Respekt

There are no guarantees in life. Perhaps no one should put herself in a situation that's dangerous. But my participation is a small contribution that I can make compared to the sufferings that the Palestinians endure every single day. And, if by doing this, we can tell the world what is happening there, then it's worth going. I'm 82 years old, and I have lived, most of the time, a good life. Let me make a contribution before it's too late.

.... Säger Hedy Epstein, överlevare från förintelsen, där hennes föräldrar mördades, och som deltar i kampanjen och seglatsen Free Gaza.

Hon berättar om sig själv och sin bakgrund här.

Om sin första resa till Israel berättar hon bland annat:

And we were taken on a sightseeing tour, and the people on the bus would ask:
"Who lives in this area?" "These are Jewish people"."Oh, it is beautiful, the gardens are beautiful. Who lives over here"?
"These are Palestinians"."Oh, it stinks, it smells, it's terrible, it's dirty".
In fact, the windows of the bus were closed, and even if they were opened, we couldn't have smelled anything in the bus. This disturbed me, this kind of discrimination and talk against the Palestinians that they didn't even know. So that is why it was not a happy experience for me and left a very bad taste in my mouth, and I never went back.

Och vidare säger hon:
The model for holocaust survivors has been "Never again," and "Remembering," and I certainly do my share of "Remembering", but "Remembering" also has to have a future perspective. You can't stop at "Remembering" and saying "Never again" for Jews only. When I stood next to that terrible wall that Israel has built, separating Palestinian from Palestinian, I thought, "My God, this is what Jews are doing, the Jews that one time were forced behind walls, they are building a wall, and putting Palestinians behind that wall, and in the process destroying buildings, homes, wells, and hope."

Tidigare skrev jag det här:
http://paolopissoffi.blogspot.com/2007/06/med-vind-i-seglen-skall-gaza-befrias.html