Live for Gaza.

Ch.0: No Place To Go.

SHEIKH JARRAH

A neighbourhood in Israel's occupied East Jerusalem. According to the UN 

"The City of Jerusalem shall be established as a corpus separatum under a special international regime and shall be administered by the United Nations." Resolution 181 (II). Future government of Palestine

Meaning that here, International Law applies, and not Israeli law. This means that any court rulings by the Israeli state are null and void. 

The neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, however, despite international law, has seen more than 60 Palestinians expelled from Sheikh Jarrah since 2008 by Israeli settler organisations. A movement aided and abetted by Israeli court rulings, which are not recognised under international law. 

AL-AQSA

The third holiest site in Islam. The sanctity and importance of Al-Aqsa in Islam is such that Muslims are all encouraged to make a pilgrimage there at least once in their lifetime and it was the first place we prayed facing towards before it was changed to the Kaabah. Just to set the scene, in a normal mosque, shoes are not allowed inside. We are not allowed to talk in loud voices and phones must be put on silent. This is the sanctity and reverence that we regard normal mosques with. Imagine Al-Aqsa. 

To get a sense of how painful it was for Muslims all over the world, imagine that the Vatican was bombed on Easter. Now, imagine that pain compounded with the physical pain of  Palestinian Muslims who had actually been praying in Al-Aqsa. 

Moreover, Al-Aqsa is also in Jerusalem and therefore...

(a) Subject only to the requirements of public order and morals, the inhabitants of the City shall be ensured the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of conscience, religion and worship, language, education, speech and press, assembly and association, and petition. Resolution 181 (II). Future government of Palestine

So keep that in mind when you are reading this. 

Ch.0: No Place To Go.

The day melts into the afternoon and your growling belly rejoices. Only four more hours, you think. Four more hours until dates and water. Four more hours until you can sit at the dining table with your family, listen to a joke, tell one in turn. You consider taking a nap. Or maybe reading a little. Some homework is waiting for you upstairs. You should get started on it, but your energy is so low. There is so much that you can do.

What should you do now? You hum to yourself.

Then a strange man enters the yard. He wears a white T-shirt. Your mother goes outside to meet him. You don't know why he's here, but outside, your mother starts screaming.

Mother never screams.

But she's screaming now. As if reasoning with an unfeeling mountain. With an immovable wall.

You creep closer towards the commotion. The voices quarrel louder. An icy chain has taken over your heart. It spreads cold tendrils to your limbs, making them shake.

'You are stealing my house!' Mother shouts. The icy chain becomes an icy boulder. It hits something deep inside you. Stealing your house? Who is? Why? You sink to the floor. The world becomes a ringing, voiceless pit.

Where will you live, now? You whisper to yourself.

Does the strange man go away? Will he ever come back? You don't know. But Mother looks stressed. Deep lines are etched onto her face. She drags her feet as she walks back inside. Her eyes hold a story. A story that has never ended well.