yesterday I died 360 times

Yesterday I died!

As an old man buried in his tomb,
A fetus dead in her mother's womb

Last night I had my last drop of coffee
My last dream, my last piece of bread

Tomorrow morning I will witness my last dawn
Listen to my daughter's last heart beat
Say I love you for the first, the very last time

Last year I loved; I hated, laughed, and cried
I whispered, I screamed
I was a genius I was an insane
I was an inhabitant, I was a refugee

60 years ago I saw Haifa for the last time
Lived under occupation for the first time

I was young, I was spoiled
I loved my grand mother's stories
I cherished the summers, I hated the rain

Few hours ago I was cold
I was hungry, I was mad, I was angry
I was dead

65 years ago,
I was a fisherman I had beautiful wife
Three young girls an amazing life

One got married in Jerusalem
The other moved with her husband to Al-Fallujah
The third couldn’t resist the beauty of Tal Al-rabie'a

Last month my grand daughter
Didn’t get a permission to pass
A green ID is what she has
She wanted to visit my grave
They told me we look alike
I would have witnessed that, if I weren’t killed in that air strike

At 4pm I couldn’t believe what happened to me
I became famous on all international TVs

Few minutes ago I was invisible no one knew about me
No one heard my screams, felt my fears
No one held my freezing shaking small hand
No one told me it will be ok
Soon it will be ok
No one saw me, no one felt me
I was invisible, no one knew about me!

Few minutes later I'm on TV
Everyone talks about me
Even the CNN mentioned me!!

I was dead there under the ruble
I bet you still remember
Me with my three other sisters
Maybe now you're hanging our pictures

I even saw my father on TV
It’s the first time I see him crying
Daddy please don’t cry…Daddy please don't cry
I promise next time I will not die!

Yesterday I died!

As an old man buried in his tomb,
As fetus dead in her mother's womb

Yesterday I died 360 times!

Raya Z

Raya è una mia amica di Ramallah, ha scritto lei questo componimento.
il senso di impotenza di fronte a questa carneficina emerge da tutti i discorsi con amici palestinesi... non rimane che la nuda parola, la protesta, la possibilità di gridare fin quando almeno potremo farlo...

John Berger on Gaza

"We are now spectators of the latest - and perhaps penultimate - chapter of the 60 year old conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people. About the complexities of this tragic conflict billions of words have been pronounced, defending one side or the other.

Today, in face of the Israeli attacks on Gaza, the essential calculation, which was always covertly there, behind this conflict, has been blatantly revealed. The death of one Israeli victim justifies the killing of a hundred Palestinians. One Israeli life is worth a hundred Palestinian lives.

This is what the Israeli State and the world media more or less - with marginal questioning - mindlessly repeat. And this claim, which has accompanied and justified the longest Occupation of foreign territories in 20th C. European history, is viscerally racist. That the Jewish people should accept this, that the world should concur, that the Palestinians should submit to it - is one of history's ironic jokes. There's no laughter anywhere. We can, however, refute it, more and more vocally.

Let's do so."

John Berger

Gaza

non è possibile riuscire a seguire tutti gli avvenimenti di queste ultime ore a Gaza, non basta la conta dei morti o dei razzi lanciati o degli attacchi aerei, non basta dire chi ha cominciato, chi ha il diritto di difendersi... alla fine siamo tutti perdenti.

Ue e Onu: "Cessate il fuoco immediato" (la Repubblica)
La strage in diretta sui blog (la Repubblica)
Gaza, quasi 300 morti (la Repubblica)
Secondo giorni di raid aerei su Gaza (Corriere della Sera)
Razzi da Gaza (il manifesto)
Arab street angry over Gaza attacks (Al Jazeera English)
The war in Gaza: A vicious folly of a bankrupt government (Maan News Agency)
The neighborhood bully strikes again (Haaretz)

Haaretz journalist Amira Hass arrested for illegal stay in Gaza

Haaretz correspondent Amira Hass was detained by Sderot police last night for having entered the Gaza Strip without a permit.
By order of the army, Israeli journalists have been barred from entering Gaza since the abduction of soldier Gilad Shalit in June 2006.
Hass was stopped by soldiers at the Erez Checkpoint, on the Gaza-Israel border, as she was returning to Israel from the Strip. Upon discovering that she had no permit to be in Gaza, the soldiers transferred her to the Sderot police.
When questioned, Hass pointed out that no one had stopped her from entering the Strip, which she did for work purposes.
Chief Superintendent Shimon Nahmani, commander of the Sderot police station, said Hass had entered Gaza by sea three weeks ago.
Hass was released under restriction, and Nahmani said her case will be sent to court in the coming week.
Israel Press Council chairwoman Dalia Dorner, a former Supreme Court justice, commented that even journalists are subject to the law and the council cannot defend a reporter who breaks the law. Instead, she said, local journalists ought to petition the High Court of Justice against the army's order.

fonte Haaretz