Death in Rafah's tunnels in struggle for bare necessities of life

I went into her house, the children were in front of the door... what door?! there was no door!

Rami, my friend also an ex-political prisoner released after the massacre, guided me into the modest space

Umm Mohammad was standing ahead

she looked into my eyes

"ahlan wa sahlan" (welcome), she said

...comrade George & I went in...

I sat close to Umm Mohammad, as i listened to her speak about her son... mohammad
mohammad abu m'aammar is the eldest of 9 children. He is 20 years old, & is a student at a college in khan younes. "He was obliged to go work in the tunnels, we are deprived of basic human needs..."
Umm mohammad insisted she was against this work from the start...
"i told him not to go there! not to join the tunnels, it is a dangerous thing to go into... but, he couldn't see it that his sisters & brothers not be able to wear decent clothes, & eat healthy food"
she pointed to a man, shorter than her, who looked as if he was in his late 30s. "this is abu mohammad. he suffered from schizophrenia ever since he was released from the Israeli prisons." abu mohammad comes close, his face grim, years of torture inscribed on his expressionless face...
umm mohammad, & mohammad's grandmother, began talking to me about mohammad & this young man's insistence to work despite all danger threatening his life
"he was not supposed to go in the tunnels. he was supposed to receive things from the opening & take them to respective clients."
it was mohammad's first week, last week... & the day the IOF bombed a nearby tunnel was the day he had decided to go through to bring in some goods... more

Thanks to Moments of Gaza

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