I used to think that being blind was what allowed me to identify with members
of other minority groups. Perhaps it did. But the differences between being
blind and being a Palestinian in Israel/Palestine or being Black in America,
are just too great. We, the blind, aren't hated and reviled. Cops don't feel
endangered by blind men and shoot them. We're not incarcerated. I am, here in
my apartment building, socially isolated. But if anyone chooses to relate to me
when they see me in the lobby or the elevator, it is to offer help. It's a very
different dynamic.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Monday, June 19, 2017 11:42 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Palestinian Center for Human Rights: Gaza
There are no words for such heartless, cruel, cold behavior.
It's hard to wrap my head around what life is...or in the case of the mother,
was, like under this constant surveillance.
To a greater or lesser degree I can "feel" what it must be like to be a racial
or religious minority in America. Despite the "Free Pass" of Whiteness, I am
still a member of a small, ignored minority. While being blind has some
distinct advantages over being Black, Brown or a Muslim, we blind people are
faced with misunderstanding and ignorance, and often mean spiritness. At least
enough for us to "understand"
some of what other minorities face. But to live under constant threat of death
from a distance? To go about doing what must be done to survive? To never
know, when going to bed at night, if morning will find your house and family
still "safe"? To be bullied with no one to turn to? And worst of all, to have
no way out! Even this old blind man can dream of better days. But to have
absolutely no Light at the End of the Tunnel? To not even have a Tunnel.
We Humans are such a contradiction. We can sore, like angels, to the heights
of compassion, and turn right around and become more cruel than all of the
Demons waiting to embrace us in Hell.
Carl Jarvis
On 6/19/17, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Life under Siege: Indiscriminate killing of farmers
Date: 18/06/2017
"Our life has turned upside down since my mother's death. With her
passing, we lost the backbone of the house." Hani Salem Elomor is a
married father of
3 children and resident of El Elfokhari neighborhood, Khan Younis,
whose mother Zeina was killed by the Israeli occupation forces in 2016
when she was working on the family's farmland.
The tree was planted by Zeina's family where she was killed by the
Israeli occupation forces Zeina was solely responsible for Hani and
his six siblings and the family's income is based on the 2 dunums of
land they own and where they plant wheat, which is located in
Elfokhari neighborhood, about 350 meters from the borderline line with
Israel. Supposedly, the farmland is outside of the buffer zone
implemented by the Israeli occupation forces, stretching from the
Israeli border 300 meters into the Gaza Strip. The buffer zone is an
area prohibited to Palestinians, which is illegal under both Israeli
and international law. According to the United Nations Office for the
Coordination of Human Affairs (OCHA), the buffer zone takes up 17
percent of Gaza's total land, making up to 35 percent of available
farmland unsafe for Palestinians to use, with the areas nearest the
border fence being the most restricted. It is harshly affecting the
livelihood of tens of thousands of Gaza farmers, who rely heavily on
agriculture to provide for their families.
In addition, the Israeli occupation forces regularly enforce the
buffer zone and nearby areas with live fire, which is what Zeina
became a victim of.
In the evening of 05 May 2016, Hani received a phone call from his
brother Monzer, who informed him that their mother got wounded from a
shell by the occupation forces and that she was on her way to the Gaza
European hospital.
"I immediately rushed to the hospital and when I arrived there, I
could see my family members getting into the emergency room. I
followed them and saw my mother's dead body lying on one of the beds with her
face covered.
Unconsciously, I uncovered her face and saw the blood covering her
neck, shoulder, and right hand. The doctors informed me that she was
killed on the spot by the Israelis", Hani tells in vain.
Zeina was collecting hay on her farmland and filling it into bags to
move it to the house, when the occupation forces fired a rocket at
her, as her relatives that accompanied her tell. In the place of the
incident there were a number of other farmers working on their
farmlands. The area is very flat, the sight is obvious, and the attack
happened during day time, which is a clear evidence for the
arbitrariness of the killing. "There is an Israeli military tower east
of the land, about 350 meters away, so the occupation forces could see
with their bare eyes that my mother was a civilian, working on her
land to provide her family with an income. They shot her for no
reason", Hani emphasizes. "Ever since the end of the latest war on
Gaza, Israel allowed farmers to cultivate this zone using short crops
that do not grow higher than 80 centimeters, such as wheat and barley,
as it forbids them from establishing greenhouses or buildings there", Hani
highlights.
Enforcing the buffer zone by means of live fire constitutes a war
crime, as codified in the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Rome
Statute, prohibiting the targeting and severe injuring or killing of a
civilian or protected person. However, Israeli troops typically
enforce the buffer zone with live fire which often results in, inter
alia, the direct targeting of civilians and/or indiscriminate attacks.
Furthermore, preventing Palestinians from access to their land is a
violation of numerous provisions of international human rights law,
including the right to work, the right to the highest attainable
standard of living, and the right to the highest attainable standard
of health. Accordingly, the PCHR has filed a letter requesting the
military advocate general to open an investigation into the incident
on 30 May, 2016. A reminder was sent on 26 April, 2017 regarding the
complaint and PCHR received a response that the incident is under
treatment by the Israeli military prosecution for operational affairs.
"A year later, day by day we still go to our land and work the same
way as if our mother was still among us. The occupation forces tried
to frighten us several times, but they will not succeed and we will
never give up our land.
It belongs to us and we will not lose our sole source of income", Hani
emphasizes. "Until today, we don't know the reason why she was
killed; my mother was killed for nothing. We hope for accountability,
even though it has been a year since the incident happened and no
progress has been made in the case."
Public Document
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