Letter 07-2006. Did I say hope?

31^st July 2006

Dear friends,

“Everybody gets the bad news, so I must send some hope news,” I thought before I sent letter 6. Later I attended two press conferences and thought: “Not everybody gets everything, so I guess I should write a bit about Gaza.”

Gaza has drowned, not in the Mediterranean, but in Lebanon. There are lots of news to choose among in the Middle East these days. Media gives priority to Lebanon. It is more exciting. I do have some understanding. There are many crisis in the world getting too little attention. Most of them I know very little or nothing about. I am ashamed. But I have come to know something about Gaza, and I need to tell.

26^th July UN’s OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) informed that 141 Palestinians were killed on the Gaza Strip since 28^th June. 511 were injured. In comparison one IDF soldier was killed and 14 injured, in addition to seven Israelis in Israel injured by rockets from Gaza. 27^th July I came to know that 22 Palestinians were killed the last 36 hours. The conflict escalated before the kidnapping of soldiers began, and the activity in Gaza has not become less after the attacks in Lebanon started. http://www.humanitarianinfo.org/opt/ I think I would not have known this had I not attended the press conferences. There was not much press present.

On my way back to the church it was clear that my friend whom I went together with wondered where to take out her energy. I rather wondered where I had put my energy. While she was almost exploding from anger, I had a feeling of emptiness. We both struggled with the fact that we could not do anything.

I left Jerusalem Saturday. It was not just easy. Though I had planned that date for my departure for months, I had a feeling of abandoning people in a difficult time. When leaving, it is so clear that I had only been visiting. What difference did my visit make? I have still not been in Gaza. Palestinians in Gaza do not know that I exist. If they were to guess it, they probably doubt that I care how they are, as they have not heard anything from me.

Where is now the hope I wrote about? When a large majority of the Israeli population support the military attacks and the world seems to have given up their sense of justice, it is difficult to have faith in a bright future. I was sick several days toward the end of my stay. I blamed some fruit I had eaten. When it lasted longer than what I could expect from the fruit, I blamed the sun and heat. These might have been good reasons for my sickness. But I should not protest if anyone says something about the situation also affecting me mentally. It is strange how the stomach can tell when something is wrong. I wish some of the leaders in the world could have a bit more difficult stomachs now and then. That might give hope.

Tomorrow I land in New York. The background for my travel is an invitation for a wedding. Weddings give hope. At the same time there is hope in the people I will meet, people who have been to Jerusalem and who can not leave what they have seen, people who will encourage me and say that it helps to work for understanding, it is possible to inform and have an impact. There is still hope.

Hopeful greetings from Hanne.