Sunday,the 5th of November 2006 was one of the worst days ever. I’ve been deeply depressed last night, I’ve never been depressed this way since the year 2001. Very cold rainy night. Cloudy morning, it’s probably one of the coldest days of the year in Irbid city. I just went to university, without talking to anybody. My mind was paralyzed, as well as my body. I was like a dead blue body, giving a yellow smile to anybody that bother saying good morning.
I was thinking about the curse of being a Palestinian. Usually people at our age are depressed due to breaking up with their girl friends or because they didn’t get the latest fancy iPod. But being a Palestinian, means that you should always be stressed, watching the news, wishing that one day you will be able to see your cousins that have been thrown in the Israeli jails for the next 500 yrs for no reason or wondering about how could it be if your x relative is still alive.
You can’t meet any Palestinian family that haven’t lost one or two of its children. Not to mention living in the possibility of hearing that your uncle got shot because was buying bread.
What really hit me last night is the post of my dear friend Sharifo (Click Here for Sharifo’s post in Arabic) who worte about his friend that got shot in Gaza in the recent brutal, coward, immoral, scandalous, hopeless attack against Gaza. For god sake, more than 40 56 people got killed, more than 250 wounded, many children and women got shot for no reason! worse yet, It doesn’t seem to end anysoon, and this attack is approved by the fucked up super powers.
Sharifo’s friend, Hamza Al-Attar has been shamelessly shot by a coward terrorist Israeli soldier, he is in comma right now. Hamza is journalist works for a local news agency. Yes, a young journalist who has been in business for two months only. As Sharifo described him, he is a young, ambitious guy who works hard to make his dreams come true. But this is obviously a crime. It’s a crime to be journalist and let the world know the truth. It’s a crime to have dreams and to be Palestinian. It’s a crime to be a human being and live in Gaza. It’s a big a crime. It’s a crime to be Palestinian and live decently.
This unfortunate crime reminded me of people I’ve lost years ago, and I know how this situation feels, being shocked and numb. You’re extremely sad, but you shouldn’t let your enemy see you sad, you shouldn’t let your enemy know that his plans are affecting you. All that your enemy should see is strength, faith, and endless tolerance. Tears are forbidden, and sadness is something should be depicted by a smile. You should be the source of hope for everybody else even if you need hope more than anything else.
For Sharifo, I wouldn’t say much. I know this guy through blogs only, but I could sense his “Palestinianness”, and hence he will be the one who give everybody support even when he’s the one who need it the most.
=== Update : Video of Journalist Hamza getting shot, uploaded by Sharifo ===
=== Update ===
Sharifo said that Hamza woke up from his comma, but has serious damages in his lungs, please pray for him, and the other 250 victims at the hospitals of Gaza!