FROM GAZA TO BARCELONA ~~ FROM THE DARKNESS TO THE LIGHT

February 14, 2010 at 09:51 (DesertPeace Exclusive, Education, Gaza, Human Rights, Israel, Palestine, zionist harassment)

From Gaza to Barcelona

By Ayman Quader

There are incredible feelings passing through my body these days in Spain. In Gaza, there were basically three feelings I had, one was happiness, another was hope, and the third was worry. In Gaza where my studies started, worry was the biggest feeling. Worry of where it will all lead to. I was fortunate that it eventually led to Spain where I am being supported  by really good people who are concerned about my cause. Hope is now the predominant feeling, hope that the light would come.

I am personally gratified for my new situation in Spain. I am gratified that so many people helped me get out of Gaza and engaged in the media campaign that took place. However, there are 500 other Aymans in the Gaza Strip in the same situation that I was in. They are being deprived of their basic right to an education, a right that is protected by UN agreements and resolutions, but no longer respected or adhered to. It is a great tragedy to think that the other 500 Aymans need a special media campaign to get them out as well.

Aside from education, the Gaza Strip has been experiencing a siege where over 1.5 million people are deprived of their basic rights. Last night I took a break from celebrating with my new friends to call my father. It was ten in the evening. He informed me that they were now in total darkness as the power supply had been cut off. This was a result of the siege which prevented the necessary industrial fuel from entering the area. Just another example of the collective punishment that is being inflicted on an entire population.

This should send an explicit message to the International Community to help put an end to the suffering of 1.5 million people and open the borders of Gaza. The siege must be ended! Palestinians must be given the chance to live their lives with pride and dignity. The inhumanity that is ting place in the Holy Land must come to a halt. The world must come to the realisation that we are all human beings with common interests.