Monday, March 15, 2010

1,000 Days have passed ... but it's tomorrow that counts


By Ayman Mohyeldin in Middle East on March 14th, 2010

"One thousand days ago, Gaza became the world's largest outdoor prison, those are not my words, but the words of John Holmes, the UN's chief humanitarian officer.

One thousand days ago, Gaza’s gates to the outside world were closed and locked. Pedestrian and commercial traffic came to a grinding halt and Gaza began its tail spin into the catastrophic reality it finds itself in today, becoming the first territory in recent history forced into a de-developmental nose dive as a result of a deliberate policy....

And yet, for 1,000 days, the people of Gaza have survived. They have survived the inhumanity of it all and they survived a war launched to protect Israel's humanity. They have defied a siege resiliently saying to the world while you have turned your back on Gaza, Gazans will not turn their back on their inalienable human rights. This indomitable spirit is what has driven them to survive for 1,000 days.

For 1,000 days, each night the people of Gaza had to endure was as long as a thousand years but they managed to wake up the next morning hoping that the international community would come to its senses, come to their aid and demand that Israel end its siege. And for 1,000 days, the people here have hoped today would be the last day of this collective punishment and that tomorrow would be the first day of their collective freedom."

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