(Ha'aretz) Amira Hass - When the cease-fire went into effect, R. returned to his neighborhood near the border. He said: "Journalists asked me, 'So you're standing firm?' And I asked, what standing firm are you talking about? We're standing...on the rubble of our homes. That's standing firm?" "One mustn't express an opinion about the war. They'll make you trouble if you say anything. I speak my mind, but others, if they say what they think, they'll say they're collaborators, or they'll beat them or even kill them." "And what did we do? Since the first Egyptian [cease-fire] initiative - if they'd signed it, there would be 1,600 or 1,700 fewer people dead and none of this destruction. My house would still be standing. But 75 martyrs wouldn't have brought any money to them or to Gaza. They waited until they could get money." M.'s house in Beit Lahia remained practically intact. He said: "There's almost no house that hasn't been hit by a missile. If Hamas doesn't accept the PLO's proposals now, support and solidarity with them will disappear."
2014-08-06 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive