Jordan Valley: Something oppressive in the air

Visiting families in Mikhol and Hadidiya, graduation at the Spa'a kindergarten

From now till October-November we will live with these shades, the heat is already heavy, and we will roll towards winter. The harvest is almost over, and the sheep are nibbling the dry grass and surely cursing Allah as they hear from the shepherds do and pray for the shade.

And beyond that everything is dynamic, a first grandchild is born and there is great joy, and in another month R. will give birth to a ninth baby, followed by R. a fifth baby, and the tent is bustling with life. Mattresses and blankets are stacked in the corner, inside or above them or in every corner, kittens and chicks and birds gather ... True, there are no mice ... and the goat comes to drink the remnants of milk emitted from the curdled cheese ...

The first kindergarten year ended today in Hadidiya. The kindergarten teacher and some mothers gather in honor of the event. They bought black robes with the Palestinian flag and graduation hats, made refreshments and music. The little girls with thier high heels... look at the video ... the joy of graduation is missing. Something oppressive in the air.

And finally: the voice of a 14-year-old girl, following the war in Gaza.
She allowed me to send to our network:

There is general joy everywhere with the arrival of the holiday. Children are getting ready to put on new holiday clothes, mothers are busy preparing the Maamul (cookies) and fathers in the holiday prayers, after a month of fasting full of beautiful moments that remain sacred. A month of fasting and three more days of celebration.

I opened my phone and found Jerusalem shouting, Where's Saladin? Where is Amr Ibn al-As?

I saw things I had never seen before, assaults on girls, youngsters arrested, control of houses, bombing of houses and residential buildings, martyrdom of children, taking children out from under the rubble of houses as someone looking for a needle in a haystack. Bodies without arms or legs, a frustrated face without eyes, a crying child, a child looking for his parents, a confused mother helping herself or her one-year-old child, children not sleeping for fear the surrounding occupation will come knocking down their homes, children sleeping in holiday clothes, waking up and finding they turned into birds of paradise.
How can these children feel the joy of the holiday while in the cave of sadness and worry?

I ask God to remove the scourge of occupation, to protect the people of Gaza and its children who die without sin and to protect Palestine.

Wa'ad Bsharat, Jordan Valley