PLANK NOVEMBER 20, 2012
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In the small, ramshackle house of the Abu Awwad family in the Shati refugee camp, the furniture has been shuffled and dismantled. The three bedrooms have been emptied of bed frames, sofas and tables, replaced by heaps of mattresses on the floors. The home where nine people once lived, now shelters twenty. Whenever Hamas fires a rocket, three generations of Abu Awwads huddle in nervous anticipation of an Israeli response.
The influx into the Abu Awwad household came as family members fled the Israeli bombardment and shelling in other, more dangerous parts of Gaza. There is one question in the back of everyone’s mind: Is it happening again?
In December 2008, Israel launched Operation Cast Lead, a three-week assault of Gaza in response to Hamas rocket fire. Israel targeted police stations, weapons caches, political offices and militants. In January 2009, ground troops moved in. Throughout the conflict, 1500 people were killed, mostly civilians. Now, as diplomats in Cairo continue to push for a ceasefire of hostilities between Hamas and Israel, the ordinary citizens of the besieged enclave worry about the future—including the threatened Israeli ground invasion.
In the past week of fighting, at least 110 Palestinians (the death toll continued to mount throughout the evening) and three Israelis have been killed. The booms of shelling and thunder of airstrikes throughout the day and night has cast an eerie sense of déjà vu across the enclave. The buzzing of drones is so loud at times it feels they have penetrated your skull.
“There’s no safe place in Gaza,” says Fatmah Abu Awwad, who came to her brother’s house from the Twam area north of Gaza City with her husband and two children on Friday, when they realized it was only going to get worse. “But because you’re with your family you feel better. If someone destroys my house, at least here I know someone will look for me.”
Now, the middle-aged English teacher spends the nights laying awake and worrying about the family’s future. It’s like the feeling she had four years ago—she doesn’t know where the next strike will hit and she’s not sure if she’ll see the morning.
When I ask her son Tayeb, a shy nine-year-old with inquisitive eyes, how he’s doing, he can only tell me one thing: “I’m so scared.”
Fatmah knows Tayeb is anxious. “Now that he is older, he is very afraid,” she tells me. “It’s not like the first war, when he didn’t understand what was going on. Now, at night, he is shaking all night and sweating, like he has a bad fever. I thought it was tonsillitis at first, but now I realize it’s just that he’s very afraid.”
Sabha, Tayeb’s grandmother, has also moved into the house from Twam. The airstrikes in the first days of fighting outside the elderly woman’s home shattered her windows and broke the doors. Sitting on the floor of the family sitting room, her eyes a cool liquid blue from cataracts, she says she’s not going back until everything calms down, but can’t really make any guesses on when that might be.
The wounds from the last war are still fresh in this family: Sabha’s sister, Nama’a, lost her 18-year-old son during Operation Cast Lead when a rocket hit their house. “Israel should pay the price,” she says, her face wrinkled with grief. “I don’t support Hamas, but I believe Hamas is right because they are defending innocent people. Israel should experience the feeling of death.”
It’s a sentiment I hear elsewhere in Gaza City: Israeli strikes pushing Palestinians back into the arms of a group whose based was thought to be shrinking. Though Hamas enjoyed a brief period of popularity after they won elections, alleged corruption, high taxes, strong-armed rule and strict interpretation of Islam cost them supporters. In Gaza, even those who vehemently support Fatah, Hamas’ more moderate rival that controls the West Bank, have jumped to defend Hamas’s handling of the current conflict. On Friday in Ramallah, at a protest and show of support for Gaza, Hamas supporters overwhelmed Fatah participants.
The Abu Awwad family, like others in Gaza, has become adroit at identifying the sound of incoming attacks—F16s, bombs, shells—as well as those of outgoing rockets. This is not the first time they’ve heard them, and it’s not the first time they’ve huddled together to brace for possible impact.
Tayeb’s sister, Sajada remembers the last war well. That time the family stayed with friends in a different part of Gaza City. “The last was more dangerous, because of the ground invasion, but both are scary,” the 14-year-old says matter-of-factly.
She tells me the Abu Awwads were the last family to evacuate Twam. “My friends all left earlier than me,” she says.
“In both wars!” Tayeb chimes in. The plump adolescent, still growing into her frame, smiles at her brother.
But at night, fitful sleep tell a different story. The drones buzz overhead and the echoes of shelling ripple off the waterfront. As diplomats and politicians work in Cairo for a ceasefire, shelling on the beachfront has intensified in the evening darkness. The extended Abu Awwad family waits in the house, together, to see the results.
29 comments
It's horrific, but the blame lies with Hamas. And with the civilians who provide support. Note that "Whenever Hamas fires a rocket..." is followed by "...three generations of Abu Awwads huddle in nervous anticipation of an Israel response." You would think at this point that "Whenever Hamas fires a rocket..." would be followed by "...Palestinian civilians storm out by the hundreds to hunt down and make sure the Hamas antagonists are drawn and quartered." But I suppose that would require an overwhelming majority of Palestinians in Gaza to truly want peace, and to value the lives of their children more than their desire to see the death of Israelis.
- Tristan
November 20, 2012 at 2:36pm
I agree with Tristan. One question: would we have seen this article on this site under Marty?
- rlgordonma
November 20, 2012 at 3:13pm
A victory over Hamas will be a victory for liberalism over religious authoritarianism. If Hamas loses t will lose face among other Muslim fanatics. We need to look at this war long term and in he long run if Israel is allowed to take out Hamas Arab liberals (of which there are many) will also be the winner and not just Israel. With such an outcome Israelis will be more likely to compromise for peace.
- arnon1
November 20, 2012 at 3:20pm
How about the Israelis that have received over 12,500 rockets in the last four years according to the State Department. Defending fanatic terrorists like Hamas is a travesty, but business as usual for islamo fascists and their allies, the ultra left wingers. Martin Peretz is an honest individual. Enemies of Israel can not stand him. Fuck them. "I Do Not Say That All Muslims Are Terrorists, But I Have Noticed That An Alarmingly High Proportion Of Terrorists Are Muslim" Martin Peretz November 17, 2009 | 5:07 pm 154 comments
- JAIMECHUCH
November 20, 2012 at 4:03pm
rigordonma is an asshole.
- JAIMECHUCH
November 20, 2012 at 4:05pm
Tristan, do you really think that's how people work? If I were being attacked by a foreign power, there's no way I'd be turning on my own government. I'd want revenge on whoever the hell was bombing me and killing my family. That's called human nature, and that's why this latest bombardment is going to get Israel nowhere. I'm not saying Israel has no right to defend itself, but if Cast Lead didn't change anything, what will? Rigordonna, I'm glad Marty's no longer here--there's nothing wrong with reading a very personal story about one Palestinian family's suffering. You can be pro-Israel and have still some rochmones for the Palestinians. Arnon, Hamas will no doubt lose this round, in that they'll probably stop shelling Israel. But that's as far as it will go.
- MOLLYSIMON
November 20, 2012 at 4:22pm
I think there is very little profit as Gazans see it in protesting the Hamas approach. Either people are worried about being seen as a traitor to the cause or they are genuinely inclined after years of blockade to say fuck it, someone should stick it to the Israelis. It may not be especially rational, but it's the way people respond. Although Israel would argue that it's moderating the blockade and that it has prevented more arms getting through to Hamas, it's very likely that the continuation of this policy is simply creating ever more hostility and bitterness in Gaza, strengthening Hamas's grip, and severely damaging Israel's credibility elsewhere in the world, even among supporters. It looks like Israel is punishing Gaza for their vote in 2006, even to this day.
- ironyroad
November 20, 2012 at 4:33pm
."I'm not saying Israel has no right to defend itself, " But you are saying that defending itself is futile. "but if Cast Lead didn't change anything, what will?" Israel did learn a thing or two from Cast Lead. Israel needs to drive Hamas from Gaza the way they drove the PLO from Lebanon. Actually the chances for peace for Israelis and Arabs will be greater now if Israel manages to take out Hamas. I don't buy the notion that Hamas and Gaza are on anymore than I bought the notion that Communism and Russians were one. All tyrannical regimes like to believe that they and the people they oppress are one: remember Saddam, or Qaddafi. Till recently people thought that Assad and Syria were one except for some fanatic Muslims. IN this case I Hamas is defeated the liberal voices in the Arab world will have a better chance of being heard.
- arnon1
November 20, 2012 at 4:59pm
ironyroad "I think there is very little profit as Gazans see it in protesting the Hamas approach. Either people are worried about being seen as a traitor to the cause or they are genuinely inclined after years of blockade to say fuck it, someone should stick it to the Israelis." As things stand now, I agree, but if the Gazans see that there is a chance of a life without Hamas many more of them will welcome that than we think. They may not like Jews, but that doesn't mean that they love Hamas. Like all people under the yoke of tyranny they "suffer what they must." But they probably don't like it.
- arnon1
November 20, 2012 at 5:03pm
We need to give liberalism in Gaza a chance.
- arnon1
November 20, 2012 at 5:03pm
Make concessions to these people: http://edition.cnn.com/video/?%2Fvideo%2Fworld%2F2012%2F11%2F20%2Fseg-gaza-collaborator.cnn#/video/world/2012/11/20/seg-gaza-collaborator.cnn http://www.algemeiner.com/2012/11/18/shocking-evidence-indicates-child-whose-death-was-blamed-on-israel-was-actually-killed-by-hamas-rocket-video/
- Noga
November 20, 2012 at 5:48pm
http://www.algemeiner.com/2012/11/18/shocking-evidence-indicates-child-whose-death-was-blamed-on-israel-was-actually-killed-by-hamas-rocket-video/
- Noga
November 20, 2012 at 5:49pm
Jaimechuch: ouch! Really, I'm a pretty nice guy once you get to know me, Mollysimon: I agree. I am a stronger, more effective Zionist for absorbing stories like this.
- rlgordonma
November 20, 2012 at 7:11pm
These videos don't surprise me. Professor Landes has been writing about these for many years, now: http://www.theaugeanstables.com/ and here "Humiliating Slip in Hamas’ Cannibalistic Cognitive War Strategy: Haniyah and Kandil Kiss Baby Hamas Killed" http://www.theaugeanstables.com/2012/11/19/humiliating-slip-in-hamas-cannibalistic-cognitive-war-strategy-haniyah-and-kandil-kiss-baby-hamas-killed/ "
- arnon1
November 20, 2012 at 7:46pm
btw: I don't take Molly Simon seriously: She just passes on the latest views she picks up among the in crowd in Hollywood. She is a creature of the crowd.
- arnon1
November 20, 2012 at 7:48pm
MollySimon: "Rigordonna, I'm glad Marty's no longer here--there's nothing wrong with reading a very personal story about one Palestinian family's suffering. You can be pro-Israel and have still some rochmones for the Palestinians." So patronizing. So willfully blind to Middle East realities. How does she know what Peretz would have permitted? The Israelis takes no delight in this risky and dangerous expedition. Most would rather be at home or work or school, pursuing a normal life. The Arabs cannot celebrate death and rue the consequences.
- amidut
November 20, 2012 at 7:51pm
How is acknowledging that it's more terrifying to be in Gaza than Israel right now being blind to middle East realities, amidut?
- MOLLYSIMON
November 20, 2012 at 7:57pm
Peretz kept the magazine going for forty years. Its' not clear to me how much longer this magazine will survive. "How is acknowledging that it's more terrifying to be in Gaza than Israel right now being blind to middle East realities, amidut?" How do you know that it's more terrifying to be in Gaza than in Sderot or other areas in Israel adjacent to Gaza? http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/gaza-rocket-hits-home-in-sderot-causes-damage-to-property-1.461899 This from today "After seven days of hostilities that have killed over 130 Palestinians and five Israelis, two of these on Tuesday, both sides are looking for more than a return to the sporadic calm that has prevailed across the blockaded enclave since Israel ended a much bloodier air and ground offensive four years ago." http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/21/us-palestinians-israel-hamas-idUSBRE8AD0WP20121121 Was it more terrifying to be in Gaza for the Israelis killed today? Part of the terror in Gaza comes from Hamas firing at Israelis. Often their missiles fall short and kill Gazans. Then Hamas blames Israel. The media accepts the Hamas version because they are afraid to speak the truth. This happened in every conflict in the region, I Iraq, in Libya, in Egypt. Molly Brown doesn't know what she is talking about. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/howard-barbanel/live-and-let-die-the-ghou_b_2167669.html
- arnon1
November 20, 2012 at 8:19pm
Arwa Damon, on CNN, has repeated a few times how there are no air raids sirens or shelters in Gaza. It is repeated so as to invoke more pity towards the Palestinians. But somehow, for all that she gets to talk to Hamas leaders and get information from them, she somehow never got around to asking them: Why? Why aren't there air raid sirens and shelters in Gaza? Is this, too, Israel's fault? 4 years after Defensive Shield, and they have not gotten around to build shelters and install sirens? Money to buy Grads and rockets and material for producing thousands of qassams they had, but nothing was found to provide greater safety to their population?
- Noga
November 20, 2012 at 8:35pm
If the Civil War had been televised in the 1860's the slaves would never had been freed. The moment a southern baby was shown dead on TV there would be calls for a cease fire and slavery would go on in the South as it had for hundreds of years. The aim of the Gaza conflict shouldn't just be the cessation of firing (a temporary truce) bu the establishment of civil non authoritarian regime there. Arab liberals also need a chance to develop a democratic culture.
- arnon1
November 20, 2012 at 8:46pm
"The Strange Obsession With Proportional Body Counts" By Jeffrey Goldberg http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/11/the-strange-obsession-with-proportional-body-counts/265472/
- arnon1
November 20, 2012 at 8:52pm
Ironyroad: " ... after years of blockade to say fuck it, someone should stick it to the Israelis." http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/10-injured-in-blast-on-tel-aviv-bus/article5517144/ "The bombing happened on the eighth day of an Israeli offensive against the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and threatened to complicate Egyptian-led efforts to secure a ceasefire. Celebratory gunfire rang out in Gaza City when local radio stations reported news of the Tel Aviv explosion."
- Noga
November 21, 2012 at 6:18am
HAMAS military wing twit, sticking it to the Israelis." "Oh, Zionists You have to drag yourselves out of hell, go back home now, go back to Garmany, Poland, Russia, America and anywhere else. #Gaza"
- Noga
November 21, 2012 at 8:11am
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2012/11/why-israels-action-gaza-not-disproportionate "Nonetheless, the charge of ‘disproportionality’ is fundamentally misguided for three reasons. First, in comparison to Operation Cast Lead in 2008-9, what is striking about the current military action is precisely how limited the civilian casualties have been. As of this morning, the Israeli Defence Force has conducted over 1,500 targeted strikes against the weapons caches and the command and control facilities of armed groups; on the rocket launching sites, the tunnels through which they are smuggled, and the terrorists who fire them – all deliberately hidden in built-up civilian areas. These 1,500 strikes have caused around 130 deaths and a significant number of those are terrorists. Of course, each civilian death is appalling. But the ratio tells a story: of scrupulous intelligence gathering, of the intensive use by the IDF of early-warning by leaflet and text message, and of a willingness to abort missions that would cause civilian deaths. Second, in international law and just war theory, proportionality is not the same thing as symmetry. Princeton’s Michael Walzer, author of the seminal Just and Unjust Wars, put it like this: Proportionality doesn't mean "tit for tat," as in the family feud. The Hatfields kill three McCoys, so the McCoys must kill three Hatfields. More than three, and they are breaking the rules of the feud, where proportionality means symmetry. The use of the term is different with regard to war, because war isn't an act of retribution; it isn't a backward-looking activity, and the law of even-Steven doesn't apply. Like it or not, war is always purposive in character; it has a goal, an end-in-view."
- Noga
November 21, 2012 at 12:28pm
As noted, people are often pushed into identifying with their own (or some version of their side) even if, in more rational circumstances, they would resist the push because they would be skeptical of that identification.
- ironyroad
November 21, 2012 at 1:35pm
How we do delude ourselves ...
- Noga
November 21, 2012 at 3:12pm
Can someone explain why titles of articles keep changing? Is it some kind of a ruse to get us to click again on a link thinking it is a new article and finding it is the same old one we have already read and extracted most of its usefulness for us? This article started off as "There is no safe place in Gaza" and then yesterday became "A Gaza Family's Deja Vu ".
- Noga
November 21, 2012 at 3:47pm
tnr.com joined the rush to find someone suffering in Gaza, here is The New Yorker's offering http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/11/sounds-of-the-bombing-in-gaza-city.html with an interesting comment thread. May the sound of buzzing drones continue over Gaza until Hamas is an historical footnote in the bloody annals of the failures of imperialistic and intolerant "Political Islam".
- K2K
November 21, 2012 at 4:16pm
Hamas has fired over 12,500 missiles against Israeli civilians in the last four years according to the State Department. You bet, Hamas should be destroyed. Is up to the Gazans to get rid of these criminal fanatics.
- JAIMECHUCH
November 21, 2012 at 4:52pm