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Gaza Born: A Past Never ForgottenBy Caroline Katba '15, Contributing Writer Issue 142-11 | Wed, 12/05/2012 - 00:23

On Wednesday, Nov. 14, when the war in Gaza started, Ibecame a wreck. I had no way of contacting my family, so myonly solace was to check the list of the dead online almost everyfive minutes and stay tense until the cease-fire was announced.My name is Caroline Katba, and I am the only Palestinian atAmherst College who grew up in Gaza. Growing up in the Gazastrip is no fun ride; it is emotionally and mentally exhausting.Nevertheless, I am immensely grateful to all the experiencesthat I have had, because they helped shape me, and myperspective of the world. Furthermore, on Wednesday Nov. 28 after I read Flasters Article Why Hamas ForcedMe to Leave Amherst College, I felt obligated to write an immediate response, because Flaster seemed to benarrating all the propaganda that he is completely bathed in. I will be telling the story from my side. Also, Iwould like to make it clear that I am neither a supporter of Hamas nor is my family involved with the party inany way possible; I am merely a pro-Palestine human being.

Many innocent lives have been claimed by this 64-year-old conflict on either side, and both parties areresponsible. Israel has ignored many international laws regarding the use of violence, and the world has beensilent. Israel claims that all the wars and all the mass murders are simply an act of self defense, and Hamasclaims its response to be resistance to an occupation which started in 1948 and has been crippling to manyaspects of the Palestinian life. Because of the nature of the Occupation, Palestine has been separated into twoentities; the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. To make matters even more complicated, in 2006 a conflictbetween Fatah and Hamas (Palestines main parties) split the Palestinian authority into two polities, seeingthemselves as the true representatives of the Palestinian people, Fatah in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza.

Gaza is the densest open air prison in the world with more than 1.7 million people living in a 140 square-milearea. The previous war on Gaza, which lasted eight days, resulted in the deaths of 170+ people and injured900+ people with more than 1500 air strikes. Furthermore, to show how Palestinians are so used to all thisterror and violence, when the circulated news about the ground invasion of 77,000 approved reserve officersto a stand by position next to 16,000 others, a joke was passed around; one of the officials said: we cannothouse you (soldiers); we are filled to the rim! I, on the other hand, was worrying as if it was the end of theworld, not being able to contact my family, knowing that they live in a building that has many press offices,radio and TV station, and not knowing exactly what is happening, because media outlets would not showeverything, I was simply devastated and in tears. I remembered going through the war in 2008-2009; whichwas horrifying, and I didnt expect this war to be different.

In his article, Flaster mentioned that Israel carries out arguably the most humane military response in thehistory of warfare I strongly disagree with his opinion; in 2008-2009 more than 1400 Palestinians and 13Israelis were killed. In my opinion murdering civilians on either side is very inhumane; however, a ratio of1:100 is not humane and so was the war in the last month. In addition he argues that In fact, Israel dropswarning pamphlets, makes telephone calls and sends out text messages to all residents near potential targetsso that civilians can stay far away before a strike occurs. Flaster might call it warnings, I call it psychologicalwar. In 2008-2009, I was the one who answered the phone when we received the infamous phone call, and therecording told me that we must vacate, because soon enough our building and the buildings around us wouldbe bombed. As a 14-year-old at the time, I was seriously scared. I told my parents, and they tried to calm medown. My family and I couldnt leave knowing that there are no safe places, so we stayed put, all clustered inone room that was central to the house, with every window open so that the glass wouldnt shatter on us. It

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Tags: Gaza Strip Israel

was a cold night; we sat and waited, waited to die. Even though our house was not bombed, simply receivingthe call and waiting to die scarred me for life. When one waits to die, one cannot help but feel hopeless,because there was no place to hide. But after an hour or so, I remembered where I was born, and Iremembered the normalcy of death in the Gaza Strip.

Moreover, in his article, Flaster proceeds to announce his ignorance by asking What is their cause? End theoccupation? Israel already pulled out of Gaza seven years ago and has only been rewarded with more terror.First of all, I am wondering why he would choose to enlist in an army to fight a people without being educatedabout their cause. Second of all, Israel pulling out of the illegal settlements from Gaza is not equivalent toending the occupation. When borders are closed almost all the time in Gaza, when we, Palestinians cant sleepbecause Israeli F-16s and noisy spy aircrafts are roaming in the air non-stop, and when Palestinians arehumiliated, arrested and used as human shields in the West Bank on a daily basis, when we Gazans can hardlyleave the open prison, simply to visit our families in the West Bank and Jerusalem our capitol, when we stillhave international silence against the segregation wall, and Israels crimes against humanity, Flaster, that iscalled Occupation.

Furthermore, Flaster adds Criticizing Israel for the resulting deaths is unfair No, Flaster, criticizing Israelis as fair as criticizing Hamas for the resulting deaths. And he adds whenever a Gazan child dies, he or she isquickly paraded in front of cameras for a photo op. I find this to be extremely offensive. Mind you, we do notparade our children, they were murdered! And the world needs to witness these crimes. I am wondering, whatpropaganda were you told about these children, were you told that they were Hamas militants? I know what itis like being a child and growing up in a war zone, I wonder, do you? I feel sorry for children on either side ofthis political conflict.

Lastly, on Nov. 29 Palestine was recognized as a state by the United Nations. The recognition is a tremendousstep towards ending the conflict; however, on Dec. 1 Netanyahu decided to build 3000 new housing units ineast Jerusalem and in settlements in the West Bank in response to the Palestinian action at the UN, said aHebrew tweet by Barak Ravid. It seems as though whether Palestinians used violent or non-violent resistance,Israel still will respond with state violence.

My only wish for the future is for this political conflict to end and for peace to occur.

Anonymous (notverified) says:

Wed, 12/05/2012 - 10:39Beyond powerful.Beyond powerful.

Permalink Log in to post comments


Wed, 12/05/2012 - 12:31Very moving piece, thanks forVery moving piece, thanks for sharing your story.


Amal (not verified)says:

Wed, 12/05/2012 - 15:53You are wonderful, thank youYou are wonderful, thank you so much for this.



Wed, 12/05/2012 - 16:54Really Mike? Pigs?By calling the Jews pigs, you simply affirm that the anti-Israel movement is undoubtedly justthe modern expression of anti-Semitism. By calling Jews pigs and judging Israel by an absurddouble standard and hoping for their "judgment day," you're no different than some medievaltown crier blaming the Jews for poisoning the wells or drinking Christian blood.

Comments


puppy (not verified)says:

Wed, 12/05/2012 - 17:43Well saidan excellent article !!!! thanks for sharing


Jew Power (notverified) says:

Wed, 12/05/2012 - 22:34After a year in the IsraeliAfter a year in the Israeli army, I became more "moderate."However, don't you have enough countries of your own? Why Israel?Give a dollar and you wish to take 100. Give Azza and you want Jerusalem. WHEN DOESENOUGH BECOME ENOUGH?Your view is when Israel is pushed into the sea. Caroline, shame on you.We have lived through the Holocaust; we finally have OUR LAND.I will fight for Israel until my bones become brittle because, "If I'm not for me, who am?"



Wed, 12/05/2012 - 20:25Mike Yohe:Completely out of line.


dr.sorski (not verified)says:

Wed, 12/05/2012 - 21:30Thank you Brave Caroline KatbaIt is the truth we all cannot lie or hide from an justice will always be served to that an all it canbe



Wed, 12/05/2012 - 22:36After a year in the IsraeliAfter a year in the Israeli army, I became more "moderate."However, don't you have enough countries of your own? Why Israel?Give a dollar and you wish to take 100. Give Azza and you want Jerusalem. WHEN DOESENOUGH BECOME ENOUGH?Your view is when Israel is pushed into the sea. Caroline, shame on you.We have lived through the Holocaust; we finally have OUR LAND.I will fight for Israel until my bones become brittle because, "If I'm not for me, who am?"


Unbiased (notverified) says:

Wed, 12/05/2012 - 22:39This is a nice article, butThis is a nice article, but it's not completely forthright. It's actually a little misleading. Usingthe statistic of 1:100 would lead a reader to think that Israel kills 100 times as many Gazans asGazans kill Israelis, and therefore Israel is 100 less humane than Gaza. The reality is thatHamas fires rockets from populated civilian areas knowing that Israel will strike back on thosevery same areas. Even Hamas' headquarters is underneath a hospital! On top of that, Hamascertainly does use their civilian casualties as media propaganda. They've used the same bodiestwice to parade on television, as well the bodies of Gazans who died via a rocket strike fromGaza that accidentally killed them. So, as far as Hamas is concerned, parading dead civilians iscertainly something they do or, as the author puts it, "we" do.The reality (for unbiased realists, at least) is simple. When Israel fires a rocket into Gaza andkills civilians, Israel calls it a failure. When Hamas fires a rocket into Israel and kills civilians,Hamas calls it a success.


CAROLINE (notverified) says:

Wed, 12/05/2012 - 22:44JESUSALEM IS THE CAPITAL OFJESUSALEM IS THE CAPITAL OF ISRAEL


Tara (not verified)says:

Wed, 12/05/2012 - 22:47Very well arguedThanks for giving us both sides of the story, and being so civil about something so personal.



Thu, 12/06/2012 - 00:23Poorly written article - allPoorly written article - all rhetoric, no substance.


Trnc K (not verified)says:

Thu, 12/06/2012 - 01:36Kudos.love, your resident.


John Y (not verified)says:

Thu, 12/06/2012 - 03:40Mike YoheGiven the history of jewish stereotyping and propaganda, I think The Student should removethe first comment to this article. It adds nothing to an otherwise interesting article that peopleon both sides of this issue should read.



Thu, 12/06/2012 - 08:57A great, levelheaded, andA great, levelheaded, and moving piece! I really appreciate your perspective Caroline



Thu, 12/06/2012 - 10:29Mike YoheMike, go preach your hatred elsewhere.


monir (not verified)says:

Thu, 12/06/2012 - 10:36mike yoheyou are completely true but the wrong thing is that we don't fight against judisim our fight isagainst zionism thats it and palestine sooner or later will be FREE and no one can stand theinjustice we live ..... free PALESTINE death to israel ... you may consider it rude to kill theisraelies but the law in all the world give all the people the right to self defense like if any oneattacked your house with guns and took your house would you just sit there and stare at whatis he doing ?? this is simply what happened in palestine zionists started coming to palestine in1947 and they killed alot of people with the support of the british government whom wereruling then and our fight for freedom started from that time ..


Ahmed M (notverified) says:

Sat, 12/08/2012 - 03:53A greatly well articulated and civilized piece .I think this is an amazing article that displays facts as well as a common sense perspective. it iscivilized an well written as well.Thank you for sharing this!


Smith Student (notverified) says:

Sun, 12/09/2012 - 03:50Coming from someone who grew

Coming from someone who grew up in Tel Aviv, many comments made in this article areconsiderably misleading or incorrect entirely. You assert that you are used as human shields,when it is your government power Hamas (termed a terrorist organization by the U.S. andwhose primary objective is to erase Israel from the map) who uses you as such by placing theirheadquarters in an area with schools and underneath a hospital. It is completely necessary tohave an air base next to a settlements of people who have repeatedly bombed and terrorizedinnocent civilians in Israel, hence the aircraft noises you complain about. Almost anyone isallowed to visit Jerusalem, because it is considered such a holy and sacred place to Muslims,Christians, Jews, and many other religions, so that they may pray at the Kotel or Al Aqsa. TheWest Bank is almost equally as open. The only times when people are barred from entering isbecause they may pose a threat to the people who gather there. Unfortunately at the moment,this includes all Palestinians, for reasons including suicide bombers and bombs launched fromGaza and authorized by Hamas which have terrorized innocent Israeli citizens in manydifferent parts of Israel. If Palestinians were truly after peace in this area, these activitieswould cease and Israel would accept Palestinians visiting Israel without hesitation.You state that warnings of defense forces of Israel are 'psychological warfare'. Gazans give theIsraelis no such warnings and so we are faced with never knowing when or where we may besafe.You consider the mortality rate of Israel vs Gaza to be 1:100, while ignoring the basic realitiesof the numbers of Israelis killed by suicide bombings, or 'martyrs' as Muslim Palestinians referto them, not including the victims of the bombs that have been launched frequently for thepast few years from Gaza, all considered beneficial by your government.You state that you do not support Hamas and yet you do not condemn any of their acts, butplace all of the blame of Israel finally fighting back for itself.Israel may have been wrong to settle in Gaza, but the state has completely legal rights to enactsettlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, both of which are legally Israeli territory.This cannot be termed occupation when it is so clearly in Israel's rights to build on the landagreed upon in the settlement. Settlement is not a violent activity, as you refer to it.Finally, you are rude and condescending in your adresses to Michael Flaster's article, whichwas clearly well researched and well written. I can conclude that you should be the one toquestion your views, not him.


Hampshire Student(not verified) says:

Mon, 12/10/2012 - 13:58Damn straight.Well said, Smithie!


Jeff (not verified)says:

Mon, 12/10/2012 - 13:[email protected],You are entitled to your own opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts.


Steven (not verified)says:

Mon, 12/10/2012 - 13:[email protected] think that its important for the entire world community and especially representative ofthe progressive left to say to the Muslims, Time to grow up and learn to live with yourneighbors and take care of your own people. The Israelis havent done anything to you that youhavent done to others, indeed that you havent done to your own people. If you want to live ina peaceful global society, its time to put aside vendettas and the need to regain your honor byspilling blood.Israel is the test of Islams readiness to join the world community as honorable partners, andnot as belligerents whose borders are bloody almost everywhere in the world where Muslimcountries border other countries, Muslim or not. Until the Palestinians are ready to have awin-win relationship with Israel, there will be no peace. And until the Arab world stops usingIsrael as its excuse for not liberalizing, Arabs will continue to lose.The most obvious place to start is with the teaching of hatred in the Palestinian media andschools and mosques. The kind of thing that Palestinian children are taught about Israelis andJews is as bad as the Nazis taught German youth. (In fact, no priest or minister, even at theheight of Nazi frenzy called for the extermination of the Jews, something that happensregularly from the pulpit of the mosques, then broadcast on PA TV).The other critical thing to address is the Palestinian inability to self-criticize, to take anyresponsibility for what theyve done. Ask any Palestinian or pro-Palestinian what thePalestinians have done wrong and youll get a blank look. Its all Israels fault. In order forpositive-sum relations to work, both sides have to take responsibility. As for the israelis, andthe Western Jews, theres almost no limit to how self-critical theyll get. Indeed, many have akind of masochistic omnipotence complex where its all our fault, and if only we could bebetter (say sorry more, make more concessions) we can fix anything.My point is not that Israel hasnt done things they shouldnt have, that they have nothing toapologize for. Its that they are not only ready to, but have done so to such an extent that theytake responsibility for things they havent done (like Ilan Pappes student inventing a massacreat Tantura). When one side takes too much responsibility and the other takes none, its a lose-lose only the haters win.


Gilad (not verified)says:

Mon, 12/10/2012 - 14:02antisemitic postingSome of these postings are antisemitic. Statements such as "They say history has shown thatthese pigs have never been good neighbors, when will the world understand!" is similar to therhetoric used by the Nazi's and other white power organizations. As is this statement: "The UScongress loves pigs who give them election money, this everybody understands."It is similar to anti-semitic rheotic used by Hamas: "Source: Hamas website, Feb. 1, 2006Bassem Al-Takrouri, Hamas suicide terrorist:"Angels of mercy, escort our souls to Heaven after we fulfill this duty of crushing thedescendants of apes and pigs. Dear father and mother, blessings of honor and respect to youwhile you escort me to the Maidens of Paradise as a Martyr."http://www.palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=786What is the policy of posting hateful speech here? Where do the moderators draw the linebetween hateful speech and commentary?


admin says:Mon, 12/10/2012 - 14:24 Hateful Speech

Gilad,The posting by Mike Yohe has now been taken down. I don't think the comment wasthoroughly read when it was approved, and after seeing the complaints by several people aboutit and analyzing the comment, we have decided to take it down.We will be drawing up a strict hate speech policy for our comments for next semester so thatcomments like those will not be published again.


Hana T '14 (notverified) says:

Mon, 12/10/2012 - 14:28Truly horrifiedI am truly horrified at the ease in which this student body dispels the account of an individualwho GREW UP in Gaza and LIVED through the bloodshed and violence that we can onlyperceive through the media's twisted agenda. The arrogance in which Amherst students toutUS/Israel propaganda is really disappointing, considering the critical education we aresupposedly receiving. Good for you, Caroline, for sharing with us what you actuallyexperienced, which is infinitely more valuable and insightful than a bunch of bullshit "facts"supplied by biased and corrupt governments and their media slaves. Shame on all thenaysayers who have watched a few hours of CNN and find themselves informed enough to tellus all about the TRUTH in the Middle East.


BB (not verified) says:Mon, 12/10/2012 - 15:56 Um, no.

Caroline, Gaza is NOT the "densest open-air prison in the world." Tel-Aviv is far more denselypopulated, for one thing. And for another, if Gaza was such a prison, why would the Israelis letyou out to come to Amherst and write this drivel?http://www.thejc.com/blogpost/gaza-density


A Fellow Palest... (notverified) says:

Mon, 12/10/2012 - 19:22Caroline is mistakenCaroline has made up her own facts here. Her reply to Michael is emotional yet poorly writtenand sad. She is hurting us fellow Palestinians by attacking Israel. I live in the West Bank andlife is much better for us because we work with the Israelis and try everyday to become moredemocratic and more peaceful like them. I have come to realize that Arab culture is at it's rootrather violent and we must move away from our past and adopt the Western way of acceptanceand peace. I have let go of my pride and ego and simply found the truth. So should youCaroline. Peace be with you. DOWN with Hamas!!


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