One of them saw a group of women who covered their eyes as well as their faces and said Fida! You will not go as far as them one day? Will you?
Many people here in Palestine and abroad asked me to take off the niqab because they liked me better without it. I remember one American friend, I interpreted for him and his group when they came to Gaza . He never saw my face. He said, I work with Fida-the two-eyes. To this day, it makes me laugh.
Life in the Gaza Strip differs from city to city, even if the differences are small. For example, where I live in Rafah city, I guarantee to you that you will not see a single woman walking in the street with out a scarf covering her hair.
But in Gaza city you can see a lot of women without the scarf, the hair cover – that's because its different there, its like the country capital, you find all types in it with cover, hijab or niqab, or without. But here in Rafah , no way. All women at least cover their hair. There have been reports that since Hamas came to power more women have been forced to cover up. I haven't seen that happen.
The good thing about the niqab is it really gives the woman confidence in her contact with other people. You can talk easily to anyone. I speak from my six years of experience. The cover was good for me – it gave me a real self-assurance. I don't know how to explain it, but I felt strong and secure. With the veil I have studied , become a teacher , a reporter, a camera woman, and interpreter .
I remember a woman from Poland who visited our neighbour. I was asked in to translate. As soon she saw me, this Polish woman ran to her husband. I could tell how much she was scared. Of me. I cant tell you how bad I felt. When she heard me speaking English and realized how much I respected her, we became friends. She was in Gaza for nine months and we often had a good time together. But from that time, I realized how many people were scared of me.
Why did I stop covering my face now, not before?
Say I had gone on TV wearing my niqab, I imagine millions of people would immediately assume she must be from Hamas. They wouldn't stop to separate Fida from what she is wearing. And I fear I would not be respected“ people will believe Im a member of Hamas. And I am not. I am a Palestinian woman, and I want to tell you, face to face, I am a human being who laughs and cries.
Our people made the decision to elect Hamas to government. The world didnt accept even though they sent observers who said the elections were free and fair.
Now we are called terrorists. Its unjust .
I was scared to write this piece because I know that a lot of sick people who hate Muslims will try to use it against Islam. They will say, oh, the women are not free and they are pushed to cover their faces. But let me tell you, we do what we want and we are are more free than they think. Me, I am free, and I reckon I have a lot more respect for people than someone like Mr George Bush. Let me explain one thing I am just like you. In your culture, you accept nuns and what's the difference between Muslim women covering up and nuns veils? One hundred per cent nothing. You know why? Because you have your religions and we have our religion and if you want to talk about terrorism, as you call it, I will tell you that you created the terrorism, not the Muslims. Its the actions of the west. Come here, come and see what's happening. Unless you know what its like in Palestine , its unfair to keep calling us terrorists.
I want to be a messenger for the Palstinians if my face is covered, it might scare you off. Or you might turn the page and the only thing you will think is, She is some Hamas mouthpiece, not She is a Palestinian who is suffering. And I need you to know that. In Palestine , we are suffering. It might sound boring because we say it so often but only because it is the truth.
This is my third day with out the cover. The first day I uncovered my face, my mum said, Fida, the niqab was better for you. My sisters didn't say anything. Things seem different. I don't know why, but I feel better . I think people need to know who's they talking to. Its not easy to wear the veil and then take it off as soon as you want, no; the society will not accept it easily. But for me the most important is me, to accept myself and what I'm doing. And others are now happy to see my face.