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Title: | For those who still cannot see the evil both we & Gazans face... | |||
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| Name: | bat yam | | |||
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| From the New York Times: In Gaza, the Fighter Who Smiled at Death By TAGHREED EL-KHODARY Published: January 8, 2009 GAZA CITY ? The emergency room in Shifa Hospital is never calm, but on Thursday, the 13th day of Israel?s assault on Gaza, this place of gore and despair was also a lesson in the way ordinary people are squeezed between suicidal fighters and a military behemoth. Dr. Awni al-Jaru, 37, a surgeon at the hospital, rushed in from his home in the Toufah neighborhood in Gaza City dressed in his scrubs. But he came not to work. His head was bleeding, and his daughter?s jaw was broken. He said Hamas militants next to his apartment building had fired mortar and rocket rounds. Israel fired back with enormous force, and his apartment was hit. His wife, Albina, originally from Ukraine, and his 1-year-old son were killed. ?My son has been turned into pieces,? he cried. ?My wife was cut in half. I had to leave her body at home.? Because Albina was a foreigner, she could have left Gaza in recent days with her children. But, Dr. Jaru lamented, she refused, saying she would not leave her husband. Within minutes, another car pulled up with four more patients. One was a 21-year-old man with shrapnel in his left leg who demanded quick treatment. He turned out to be a militant with Islamic Jihad. He was smiling a big smile. ?Hurry, I must get back so I can keep fighting,? he told the doctors and anyone else who would listen. He was told that there were more serious cases than his and that he needed to wait his turn. But he insisted. ?We are fighting the Israelis,? he said. ?When we fire we run, but they hit back so fast. We run into the houses to get away.? He continued smiling. ?Why are you so happy?? someone asked. ?Look around you. Don?t you see the misery that you are helping to cause?? A girl who looked about 18 was screaming from pain as a surgeon removed shrapnel from her leg. An elderly man was soaked in blood. A baby a few weeks old and slightly wounded was looking around helplessly. A man had a head injury, with parts of his brain coming out. He was on a stretcher, his family wailing at his side. ?Don?t you see that these people are hurting?? the militant was asked. ?But I am from the people, too,? he said, his smile incandescent. ?They lost their loved ones as martyrs. They should be happy. I want to be a martyr, too.? |
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