Is this War? What is wrong with this world?

Aid worker diary: Part five

Hatem Shurrab is an aid worker in Gaza with the British-based charity Islamic Relief Worldwide. In the fifth instalment of his diary, he says the humanitarian situation in Gaza is becoming increasingly desperate. GAZA: 1 January I could barely sleep last night due to the continuous explosions - they seem to be hitting every part of the Gaza Strip. Despite the dangers, Islamic Relief is increasing its humanitarian work - we have no choice. This morning we delivered four trucks of food to the main Shifa hospital. Even as we were delivering the food, newly injured people were arriving at the hospital. I wonder if the doctors are having any rest at all - it seems the wounded just keep on coming with no pause.  It's the new year, but for Gazans it feels like 2008 never ended  The food aid included flour, rice, beans, tinned meat and fish. Islamic Relief also provided hospital stores with four large trucks filled with food supplies. It was desperately needed. The supplies are enough for the Gaza Strip hospitals for more than a month. Since the bombing started six days ago, people are becoming more and more desperate. I've met families who are resorting to boiling weeds that they've dug out from the ground in order to feed their families. People are queuing up to an hour to get bread rations. The long queues are dangerous - bombs could fall at any time and being out in the open is the worst place to be. The weather is getting colder and this is another danger for Gazans. Islamic Relief has already distributed blankets. We distributed 400 today to the injured at Shifa hospital to take home with them. Vulnerable children Due to the density of people in Gaza, homes are built very close to government buildings so when bombs are dropped, homes are damaged too. Many people are living without windows or doors, shattered by the force of the bombs. People are worried about the structures of their homes as walls have caved in. Some people are trying to replace the broken glass with nylon. But nylon, like most things in Gaza, is in short supply and not many people can afford to buy it. The children are hungry, tired, scared and cold Most people do not have gas, and electricity is limited. There are long periods of time when Gaza has no electricity. People are trying to keep themselves warm by using extra blankets. Many people have started to burn wood to cook food - it also helps to keep them warm. Others are burning paper from exercise books to cook tea on. As usual, it is the vulnerable who suffer the most, and it's the children I fear for - they are hungry, tired, scared and cold. It is not easy to blank out the sounds of screaming F-16s or bombs being dropped for an adult, but more so for children. As aid workers, we know we are taking big risks leaving our homes in the morning and going to work but we have no choice as we can't stand by and watch our people suffering, and so we keep going. The Islamic Relief staff are trying their best to do what they can. They are Gazans like the rest of the people and we all feel scared. But at the same time we know that if we do not go out and help our fellow Gazans then who will? It's the new year, but for Gazans it feels like 2008 never ended. GAZA: 31 December People around the world will be about to celebrate the new year - not here in Gaza. This is usually a time when people make new plans and have high hopes for the coming year. At the moment the people in Gaza are just hoping they will be alive tomorrow. Food is beginning to become a major issue. Only two weeks ago the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) suspended the distribution of food in Gaza because of shortages. We pray there is some respite from the constant bombing - this will allow desperately needed aid to get in. The crisis in Gaza seems to tick every box to make it a major humanitarian disaster; hunger, killing, insecurity and poverty. What makes the food situation even worse is that Gazans were already facing difficulties with food over the last year - now they are on the brink. Gaza residents are facing serious shortages of basic necessities Eighty per cent of Gaza's 1.5 million population depends on international humanitarian assistance; that is an incredible amount of people in such a small area of land. The level of poverty is spiralling out of control. When we go out and assess what is needed you can see that the people are beyond despair. Food provided by Islamic Relief, the UN and other agencies is beginning to run out in people's homes. The heads of households are despairing at the thought of how to feed their children. Every family has a story of suffering. They will tell you about the shortage of food, of cooking gas and fuel, and of course electricity. People have to queue for an hour to get bread. At the moment only a quarter of the bakeries are operating due to a shortage in gas and electricity. There are 47 bakeries in Gaza. However, 27 of them have not been operating for some time now and the rest are unable to open every day. There is only enough flour in Gaza to last two weeks unless more supplies are brought in. As an aid worker I have seen poverty deepening in Gaza since the blockade began 18 months ago. This year has been one of the worst years I can remember in terms of the desperation people are feeling - not knowing if there will be enough food in the markets, if there will be electricity or fuel. Over the past 12 months Islamic Relief has delivered food assistance to 40,000 families, in addition to supplying vast amounts of medical equipment, hygiene kits and kitchen tools to half a million people. At the moment Islamic Relief is able to source food from suppliers here in Gaza. In a few days we will begin emergency food distribution. 2008 was a bitter year for Gazans - it looks like 2009 will be the same. GAZA: 30 December On Saturday, Gazan schoolchildren were supposed to be sitting their exams - schools should have been full. This is exam time but instead of sitting at their desks children hide in their homes. The intensity of the bombing is affecting me - but I'm a grown man so what about the children? I can see how my nephews and nieces are being affected. Tala, my youngest niece, is only five years old. When she hears explosions she rushes to her mother - both are terrified. A lot of the time, parents try telling their children that the bombing is the sound of thunder, but Gazan children are not ordinary children - they know a bombing when they hear it. More than 60 civilians have died in the Israeli strikes, the UN says The panic caused by the strikes and the shelling from the sky and the sea has an immense impact on the psychology of Gazan children. Islamic Relief has been running a project in Gaza for a number of years trying to help children to deal with psychological trauma. The programme has taken many steps forward, however the current bombing means we will have to start all over again. Sadly, I feel the need for counselling will be greater. The security situation is getting worse. My colleagues and I make sure we walk to our office - going by car is far too dangerous. We phone the office as soon as we step out of our houses. Then along the way we phone the office about four times at specific points - we do this so they know we are safe. Once we get to the office we ring our families to tell them we have made it safely. This is what life in Gaza is like these days. Even a simple walk to work could be life threatening. This is why most of the shops and businesses are closed. The safest place to be - if there is one - is indoors. But as humanitarian workers we have to be out in the community, our job is to help people. We are now communicating with suppliers outside the Gaza Strip. We are trying to prepare for what lies ahead in the coming days. We do not know if the bombing will stop or if it will get worse - but we have to be prepared and, unfortunately, that means preparing for the worst. GAZA: 28 December We are working round the clock now to try and get as much medical aid to the hospitals. As the bombing continues, the hospitals are reaching breaking point. We are doing our best to source the aid needed from local suppliers and our existing stocks. We have enough at the moment but the way things are going we need to start getting aid in from outside Gaza as stocks will be running out very soon. The hospitals were already low on supplies before this crisis - they can barely cope now. The urgent need for Gazans will soon be food distribution Yesterday we delivered five trucks of aid to the ministry of health in Gaza - they then distributed this to five hospitals. The hospitals seem to be the focus of the aid effort at the moment. We just met the UN and other aid agencies to help co-ordinate the aid effort and make sure there is no duplication. I can't bear to think what will happen if the bombing continues. There are not enough beds in the hospitals and they are severely short of equipment, including x-ray machines. But as we go out and asses the damage, we can see other needs. There is a shortage of food and flour and people are rushing to the bakeries but there's not enough bread. I can't imagine the fuel lasting much longer. Due to the bombings, people are staying in their homes - they are too frightened to venture out. Aid workers are not exempt - the fact that nobody knows when the next bomb will fall makes our job very dangerous. The shops are closed and so getting food is not easy. Trying to live in electricity blackouts is difficult - so working becomes that much harder. Soon we will be distributing food as this is going to be an urgent need in the coming days if the bombing doesn't stop. That's our plan but we are now working to make sure we can source what is needed. Every day is bringing fresh challenges and we have to find ways of dealing with them. The lack of supplies in hospitals, the food shortage and of course the fear that stalks the streets - I only hope and pray that tomorrow is different. GAZA: 27 December I was coming home after visiting a friend at 1130 on Saturday, when I heard the horrific sound of three huge explosions. Then a series of explosions rocked Gaza City. I live in the centre near a number of police buildings which were targeted first. As I rushed home, I saw the main Gaza police station had been destroyed. Suddenly, another missile hit it again and, along with dozens of people nearby, I ran away. When I got home I found almost all the glass from the windows and doors was shattered due to the explosions. I ran to the Shifa hospital to check on casualties and was shocked by the number of cars and ambulances bringing in the injured. There was panic everywhere. In less than half an hour, the hospital was full of casualties. There was no space for more, yet the casualties kept coming. At the hospital I saw something I have never seen before - dead bodies outside on the floor. Everyone in Gaza has a relative or a friend killed or injured after these attacks. Islamic Relief is working hard to get medical aid to the hospitals, which desperately need disposable equipment. We spoke to the committee at the Shifa Hospital to find out what's needed. We are now supplying it with syringes, sponges, surgical gloves and other such equipment. Hospitals are so overwhelmed that they are now using normal beds for intensive care patients. Everything is so desperate. Only 50% of the ambulances are working. If the attacks go on for another week the doctors are going to have to start using old and traditional ways of treating the injured - that means no anaesthetic. We have to get new supplies in! For two years, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been witnessing daily crises over shortages of food, fuel, health services in addition to severe poverty and unemployment. We have seen the closure of crossings and the banning of patients from travelling for medical treatment. All these restrictions have slowly sucked the life out of Gazans and it's no exaggeration when I say that trying to live daily life is a struggle. But Gaza has not witnessed anything like this onslaught since 1967. I used to describe what was going on in Gaza as a catastrophe, now I have no words. I received news that the brother of one of my work colleagues has been killed in the attacks. They had been looking for him all day and discovered him under the ruins of a destroyed building.  Courtesy: BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7802295.stm

The brighter side of the attack

A lot has been said about the 26/11 attacks, some of them very sincere, some jingoistic and some outright evil. But very little has been spoken about what it has done other than leaving behind horrific effects. One might be surprised but there are quite a few positives to be taken out of it. It has resulted in a number of reforms and ultimately united the people of India.

Starting with some of the most obvious and apparent ones are the Intelligence reforms. Agreed it is difficult to get a whiff of such attacks considering all the secrecy with which they are planned but Intelligence is the most important aspect of prevention and could save a lot of lives if such agencies are strong. Then there are the much needed police and NSG reforms. The attack has shown that the lathi wielding pot bellied pandu is no good to fight terrorists having AK-47 and now hopefully he would be at least better equipped and would not have to run away from the attackers. Same goes for the NSG, our elites are located only in delhi and don’t even have a dedicated airplanes to reach other cities, that would change with the creation of NSG hubs across major cities with special charter planes for transport if needed. Then we have the high profile political reforms, with a home minister more concerned about his hair than the attacks all over india and chief minister acting as tourism minister while visiting the terror site, we could hardly complain about something being done. Other changes include better coast guard patrolling, better security checks at the premier hotels and public places and yada yada changes.

But, what these attacks have really done is, they have united the people of India against a common enemy. Mumbai is not burning with marathis v/s north Indians any more, there are no references made about hindu terrorists or muslim terrorists, there is no bashing of one community or another, no political party has tried to cash in on the situation. It seems that we all forgotten our differences and have risen above the petty issues, the whole nation is speaking in one voice and there are no two opinions about it. The young, the old, women, children all have come together and shown solidarity, be it with candle light vigils or peaceful protests, they have shown that the people of India are together in this war. A kid in new Delhi writes a letter to santa that he wants all the terrorists to leave India, in the east the ever so violent Naxals and Maoists have distanced themselves from such terrorism saying that they are against the government and would never kill innocent people like done in Mumbai.

These attacks have given us a common enemy and unified India if at least for the time being. It has created a rare spectacle of parties supporting each other to counter such acts. I see one India, irrespective of religion, geography, age and sex, standing up and voicing their opinions and at times it seems utopian that Indians are capable of showing such unity. I sincerely hope that we don’t need such terrorist attacks to keep us united and may better sense prevail.

 

ps: I will expand this idea of universal enemy in my next post, will try and take it to the next level.

Superheroes - A Lost Idea

Don’t we all love it when our favorite superhero, clad in red and blue with underwear worn inside out or in a ridiculous spider suit or even naked-large & green, comes and saves the world? Yes we do, but that is not the question, the real question is why? Actually lots of whys.

Why do superheroes always win? Why have we not seen any evil superhero? Why do we really need superheroes?

Lets take a hypothetical example, lets say one fine day you wake up and you find yourself endowed with superpowers. What is the first thing that comes to your mind? Definitely not saving people from a burning train or stopping a bank robbery. Let me tell you what will come to my mind, getting things that I have not had earlier, it may be material or otherwise, and I will use all my powers to get it.

So how come the superheroes that we are accustomed to see are not like that, not like us? Why are they the epitome of kindness and responsibility? We all know power corrupts, then why don’t these superheroes try to rule the world and resort to evil? Why does good always triumph over evil, which is not the case in real life?

The answer is in the origin of the concept of superheroes. Whenever the society is under a tremendous depression and there is no chance of getting out of it, they need someone to give them hope, to give them courage and strength to fight the odds. The last major depression was in the US around 1920s and the people got their hopes in the form of fictional characters which saw the creation of modern superheroes.

This works as the missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle called superheroes. The superhero is always someone very ordinary like you and me or even a loser before getting superpowers, so that you-the people connects with the character. They are kind and very responsible human beings, that is to imbibe values like kindness and responsibility in the people watching. And they always win no matter how powerful the adversary, that is the final push to the hopes of people that they can fight against all the difficulties in life no matter how huge.

But wait a minute, how does this fit into today’s context, we don’t have a great depression, we don’t need hope and other things mentioned, our life is not that bad.

But the truth is we still have wars, terrorism, earthquakes, floods, famines and various other adversaries that we have been fighting since long all by ourselves, so do we really need a superhero?

I would say yes, we do need a superhero but as an idea – a concept that shows undying human will and perpetual human spirit, as a never ending source of inspiration that gives us strength to keep on fighting till eternity.

So next time if a kid asks you to get his favorite superhero toy, go ahead and buy him but also tell him the significance of superheroes and how even he can be a superhero in his very own way.

Quote un Quote

...however, the trouble with life is there is no background music.

I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it.

I am free of all prejudices. I hate everyone equally.

Three Rings fer the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

Some feel the rain; Others just get wet..

Dont speak , unless u can improve the silence.

"No point being a pessimist, it wouldnt work anyways"

"Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it."

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter.

Source: Francis Thompson (1859-1907), from "The Hound of Heaven"

Winning is not everything, its the only thing.

The fountain of DEATH makes the still water of LIFE play.
- Tagore

Not hammer-strokes, but dance of the water sings the pebbles into perfection."
- Tagore

Silence is one of the hardest arguments to refute.

Death is hereditary..

"speaking comes by nature...silence by understandin!"

"refrain frm uttering today what u may regret tomorrow!"

The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the
right place but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.
-- Dorothy Nevill

I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.

In the depth of my soul there is a wordless song

I have learned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet, strange, I am ungrateful to those teachers.

" Do not stand at my grave and weep...
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow;
I am the diamond glints in the snow.
I am the gentle Autumn rain.

When you awake in the morning's hush
I am the swift, uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft star-shine at night,
Do not stand at my grave and cry...
I am not there, I did not die."


"Be what u are and say what u feel, coz those who MIND dont MATTER and those who MATTER dont MIND"

Love is like writing your name on a foggy window then watching it slowly fade away.

"I existed from all eternity and, behold, I am here; and I shall exist till the end of time, for my being has no end."

"I have no regrets. I wouldn't have lived my life the way I did if I was going to worry about what people were going to say."
Ingrid Bergman

By the time a man thinks that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he is wrong

Seek the wisdom of the ages, but look at the world through the eyes of a child.

He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man.
-Johnson, Samuel

"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like;
and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

feel the silence between the words that i speak


Stress is when you wake up screaming and you realize you haven't fallen asleep yet

"Life is like a vicious cycle, we keep on following those who dont care and keep running away frm those who care"

Nobody in this world is worth going after

It's a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it

Beauty is an ecstasy; it is as simple as hunger. There is really nothing to be said about it. It is like the perfume of a rose: you can smell it and that is all

Riding off in the sunset, like a long ago film;
sailing away like a drifter would do;
unplug the phone, let the lamplight grow dim;
and just fade away in the blue.

"live it up before you gotta give it up"!!!!

There are some things you can't escape. And other things you just don't want to know.

The question in life is not whether you get knocked down. You will.
The question is, are you ready to get up and fight for what you believe in.

I have my faults, but being wrong is not one.

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
--Mahatma Gandhi

The more i meet people the more i love my dog.

Brevity is the soul of lingerie.

Trust in God but lock ur car.

I may be fat but ur ugly, and i can loose weight.

Mothers are biological necessity, fathers are social inventions.

There are women i could spend eternity with, but not this life.

I love deadlines. I especially like the whooshing sound they make as they go flying by

I'm tired of all this nonsense about beauty being only skin-deep. That's deep enough. What do you want an adorable pancreas?

Lead, follow or get out of the way..."

Behind every successful man there is a woman..and behind every unsuccessful man there are two .

Love conquers everything except poverty and tooth ache.

Love thy neighbor.
But don't get caught.

Sex is a bad thing afterall it rumples the clothes.

Diplomacy is the art of saying "nice doggie" . . . 'till you can find a rock!

Join the army.Travel to exotic distant lands. meet exciting unsusual persons...........and KILL them.

The man who smiles when things go wrong has thought of someone to blame
it on.

Time is natures way of making sure that all the shit doesn't happen at
once.

Most people are only alive because it is illegal to shoot them

If it is tourist season, why can't we shoot them?

Smile and the world smiles with you. Fart and you stand alone

There are no stupid questions, just stupid people

You'll never get rid of a bad temper by losing it!

Honesty is the best policy, but insanity is a better defense

I came , I saw , I did a little shopping.

There 10 types of people in the world .. those who understand binary .. and the others who dont.

An apple a day keeps a doctor away .. a raw onion a day keeps every1 away

Make love not war. Condoms are cheaper than guns.

An unfortunate person is one tries to fart but shits instead.

Whoever said nothing's impossible never tried to slam a revolving door.

"I chased a girl for two years only to discover that her tastes were exactly like mine: We were both crazy about girls."

"If you can piss that high .........Join the FIRE Department!"

"Surprise me!...say something smart!"

Life is one of those things that most of us find very difficult to avoid

Take my advice, I don't use it anyway
Honesty is the key to a relationship. If you can fake that, you're in

It is said that alchohal does not solve any problem, than again neither do milk..

Just when u think u have won the rat race along comes faster rats.

I say no to drugs they just don't listen. !!!

Its not the fall that kills you.
Its the sudden stop at the end.

Hardwork has never killed anyone
But why take risks.

Outside of a dog a book is a mans best friend, inside of a dog, its too dark to read.

Opinions are like armpits ; everyone has two of them , and most of the time they stink !!!

I want to die in my sleep like my grandfather ... Not screaming and yelling like the passengers in his car ...

Having the critics praise you is like having the hangman say you've got a pretty neck.

Alcohol and calculus don't mix. Never drink and derive.

They keep saying the right person will come along, I think mine got hit by a truck!

Right now I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time - I think I've forgotten this before!

God loves stupid people. That's why he made so many.

I'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize.

I'm not as think as you drunk i am.

It has recently been discovered that research causes cancer in rats.

Always remember to pillage BEFORE you burn.

It may be that the sole purpose in your life is simply to serve as a warning.

Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.

when a door is open it's ajar, but when a jar is open, it's not a door

Growing old is mandatory, Growing up is an option

Tell a man that there are 400 billion stars and he'll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint and he has to touch it.

Just when I got all the answers of LIFE
they changed the question...'

In the other hand ... there are fingers!!!!

I'm not smiling at you, I'm just trying not to laugh. :)

ther r 3 sides to every discussion ....the right side , wrong side and My side

Dont worry that the world ends today, its already
tomorrow in Australia!

"The first sign of maturity is the discovery that the volume knob also turns to the left."

"I know karate, kung fu, and 47 other dangerous words."

The worst thing abt the rat race is even if u win u r still a RAT.

I am an Angel , honest! The horns are just to keep the halo straight

WAR FOR PEACE SOUNDS LIKE FUCKING FOR VIRGINITY

Eat well, stay fit, die anyway.

Men are from earth. Women are from earth. Deal with it.

A clean desk is a sign of a cluttered desk drawer.

I am not afraid of death.....
i just dont want to be there when it happens......

Get a life man!

For mathematicians:
2+2=5 for large values of 2

Never argue with Me!! I'll reduce you to my level and then beat you with experience.

The Need for Serenity

The Auspicious Beginning

To,

The Almighty,

Subject: Prayer..

"Grant me the strength to change the things that I can, serenity to accept the things that I cannot and wisdom to know the difference between them..."