Gaza girl was a top person on my list for the 365 most influential people in my life even before the latest tragedies/atrocities have been committed against the people of Gaza.
My earliest memory of the Gaza Strip was a TV news program in the late 1960s. Sirens blood and screaming equaled Gaza in my little girl mind even then.
I met Gaza Girl through a Jordanian friend three and half years ago. She was one of the ‘lucky’ ones. Her parents wanted their last child to go the US for school, she wanted to be closer to home. In hindsight, they were sending her away not just for college, but to get her in a safer place. A place it doesn’t look like she will be able to return to in the near future. Home has become a war zone.
After her first year of school, Jordan wasn’t any closer to Gaza than Chicago; she couldn’t have gone home if she wanted to. She tried once, and because borders closed, missed a semester of school. She watched the deterioration of her land and people from East of the River Jordan, helpless. At the end of every semester, she was a refugee when her dorm closed. No one thought to invite her in.
It was lonely. She got the immediate sympathetic response most Gazawiyyans in receive, but it never seemed to go further than that. Instead of the happy college life she had hoped for, she was not understood. How could everyone have so much fun when the writing was on the wall for her home? When she worried about her parents’ well-being, when the hopes they had for a new Gaza were dashed by unyielding Israeli heavy-handedness. As if Israel had set them up for failure. She got tired of hearing Palestinians here rehearsing the injustice done to their grandparents in 1948…didn’t anyone want to hear how she was suffering today? They could go home to their families, she could not.
We finally wised up, inviting her in for Christmas this year. As I wrote before, I had never spent Christmas Eve watching the news reports to see which Christian families Israel allowed to ‘leave’. One family member was given permission, another was not. It seems many will not return. Gaza, one of the earliest centers of Christianity, will soon be empty of Christians. Like the lack of light due to Israeli closure of the power plant, the light of Christ in His people will be gone from Gaza, too.
Israel has not learned the lesson of the Holocaust. No one wants to forget what happened under Hitler, but it seems the same vilification of a whole people has been repeated by former victims of the same. Blood is blood, whether Jewish or Arab. It is life, and it is flowing out in death again .
Somebody, staunch the wound. Turn on the lights, import the food. Return, Israel, to the teachings of your prophet Micah: “He has shown you, oh man, what is good and what does the Lord requires of you: But to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God”. What you are doing in Gaza is SO far from justice, mercy and humility.
January 21, 2008 at 8:02 pm |
Gosh…I sdo enjoy reading your posts Kinzi ,but this one is so unlike you,so I feel I must post this to set the record straight.
I do feel sympathy for Gaza’s Christians as well…who are persecuted by Islamists in Gaza.
The manager of Gaza’s only Christian bookshop, who was abducted on Saturday by suspected Muslim extremists, was found dead yesterday. Medical officials said Rami Ayyad, 31, had been shot and stabbed. He was the father of two small children and his wife is pregnant with their third.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article3038416.ece
One hopes for a peaceful Gaza,but since Hamas took power,they and their brothers have launched thousands of rockets over the border into Israel.I guess the Palestinians want to emulate their leader Grand Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini,who was leader of the Palestinian during 1930’s,40’s who lived in Berlin during World War 2 .al Husseini was the buddy of Hitler and participated in killing Jews in Europe.After the war Palestinian Leader al Husseini was declared a war criminal wanted by European gvts for war crimes….
January 21, 2008 at 9:02 pm |
A, yes, it was a departure from my usual fare. I risked posting it. It is a very fine line I walk, the whole Palestinian/Israel issue. I support the right of each to exist in peace, which makes most people very angry. Both sides say that middle ground cannot truly be, that you can’t support both. I figure if Israel exists, God’s sovereign hand was in it no matter what nations where involved in making it happen. Yet, our churches here in Jordan are full of Palestinians who were forced out of their homes at gunpoint, or tricked into leaving.
What I am hungry for is righteousness from both. Neither do justly, love mercy, or walk humbly. I’ve been to Auschwitz several times, to Mauthausen, to the Simon Liebenthal Museum in LA. I left tears there. Here in Jordan, I know Chrsitians who have lost relatives to snipers, those who were stuck at a border and died there waiting for medical treatment, even a Christian girl who was sexually tortured by the Israeli police. I have Christian friends whose land was confiscated when they would not sell to an Israeli developer. Not that it is worse for a Christian, just to complete the picture that Christians feel just as caught as Muslims do.
I’m well aware of Rami’s loss, and the recent threat on his cousin’s life as well. Most Christian leaders left after that. I believe there will not be any Christians left there in five years. I think Gaza girl would say she feels oppressed by Israel, by Hamas by Fatah, and by the kind of Muslims who killed Rami and now force women to wear a headscarf. She doesn’t know where they came from.
A, I am sorry if I have offended or disappointed you. I didn’t know about your second paragraph, I will read up on it.
January 22, 2008 at 9:21 am |
Excellent post Kinzi. We are not happy for Hamas taking the leadership in Gaza, but group punishment is just not the answer for it. People are dying there and that is why we are raising our voices.
January 22, 2008 at 9:35 am |
Thanks, dear Observer. I tell ya, I am checking comments with fear and trepidation that someone is going to ream me over it. Thanks for affirming the harmony my voice brings to the chorus.
January 22, 2008 at 3:27 pm |
[...] Kinzi recalls a girl from Gaza, whom she believes to have been one of the most influential people in her life. In the context of recent tragedies, she says: “Israel has not learned the lesson of the Holocaust. No one wants to forget what happened under Hitler, but it seems the same vilification of a whole people has been repeated by former victims of the same. Blood is blood, whether Jewish or Arab. It is life, and it is flowing out in death again.” [...]
January 22, 2008 at 3:36 pm |
[...] Kinzi recalls a girl from Gaza, whom she believes to have been one of the most influential people in her life. In the context of recent tragedies, she says: “Israel has not learned the lesson of the Holocaust. No one wants to forget what happened under Hitler, but it seems the same vilification of a whole people has been repeated by former victims of the same. Blood is blood, whether Jewish or Arab. It is life, and it is flowing out in death again.” [...]
January 23, 2008 at 1:05 pm |
kinzi … i thought those 365 things are supposed to be limited to some word limit … maybe not but it was a nice read and u managed to side step a lot of the politics, kudos.
but then i had to read the first comment …
—- after writing a break down of how wrong that comment was i opted to delete it since its pointless, the mere idea of some trying rationalize a genocide is beyond redemption—
kinzi am only sorry that you apologized to a zionist, israel is a jewish only state …
January 23, 2008 at 2:06 pm |
Bam, heh-heh, sometimes I intend to sidestep, sometimes it just happens. Sometimes I drop the bomb and run. I’m glad you felt it worth kudos.
I’m sorry that you are sorry that I said sorry to a zionist.
How’s that for confused! You will note, I didn’t delete the post, but apologized for offense given. I don’t think “A” would say he is rationalizing a genocide. Maybe he/she will come back and address it for you.
As a former zionist, I know what arguments used to close my ears from listening to the other side. The all-or-nuthin’ argument used to close my heart to the Pali situation as well as my ears. When I saw suffering, first hand, it softened my heart.
To say Israel is a Jewish only state won’t be true until there are no Muslims or Christians there. That may be their goal and desire, but at this point, it isnt’ there. All they hear is that Palestinians want to drive them into the sea. May “A” meet some Pali’s that soften the heart. I think he/she reads some Jordanian bloggers…maybe you would be that person?
You know I am a total anomaly here. You probably hate me for being so open-minded my brain falls out. One goal is to get people to listen to each other. If if works to get just five people to listen, than I have achieved my goal.
I have to say, I can’t decide which group is pricklier – it’s like a book I read once: “Dancing With Porcupines”.
January 23, 2008 at 4:01 pm |
kinzi, i think by now you know that i don’t hate anybody that includes you … as for israel being a jewish “only” state i need to look no further than their declaration of independence which draws on the distinction between a jewish state (based on religion) and an arab state ( based on nationality or geography) it didn’t mention muslim or christian … just jewish … anyways i don’t have a problem with u but if A ever comes back it might be entertaining
January 23, 2008 at 9:07 pm |
It is actually what they claim Kinzi, not what they hear
January 23, 2008 at 9:23 pm |
Ya Bam, I know you don’t and won’t hate me
. But I must say, I have had my head bitten off by both sides when any sympathy was shown for the other, which is why I don’t often speak up.
I see what you mean about the declaration. And if A comes back, you both have to be nice as well as entertaining. And promise to learn something new from the other side.
Hamzeh, meaning they claim it is said but it isn’t? I’ve actually heard it quite often myself from Pali folk. Even here on the JO blogosphere. In fact, wasn’t it on your blog that I discovered that part of the evening prayer is asking God for the destruction of Islam’s enemies, the US and Israel? BUT, that said, I think I know what you mean, a crying wolf type of alarmism? Set me straight if I am not getting it.
(Thanks for the smiley. It helps me stay in the discussion when it gets scary
)
January 23, 2008 at 11:08 pm |
Hi Kinzi, unlike most Jordanians, my family is not of Palestinian origins, but the families of almost all my friends from both high school and college are, and I have never heard the expression “drive them [Jews or Israelis] into the sea” used by any of them. I have met Palestinian Americans who have stronger ties to Palestine than my other friends and never have I heard this expression used by them either. Whenever I have heard a Palestinian talk about the situation, they focussed on what was happening to the Arabs at the hands of the Israelis, never on the Israelis themselves or what is happening or would happen to them in the future. This theme continues throughout my experience of the Jordanian blogosphere too.
But that aside, my blog is http://www.TheScatterload.com and nowhere on it you will find someone claiming that asking God for the destruction of Islam’s enemies (or the US and Israel) is part of the evening prayers of Muslims. So no, in fact, it wasn’t on my blog, and never did I write such things on anyone else’s blog, and I am sorry if someone in the Jordanian blogosphere had written that and supported it. You can visit my blog and use the search utility to verify that, and if I am wrong, please let me know. If not, I would really appreciate it if you remove that part of your comment and this one of mine.
(Finally, some folks use smilies to giftwrap comments or remarks that were made with less than friendly motives. I hope you believe me when I say that this was not the case with my comment. I used the smiley expression because what I read made me sincerely smile at what I perceived as a minor error on a blog that has made it to my Firefox Sage plugin list.)
January 24, 2008 at 8:14 am |
Hamzeh, my apologies for not searching before I posted, nor considering your feelings about being lumped in with a line of thought so not yours. It was definitely NOT you, it was Hamzeh Masoud who is now in Saudi, and some of his commenters. It was a sad day for me. (And the irony of it hit me as I saw Gazans fleeing to Egypt. Another example of people being driven out)
I remember visiting your blog before, and did again just now to get a feel for your track of thought. I looked over your link list and agree it was not any of those bloggers. Which is one of the reasons I read them all as well!
It could be a generational thing, as I have heard this line of thought from my peers and those older than me (I’m pushing 50).
I totally believe you about smileys
. I don’t use them for giftwrap or sarcasm, as to me it would be a perversion of their intent.
Hamezh, i hate to even admit I am so tech-less, what is a Firefox Sage Plug In List? It sounds like an honor, heh-heh, just wanted to make sure!
January 24, 2008 at 5:43 pm |
Sage is an RSS feed reader for Firefox.
http://sage.mozdev.org/
And the honor is all mine