Editors blog

anyMeta 4.6.58 - Atom module 0.3.2 2017-05-11T16:54:28+02:00 http://www.couscousglobal.com/feed/atom/47/en?q_edg_owned_by=178 Editors blog http://www.couscousglobal.com/id/2978 2009-02-27T15:01:23+01:00 Eating stomach

07:15 I just called the cameraman Paul to ask him and his friend Sam what time we will meet each other and where. It’s in South Africa not a problem to call someone on such an early time like this, because everybody gets up early here. A couple of days ago we talked about a visit to a school of arts in Johannesburg and to have a conversation with students over there. 10:00 The taxi drove me to ‘Newtown’, a nice part of Johannesburg. Originally this place was known as Brickfields, but in 1904 the district burned to the ground and it was renamed Newtown. In one of the restaurants I’m sitting with Paul and Sam. In a minute we will go to Cityvarsity, a school of media and creative arts. 12:00 We’re sitting with a couple of students in the backyard of the school and I just filmed a debate between them. It was nice; we talked about racism and being an artist in South Africa. 13:00 We’re walking under a bridge decorated with a lot of beautiful graffiti. They’re so realistic that it sometimes looks like a picture. 13:30 In South Africa they use everything of the cow, so that’s why I’m eating a stomach at the moment. Before I will leave to Amsterdam, I have to eat this traditional meal from Johannesburg. It is the idea of eating a stomach of a cow, which I do not like, but the taste is not bad. In a minute my stomach will meet this stomach of a unknown cow, strange..very strange!

http://www.couscousglobal.com/id/178 ARTICLE news http://www.couscousglobal.com/id/2977 2009-02-27T15:03:53+01:00 Quaqua

16:00 I started a journey from Johannesburg to a small village called ‘Quaqua’. Three and a half hour we (Wayne and I) have driven through nothing more than hills, cows and two gas stations. No we’re here at the centre of Quaqua, I notice that I’m the only white person in town. It feels a bit strange the way people are staring at me, but that’s the way it goes: when you are different than the rest you get attention. I have to admit that being ‘the other’, gives me also a positive mood. Like the attention I got during my high school period, when I tried to be funny against the teachers. But in those days (I sound like a eighty years old man) I put a lot of effort in getting this attention and now I’m doing nothing particular (only being white) 16:30 From the centre of Quaqua, again, I am sitting in the car and we’re driving. I thought we already arrived at our destination, but apparently we’re still not there. I don’t mind because the view is really beautiful: hills, hills and hills. 16:45 We’re at the theatre and more than twenty kids are sitting in a circle. This time I will film the debate by myself. I’m curious about the possible differences between these village kids and the kids from Soweto. Do they love their life in Quaqua or do they want to go to the big city? What about the opportunities here? The following answer of one of them is really interesting: “yes there are more opportunities in Johannesburg, but here in Quaqua we can start our own opportunities, we can do this by our selves.” 17:30 We just finished our debate. It is beautiful to see that there are no differences at all between them and the kids from Johannesburg. They seem to be as open minded like the city kids. I noticed also the (sometimes) difficult relationships between them and their parents who grew up during the Apartheid. But the cause of this clash between them and their parents is not always the experience of Apartheid. Like in Holland or any other country, I think kids from this age often have the need to be different than their parents and to be someone else, an individual. 19:30 It’s really dark and we are driving on the road. I have to admit that I’m a little bit scared, because I know how desolate this area is. If something will happen with us here, they will find us maybe after a couple of years. We put some music on (South African trip hop, really good!!) and we give our opinions on the motions we discussed. During this journey back to Johannesburg, sometimes we’re quiet, have a personal conversation about our lives or we’re singing funny songs. When you’re sitting hours in a car next to each other, it gives a band. 23:00 I have arrived safely and I am drinking a glass of white wine. Not only the name ‘Quaqua’ is special, but also this entire day. It felt like a beautiful week.

http://www.couscousglobal.com/id/178 ARTICLE news http://www.couscousglobal.com/id/2950 2009-02-24T08:18:03+01:00 The community centre debate in Soweto

Again I’m in Soweto for a debate between several kids from a community centre. This place is full of creative activities like theatre, dancing, music and writing. It supposed to be a save place where young people get inspired and motivated to do and to make something beautiful of their lives. Before we started with our debate I had a conversation with one of the organisers of this community centre, Sizwe. He grew up in the middle of crime and as a teenager, stealing and other activities became part of his daily routine. The turning point in his life was the dead of his best friend who got killed after stealing some money of a taxi driver. Siswe saw his friend murdered on the street and realised that he should change his way of life fundamentally. From that moment he decided to help other young people in the townships through facilitating creative activities, like here at the community centre. I couldn’t imagine that this very kind, intelligent and friendly man once, an aggressive criminal was. Apparently, an environment full of criminality and poverty could change the kindest person on earth into a beast. It’s very admirable the way that Sizwe transformed his life in a positive way. After this interesting conversation, we started our debate about sex and relationships. Before I went to Johannesburg I had this idea of a society where Apartheid still in a way exist, a country where black and white people do not like each other. But what I noticed today (and yesterday) is that the young people nowadays, this new generation, do not think that way. They ‘re curious and interested in the other. The motion “I would never date a white boy or girl” surprisingly wasn’t answered with ‘yes’. Instead of that, they think it should be normal because Johannesburg is a city full of different cultural identities. But, even that the black people since 1994 have more rights and opportunities, you still see that black people are living with black people and white people with white people. I think that curiosity of the youth and the fact that Johannesburg is indeed a city of different cultural identities is not enough to solve this kind of distance between blacks and whites. The huge poverty and crime in Johannesburg is in my opinion the main reason why there is still a gab between blacks and whites. But people like Sizwe prove that it is possible to escape from this environment through individual motivation, power and guts.

http://www.couscousglobal.com/id/178 ARTICLE news http://www.couscousglobal.com/id/2949 2009-02-24T08:25:36+01:00 First debate in Soweto

09:00 I’m sitting next to Enoch, my taxi driver during this stay in Johannesburg. We’re driving to Soweto, a mostly black urban area in the southwest of Johannesburg, for our first debate in South Africa. My impression of Johannesburg is that it is not really one city, but more a cluster of townships and suburbs. In my first blog I told you there is a downtown. From a distance this downtown looks like a lively city, but once you’re really driving inside, you notice a dead city full of poverty. During the past, this place belonged to the upper class, but now abandoned buildings and crime have become a feature of this part of Johannesburg. You also see poverty on the highways of Johannesburg. Hundreds of people are standing in the middle of these roads begging for money. I see people without legs leaning on wooden crutch, children (without asking) washing cars. There is also a beggar acting blind, I can see clearly that sometimes his eyes are focus on specific cars and windows. Because of the competition between these beggars, some are trying new ways to get some the money. 09:40 We’re driving through Soweto. The reality is different than what I expected from this part of Johannesburg. Instead of slums along dusty roads, like I saw in Brazil and Kenya, I see a suburb (not a middle class suburb off course) with little houses along tarred roads and playgrounds. Don’t get me wrong; I do not say it is wealthier than I expected, but it all looks so structured and organised. Enoch says that these houses once, during the 30's, belonged to white families... 13:00 The debate between ten kids, living in townships around Johannesburg, just finished. They talked openly about their personal life and I really grateful for that. I think it’s not easy being so vulnerable in front of a camera. We talked about several subjects; how it is for them to grow up as the fist generation without Apartheid. Is there a generation clash between them and their parents? How are the relationships between black and white people nowadays? They talked about their dreams, opportunities and fears…you will understand that the last two hours talking to them I will never forget! I’m looking forward to edit this debate, then to put it on Couscousglobal / Youtube and show these unique kids to the world. Tomorrow I will have again a debate here in Soweto, but then I will talk about something else: sex and relationships.

http://www.couscousglobal.com/id/178 ARTICLE news http://www.couscousglobal.com/id/2936 2009-03-18T17:59:20+01:00 My first full day in Johannesburg

06:05 Waking up the first morning abroad, leads always to confusion in time and place. In a split second you feel lost, but after that, it becomes all clear: I’m really in South Africa! The sun is shining and the birds are singing (what a terrible beginning of a sentence, it sounds really like a cheap commercial on TV, but this is true), a big contrast comparing with my dark and cold mornings in Holland. I can’t sleep anymore, so I take a bath and put my clothes on. 12:00 I arrive at Eastgate, a shopping centre near by my guesthouse. Somewhere in this huge building I will meet three people for lunch, Wayne, Lindi and Judy. They helped me out organising these debates here in Johannesburg. One of the reasons for planning this lunch is to tell them how grateful I am for their effort; the other reason is less emotional, just preparing the debates (what time, when and who) After an hour we’re sitting here in a restaurant in the middle of this shopping centre. It feels like a blind date because this is actually the first time we see each other. Next to us are sitting three Chinese men, drinking wine. I ask one of them to take a picture of us, the only problem is that his legs are a little bit unstable - I think because of to much wine- so the picture is not that sharp…but anyway, it’s a good memory. 16:15 I’m walking through this never ending Eastgate, and notice something I would never have expected here. The last fifteen minutes I saw more women in burqa’s than I’ve ever seen in Holland. 17:20 I’m sitting in the taxi and the driver’s name is Enoch. When I ask him how dangerous Johannesburg really is, his answer is short, “It depends where and whit who you are.” But after a minute I can see that his head is still thinking about my question. He continues, “In the past we had Apartheid, but nowadays there is an other clash: the Africans versus the immigrants from Zimbabwe. They are very aggressive and kill you for nothing. But this aggression is the fault of our government. They promised to give people a house if they vote for the ANC. Instead of us, these people from Zimbabwe got these houses.” We are both quiet. I think this is really an interesting subject, so I will ask him tomorrow to tell more about this conflict ( and will film this) Tomorrow nine O’clock in the morning he will pick me up and bring me to Soweto…the first debate here in South Africa

- ARTICLE text http://www.couscousglobal.com/id/2935 2009-02-21T11:42:03+01:00 Going to South Africa

19:00 Ten hours flying and this plane will arrive at Johannesburg, South Africa. My hart is beating faster than it normally do. It’s the unknown Johannesburg-thing, which makes me nervous but not in negative way. It is just that I want that our CouscousGlobal-goes-to-South Africa-adventure must start… 23:00 Tako arrives at the main hall of the airport and he will give me a ride to his Bed and Breakfast Guesthouse, where I will stay the following days. We’re driving through the centre of Johannesburg. This is my first impression of this city. It looks like a place full of opposites: Rich and poor, clean and dirty, black people sleeping on the streets and white people (like me) sitting in a car, suburbs and downtown. The only thing that is constantly cheering up is the amount of beautiful trees. Johannesburg is the biggest man-made forest in the world. Many threes were planted at the end of the 19th century, to provide wood for the mining industry…the first thing I learned about Johannesburg. 00:15 I will sleep now. Tomorrow I will have a dinner with all the people I will work with this week.. AND SOME PICTURES!!!

http://www.couscousglobal.com/id/178 ARTICLE news http://www.couscousglobal.com/id/2670 2009-01-29T13:37:44+01:00 Tehran 29-01-09 Another great day in this city with 15 million people. In the morning I went to the museum of ancient at. And we are talking 7000 before the year 0. Saw this incredible Venus. If art is old enough it becomes modern art by itself. Saw very old woodwriting and their translations. Same sort of text as the Bible and the Quoran, other sort of Gods. The buildings are just extraordinary beautiful. I love the rythms and patterns….When I told the people that I just love these Islamic patterns, they were very insulted…”much older than Islam, much older than Christianity”.It is really painful to feel that all of the world views Iran as just Islamic while the history is so much older. Lots of stuff in the museum from Persepolis, the greatest success of the Achaemnid Empirem 500 BC, and according to the Lonely Planet a true multicultural empire. I met great people in the museum who all spoke French, and so we were chatting away and having fun, very modern and very old Persians speaking French in 2009.(see pics below) In the evening had dinner with the Dalton Brothers(the Daltons are quit famous here by the way). 6 brothers living together, all in the arts, and they prepared this great meal for me. After dinner they told me about Yazd, the oldest living city in the world. It has been inhabited constantly for 7000 years. I was watching pictures of it all evening. Never seen such beauty and mingling of cultures as I know them today. A mix of Marrakech and Mali, mud-brick buildings, ornated wooden doors and stunning mosaics in the middle of a desert. My head flipped back and forth talking about ancient and modern history. Things are always different than you think. One of the guys was a buddhist, so we talked about the bombing of the buddha’s in Afghanistan…they as I am still in shock about it. There is a big hate and fear of he Taliban here. That is why in Iran Bush is not seen as a bad president by some people, as he is seen in the rest of the world now. Young people quit like him overhere for wat he did with Sadam and Afghanistan. People do not understand why we hate him and are all in love with Obama. And being here it was not that easy to explain for me suddenly. It is what I love most of travelling. You come to see things differently by meeting strangers. I have to say: Iran is just another great country, because of the people. maartje nevejan http://www.couscousglobal.com/id/176 ARTICLE news http://www.couscousglobal.com/id/2530 2009-01-14T16:34:07+01:00 About Music for Gaza I do not know. I always get a strange feeling being at a fundraising party. I think Merlijn is a hero, and Paradiso is great, this project is fantastic and the war is awful and yes I am angry too. But everyone in the building with the same opinion is to much for me. I miss the other the other opinion, the other side, the beloved enemy my best opponent... Hamas is using human shields: now that is a crime against humanity as well. I only had Mint tea but soon the strangest thoughts came in my mind: Israel-Palestin is basicly a Catholic problem, in terms of the guilt syndrome Europe has. And we should have made Israel in Germany as a punishment.Half of Germany should have become Israel... that would have been better and what happened actually with the promised lands, the birthright of the Native Americans and the Aboriginals? And isn;t this a competition in attitudes about life and death? who wins, the ones who protect life with all means possible or the ones who challenge death with all means possible? When I am surfing Gaza on the Internet I think: Enough with the world attention for Gaza lets focus on other things they are hijacking the worlds attention for so long victims for so long both parties We just have to move on.... get a life. I know they want a life as well and it is not possible jobs instead of guns. and ambitions for life instead of rituals for deaths. may peace be upon you. what can you do? well CD's for Gaza is something at least. But what can we send their enemy what can we send the young people in Israel? - ARTICLE text http://www.couscousglobal.com/id/2497 2009-03-17T13:19:21+01:00 Letters between Israeli Artists Noa, singer and Udi Aloni, filmmaker. <hr /> <h2>Internationally renowned Israeli singer Noa writes letter appealing to Palestinians in Gaza</h2> Dear Palestinian brothers, It is with a heavy heart I write to you today. Gaza is burning. The border with Israel is under fire. Children on both sides of the fence are terrified, traumatized for life, wounded in body and soul. Life!! Life is lost. Blood flows! Pain and tears and anguish abound. How familiar it all is, my brothers? How well we know these images, this fear clutching our throats, hope slipping away from our hearts? A new year has begun. I am sitting here near my computer in the dark night, in my home by the sea. This sea that is ours, our Mediterranean sea, our culture, we the people of wandering, we the homeless, the homesick, we the fighters ,the builders, the survivors, our dreams like waves and tide, pulled by the moon and stars to eternity. Since that fateful day in 1994 when Rabin was murdered a few feet from me, since that awful moment, I have dedicated much of my public life to singing and speaking for peace. I have seen the peace process rise and fall and rise like the breast of a woman breathing in the night. I have seen opportunities missed, so many missed, so many chances, so much ignorance and stubbornness and bullheadedness, so much beauty trampled under the heavy boot of pride. I have sung and I have spoken, I have argued and I have embraced, I have been moved to tears so many times, I have made the most unlikely friends? Friends I would give my right arm for, friends I would run across the border under fire to protect. And today, today I say this; we have one joint enemy, one awful joint enemy and we must all work together to eradicate it! That enemy is fanaticism my friends. That enemy is extremism in all its ugly reincarnations and manifestations. That enemy is all men who put ?god? above life, who claim "god? as their sword and shield, who claim ?god? is on THEIR side. Jews, Muslims, Christians, all share this black streak. All have fallen to this destructive, horrible fanaticism at some point in their histories and the results have been devastating I have often spoken out against fanaticism in my country, for I find it repulsive and unbearable. In government, in settlements, in synagogues, I am passionately against it. I have risked my career and my wellbeing for this belief. Now I see the ugly head of fanaticism, I see it large and horrid, I see its black eyes and spine-chilling smile, I see blood on its hands and I know one of its many names :Hamas. You know this too, my brothers. You know this ugly monster. You know it is raping your women and raping the minds of your children. You know it is educating to hatred and death. You know it is chauvinistic and violent, greedy and selfish, it feeds on your blood and screams out Allah?s name on vain, it hides like a thief uses the innocent as human shields, uses your mosques as arsenals, lies and cheats, uses YOU, tortures you, holds you hostage!! I know this is true my brothers!! I know YOU know the truth!! And I know you cannot say it for fear of life so I will say it for you!! I fear nothing!! I am privileged to live in a democracy where women are not objects but presidents, where a singer can say and do as she pleases! I know you donot have this privilege (yet?but you will, inshallah, you will?) I know you are SICK of being held hostage by this demon, this ugly beast, not in Gaza, not in Iran or Iraq or Afghanistan, not anywhere!!! You are a people destined to flourish in peace! Your majestic history is overflowing with creativity, literature science and music, endless contributions to humanity, not crippling, torturing fanaticism, yelling Jihad and Shahid! I see you sometimes, out in the streets, demonstrating with the monsters, yelling ?death to the Jews, death to Israel!! But I don?t believe you! I know where your heart is! It is just where mine is, with my children, with the earth, with the heavens, with music, with HOPE!! You want nothing of this but you have no choice! I see through your veil of fear my brothers, through your burka! I embrace your hopes for they are mine! My country has made many many mistakes over the years, I have watched it miss so many opportunities, and as a citizen of this country I am the first to admit it and criticize its foolery. I demonstrate, I vote, I speak out, I sing loud and clear. But, now, today, I know that deep in your hearts YOU WISH for the demise of this beast called Hamas who has terrorized and murdered you, who has turned Gaza into a trash heap of poverty, disease and misery. Who in the name of "allah? has sacrificed you on the bloody alter of pride and greed. My brothers, I cry for you. I cry for us too, yes, I cry for my fellow countrymen suffering the bombs in the south and north and everywhere, I cry for the kidnapped soldiers and the murdered ones, for their bereft families, for the innocence lost forever, but I cry especially painfully for you for I know your suffering, I feel you, I feel you!! I can only wish for you that Israel will do the job we all know needs to be done, and finally RID YOU of this cancer, this virus, this monster called fanaticism, today, called Hamas. And that these killers will find what little compassion may still exist in their hearts and STOP using you and your children as human shields for their cowardice and crimes. And then? then, maybe, Inshallah, we will again have an Opportunity we will again pick up our broken bodies and souls and walk slowly towards each other, reach out a tired hand, look into eyes filled with tears and with a choked voice say: ?Shalom. Salam. Enough. Enough my brother ?. you want some coffee? Here, sit for a while?let's talk?.we know the words, we know the songs, we know the road?. Shalom Salam With a broken heart still yearning to love, Your friend, Noa <a href="http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3653183,00.html">click here to read the article Israel-based iPeace website</a> <hr /> <h2>Reaction to Noa from Israeli-American director Udi Aloni, creator of the 2006 film Forgiveness (Mechilot, winner of the Woodstock Film Festival Audience Award and Shulamit Aloni's son)</h2> Dear Achinoam Nini, I chose to answer you, and not the entire raging Right, because I believe that the betrayal of the peace camp, at this of all times, exceeds the damage caused by the Right a thousand fold. The ease with which the peace camp gives itself over to the roars of war hinders the creation of a meaningful movement that could a true resistance to occupation. You roll your eyes, use your loving words in the service of your conquering people and call upon the Palestinians to surrender in a tender voice. You bestow upon Israel the role of liberator. Upon Israel – that for over 60 years, has been occupying and humiliating them. "I know where your heart is! It is just where mine is, with my children, with the earth, with the heavens, with music, with HOPE!!" you write; but Achinoam, we took their land and imprisoned them in the ghetto called Gaza. We have covered their skies with fighter jets, soaring like the angels from hell and scattering random death. What hope are you talking about? We destroyed any chance for moderation and mutual life the moment we plundered their land while sitting with them at the negotiation table. We may have spoken of peace, but we were robbing them blind. They wanted the land given to them by international law, and we spoke in the name of Jehovah. Who are the secular people of Gaza supposed to turn to, when we trample on international law, and when the rest of the enlightened world ignores their cry? When enlightenment fails and moderation is seen as a weakness, religious fanaticism gives a sense of empowerment. Maybe, if you think about the mental situation of the people under siege in Masada, you could get a better sense of what’s happening in Gaza. The seculars in Gaza find it hard to speak against Hamas when their ghetto is being bombarded all day and all night. You would probably say that 'we would not need to shell them if they held their fire,' but they fire because they are fighting for more that the right to live in the prison called Gaza. They are fighting for the right to live as free citizens in an independent country – just as we do. "I know that deep in your hearts YOU WISH for the demise of this beast called Hamas who has terrorized and murdered you, who has turned Gaza into a trash heap of poverty, disease and misery," you write. But Hamas is not the monster, my dear Achinoam. It is the monster's son. The Israeli occupation is the monster. It and only it is responsible for the poverty and the sickness and the horror. We were so frightened of their secular leadership, which undermined our fantasy of the Land of Israel, that we chose to fund and support Hamas, hoping that by a policy of divide and conquer were could go on with the occupation forever; but when the tables have turned, you choose to blame the effect instead of the cause. You write, "I can only wish for you that Israel will do the job we all know needs to be done, and finally RID YOU of this cancer, this virus, this monster called fanaticism, today, called Hamas. And that these killers will find what little compassion may still exist in their hearts and STOP using you and your children as human shields for their cowardice and crimes." It is the same as if your Palestinian sister would write: "Let us hope that Hamas does the job for you, and rids you of the Jewish Right." So maybe, instead of ordering around a people whose every glimmer of hope we have surgically eliminated, you could help your brothers and sisters in Palestine rid themselves of the occupation, oppression and the arrogant colonialism inflicted by your country. Only then can you urge them to fight democratically and return Palestine to the mental state it was in before we pushed it into the corner of the wall that we built. And if your brethren in Palestine choose Hamas, you have to respect their choice, just as the world's nations respected Israel when it chose the murderous (Ariel) Sharon. Hamas is theirs to fight, just like you fought him. That is what democracy is about. Only then can you and your brethren in both Palestine and Israel share – as equals – the joy of the land, the sky and the music; only then can we fight for equality together, for every man and woman living living in our holy land. Amen. <a href="http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3653183,00.html">click here to read the article Israel-based iPeace website</a> - ARTICLE story http://www.couscousglobal.com/id/2478 2009-04-20T10:17:49+02:00 Text-messages from Moh the Gazan in Gaza

The collected SMS-messages from Moh the Gazan during the war in december and january 2009 in Gaza, a young translator and friend of our reporter Neil van der Linden.

<h2>8/1 evening</h2> Imagine a five months baby burned and killed and left in the middle of the street for 4 days then dogs came to eat both legs. It was more than enough for me to see this baby helpless and dead. I don’t blame Israel because international community is stand still so I will blame the EU, UN and all human rights organisations around the world. Another 3 years old boy was killed on the 6 of Jan and you know what? 3 years ago he was born at the same date to leave his twin sister Salma alone and to leave his father and mother alone after five years they spent trying to bring them to life. It’s so fucking hard and noone of you knows any thing about the pure agony because you cant smell the burned flesh and you cant see the details of these bodies and you cant hear the sad tone of the broken words coming out hardly of people’s mouths. If you want to know more watch Al Jazeera international today 11 PM Gaza time in which Alberto Arcia Spanish activist has many stories to tell alive. Moh the Gazan. <hr /> <h2>7/1 midnight</h2> In fact it is cheap to send a text or two but I don’t have a deal with the cell company and I am trying to send to as much as I could and about dates and time. Sometimes I send text and it reaches you late because of the coverage and network so sometimes it takes so much time sending it. <hr /> <h2>7/1 Late afternoon.</h2> If any of you know any TV channel tell them to contact Ramattan press agency and you can ask them about the paramedic who was shot the leg at 13 30 while trying to get a dead body and the material is free. The medic said that he still expects Israel to respect his humanitarian job and you know what? Fuck the Geneva conventions and screw UN because although people were shot and killed while respecting the laws were supposed to protect them, these laws are killing people and all what people hear is a press conference and a press release. I want to salute all Gazans who are still convinced that this world will wake up and act and people are still believing that these organisations could do something to help them but for me, I hope that sooner they will be ashamed of every moment they spent thinking about their own safety before thinking our safety. Truce is a big lie but we keep building sandcastles although we know its going to vanish with the next wave. Moh the Gazan, <hr /> <h2>7/1 afternoon</h2> More than 45 civilians were killed yesterday to rest in peace or at least that’s the theme of burying people but just after that Israeli snipers started to shoot and maybe that was their polite way to ask the traumatised people to leave the graveyards and people could not spend some last intimate moments with their beloved ones. All of that happened just ten minutes before the so called ceasefire that would last for three hours to allow some aid and supplies to get in but that’s not true as the main problem is not a humanitarian problem that it’s the way that Israelis are trying to show by allowing some few trucks to fee more than one and a half million but after 4 PM people will die again and they will not even enjoy the wheat and oil which will be distributed by the UN and then will be killed once more likely in front of these UN facilities. I cried so much when I saw the overwhelming faces of people and all that I demand now is not wheat but peace for me and Gaza. Moh the Gazan. <hr /> <h2>6/1 evening</h2> More than 80% of the Gazans are refugees who were forced to leave their home lands in 1948 and now they had to leave their houses and lands for the second time hoping that the UN schools would be safe asking me if they are safe at the time that Israeli tanks have shelled a nearby school and around 45 people who were all civilians were killed and I don’t know if I should tell them the truth or not but I think that they know now they are not safe in an international facility which was hit many times around the years nad we remember that in Lebanon in 1996. I don’t know what to write anymore because I feel like these texts are not even closer to the reality that you should all see smell breath. Do you have any idea how harsh it is for one to survive that alone? We don’t know how much lives should be taken in order to stop all that madness. Justice is all what we are asking for international conferences but with or w<a href="http://www.couscousglobal.com/id/..">*</a> <a href="http://www.couscousglobal.com/id/..">*</a> are left alone all the time facing killing machines which are the only speakers here at the time we are only turning into figures and numbers and those people will end up as numbers in international conferences. <hr /> <h2>6/1 afternoon</h2> Am heading to the North now so I won’t be able to text and I will text whenever I reach Gaza. Love you all. Moh the Gazan. <hr /> <h2>6/1</h2> Now I’m in Gaza City so I can likely text. I could not SMS yesterday as there was no net coverage. Anyway it was such a day. I will SMS you the texts as I wrote them and send them tomorrow. Moh the Gazan. Arafa was one of five medics who were directly targeted while evacuating casualties. He was shelled and killed trying to save lives at the time that Israeli tanks, F 16 fighters are taking lives. Arafa was one of the medics that I had the chance to meet in the Red Crescent Centre in Jabalia but now he is gone. Yet his friends are solid as rock trying to collect the shredded parts of memories they have and wishing themselves best of luck. Tens of shrapnelles have violated the body of another medic [who] was with him and when I went to see him in the hospital doctors told me that they didn’t even tell him that Arafa d ied. This is the pure and official Israel attitude toward the Geneva conventions and human right laws. If this didnt stop now it will never stop and I dont know how much lives should be taken in order to stop all that madness. Justice is all what we are asking for international conferences but with or with out Geneva or UN, Gazans know that they will be left alone. They had targeted Al Awda hospital we are in and they targeted the car garage and it was only 15 metres away from me and after 3 minutes they have targeted again but all are ok except some minor injuries and glass crash and now no one could reach the medical supplies centre of the hospital and now no one no one no one is safe. Moh the Gazan. <hr /> <h2>4/1 1 PM</h2> I can’t imagine what will happen if we lost Jawwal’s network and all what I’m thinking about is people in winter with no power or water and completely blocked and isolated even in their own houses and neighbourhoods. What will happen when Israeli tanks bomb and attack civilians and destroy their buildings and leave them with nothing? How will they at least call the ambulance or anybody? What will happen if someone lost a family member or a friend? How could they communicate? I have a very heavey headache thinking of all these scenario’s and I just hope if I could quit but it’s out of my hands yet. You all can do something and say no and help people here. A 16 years old girl that I died from heart attack after she had a heavy asthma attack after they attacked a place near her house and she died and all know that you don’t die that way from asthma, I feel completely shocked for her death because I know her as a little young girl and I understand that no one of you cares. <hr /> <h2>4/1 2009-01-04</h2> Was trapped with medics in the Red Crescent and coordinating with the international Red Cross to get us out of here. I’m fine now ;-) Jawwal company which is the only cell carrier in the Gaza strip will stop working any time due to the power shortage. Wish if I have an Orange sim card or anything like that. Moh the Gazan. <hr /> <h2>3/1 2009</h2> I am in the Jabalia Red Crescent Society and pieces of shells could reach here and people are evacuating and it’s just scary and the shelling didn’t stop. Just an hour ago before the dawn prayer they attacked a mosque and killed eleven people and injured fifty and in many places ambulances can’t reach the injured. <hr /> ++ 29/12 Hey thanks so much for trying Neil, I’m fine I guess but the situation is worse than ever and no one is safe after they have targeted the Islamic university and some mosques. They had run many medical major operation with no pain killer. Thanks so much and have a good time. Moh the Gazan. <hr /> <h2>30/12</h2> I’m really sorry Neil but I really can’t check my email because of the power cut most of the time but I will do my best and check my email as east as I c <hr /> <h2>31/12</h2> I don’t have time to live another year and I don’t have time to make a long term plan as much as I wish if I could live for another day free of obsession for fear and blood. This will be such a night in which many had to start and go on alone without their beloved ones. Yet they will try to move on. Gaza is bl[….] <a href="http://www.couscousglobal.com/id/..">*</a>if this text could give a voice of bombing. Our beloved who left us lonely are now in peace but we are the ones who will never forget their last moments under the destroyed houses and twisted metal, our beloved ones are asking all of you to be just fair and to take your human responsibilities. We want to REST in PEACE not to RUST IN ONE PIECE. I wish if I could wake up to find that all of that was an ugly nightmare. Bless all of us and our beloved ones dead or alive and the beloved of our beloved. Happy new year day for us. Moh the Gazan. <hr /> <h2>29/2 2008</h2> It’s harsh to be left alone oh dear audiences I’m here on the stage, I’m here acting to please you but then you will leave me alone on that lifeless zone, you laugh and reach even orgasm watching me playing my every day’s choreography, I dance and step on my feelings, step on my humanity, I’ve crushed my own entity then. Here I’m left alone even death died but I’m still here suffering and dying every single moment. I wish if I have only a fan of my own. <hr /> <h2>2/3 2008</h2> The streets are almost empty and most people are indoors shops are generally closed. I am on my way to Gaza City now which is very risky but it’s much better than staying home. I realised a very important thing that when you are lonely people would simply leave, yes you need them to stay because you need them beside you but you can not force them to stay. When you are alone you will miss every one so badly but the truth is that no one is even thinking of you… ---- <h2>21/3 2008</h2> Hope is nothing but a rumour that we should believe in and live for, yet we know that hope is just a pain killer that doctors of life keep prescribing for us. There is no one in this world who would help another because there are no conflicts of interests. For me I just want a life to come to the end I won’t wish or hope any more. No wonder why this world is full of wars and disasters because no one cares But I care but you know what? I don’t give a shit. ---- <h2>7/4 2008</h2> Only in Gaza you will find that every one is waiting for everything and no one has a single penny to buy anything and even if you have some money to buy something from somewhere you will be so surprised because you will go to every single where trying to find something and you will be lucky to get one thing which is nothing. Generally people, cars and everything are lining up in long long lines and they know that they will get almost nothing: and nothing will ever reach any one and everything is trying so hard to scrubble and climb the rough vertical sharp peak of the land of nowhere ;-) - ARTICLE film