The following was an email I received at work. I've decided to share it because it is related to current events and reminds me of how lucky I am, how lucky we all are to not be living in a world that is the middle of a war zone.
How Many Mothers Will It Take?
Maria C. Khoury, Ed. D.
As we enter August 2014, my Church will enter a very
special time of fasting and prayer for the Holy Mother of God, the Theotokos
for the Holy Dormition, the Falling Asleep of the Virgin Mary (Aug
15/28). “You gave birth to the Salvation of the world, through which we
were uplifted from earth to heights…Hail! O Ever-Blessed, Pure One, shelter and
strength; rampart and fortress to those who sing: “Praise the Lord all His
works and exalt Him in all the ages.” (Akathist Hymn)
At this same moment in time, here in the Holy Land we
have entered a slaughter of the worst kind where over 7,000 people are
seriously injured and traumatized. The brutal Israeli attacks on Gaza
have just turned into a massacre because over 1300 people have been killed most
of them mothers and children. Maybe this tragedy will stop if the mothers
of the 59 Israeli soldiers tell Israel to stop the bloodbath right now because
unfortunately the American administration is not and wants to increase military
support to Israel beyond 3.1 billion annually. Everyone says that Israel
has a right to defend itself but does that mean a new holocaust for
Palestinians? The churches in Gaza cannot handle any more people sleeping
on the floor because the homeless and displaced are becoming over 200,000
people. The UN is paying a very high price with the killings of several
of their staff because Israel keeps attacking schools where families try to
find shelter. Today (July 30) as I write this reflection another UN school was
attacked killing 16 children; in the same day the attack on the open
market killed 17 people including two Palestinian journalists. This is
one of the worst humanitarian disasters as Israel is using the excuse that it
wants to stop HAMAS firing rockets. But it is a pretext for
disproportionate military force. How many mothers does Palestine have to
give to gain freedom and uplift the siege on Gaza. HAMAS is a “terrorist”
organization in Israeli eyes but it is the only resistance movement Palestine
has on the ground to fight for their just cause. Why doesn’t anyone
understand that Gaza is an open air prison and the people have been asking for
freedom over 47 years with the international community forgetting about
them. Israel controls the boarders, the air and the sea. They have
made the place a living hell on earth.
I have been very disturbed with the hate that is building
in our society ever since July 8th when the violence intensified
between Israel and Palestine. The signs that say “Death to Arabs” and the
signs in Jerusalem that say in Hebrew “There are no innocent people in Gaza,”
are shocking. When the Israeli people hold signs in the middle of Tel
Aviv that say “there are no children in Gaza,” it should be alarming to the
world since we have over 250 dead kids in the last 21 days. I am not sure how
any of the children left in Gaza can ever achieve peace in their hearts when
they see so much destruction around them and when we have so many examples of
the five year old little girl that saw her mother and father blow up in pieces
and everyone in her family died but she was one of the very few to be able to
get a permit and receive medical help in Jordan. These children are just
traumatized for life. Why can’t Israel open the boarders and let all the
injured receive help in the West Bank hospitals that are willing to treat
them. I am outraged that my sister in law spent two days on the phone
calling everyone she knew in order to help her cousin Jeries (Jeries means
George in Arabic ) get medical care while his body is 80% burned and his left
leg and right foot have been cut off. What annoyed me the most is the Israeli
rules that if you are under 45 years of age you automatically cannot get a
permit to travel thus his brother Anton (Tony) was not able to accompany him to
the Jerusalem hospital. Jeries has had three strokes and has less than
20% chance to survive with over eight doctors helping him fight for his life.
He needs all of his family members at this critical time.
The family has no other brothers, no sisters and the
mother, Jalileh was killed on the spot in the Israeli attack on their home,
Sunday, July 27th making her the first Christian mother to be buried
in Gaza. She is originally from Taybeh and married all her life in Gaza
where life before the 1967 Israeli occupation was relatively average. The
elderly special needs father was forced to accompany Jeries to the St. Joseph’s
Hospital with only a 24 hour permit where only seven children (out of
thousands) were the lucky ones to get out of Gaza for medical treatment;
but one of them died in the emergency room, two seven year olds are brain dead,
and one in intensive care with his leg cut off. One of the nurses said in
Arabic “Where is Obama to come and see? Sister Valentine said: “How
can man be so cruel and destructive?” The senior UN official said:
“The world should hang its head with shame,” for letting Israel get away with
human rights violations.
Jeries’ father is extremely traumatized that the
only thing he could tell anyone that come from the Christian community to visit
him including the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and Archbishop Theodosius
(Attala Hanna) “I am not Hamas, I am not Fatah, what did I do to them?” He
cries with every phone call and continues to talk about his wife Jalileh and
the eggplant dish she was preparing when the house was bombed. He has lost
everything but has a very deep faith in God.
Have you seen the evil face of Israel? How many
more dead mothers will it take to see it? Does it make sense to you that
1.8 million people are locked up like in a cage.
“…incline
Your ear O pure One and save us from sinking in sorrows; and preserve Your City
O Theotokos from every siege of the enemies.”
I
pray all of you will have a blessed Holy Dormition fast and please do not be
fooled by your local media in thinking we are all terrorists. Please pray
for peace in our world so we may see the Light of Christ in a land that has
seen only darkness. Have a peaceful, blessed great day today!
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