We
visited the community recreation center for children and saw 30 little boys
practicing tae kwon do. The facilities for the large number of children in
the camp seemed very limited. The center also has a dozen computers to teach
them computer theory. They are not hooked up to the Internet, because they
can’t pay for ongoing fees. Israeli soldiers had previously broken
into the center, busting out windows and doors and smashing the TV, our hosts
said. They arrested a number of the boys and held them for five days. Israeli
army officials have
called the facility a terrorist breeding ground.
Walls in the camp are covered with graffiti. Some of the street art pleads for
the end of the Israeli occupation, while some of it honors Palestinians who have
been killed, either by the Israelis or in suicide attacks. I didn’t see
the hopelessness that I expected. People are still trying to keep things nice
and to be pleasant to strangers.
Adventure in Gaza
The Center of Preventive Security building, which was adjacent to our hotel,
had been bombed by the Israelis the night before we arrived in Gaza. Israeli
tanks also shot up cars and an ambulance that had been sitting in front of our
hotel. The second night there we were awakened at 1 a.m. and told that the Israeli
army had started moving their tanks into the area. We were taken to a nearby
hospital that was less likely to be shelled by the Israeli army.
A bomb or shell blasts woke me up at midnight the following day. We had been
told to have all of our bags packed in case we had to leave quickly. The Red
Crescent was keeping track of the danger level and was prepared to move us out
if tanks moved into the area. There was some fear that if more bombs were dropped
on the building next door it could cause the walls in our hotel to collapse.
We waited in the lobby for an hour before people could return to their rooms.
I had called my wife and assured her I was safe. But shells were pounding the
area as we talked at 12:05 a.m. The Israeli army’s targets are hard to
predict, but they normally make only one attack per night. Once the Palestinians
and visiting foreigners determine that the Israelis were committed elsewhere,
they went back to bed.
Husain, our team leader, did a live TV program on Palestinian TV at 2 a.m. one
day, fielding questions from around the world. The following night, Bauer and
I did the hour-long program. The interviewer had good questions, but when he
opened the phones, callers didn’t have questions. They mostly wanted to
convince us what a terrible situation they are in as an occupied territory -
the constant killings, the bombing of buildings and the settlements being built
on what they see as their territory. It was apparent they felt forgotten by the
rest of the world.
The callers pointed out that the Israelis have tanks, F-16s and Apache helicopters.
Palestinians we talked to said they feel that all they have is their blood. One
man who called had to stop to see how close the tanks were before he called back
later to continue his complaints about the situation.
The show is very popular here and is sent by satellite around the world. Bauer
and I had a caller from the United States and one from Britain. When I got back
to bed I was awakened several times by the sound of machine-gun fire. For some
reason I didn’t have trouble falling back to sleep.
