Sunday, December 22, 2013

SANTA IS NOT COMING TO PALESTINE

By Jafar M Ramini

Jafar Ramini
It’s the Sunday before Christmas.  London is wearing its party frock; the lights are glittering, the bells are chiming; the throng of shoppers are streaming up and down the streets.  Happy and joyous are they all.  And here I am, a Palestinian exile, a grandfather, a father and a husband, trying to bring some of this happy mood into a corner of London that I call my little Palestine.
Amongst all this, my heart and thoughts are with my people back home, going through the most arduous winter on record.  Snow has covered the entire Middle East in the last week or so. Palestinians inside Palestine, in the refugee camps dotted around the Arab world are all at the mercy of the elements. Gaza is not only totally besieged and freezing but is also flooded by sewage, courtesy of the ever merciful Israelis. In the West Bank they decided this harsh winter week was a good time to cut the electricity. After all, the illegal settlers need it more.
I did not deliberately sit down to write a lament or a sad piece, but the situation is very sad and where we are heading is totally lamentable. I refer here to the on going, utterly useless, not to say cringe-making and vomit inducing charade that is still unfolding in Jerusalem, Ramallah and Amman under the name of ‘peace’ negotiations.
What is it that makes our leaders tread the same path over and over and over again, knowing that it can only lead to disaster?                    >Jafar complete report<   leave a comment »

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