"I’m not sure how to begin after such a long absence. Maybe my apologizing to my readers for leaving you in the blue like that. Maybe by offering that it was a combination of factors- exhaustion, preoccupation (life, work, family…, maybe by saying there is no excuse at all. Sometimes you need a break from it all.
So much has happened since we left Gaza and in such a short period of time. If was mentally exhausting being there, it is even more overwhelming being away. And processing it all.....
My parents are with me. It is a mixed blessing. My grandmother passed away last week, and my mother couldn’t be there to grieve with her family. Some Palestinians with foreign passports have been allowed through Erez into Gaza, but for those with Palestinian Authority passports (which we carry, and which Abbas has decreed null and void unless issued from his new dominion in the West Bank…) there is no alternative other than Rafah. I’ve had so many thoughts about what’s happening. But it’s all been so overwhelming, so unbelievable; that there can be such collusion, both regional and global, so much bullshit, with so little protest…
And of course the icing on the cake is the recent Haaretz report that Palestinian sources said PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas asked Israel (and Egypt) to keep the crossing closed to prevent the movement of people from Egypt to the Gaza Strip for fear that “thousands of people without supervision” could enter Gaza and strengthen Hamas. Something, not surprisingly, that Erekat and co. deny.
Rafah Crossing has been closed for 45 days now. There are food supply shortages. Electricity shortages. Yet the internal situation remains calm, say family and friends.
When, I wonder, will the global conscience finally awake?"
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