A MUST READ!!
A special thank and a big shout out for all the marvelous Christians of Gaza…
We all know about the previous summer aggression on Gaza and how many Treacherous countries stood beside it, utterly and completely supporting it, financially and emotionally.. We all know also about the traumatic harrowing scenes that all saw through the media during the sudden circumstances of that brutality. And we all know as well about the very first crisis that happened with the people of the boarders, especially in the east ( Al-Shojaeya, Al-Zaitoon, Khoza`a and the boarders of Rafah) Most of those people evacuated their properties as quick as they could before facing the death. They went, with their innocence, to the schools of the UN which they sheltered in to protect their families from the madness of the enemies. And many of the refugees, especially in Al– Shojaeya and Al- Zaitoon, left their homes and suburbs and went to the churches of the Christians. Perhaps some of you would wonder and say that the writer of this piece is mad or silly in saying something all know, but the truth is that I must mention how great the people of Gaza are and let the world know who we are.
A week ago, I made a short conversation with one of the refugees, who lives in my area, about his days during the war.
-“How were you feeling when you left your home with your family?”I began the conversation,
-“Well, First of all we all have to pray to our God to bless our great precious martyrs and to pour from his glorified Mercy on them. Then we pray to God to put a quick healing on our brave injuries and to make their families patient, Ameen. When I heard the tragic bombs and when my eyes saw the flying mutilated bodies in the skies, I decided with my family to leave my dangerous home to escape from the real death. Actually, we left it and went to a UN school, but it really was not a good place to stay in especially when you have young daughters like me. The school really was so crowded as a hell. As a result, I decided to leave that school…”
-“Ohhh, so tragic, well, when did you go eventually?
-“After leaving the school, I searched and searched for another place to stay, but I failed and my feet got exhausted. Eventually and after hours, I found a church called the church of the Patriarch Provius. I did not care about it and even I was not thinking of entering it as I knew that that place just would be for praying and preaching not for staying and sheltering. My wife asked me to enter it, but I was so hesitant. I thought that the warden would refuse and reject us due to the religious goals of that church. Well, I entered it anyway after a while and then really got shocked of what I saw. There were refugees inside that church with their entire families. So I found someone not to feel alone. The owners of that church welcomed us so hardly as though we were their special guests”
-“Mashallah, and what happened then?”
-“Then they gave us a special place to stay in and six mattresses and three bottles of water. We used to get three meals per day. The basic services were really acceptable and no one of the refugees complaint about anything. The owners of that church really dealt with us as special companions even if we are Muslims. Finally I got assured about my young daughters”
-“Where the vicars and the Christians praying inside that church and where did you use to pray?”
-“Believe or not, no one from the vicars or the prayers came every Monday. They refused to pray in order to let us rest well and feel free with our stricken families. They are really generous! We as Muslims were praying inside that church and used their water to have ablution. I was really feeling that that church was like my home and even better!!”
Those are the people of Gaza. We are humans and we love each other Muslims or Christians. We are two souls dwelling to each other to hoist the fluttering flag of our Palestine.
Mohammad S Arafat (Mr. Pen)