CANDLES BECAME A MURDERER WHO IS WANTED FOR JUSTICE IN GAZA
Better to light a candle than curse the darkness, except in Gaza where lighting a candle became a synonymous with death, burning and agony of endless wounds cannot be healed. The previous logo is adopted by Amnesty International in order to demand the rights of violated people who have confiscated freedoms and oppressed opinions to give a glimmer of hope for them for a better future, in addition to motivate activists for positive actions and movements.
Candles which is supposed to brighten poor’s nights, turned to be a killed with every evening, taking the opportunity when the night fall to end the lives of innocent children and leaving death voice distress in the ears of their parents as long as they are alive.
Candles became a murderer who is wanted for justice in Gaza after killing tens of Palestinians, especially children, as the case of Shahd and Ghena who were killed in Rafah recently, four brothers in another family, and other three siblings in another one as a serial -style of killing in horror movies of America.
I stood helpless trying to understand a father’s sense as he was listening to the cries of his two daughters when the fire came to their bodies, while he is unable to rescue them; also I tried to imagine the feeling of their mother when she cursed herself a thousand times as she let a candle her beloved kids.
Heartbreaking, pain, and tears will stay with their family for their whole life every time they remember their innocent daughters’ smiles, although the state’s officials visited their family offering consolation for the dead and the injured, then they went back to their normal life.
This tragedy will be repeated sooner or later as there is no solution in the sight. The political situation does not bode well, and the disagreement between Palestinian parties is being increased, the siege intensifies, and finally the political map of the Middle East is changing constantly affecting the Palestinian cause in favor of the internal affairs of each country.
People suffering and needing is increasing, as they are paying the price of the politics, where people do not have any effect on it, and they are not persuaded by politicians’ justifications for this unbelievable situation as people now only care for their needs’ satisfaction and their dignity preservation, especially in the case of neither war nor peace.
As this cries is everyone’s responsibility starting from individuals to the family in order to stop recklessness during using candles in houses, and taking safety factors to avoid such fires especially in closed rooms.
On the other hand, civil society organizations are continuing holding conferences and workshops in hotels and restaurants without any application for their own recommendations. Moreover they keep directing appeals to external donors regardless the priority of poor people needs.
In addition to that, we have Zakat committees which are collecting donations after each Friday prayers to build new mosques or extend air conditioners and fans without paying any attention to poor people priorities.
On the same direction, we have two governments, in Gaza Strip and West Bank and they are able to agree on at least how to avoid such suffering and crises; although they were able to conduct alliances all over the world to keep their own interests but they are not able to do so to protect poor people honor as when Israel does not kill Palestinians, a candle does.
Finally, the international community, which is very committed to animal rights and response quickly to prevent the hunting of whales and dolphins in natural reserves, and to save different types of monkeys, is demanded to stand for its responsibilities to stop people’s humanitarian suffer Gaza Strip, especially the electricity crises up to the requirements of the principles of the Universal Declaration of human Rights and International laws related to human rights.
For now, and due to international community and Palestinian parties negligence; I would like to call the donors to adopt the idea of safe lighting for poor people houses as there is an urgent need to secure Palestinian families from the risk of death by burning, as they do not aspire more than lighting their homes away from the luxury of watching television.
Also we are required as a society has the logos of the values of solidarity, and as individuals to contribute to the campaign of safe lighting for poor people as a part of our moral responsibility towards the community.
Gazan families use candles, primitive kerosene lamps, charging batteries, motors, or small-scale electricity generations in order to get electricity and lighting during periods of frequent power outages on a daily basis.
We have already lost tens of Palestinians due to either explosions in generating electricity, or burned to death because of candles. It did happened before as four siblings died in a similar incident, and once again three siblings died too, in addition to an entire family in east of Gaza City was killed by a candle fire, the father, mother and children.
The electricity crisis began when Israel bombed the only power plant in the Gaza Strip in 2006, where it was destroyed and was not able to operate at full capacity since that time.
Nowadays, Gaza’s populations, which exceeds the 1.8 million people depends on three sources of electricity, which are Israeli Electricity Company, Egyptian Electricity Company, and part of the power plant in Gaza Strip. The three sources are not enough to satisfy Gaza Strip needs as it still has a electricity shortage of 150 MW; therefore the power goes out every day about 16 hours a day, where the company is working to connect the power distribution for eight hours only.(T/P02/E01)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
*Eng. Mohammad Y.Hasna is Gaza Coordination office Director for Humanitarian Affairs Department of Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC)
Source: http://mhasna.wordpress.com/2014/04/02/childrenkller/
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