Cathal Óg Donnelly
National Youth Committee
Óige Phoblachtach East Tyrone
From the moment you cross the border at Rafah you realise
that there is something particularly striking about Gaza. It isn’t the bombed
out shells of what used to be peoples homes and places of work that struck you
the hardest. It isn’t even the sounds of the fighter jets flying overhead, or
the Israeli gunfire in the bay preventing Palestinian fishermen from making a
living in their own waters. It isn’t the bullet holes that riddled the cities
or the mad made poverty and squalor that people were forced to live in. It
isn’t the hum of the spy drones overhead. It is the beauty of Gaza and the
children of Palestine.
Gaza has a very young population.
Over 44 percent of the population are under the age of 14. As you take a look
around you would be hard pressed to find a street that wasn’t thronged with
small children playing. The first thought that hits you is that Israel air
strikes and bombs these streets and residential areas regularly. How many of
these children die as a result of Israeli aggression? During the three week
Israeli offensive in 2008, Operation Cast Lead, the Palestinian Ministry of
health estimates that 431 children were killed as a result of the violence.
That’s roughly 20 children per day of the attacks.
We visited a small primary school that was situated next
to a three story residential building that was destroyed by an Israeli rocket
two weeks before we arrived. The children’s smiles offered the warmest greeting
one could receive. They were so happy to see us and jumped at the rare
opportunity to practice their English with Europeans. Needless to say 60
children shouting their names at you all at once can be a lot to get your head
around and if you’re not good with names you have to shape up or ship out. The
side of the school was riddled with shrapnel holes and the image of the
children smiling out at you from a balcony surrounded by bullet holes is as eye
opening an experience as one could possibly have. On leaving the school a
smiling young boy was presented to us. Two weeks before our arrival he and his
little brother were walking to school when an Israeli rocket struck killing the
boy’s small brother. The boy met us with a smile. He had skipped out ahead of
his younger brother before the rocket hit, saving his life.
In Gaza the power cuts because of the siege affect
everyone and everywhere from the streets of the refugee camps to the houses of
government ministers forcing people to use candles or other primitive forms of
lighting. A couple of days before we left three small children were burned to
death in their bedroom, they were using the candle to do their homework, after
they fell asleep the candle fell over starting the fire. We met the family of
the children in their home. We stood in the burned out room in which they had
died only two day before. As I looked at the ground where the charred remains
of their homework lay I was struck with a great sense of grief and anger. The
siege killed those beautiful little children, the Israelis might as well have
put a gun to their heads and pulled the trigger. This event is not unique; the
siege actively kills, injures and deprives people and children in particular of
their dignity.
The children in Gaza endure immense suffering every day,
being back in Ireland and seeing the kids play and laugh here, Gaza and the
problems facing its people seem worlds away. Normality toys with you as if it
was all a bad dream, but it’s one the Palestinians cannot awaken from. The
resilience of these children in the face of the hardships they live under is a
beacon of hope not only for me, but also for the Palestinian people and cause.
The smiles of the children of Palestine serve as the sign that the Palestinians
will ever truly be defeated. Bobby Sands said, “Our revenge will be the
laughter of our children”. Hopefully one day we will hear that laughter in the
streets of Al Quds in a free Palestine.
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