Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/357188
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 3 AUGUST 2014 News 7 life ahead. "Imagine all the memories of your life ruthlessly taken away from you in less than 10 minutes! All it takes is 10 minutes and in some cases – five minutes. That's how much time the Israeli Army gives us to leave our home, to leave our past, our memo- ries and run for our lives. Ten min- utes to get what is important to us out of our houses to take with us. As if what is important can be materi- alised in a thing or two! What about the whole house? Is it possible to carry away the whole house in these minutes? "I fear the moment when our house will get 'The Call' of evacuation. The Call is also called a "knock on the roof" warning when a drone fires a non-explosive missile at the roof of the building that is to be bombed by the Israeli air forces – nobody knows how long after. "How can I abandon all my memo- ries and my life that I spent in that house! Among the stones of my house resides the history of mine, of my sister, my brother, my mother and my father. In my house, I have seen my tiny twin nephews, who were born premature, grow up and become these noisy and lively little kids they are today. This house has witnessed me growing up, graduat- ing from university and becoming who I am today. It has witnessed our happy moments — graduations, birthday parties, my sister's engage- ment party and the 2008 and 2012 wars that we survived. It also was our companion at the sad times when my grandmothers, my uncle and my aunts died. "How can I abandon my room and leave everything in order to save my life? How can I allow them to take away all my accomplishments from me? My room has all my memories; one wall has all my pictures and memories of my friends when I was in London pursuing my master's de- gree as well as my pictures from my recent trip to the United States where I met so many inspiring people. My closet has the gifts I received from Japanese children when I was a kid as a participant of a UNRWA program to reward top students – the gifts I dreamt of showing to my kids and grandchildren in the future. Every corner in the room is a part of me. How can I see parts of me scattered among the debris of my house? It took us more than three years to build our house – finally. Too long, isn't it? But it was time-consuming because construction materials were rarely allowed to be brought to the Gaza Strip back then. My house is more than bricks laid on top of each other. It is a member of my family, it is our home, a living and pulsating thing to me that l don't want to lose or think of losing it. So how can I see my home crumbling down in front of my eyes in one minute and stand still watching? How can the whole world expect me to stand still, watching and talking about peace when that rocket would steal my memories, my past, my house, my land, and, prob- ably, the members of my family. "Excuse me, World! I stopped be- lieving you and calling out to you to stop the killing of my people for all you will do is send some money after it is too late; as if money can com- pensate the sorrow, the pain, the hurt and the loss of beloved ones. Excuse me, World! I don't want to listen to you demanding from us to stay calm and humbly accept the mass murder of our people – I haven't been listen- ing to you since I sat there seeing an F16 rocket kill another sleeping house in the middle of the night. "(Written while our house was shaking violently from continuous bombardment all night)" COME & ENJOY A PINA COLADA WITH US! MEGA-CLEARANCE PRICES ON: 6+23',63/$<3+$6('28702'(/66/,*+7/<'(17('$33/,$1&(6 COME & COME & ENJOY A PINA COLADA WITH US! MEGA-CLEARANCE PRICES ON: MEGA-CLEARANCE PRICES ON: MEGA-CLEARANCE PRICES ON: MEGA-CLEARANCE PRICES ON: 6+23',63/$<3+$6('28702'(/66/,*+7/<'(17('$33/,$1&(6 6+23',63/$<3+$6('28702'(/66/,*+7/<'(17('$33/,$1&(6 6+23',63/$<3+$6('28702'(/66/,*+7/<'(17('$33/,$1&(6 6+23',63/$<3+$6('28702'(/66/,*+7/<'(17('$33/,$1&(6 6+23',63/$<3+$6('28702'(/66/,*+7/<'(17('$33/,$1&(6 6+23',63/$<3+$6('28702'(/66/,*+7/<'(17('$33/,$1&(6 6+23',63/$<3+$6('28702'(/66/,*+7/<'(17('$33/,$1&(6 6+23',63/$<3+$6('28702'(/66/,*+7/<'(17('$33/,$1&(6 6+23',63/$<3+$6('28702'(/66/,*+7/<'(17('$33/,$1&(6 TIM DIACONO THE Palestine Solidarity Network (Malta) yesterday held a symbolic action at City Gate, Valletta, where a number of activists lay down on the ground, symbolis- ing the people being killed in Gaza. The group later held a candle-lit vigil at 9:30pm out- side the United States embassy in Ta' Qali. While activists holding placards with pictures of the devastating attacks on Gaza lay on the ground in si- lence, audio recordings of the shelling and bombing of Gaza were played out. The network's spokesperson, Andre Callus, called for an end to the Israeli "brutal attack on the people of Gaza" where schools, hospitals and homes have been shelled and bombed on a daily basis for more than three weeks. To date, over 1,600 persons have been killed in Gaza. "As most of the world boycotted and sanctioned countries like Apartheid South Africa or Nazi Germa- ny, the same should be done to the apartheid state of Israel committing acts of genocide on the Palestinian population," the Palestine Solidarity Network said. The Palestine Solidarity Network welcomed foreign affairs Minister George Vella's recent statement in which he said that, "as things stand, Malta would not be supporting Israel's bid for a seat on the UN Secu- rity Council". However, Callus criticised the government for not "having clearly condemned the aggression by Israel. Calling on 'both parties to exercise restraint' is non- sensical," he said. "Here we have a fully-armed Israeli state unleashing its military force on a people that have been dispos- sessed by this same state, living under siege for the past eight years." Yesterday evening a candle-lit vigil for Gaza was held outside the US embassy in Ta' Qali. Maltese activists call for sanctions on Israel Upon reaching his home this week, Kamal also found his family's donkey buried under the rubble Karl Schembri of Save The Children, lived in a Gaza apartment for years when he worked for Oxfam. That apartment (on the right is the view he had of the sea) is no more