Category Archives: International

The Harsh Conditions of Palestinian Prisoners from Bahaa Mohammad Abuwarda, Gaza

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ScanThe bitter current situation that our heroic prisoners face inside the dark and enigmatic Israeli jails is one of the most important issues which every leader, follower, child, student, scientist, worker, farmer should work for. Not only the Palestinian people are the ones who are responsible for fighting against the Israeli military forces for freeing the prisoners, but also it is the liability of all the Arab countries for standing next to Palestinians and supporting them financially and emotionally, encouraging them to be patient in order to encounter their enemies and free their home and land from the filthy hands of the Jewish. For this, I am not going to fold my arms in front of the agonies and hardships that our jailers expose to inside seclusion cells and prisons, that are far away from the orange eye of the sun, and sit at the end of the caravan.Since I am having one of the sharpest weapons which is the English language, I am expected to start my new simple journey in writing reports and articles by which I can deliver the message of our prisoners to every corner of the world. Depriving the Palestinian prisoner of seeing his parents, wife, children and friends, sitting with them, sharing them their happiness and sadness and also depriving the prisoner of hugging his little boys in a particular way can be considered one of the most heinous crimes that prisoners suffer from at the present time. Of course, it is a trouble that leaves psychological problems inside prisoner’ssouls and their relatives as well. What sins and what faults did small children and aged people do to be deprived of seeing their fathers and sons? This question is left for you, READER. It is quite clear that the Israeli authorities impose revengeful, unjustifiable and inhuman punishments against wide strip of people which require unity to be removed. Under the title of “Suffering of Deprivation and Hope to Meeting”, the international organization of human friends released a report in which it showed the problems and difficulties which prisoners’ families and detainees go through when visiting their sons in jails and how this problemincreases from oneminute to another as a result of the aggressive and strict procedures taken by military forces in the sacrileges of international laws and traditions. In addition, the report shed some light on the hard conditions and barriers that Zionists write on the panel for visitors and families to read before visiting their prisoners. The next paragraphs show some of these difficulties.

The journey of suffering

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The report showed prisoners’ families go from dawn at three o’clock and return back their homes before midnight in most cases. Even though the distance between the jail and their homes doesn’texceed more than one hour or two, the period of visiting is forty five minutes or less than that, depending on pragmatic cases. Throughout investigating times, visiting is not allowed. This temporal period expands to seventy days in some cases. The report added that after visitors being delivered by coaches to meet their detainees and throughout the journey of suffering and torture, they must pass and in big numbers lots of military hindrances. After a long time of waiting , changing buses, inspection and bothering by the army, they might be given the permission to visit their prisoners. Such elements changed the process of visiting into a real tragic disaster. What prompts attention most and increases the beats of hearts is that sometimes the administration of jails says to some families: ” Your son is not here. We don’t have this name in the list.” They aim at shocking the families. The report added that a pile of Zionist procedures that taken against prisoners and their relatives resulted in complicating and stopping the process of visiting in most cases. The number of prisoner is approximately 9000 ones. It means that, at least, nine thousands of families are deprived of communicating and sitting with their sons in addition to their friends, uncles, aunts, teachers, grandfathers, grandmothers, etc.

The curses and insults

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The administration of jails, in addition to inspection and what mentioned before, forces prisoners and their families to take their clothes off before and after visiting in the middle of a stream of curses, insults, offenses and bad words directed to them.The meeting between prisoners and their families doesn’t start as soon as entering the hall of jail. Instead, they have to row after an insulting iron window and a glassy wall to start talking. Every one should cry as loudly as he or she can to hear each other. This is because of the two insulators and the too many voices that talk to each other during those few minutes. Each of the families and their prisoners try to concentrate on each others lips in order to translate what is said. Sometimes they use microphones to hear each other. Moreover and according to the report, one of the conditions of the occupation authorities is that families should have a permission by the International Red Cross from its security apparatus before visiting their jailers.According to the Zionists security authorities, brothers who are more than thirteen years old are not allowed to visit their relatives at all for security reasons. In every visit, the number of members who are allowed to visit their prisoners don’t exceed two.

The incorporeal weakening of prisoners

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These measures, according to the report, shape a ring in the policy of the Zionist occupation authority that taken against the rights of prisoners in general. This can be cleared in the picture if the prisoner becomes ill of the methods of torture and subjugation. From the first moment of arresting and hurling him in the jail until he becomes free, the image of weakening him can be presented by the unhealthy care taken against him, the rooms that are crowded with people, the unfair verdicts that are taken against him, the process of tormenting that he exposes to, the courts which legislate hostile, unfriendly and antagonistic laws versus him, and the tragic circumstances that he lives in.It is difficult for this article to include all what prisoners confront inside jails which assures that the main reason beyond jailing prisoners is to weakening and destroying them physically, mentally and emotionally. At last, we should collaborate our efforts for removing their sufferance, deprivation and divestment and achieving their hope to return back to their families as well.

THE LAST MOMENTS–

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From Mohammad Arafat, Gaza

It was a dark frightening night full of black big bats and ugly owls. The atmosphere was really quiet except the fluttering of the wings of the bats and the hoot of the owls. Under a high tree, there was a small house with a couple was living in it. At the door, there was a wife was wiping her husband`s tears of his sad eyes and he was wiping hers as well. She asked him while the tears were falling hardly from her tired eyes” Will you come back to us?” He nodded his head and said sadly” I don`t know, but if I don`t come back, you have to bring up this son”, pointing his finger at the child in his mother`s womb. Then he put his hands on her blown belly asking the little baby to take care of his mother. After a long conversation with the baby, he carried up his gun and put on his military uniform and the Palestinian scarf too. He fastened the boots and became ready to start his journey towards the unknown future. Her tears fell down to the earth before the husband blocked the wells of her tears with his rough fingers and cheered her up by telling her “I love you darling”. Then he kissed her right hand and her forehead. He hugged her along hug and she did that to him too. He stepped towards his first moments of his journey looking at her sad small face that was coiled with a brown veil that he gifted her in the first day of their marriage. He went and his face still looking at her smiling mouth waving his right hand while the left one was busy carrying the gun and finally he said” Good bye darling. See you on Paradise”

No show by Vanunu after an invitation from 68 British MPs

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We learned from Jeremy Corbyn that 68 Members of the 2 Houses of Parliament had signed the letter of invitation to Vanunu. This was a notable increase, although Khalid Mahmood who had assured me he supported, had not signed, nor Gisela Stuart, who said she would consider it. Jeremy said he would make sure they did next time. I did not identify any MPs there other than Jeremy, who himself had to leave for a while, apart from a brief appearance by Baroness Jenny Tonge. Hopefully that would not be the case if VM was there himself!

After an introduction by Jeremy, Avigdore Feldman spoke of the 30 years he had represented VM after being brought by force to Israel. He said that the Israelis did not want to kidnap him in England. It was in his view the most horrific human rights abuse to a single person with the intent of punishing him until the end of his life. He mentioned the effect of the 11+ years of detention in solitary confinement on VM’s mental health and the main restrictions he continues to face including not being allowed to speak with anyone who is not an Israeli citizen. Very difficult where he lives in East Jerusalem. He has now approached the court 10 times but they still claim he has some terrible secret. He denies he has any as he knew the situation 30 years ago.

A book on Israeli armaments 1948-2011 doesn’t mention Vanunu in its 500 pages. He is a “non-being” and nuclear weapons are not an issue in Israel. How many have been developed since? why does Israel go on lying that they don’t have nuclear weapons while Vanunu is charged with revealing them? The Government is continuing to lie to the people living with an air of unreality, yet since the beginning o f the development of nuclear weapons in Israel in 1965 some 2-3,000 people worked on it but maintain a “stupid solidarity”. He is pessimistic about VM’s future. He remains in solitary isolation. He was a whistleblower before there was any support for such people and he acted on his own initiative.

This was followed by a clip from the BBC film made by Christopher Mitchell where VM speak of his sacrifice of freedom and life for this case. This was in response to the Chernobyl disaster. The Sunday Times seriously debated publishing its article in 1986 by VM is glad that it did and feels that his mission was accomplished. When he was released from prison in April 2004 he spoke to the press in English, breaching the conditions imposed on him. He maintained the price was worth it.

Peter Hounam, a journalist based in Scotland, had spoken the evening before at the Front Line Club. He felt that it would have been difficult to protect VM even if he hadn’t been taken to Rome. He did the right thing because highly destructive fusion weapons were being developed. The press hardly ever cover it. Israel worked with South Africa on highly sophisticated delivery systems. Each had the same type of weapon. South Africa launched its weapons from a base in the Cape into the South Atlantic. There was close collaboration with South Africa providing fissile materials and Israel technical expertise. (Israel launched medium range missiles onto the Med.) Israel now has 6 submarines which can fire Cruise Missiles, 5 of which given free by the German Government as part of reparations for WW2. They were not supposed to be used for nuclear purposes but equipped so they could. More. They can reach any part of the world. If, as is being claimed, these Israeli weapons are being deployed as part of NATO then this implies massive collusion with Israel’s cover up of their very existence. If we are still wondering why governments and media remain silent while VM goes to jail for warning of danger to humanity we know that all are implicated. We need to think more realistically why countries are not are not speaking out or helping VM.

The Sunday Times should be asked what it is doing to help VM. There was a small piece last Sunday and there will probably be something this weekend. The British Government has been silent on Vanunu’s abduction and has an obligation to see him returned to Britain.

Nancy Walters from Amnesty International said they had been taking the matter seriously for decades and referred to the late Alex York. She asked us to go to the website where there is a petition to get the ban on travel for VM lifted. There is a need to push the UK Government to tell Israel of their Human Rights commitments and violation of Civil Treaties.

In discussion I pointed out that there were two Face Book Causes: Free Mordechai Vanunu with over 5000 supporters and Tell Nuclear Truths (TNT) with over 20,000. Surely these should be taken into account in any campaign. I said that I had come along on behalf of Eileen Fleming who has been leading campaigns and written extensively in books and articles, some recently published in the Arab Daily News.

Concern was expressed over Germany’s actions and it was urged that questions should be asked. Was this recent? Evidently it was about 5 months ago. There had been a political row in Germany which resulted in a fatality.

Jeremy Corbyn referred to future opportunities to raise issues in the wider context of meetings on restricting nuclear weapons. UN 2015 – last month there had been a failure of NPT to convene a weapon free conference. All have said that they are in favour of it. 142 states are supporting a conference in Vienna in December on the Humantarian effects of nuclear arms.

One speaker felt the International Trades Union movement should give support and that VM’s fate was tied up with that of Palestinians. Avigdor Feldman said that he had not previously been in favour of associating the two issues but as things are now so bad he had altered his mind.

As for VM himself. He had made a decision not to speak to Israeli journalists. It was felt that here were some among them who do support him. It is understood that he is stubborn, but that is what has carried him through this ordeal.

Avigdor Feldman was asked to take our love and support to VM and we were asked to send him e-mails, requesting that he doesn’t reply in contravention of the conditions inposed on him.

Corporate Greed Protected

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As MacDonald workers demonstrate peacefully for a fair wage in Illinois they come under attack by the very forces supposed to protect them in exercising their rights. Governments choose to protect Corporations and their ever growing demands for profit rather than the people on who they depend on delivering their services. Wages and conditions of service are sacrificed to this end.

Monsanto had become a name symbolising the predatory nature of the corporate beast and today people across the globe are taking them on. Governments respond not by supporting the people, those who elected them democratically through the ballot box, but by drafting increasingly draconian laws to protect their paymasters. Thus curbs on the Internet and freedom of speech are being proposed.

Diverting our attention. Instead of targeting foreigners aim at corporate interest

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Another mining disaster with huge loss of life in Turkey concentrates the mind (or should concentrate the mind) on maintaining safety standards. As we well know from long and bitter experience it is likely to be the first thing that goes when private hands take over our industries and services. The low pay and shocking conditions described by Dickens is back with a vengeance. Instead of railing at the corporate interest that recreates and maintains servitude politicians of all major parties are paralysed with fear that the corporate lobbyists will withdraw the largesse and favours they like to bestow on the political elite. Don’t blame them, blame the foreigner as responsible for the countries ills. UKIP and the right thrive on it and the others trip over themselves to outdo thmm to create a climate of racism and xenophobia.

The history of opposition to the current power group all but vanishes as the corporate media represents its own and other corporate interest exclusively. However stories emerge that give a different picture. Seumas Milne reminds us of the emerging information correcting common views of the miners’ actions which shows not only the importance of the struggle but the lengths taken to close down any debate through misinformation and downright lies. In most cases it is just ignored as programmes like the BBC’s supposedly impartial question time goes out of its way to ignore the likes of Bob Crow and Arthur Scargill, but goes out of its way to drag in Nigel Farrage. It seems to justify this by selecting those who demonstrate the larger political interest, not stopping to think that it has been instrumental in creating the celebrity status of the so-called “fruit cake”.

It is not only the right that opposes European dictat from Brussels but lack of media oxygen does not allow the message of the left to be heard. It is to do with class, unions and targetting corporate interest as the problem creating crisis after crisis. Far from solving the problem it is recreated in ever more alarming form with ever increasing debt bubbles. Those with the control of huge financial resources look after themselves and their friends, including politicians of all the major parties using resources of the state (ie our money paid in taxes nationally and locally) to implement their disastrous projects. People don’t matter as greed overtakes need and the most vulnerable are discarded without a thought.

Gaza Diary. From Mohammad Arafat

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Mohammad wrote: “My weekly article A Picture of Life in Living in Gaza has many different pictures and scenes. It has tragic sad pictures and happy ones. No one can doubt that many Shakespearean tragedies happen in Gaza. Torturing is still torturing, killing is still killing, besieging is still besieging and bombing is still bombing, but that cannot prevent us from speaking about the beauty of Gaza. Away from talking about political speech and the traps of it and the bad things that it results, I want to mention and to speak about the beautiful side of the young Gaza, so I made a debate with my heart leaving my mind a side. We began to look at and to flip all the pictures of this city, the sad and the happy, and the good and the bad until we found a beautiful picture that portrays the beautiful simple life and the atmosphere of this Holy city. We finally agreed to write about that picture to show the fabulous sweet side of Gaza. We chose that picture which can let readers fly and swim in the core of imagination that they will never get bored of. Gaza is a city located 19 miles north of Egypt. It’s considered as the only way that links Asia with Africa. Many ancient traders talk about the profits of this city and the importance of its place. It has a long golden shore with a beautiful glittering sea called the Mediterranean Sea. This sea has an old seaport called (Mina’ Ghaza). Many tourists and visitors come to this city to enjoy its fabulous beautiful places like the Al-Emary Al-kabeer Mosque in Sheja’eia lane, barqouq castle in Khanyounis, Al-Basha castle museum in the middle of Gaza and especially the seaport in the west of Gaza. The simple life of Gazan people is accepted although there are many wars and clashes can interrupt their life and their children’s. They live as others as nothing threat them because they know their fate so they have no fear. When Gazans wake up every day at dawn after hearing the caller of the Al-Fajr prayer and having ablution, they go to the mosque asking God to pour from his mercy on them and their families and to give them the appropriate livelihood they wish. The atmosphere at dawn freshens prayers’ spirits and minds. The fresh breeze expels the sad atmosphere in Gaza lanes and replaces it with a happy one. Purity of prayers lightens the dark street that the power abandoned. In the morning and after an hour from dawn, the white pure Gazan moon disappears saying good bye to the orange young sun after shaking his hands and hugging him. The sun lightens the dark silent innocent homes and shelters of poors asking them to begin their lively day. It appears and welcomes the energetic proud workers that go to their work and the hopeful little pupils that go to their schools to begin a lovely day of working and studying. The sun lightens the nests of the cute tiny birds pulling them to fly out their nests and to begin a concert full of twitting and chirping and to start a trip full of happiness and vital work. Children of those birds wake up after a long journey of sleeping and dreaming of the breakfast ,that they will have, under their mothers’ smooth light bodies. The mothers fly under the fading sun of the morning after awaking their children looking for some worms and grains for the breakfast on the brown fertilized lands and among the old long trees of olive, orange, and lemon. They look for their targeted food among the Gazan farmers who wipe the sweat from their heads by their tired hands and among the rusty axes that the farmers use for plowing the lands. After filling their stomachs with live worms and fresh seeds, the mothers go back to their nests safely hopefully that the food is enough for their entire families. In the afternoon and when the trees have no shades, the fading sun turns into firing ball that warms the pure glancing Mediterranean Sea water forcing the swarms of fish to wake up and to travel happily towards the golden wet beach of Gaza for the fishers to fish. The fishers begin their fishing by the name of God so he offers them the flaring fish that they and their families dream of. Before the sun gets exhausted and tired and before he prepares his luggage to travel, he watches the workers who go back to their homes finding their children waiting for their hugs and kisses. He then waves his hands to them saying ,see you tomorrow. In the twilight, the sky turns into red and the sun becomes so tired so he disappears asking the moon to appear dancing under the sparkles of the stars and lighting the dark homes and lanes in the clear night in order to let the innocent Gazans sleep and dream as they want and as they wish. This is a simple life of Gaza Done by: Mohammad Arafat 8th of may 2014”

Gaza perspective on Mothers’ Day. From Mohammad Arafat

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HAPPY MOTHER DAY FROM THE CHILDREN WHO LOST THEIR MOTHERS….
This gift is for those mothers who died in all over the world….
To My Non-existent Mother
I don`t know how long you have been died. I don`t remember or even I don`t want to try to remember that. My brain forces me to think about you and my heart also does. I`m living without those brain and heart. They are apart from me. I don`t want to think about your death. I just want to let my little mouth speak about your humanness with me and my brothers and sisters, but I don`t think I can keep my sorrow inside my heart without telling it to you during these lines.
Mum, I missed your voice that used to call my name in every morning before going to school with my little brother. I was always going to school, but now I`m not. I don`t need the school because I`m looking for a job to feed my sisters and brothers that you left. I missed the tea you used to make for me. I loved the tea so much as the heart loves the Oxygen. But now, I forced myself not to love it and not even to think of it. Mum, I missed your everyday kiss. You used to kiss me every day while waiting the bus of the school. Do you remember that? I think you missed that too. Mum, I need your face that was always emerging and smiling at me whenever I enter the home after going back from the school. I missed your stories that you were narrating to me before sleeping every day. I missed your voice and your small mouth that was speaking to me. I missed the times that I used to see you in when you were praying in the midnight. Mum, I know you were praying for me and for my family. Mum, I missed the days that I was sick in. You were not sleeping. You used to force yourself to stay with me in every night I was sick in. Mum, I cannot complete. I really want to stop talking about those fabulous things. My soul missed all of those things and missed the founder of them.
Mum, I cannot form words to tell you my story after your death. I`m so depressed and down. Many gave me help. Many took after me. Many sympathized me, but actually no one of them could replace your humanness and love with me and my family. All my words are frozen between my throat and my tongue. I don`t have hands to melt those words. I don`t have brain to do something for them. I`m just a dead body with a soul without senses after you left. The only thing that can melt those words is your returning to me. I know you have gone without returning, but I know I will travel to you to Paradise soon.
Mum, I don`t know where to begin. I don`t know how to begin. I don`t know how to speak and how to form words, but I will try. I don`t know what will happen to my sisters and brothers that you left. I know what happened to my dad. I want to tell you what happened to him, but I`m afraid I hurt you. But I will tell you his story. Mum, my dad has passed away after two months of your death. He got a clot in his brain that drove him to paralysis. I with my brothers and sisters could not help him. We could not know what he needed and what we had to do for him because we are still babies and we don`t understand the life well. After two days of his paralyzing, he passed away. No one helped us in burying him. We begged for help from many, but they were just deaf. So, we did our best to drive him to the grave yard. We found a cart in the street. We carried our dad on it and went to the grave yard. We just put him beside an empty tomb without burying him. We asked God to look after him then. My mum, sorry for making you sad about my dad`s story, but that is the truth.
Mum, if you were here with us, we would never see what happened to us. Ahhh my mum, no one feels what we felt. No one sees what we saw. No one can tolerate what we tolerated. Every child in this life has a mum and a dad except me. I cannot deny that many children lost their parents, but I`m sure that what happened to me did not happen to anyone. I`m the only one who lives without a mother.
Mum, I`m still nine years old and I`m the eldest between my brothers and sisters. My responsibilities began to be increased for my brothers and sisters after your and my dad`s death.
Mum, I don`t want to increase my and your sorrow. What I said is enough. I don`t want to remember what happened to you and my dad. I just wrote you this letter to congratulate you in this holy day, the mother day.
Happy mother day to you my non-existent mother.
This is a gift for the non-existent mothers who died during the wars in Palestine, Syria, Egypt and in all over the world.
Done by: Mohammad Arafat

Gaza without Cement!! Until When??

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(By our correspondent of Gaza Mohammad Arafat)

While walking in Gaza streets and lanes towards my university in the west, I saw something not familiar. I looked around myself here and there. I looked at the houses and I found many houses are constructed partially. I saw the stanchions that support the unconstructed ceilings that have no concrete to be built with were still as they were. I realized that Gaza lacks something is very important for it and its people. I looked at the entrance of a building there and found that there is a guard was guarding it called Abu-Osama who was sitting on two stones that he made like a chair to sit on. He was boiling unsweetened coffee in a small kettle. I came closer to him and said” Hello Abu-Osama”.

He replied and said” Hello Mr. Mohammad, you are so welcome”. I had a seat also of two stones beside him. Then he rushed and brought an empty cup for me to fill it with the coffee after it was boiled. I shared him drinking coffee and we began our chatting about the current situations of Gaza and its problems. I told him that my heart is sad about the scenes of the unconstructed homes and I did not go to university because of that. I asked him that I want to know about cement crisis and about what`s going on and why the houses are not constructed. I asked him to explain to me about this problem.

He began his speech while drinking coffee while I was listening to him calmly.” I was as a guard for many buildings before thins one here in Gaza. I was guarding them until their residents came and live in them. Eight months ago, the owner of this building asked me to be the guard of his building until the builders finishing building it completely. I agreed and began my work. Everything was going alright. One month passed and the Egyptian government blocked the tunnels that the Gazans invented between Gaza and the Egyptian lands. We waited just for less than one month before the Israeli government allowed us to import cement from our occupied lands. But luckily, it just stayed for two weeks and then they stopped exporting the cement for us because of some flimsy reasons. So, as you see now, this home stopped its constructing after the builders finished the basis and the columns of it from that time.”

The guard stopped speaking and nodded his head sadly and then I realized that his mouth had tons and tons of speech he had to pour on my ears. I finished my cup of coffee and then thanked him before he welcomed me again. I was about to leave the building, but the contractor of the building came and asked me to have the same seat again after he introduced himself to me. His name was Abu-Mohammad. He knew that I was doing an appointment with
Abu-Osama about the cement crisis, so he asked me to listen to his story and to try to show the world what`s going on for the contractors and builders of Gaza.

He began his story” I`m the contractor of this building and another one in the east. I had more than twenty workers who were working and enjoying at the same time. They just worked for three years after the tunnels inventing, so all of them are without work right now. Every one of them is sitting with his children and wife. Everyone has approximately six or more children. If we say 20 beat 6, the result will be 120, so there are 120 people are without sources now from the people I know. As I know, in Gaza there are 60000 workers who were working as builders who are without work and sources now. If we say that every one of those workers has about six organs in his family, that means 60000 beat 6 will give us 360000 Gazans are without sources now. This number is just of the people who were getting money from the building work. It`s an unbelievable number. I myself have a big family. I have four sons and four daughters. Three of them go to universities and another three are in Schools. I have two babies who need care and of course this care needs money and even a lot of money, but I say Alhamdulillah, I`m better than others.”

Abu Mohammad began to beg me after finishing his story to transfer his letter to the world and to tell them the truth and to let them know how much the people of Gaza suffer. He asked me to let the world feel what Gazans feel, so I promised him to show others his story hopefully someone can do something for the people of Gaza. I asked him and the guard Abu-Osama to be patient and to think positively not to be pessimistic.

So will the world, especially Egypt, answer the cries of Gaza and its workers? Will the leaders open their eyes and have a look on Gaza and its people? Will they think of the babies and the children of Gaza who are suffering of the slow death? Will they ask and even force the countries that are besieging Gaza to open the ports and to allow us to get the cement easily?

Notice: My father is one of those builders who have big families…..

Done by Mohammad Arafat

Al-Yarmouk Camp is Calling You. From Mohammad Arafat

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I don`t write this article because Al-Yarmouk camp in Palestinian. I don`t write this article because it`s an Arab camp inside an Arab country, but I write it because the humanity wants me and every pure pen to hoist the flag of humanity in the sky of the silent world to show others what`s going on in Al-Yarmouk camp and its people in Syria
I don`t want to speak about who is creating the crisis in this camp. I don`t want to speak about who is responsible for that. I just want to speak about the problems and how the Palestinian refugees suffer and being tortured.
There were many things in my mind about this camp two weeks ago to speak about. I told my mind not to say anything in order not to increase the Palestinian wounds. My mind began to moan and told me that the scenes that inside him are so heavy and he cannot carry them alone. He told me he will explode unless I don`t say what he has. He begged me more than three times and finally I agreed and began my article with: What`s going on in Al-Yarmouk camp? What`s happening with its Palestinian people? Are they really hungry and thirsty? What are they eating and drinking?
Al-Yarmouk camp is a Palestinian camp that established by the UNRWA since 1957 .It is a 2.11 square kilometers of Syrian lands. It`s the biggest camp in Syria for the Palestinian refugees. This camp is full of narrow streets and small homes with big families. Many poor Syrians are living in it beside their Palestinian refugees.
In 2011 and during the Syrian crisis, this camp was a shelter for many Syrian families after they lost their homes in Syrian cities, villages and lanes.
I was watching T.V here in Gaza moving from a news channel to another looking for something new to write about. I watched Al-Jazera news channel and got some news that Al-Yarmouk camp is being besieged. I told to myself that this camp has been being besieged since two years from the beginning of the Syrian crisis, so I did not consider those things. I continued watching news and then moved to a Palestinian news Channel was talking about the same thing about Al-Yarmouk camp. I told to myself that there must be something new in the Palestinian camp in Syria. I moved from a channel to another many times and found the same thing too. The media was just talking about the Al-Yarmouk camp and the starving waves that occupied it .As I was listing to that, I got shocked and felt some hot tears dropping from my eyes and then I asked myself” Is that really happening those days? Can that really happen?”
I saw what no one saw. I saw tragic sad clips full of horrible scenes about the Palestinians there. I saw what my heart believed and what my mind didn`t. I saw three little cute children were looking for something to eat in a trash container. They found some old pieces of paper and began to eat them gluttony as if they eat something delicious. I saw an innocent tolerated mother was cooking water with stones in a big cooker on fire for her two sons and daughter waiting for someone to come and get her real food. I saw four grownups were eating the leaves of trees and one of them was saying” We cannot even find the green leaves”.
I saw something unbelievable that I cannot mention, but I will mention it in order to let others know the truth. I saw some men were slaughtering a cat preparing it for boiling and then eating as if they slaughter a sheep or a big cow. Then one of them said” This camp is empty of cats. We cannot find them any more”.
A friend of mine told me something I could not believe at all. He told me that many Palestinian refugees began to burn their homes completely. I asked him why and he answered sadly” They are burning their homes because they are despair of life. They lost their wishes in this life. They lost the solidarity of their Arab and non Arab countries in this world”. During his speech, my eyes were full of tears and my they turned into red.
Why are the Palestinians suffering everywhere and anytime? What is happening? Why are others silent? Why are others still putting their fingers in their ears in order not to hear the Palestinian refugees` moaning? Why are others still closing their eyes in order not to see what`s going on there? Why are others still folding their arms with glue waiting for nothing? Why are others saying that those scenes are just kinds of nonsense?
THE PALESTINIAN REFUGESS IN AL-YARMOUK CAMP ARE SUFFEIRNG TO DEATH AND WE ARE STILL SILENT. UNTIL WHEN? THEY ARE WAITING FOR US TO SPEAK UP AND TO SAY” IN SOLIDARITY WITH AL-YARMOUK CAMP”.
IN SOLIDARITY WITH AL-YARMOUK CAMP……
Done by Mohammad S. Arafat
12:15 pm
12/ 1/ 2014


Heads they win, tails we lose

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Politics today is discredited for very good reasons. Once politicians get into office they are immediately bombarded with offers from lobbyists as soon as they walk through the door of our “democratic” parliament. Directorships are on offer for them and their families. so whose tune will they dance to then? Not yours and mine, but those of the big powerful corporations that have a handle on all parties in Westminster. Very few resist. George Monbiot likens them to glove puppets on the right and left hand.

With privatisation of everything our national wealth, gained from the efforts of all of us, are handed out to the few for profit, win or lose, effective or poor service – most usually the latter. So while we froze or nearly drowned this Christmas when the lights went out for many the very companies hiking their charges failed us but still ended up with largesse paying the Chief Executive millions. Why? If ever there was an argument for re-nationalisation of our utilities this must be it.

The Independent “exclusive” cited above began by being a main headline, although the editor placed the story of a celeb., Michael Schumacher’s skiing accident above. Both were then replaced by the news of a mile-long train blowing up in Dakota in the USA. Another illustration of how people and safety are relegated in the bid for never ending wealth but only for the few. The question is begged that while it is reported there were no injuries, will the people escape the clouds of toxic gases released!?

Over in the Guardian, Polly Toynbee is also reminding us about “useless” politicians and their spectacular breaking of promises they made to get elected. It’s our fault that we put them there and then let them off the hook she says.

As for the New Year we learn that G4S, a spectacular failure in 2013, is to have its contracts extended in the prison service in spite of declarations to the contrary, and the small problem of the outstanding fraud investigation into G4S and Serco. We need to know which of our politicians have personal interests in them and their ilk.

Companies charged with organising Government “services” like G4S, Servo and ATOS are allowed oversight of the poor and the vulnerable. It takes us back centuries and archaic views of how this group, as defined by the powerful, require management. The companies are typically huge operating internationally. Typically they will be operating offshore and minimising their tax commitments. The view that it is the economically inactive – including the elderly – who are the drain on society is overturned. It is these wealthy organisations, cosseted by governments and politicians, that are the true parasites

2014 is high time for a fundamental rethink of priorities.