Where have I been?

Begun July 2011
Where have I been? That's not such an easy question to answer. Since my last post I have been home... doing little to keep myself busy. Rarely is that a good mode for me. I can't seem to become interested in anything....not even the things I know interest me. I just don't engage. Sliding into a depression is never fun! For me depression is always hanging over my head like a black cloud.

I've just returned from a three week trip to "the heartland" Had it not been for the children's art exhibit, I would probably still be down. "A Child's View from Gaza" was scheduled to be exhibited at Grinnell College during the Friends Gathering. Once again I drove halfway across the country to talk about Gaza; this time to show the children's amazing drawings.

The exhibit didn't draw as much attention s I'd anticipated.the location could have been better. We were in a large hallway area in front of a very large room accommodating the "book-sale" A huge book sale with thousands of books. The people passing had their minds on books and couldn't be distracted.

However.... young couples, college students, teens and pre-teens were captivated by the drawings. They were given a history of the exhibit and a program providing background information and answers to many questions. Quakers are a bit subdued any way so

 Whose  soldiers. are they? I  replied they were Israeli soldiers. "Well, where's the other soldiers, you know who's fighting them?" I explained that Gaza has no army', navy, air force. "Well then, how can they win?" I told them I didn't know, that  the two sides were very unbalanced . Gaza militants did have rockets which they shot towards Israel but the rockets went up and came down...They guided themselves.

"Boy oh boy, this isn't fair. Why don't they just go somewhere else?" The boycott and siege were explained....very simply! When I told them Gaza's borders were closed. Gazans were basically locked in. Even their harbor was closed and Israeli ships were always on patrol. "Well, that's not fair! It must be against the law. It has to be!"

"How did you get to Gaza?" My journey into Gaza was shared. I said we were very lucky because some people never get in; as an example I used the doctors from Ireland who were never allowed in. "They won't even let doctors go to Gaza? This is really bad!"

We chatted a bit longer and one of the boys said, "How do they get away with this? Why doesn't someone help Gaza?"

We had spent maybe 10 or 15 minutes together. They asked all the right questions about things that are quite obvious: look at the drawings they tell volumes about life in Gaza under Israel's occupation. It those boys can "get it," why can't our leaders?