Tag: West Bank

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In the Face of the Unthinkable

Yesterday on Democracy Now! Emily Henochowicz was interviewed. Which for personal reasons, yesterday marked the 14th anniversary of my accident, was rather symbolic. For those unaware, Emily is a “twenty-one-year-old American art student who lost her eye [while in the West Bank] in May after being shot in the face by an Israeli tear gas canister at a protest against Israel’s attack on the Gaza flotilla.”

Now it isn’t my intent to get drawn in to arguments about what happened, I’ll refrain from comment, this time. Rather I’d most like to comment on the aspects of her story for which we share a connection, seeing what August 5th represents for me every year. Having the unthinkable occur and being forced to live the rest of a life with the result. I can, most definitely, relate.

And empathize…

Continue reading In the Face of the Unthinkable

What Else Could I Possibly Add?

In this short life, an existence we’ll only ever know, we’re hopelessly stuck in this perpetual downward spiral, rife with fear, paranoia, suspicion, pain, and sadness. But every so often, much less often than is so desperately needed, I’ll stumble upon a story that will, at least for a little while, restore my hope for humanity. First some context;

“Mysterious bomb blasts, assassinations by masked gunmen, detainees denied access to their lawyers, torture and death in detention, the random arrest of critical journalists, and the banning of peaceful demonstrations are but a few of the human rights violations sweeping the Occupied Palestinian Territories…” 1

Yet despite that;

“Thousands of children smash the previous world record [for ‘kite-flying’] at event in Gaza Strip…” 2

What else could I possibly add?

Continue reading What Else Could I Possibly Add?