Dear Israelis,
We live a couple of miles from each other, yet I’m aware of the fact that I, along with the 1.8 million Palestinians in Gaza, sound like aliens to you. And no, you are not the one to blame for this. The thick walls and the Erez checkpoint totally isolate us not only from the territory your government is controlling but also from the West Bank, which is, apparently, under Palestinian control.
I am writing this letter to tell you that, unlike you, we know exactly what’s happening to you there. To tell you that we know that you live under pressure because of the Palestinian rockets being fired from Gaza toward the cities where you live, especially in the south. I am writing to tell you that I’m sorry you have to run to your shelters every time you hear sirens, I’m sorry you have to spend hours in shelters. I’m sorry you are traumatized by the idea that you might lose one of your children or loved ones. I’m sorry some of you had to flee to where you came from originally because of how dangerous the area is becoming. I’m sorry that your government is trying its best to protect your lives and that your very young army members are going to Gaza borders to defend your rights.
But wait, have you ever thought of the people on the other side? Now I’m sorry to tell you that when I compare how your life under fire is to ours, I feel that there is no justice in life. I wonder if you know that in Gaza, drones never stop circling the skies above our heads. If you knew how it feels to have this nonstop noisy, stressful sound 24/7; if you knew what it means to be in standby mode for an explosion around you at any moment, simply because there are no warning sirens here – there is a warning shot only, and you are not always lucky to be warned by a shot, sometimes you are directly targeted! If you knew that the standby mode means nothing but closing your ears as you have no shelter to hide in, and even if you start thinking of digging a shelter for your children, it’s going to be useless as an F16 rocket can go hundreds of meters underground.
I’m sorry it might bother to tell you that in such a terrifying time like this, you are not even allowed to think of leaving the country to any other place, because the two borders in the north and south are totally closed to Gaza residents unless they have a second nationality other than the Palestinian one.
Do you know how it feels to know that your life is worth nothing only because you are Palestinian? Do you know that even if you are injured in one of the attacks you will barely be able to leave the strip for treatment? Most importantly, do you know that even if the borders are open you won’t find a place to go back to because simply, you are originally from Palestine, and not a new immigrant like most of you.
Also, I’m sorry to tell you that there is no great country like the United States supporting our army like in your case, as we have no army in the first place! Sorry to tell you that the Israeli spokespersons always attack Islamic countries who are thought to provide armed wings in Gaza with weapons, as if having weapons is only legal for Israel, as if the right of defense is for Israel only.
Besides all this, you have to know that violence is not the only horrible thing people here are facing, the thousands of people here have been living under a restricted siege for more than seven years. They suffer a blackout crisis, the highest rate of unemployment in the world and a very restricted access of movement in and out of Gaza.
I wish you could understand things exactly as they are, not as most of the biased Israeli and international media outlets are trying to portray. I wish you could understand that innocent civilians are being killed here every single day. People who got their houses bombed while they were sleeping inside.
You might say you have the same thing there. I would tell you that your government is the one to blame. Israel has waged two wars before on Gaza, and nothing has changed – the rockets from Gaza weren’t stopped. Why? Because you cannot occupy someone’s land, besiege people and wait them to die there slowly, arrest their people without trial, build settlements everywhere and then wait for people to stay silent and surrender! But the sad truth is that yes, you can, only if you are something that’s called Israel.
Stay safe.
Yours, a resident of Gaza.
