Why is the Palestinian blood so cheap?

Living for more than three weeks under the attacks of all kinds of modern destructive weapons is not an easy experience. The war against Gaza was a horrific period for Linda, Larissa, and Olga - they are Russian and Ukrainian doctors married to Gazan doctors. They talked exclusively to Pravda.ru about their experience under Israeli aggression against Gaza.

Photo: Why is the Palestinian blood so cheap?

Why is the Palestinian blood so cheap?

"They killed my friend, she is a Ukrainian, they shot her by a tank fireball, and killed her with her baby who was 16 months Old?! They killed her while they declared there were three hours of ceasefire to let civilian get their needs! She was married to a Palestinian doctor. Not only did they kill her and her son - they leveled her house with a military bulldozer to hide the crime. Why did they do this?" Linda wondered.

"The people get Albiena and her baby out of the debris just two days after the end of the war, it was impossible to reach her body, Albiena and her baby stayed for more than two weeks under the rubble." Linda added.

Linda said: "I am living in Gaza for twelve years. This war was very terrible, it is the first time I experience something so terrible. Even when Fatah and Hamas were fighting with each other it was not like this at all. Everywhere was dangerous in Gaza during this war, no single place was safe; we could hear bombs from every side."

Linda said "I live with my husband and children in the center of the city, our flat is in the same building with out clinic. We would escape to the flat if the attacks of the Israeli army came from the side of the clinic, and would escape to the clinic if the bombardment was from the side of the flat. They leveled a money exchange office beside our house. We were very scared. When they started the first bombardment, with F16 fighters, it happened during the day, and my kids where at school. I was very scared about them. Everything suddenly stopped – cellular communication, transportation - it was a very strong attack, and there were a lot of injured people."

"This war was unbalanced, it is led by one side only. Israel has a very strong army and they used very destructive power against the civilians while Hamas used simple and useless rockets. One of my friends was escaping from one place to another to find a safe place, but practically there were no single safe place in the City. They destroyed everything, and we lived without electric power, with little water and food, and without gas while it is winter and it is very cold. We used an old fuel oil stove," Linda added.

Linda said. “I was very scared but I was hiding my feelings in front of my little daughter. I would talk to her, or give her a book, or let her draw to make her forget. My mum lived with me in Gaza for many years and she would call me every time when watching targets being destroyed on TV, because she knows the City very well, and she knows everything was around me."

"Israel has done to us more than the Nazis did – there is no justification for all what they did," she added.

Olga, a friend of Linda’s, is doctor too – she is married to a Gazan doctor.

"We live beside the main hospital of the city, everywhere in the city was in dangerous during this war, even the hospital itself. This was not a war between two governments or two armies - this was an unbalanced war from a very strong army against civilians. Most of the time we stayed at home, but because me and my husbands are doctors, my husband spent most of his time at the hospital, and I divided my time between my children and my work. I stopped going to my hospital when they told us it is a military target for the Israeli army, and I tried to do my duty at the main hospital beside my house. Many of my friends left the city. When our embassy called us I decided not to leave , my life is here, my husband and my children. In addition, I'm a doctor, and doctors from all over the world are coming to help the Palestinians, so how could I leave while others were coming to help."

"I didn't leave Gaza during the war, nor did I leave after the war. I can leave but I will not," Olga added.

Larissa assured what Olga said by saying. "Here is my life, my husband, my work, and my children, I can leave too, and my embassy called me but I will not, I am a Gazan."

Larissa added "It was a very hard period during the war. My kids are eight years and six years old and they would often ask me why they wanted to kill us, and why the war was happening. They were crying, our kids reached a stage to say let them kill us, let them do whatever they want - they became careless after what Israel did."

"Why is the Palestinian blood so cheap in the eyes of the whole world?! Palestinians are grieving, and Arabs don't care about them! We think that Europeans care about Palestinians more than Arabs do!" Olga and Larissa said.

Larissa and Olga ended their speech saying: "Israel is a very strong state. Why did they kill all those civilians? Why did they kill more than 1,300 people and injured more than 5,000?"

Report prepared by Nahedh Abdelwahed for Pravda.ru
Gaza City