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| And suddenly, the Dreams of Childhood Disappeared |
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| Thursday, 18 May 2006 | |
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Hadil Ghabin, 9 years old, was killed last night after an Israeli shell struck her family's home. 13 other members of her family were injured, including her pregnant mother, several toddlers, and her 15-year-old brother Ahmed, who lost his eye sight.
Hadil's mother was baking bread when the shells began to fall around them. She gathered her children and they huddled inside the house for safety. According to her aunts, Hadil loved reading, writing stories, and playing "make-believe". "She would always gather all the neighbourhood children and tell them all sorts of wild stories," told me her Aunt. And why not, for sometimes imagination is the only refuge we have here, the only realm that cannot be invaded. May she live the fairy tales she could only imagine during her short life. Photos and videos of the sad event (all mine):
Overcome with emotion, Hadil's mother collapsed when the body of her daughter, limp and expressionless, was brought to the house for a final farewell.
Hadil's 10-year-old brother Ahmed lost his sight in the attack. "And suddenly, the seams of childhood disappeared And the stories and dreams flew away like a kite" Neighbours tried to comfort the grieving family, as they wept alongside them and threw fragrant basil flowers on her lifeless body before the burial. One-year old Rawan comforts her other sister, Rana Even as Hadil was being carried away, shells continued to pound the area, leaving billows of white smoke in the distance and an acrid smell lingering in the air. The Israeli Army asserted today that despite the civlian deaths, which resulted from narrowing their range of attack, the shelling will continue.
The Ghabin household. The mother was baking bread when the shelling began, and gathered her children together in the living room when their house was hit.
Videos:
Video one: A village mourns
Video two: the shelling of northern Gaza, not far from the Ghabin household and the farming village of Fa'dos, continues. Readers have left 10 comments.
Taz:
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Israel is a state of war criminals. Were this kind of action carried out against any group other than Muslims the world would not sit on its hands. The Israelis evoke memories of the holocaust to justify their evil deeds and the world lets them get away with it. Anyone who takes objection to such cruelty is labelled as anti-Simetic. The only thing to do is fight fire with fire.
(1)
2006-05-19 12:01:05
Lest we forget:
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Taz you seem to conviently forget the criminal Palestinian mentality , think back to the Munich Olympics where the world carried on with their games after the slaughter of the Israeli athletes by the cowardly blood thirsty criminal terrorists , now who were they that committed that heroic act of shooting unarmed men ,is that a muslim trait or what , showing that the perparaters of such feats deem nothing sacred . Now look to Iraq to see muslim killing muslim brothers on a scale that the Israeli couldn`t even contemplate , while in Kuwait ,they threw the palestians out ,for sideing with Saddam .The Israelis don`t have to do anything , you`ll turn on yourselves ,look whats happening in that sick society in Gaza . Wonder who you`ll blame for that catastrophy ? No no let me guess ?
(2)
2006-05-20 02:54:26
Saddened reader:
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Can someone not send these pictures to the media? The picture of the injured baby was particularly moving. It's sad that innocent people/civilians are dying on both sides in the Middle East ( Palestine and Israel). I wish that the violence would stop and that the conflicts could be resolved peacefully. A person's home is his/her sanctuary and the one place that he or she should feel safe. How frightening it must be for these people who do not feel safe even in their own homes.
It might be an idea for people to write dramas or drama documentaries ( docu-dramas) about this ongoing conflict, looking fairly at both perspectives, the history behind it and trying to find a peacful resolution to all this misery. It might be an idea to make docu-dramas about incidents like this to help people understand what it feels like for people who live under these conditions. No news or newspaper article, however, moving, can compete with a well-written and well-informed docu-drama for helping people to understand an experience.
(4)
2006-05-20 19:25:58
Saddened Reader:
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Why don't you send this article and these pictures to the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and SKY TV as well as the British press?
(5)
2006-05-20 19:27:57
Saddened reader:
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You have to send this article and these pictures to all the British media ( papers and TV news channels, both terrestrial and SKY). I cannot believe that any government would support the killing of innocent civilians and their children in their own homes. Is this not terrorism too? I don't understand- how is it that we don't see this or hear about this on the news? It seems that there are two sides to this story and violence cannot be the answer for any side. It just causes untold misery to all and is especially tragic when children are involved.
(6)
2006-05-20 19:59:43
Saddened reader:
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To whoever wrote this article- Please please make sure that this article is sent to the media. This is the other side of the conflict that we never get to hear about. People have to know what this is doing to these innocent children in their own homes. A lot of people don't even realise that this is going on. I didn't until recently. It has to be reported for everyone to see.
People need to know that there is a government authority that supports and approves this. Violence will never solve this or any problem. It just makes things worse and innocent people including young children and babies get caught in the crossfire. The only thing and the best thing we can do is to raise public awareness and let all of the mainstream British media and British public know what they don't know. Surely, if you send this to the media, they cannot turn a blind eye to the suffering of innocent, frightened / dying children? No-one is that callous/ hard-hearted. So, please please ensure that this is sent to all the news channels and papers. I would send it to the media myself but wouldn't feel right doing this without the writer's permission so please please, whoever wrote this article and took these pictures, contact the media now! I apologise for writing so many comments on this one article but it is heart-breaking to see something like this happen to anyone ( irrespective of religion or background) and it shouldn't go unreported.
(7)
2006-05-20 22:49:06
Islamic Torch:
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My heart cannot sink anymore. For its reached its depths but even then I pray to Allah (Swt) to deliver us from these oppressions. In Iraq, in Palestine, in Chechnya and in Afghanistan brothers and sisters die on the hour by the day. All this is promoted and authorised by the British government.
(8)
2006-05-21 12:32:43
Angry commentator:
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This is a clear example of state terrorism, it's about time, the Muslim world woke up and stopped depending on the west to be their mouthpiece because its clear the West aids israel, and shall never speak out against it. The question is, what are we useless muslims going to do?
(9)
2006-05-21 13:59:01
revenger:
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Lets gets some facts in, Munich was a 0% of its own medicine, israelis walk in the blood of humanity. israelis deserve EVERYTHING as setttlers are murderers by definition. There is no such thing as an innocent israeli as there is civlian. Well an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
(10)
2006-05-23 10:20:59
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