Saturday, January 27, 2007
'Gaza...Cast Away in the Abyss': Laila El Haddad
Sane and acutely insightful commentary on an insane and seemingly inexplicable (to those of us on the outside) tragedy from Laila El Haddad in Gaza City. Here is just an excerpt. Read Laila's commentary, Hamas, One Year On, in its entirety at Raising Yousuf, Unplugged: diary of a Palestinian Mother:
Order no matter how corrupt or ruthless or artificial it may be, is for the most part predictable and safe. And now it is disorder that is being intentionally fuelled in Gaza's dusty streets. It is more than a mere power struggle. It is a fight for both political legitimacy and the pen that will write history. Who will continue the national historical narrative of the Palestinian struggle? And then there's that other story: the one about a people forgotten in all of this. Who will relay their narrative?The strawberry farmer who has no harvest to look forward to this year; the hospital-bound grandfather who went blind waiting to leave Gaza; the child who has stopped asking when the borders will re-open, and when he finally can return home.
Order no matter how corrupt or ruthless or artificial it may be, is for the most part predictable and safe. And now it is disorder that is being intentionally fuelled in Gaza's dusty streets. It is more than a mere power struggle. It is a fight for both political legitimacy and the pen that will write history. Who will continue the national historical narrative of the Palestinian struggle? And then there's that other story: the one about a people forgotten in all of this. Who will relay their narrative?The strawberry farmer who has no harvest to look forward to this year; the hospital-bound grandfather who went blind waiting to leave Gaza; the child who has stopped asking when the borders will re-open, and when he finally can return home.
