In fact the victim who was killed is a child from Palestine and specifically from Gaza. Gaza is the place where many athletes and children have been/will be killed. The number of the martyrs from the sports movement is over 400 martyrs and it will increase. The percentage of children among the over a half a million palestinians killed by Israel since 1948 is 30%

The martyr is a child, like all the children of the world, named Hamid Abu Daqqa (12-year-old) .
All what he was thinking of is going back home and watch the match of his favorite team and his favorite football player “Cristiano Ronaldo”

Hamid didn’t carry a gun or throw stones at the israeli soldiers; he didn’t expect that real madrid Vs. Borussia Dortmund would be the last match he’ll eargerly watch before the Israeli holicapters steel with force his dreams of meeting his favorite football player and watching his favorite team playing in the Santyako Bernabéu.

Deadly Bullet in the head provided by Israel to Hamid while he was playing football with the children of neighborhood. He was wearing the white Real Madrid shirt and in the back of the shirt there was the famous number “7” and cristiano Ronaldo’s name., , The purity of the child’s heart and purity of his white shirt were mixed with his own blood amid the screams of the agitated children and the people of the neighborhood who rushed to rescue him but it was too late; Cristiano Ronaldo just got killed.
The dream of the madrista boy is over and the owner of number 7 just took his last breath..
Hamid Got killed

Goodbye Cristiano of Gaza !

As a 20-year-old Palestinian living in the besieged land of Gaza, I’ve grown up with my people, sharing the same bitterness of the persistence to live a normal life as much as possible despite all the obstacles we face every day. Being among people of the same culture and same daily life didn’t help me to discover a lot about life. I always had questions in my mind that kept me searching for answers. Even though I grew up filled with hope, dreams, love and strength but I could feel in my bones that there is much more in life to learn. I wanted to draw a canvas of life, yet there were certain missing colors which I was not able to perceive.

I did not have a story to narrate, but life has a strange way of surprising us with stories we never expect. My story started when I was approved for a scholarship that allowed me to spend five glorious weeks in USA with people of different cultures. There, I had the most wonderful experiences that I never expected I would have. It has left me with a wealth of memories which I deeply cherish. Every day has brought me something new to learn or something new to feel. Being close to those people helped me to fill my canvas with the missing colors as I became more aware of the lessons humanity teaches us.

In America, I had that experience which made me to believe that dreams do come true. I had a simple dream that wouldn’t seem like a dream for most people. I was always fascinated of the idea of going to a cinema! The thought of watching a movie in front of a big screen; taking a seat next to numerous people, eating popcorn, laughing and crying, thrilled me. When I heard that my friends were planning to go to a cinema I eagerly asked them if we could do that as soon as possible.

When we finally went, I was really happy because we were not just watching a regular film, rather 3D and 4D films. When it was a 3D film, I enjoyed the amazing flying bubbles that I felt I could touch! I almost screamed when the broken pieces were coming or it felt like coming toward me. I wished I had the chance to chase the beautiful butterflies or to pick one of the colorful flowers. However, it was scary to watch the documentary film about dinosaurs. The dinosaurs looked so real that I became really scared; as their faces were so close to mine, they looked as if they were going to swallow me! It felt like I was inside the film. At some point, I felt like I had to hide myself from the dinosaurs and I was unconsciously hitting my friend who was sitting next to me while trying to rescue my life from falling prey to the giant dinosaurs

Things got more real when it was a 4D cinema. I felt wind blew over my face, my chair was rocking because of the explosions in the movie and other effects that would touch me! I never dreamt of these sorts of films before as I thought they are unreachable for me. While watching I noticed that some Americans who were watching along with me were much less amazed as I was. I was interacting with the films madly but they neither shouted nor made wild gestures like I was doing. It felt awkward to me when I realized my dream was one of the options of their daily routine. Then I thought of it differently. I just came up with a conclusion that everyone has his or her unique dreams, and that was one of my unique dreams. If we can appreciate our blessings and think of others who don’t have what we have, before it becomes what we had, we can learn
the meaning of satisfaction which can lead us to simplicity and peace.

Hereinafter and throughout the five weeks, Muhammed, the talented Iraqi writer, was always the source of happiness among us. No one could imagine that his bright soul and his warm smile hid lots of sadness behind. Keeping strength and hope while everything is ruining around is a difficult ability to be found in any human, but it is not for Muhammed. He started with a smile telling us about his sad stories during the Iraqi conflict between Sunni and Shiites. His stories were the most atrocious stories I have ever heard. Although I am from a Gaza and I am familiar with bombs and war crimes, hearing his stories broke
my heart. I felt that all the hellish life I have lived in Gaza is nothing comparing to his one.

I was touched the most with a particular story of him. It happened when he was on his way to school. He did not face any trouble due to the rush hour; neither cars nor buses were blocking his way. However, scores of dead bodies were lying on the streets and cannibal dogs were ripping them apart. The scene freaked him out and then he ran insanely towards his school. This was only the beginning of his nightmare that started to unfold before his eyes. The terrible chain of events continued. As he arrived at his school with his friend, they discovered that one of their teachers was murdered. He fainted because of the shock and by the time he regained his consciousness at the hospital he was informed that his beloved friend was murdered, too.
This absence of security reminded me of the beginning of Operation Cast Lead, the war that Gaza suffered in 2008-2009. I still remember that horrible day when I was at the door of my school going back to my home. It all started with something which seemed like an earthquake with thousands of people running and screaming around me. I felt terrified, I was in panic! It wasn’t all because of the bombs that were falling everywhere randomly but also because I lost my sister in that utter chaos and confusion. I frantically looked for her everywhere but in vain. My feet carried me back to my home, I was running, screaming with every
missile exploded praying that my sister would be safely back. When I finally arrived home, it was such a
relief to find all my family members were safe.
The savage bombings and shelling lasted for 23days; from December 27, 2008 to 18 January 2009. For 23
days, Gaza, which sank in the darkness because of the permanent power cut, was isolated from the whole world as there was not any way of communication. Every night, I was praying to stay alive untill the next day, and every morning I appreciated the taste of the life more. I was counting my last moments, and because there was a possibility a missile could be shelled to any room all of a sudden, my closest sister and I made up our minds to go together to any room, even to the bathroom! We decided to stay together to die together or survive together. One can hardly imagine to what extent the situation was insane.
All these memories flood to my mind when I was listening to Muhammed’s stories and I could not help but crying. When Muhammed was trying to calm me down, his voice reminded me of my little brother who was always telling me, “It is ok!” every time we heard an explosion nearby, even though I could hear his heart beating rapidly because of the horror. After a while I realized what I went through, shocking and brutal though it is, was nothing comparing to his experiences especially after he witnessed the terrorist attacks by the so-called ” Islamic movements”. Since Islam prohibited murdering the innocents, they cannot be Muslims.

Muhammed’s experience inspired me to keep smiling despite the hardships of life. He taught me, even when death is howling at the doorstep, not to lose hope and faith. Although he went through dreadful and sad moments, which are enough to make anyone depressed forever, he managed to preserve his pure heart and hope. His stories show how awful some humans could become when it comes to their petty gains which they desperately want to attain at whatever cost. I wonder how difficult is it to realize we all are the same! Why can’t all of us treat others in terms of humanity? Yet among all the madness that goes around the world, we will find people like Muhammed who can hold themselves steady and spread hope among others in search for a brighter day.

Then I went through another experience that taught me the fine line between hatred and love. I was walking in Muir Woods National Monument in California, staring at the tall and old-growth trees with two of my Bahraini friends when suddenly a young lady, with many children, stopped us. She was curious to know about the countries we came from after she saw us wearing scarfs which indicated that we were strangers. My friends replied to her questions and then my turn came. “I am from Palestine,” I said proudly. Then she asked about from which part of Palestine I came and I told her I came from Gaza. Then she smiled but I didn’t know how to interpret her smile, especially as her children looked at me strangely without smiling, but I smiled back and curiously I asked her where she’s from. “We are your neighbors that you HATE!”, she answered.

I was puzzled and began wondering who the neighbors that we hate are? It took me a while to realize that she meant she is from Israel, the occupying country of Palestine. Even when her definition was based on hatred, I decided to treat her with love. I said goodbye to her that day with a smile and I met her once again with a smile and I even shook her hands. When I went back home, I wondered why she judged me as a hater! Is hatred the language that unifies our humanity?
She judged me a hater because she looked at me from her personal perspective. Maybe that what made her to think that the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis is because we HATE them. What most of them don’t realize that this conflict is because we LOVE our land and we struggle to protect it and to restore our rights that are daily violated by Israel. Our fight is a fight of human rights, not a fight of hatred!
We are all humans and we have our own way of thinking and judging. What most important of having our own way to think or to judge, is to know that others don’t look at things as we do. Whatever the differences were between us, love is the language that make us humans, as Paulo Coelho said in his book The Alchemist:” There was a language in the world that everyone understood. It was the language of enthusiasm, of things accomplished with love and purpose, and as a part of a search for something
believed in and desired.”

In sum, in America I discovered that being alive means you have to learn how to love, to donate, to hold hope, to be satisfied, and how to appreciate. Without these, we will never live as humans. Our world will be an ongoing-nightmare full of wars, crimes, and famine. All that is learned by the heart, so we’d better clean our hearts from selfishness, hatred, greed, and all that can spoil our hearts.

Mahmoud has been imprisoned by Israel for the past three years, after being arrested by the Israeli military on 22nd July 2009 at the Erez checkpoint in Gaza while on his way to join the Palestine National Football team for a match in Balata refugee camp in the West Bank.

After his arrest he was transferred to Ashkelon prison where he was interrogated for 30 days, before being given a detention order on 23rd August 2009 under Israel’s “Unlawful Combatants Law”. Addameer, the Prisoners’ Support and Human Rights group, state that “in practice, the Unlawful Combatants Law contains fewer protections for detainees than even the few that are granted under administrative detention orders in the West Bank”, and allows the Israeli state to hold Palestinians from Gaza for indefinite periods without charge or trial.

Mahmoud started a hunger strike on 19th March 2012 to protest being held without charge or trial, demanding to be informed of the reasons for his three year detention and to be allowed to defend himself, as is his most basic right under international law. After starting his hunger strike he was transferred to Naqab prison on 8th April and then moved to solitary confinement at Eshel prison. On 16th April he was transferred to Ramleh prison hospital as a result of his deteriorating health. He is now on his 74 day of hunger strike, an extremely dangerous milestone that could see his death at any moment.

He is one of over 4400 Palestinians held in Israeli jails in violation of Articles 49 and 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which forbids the transfer of occupied peoples (Palestinians), to the territory of the occupier (Israel). Grave breaches of these Articles are considered war crimes in international law.

For us it is unbearable to see Israel has been awarded the hosting of the UEFA Under 21s football championship in 2013 and gears up to participate in the London Olympics, while it routinely arrests, tortures, imprisons and kills Palestinians, including football players, without consequence. This is not fair play. Sports should show solidarity.

As Mahmoud’s family, we call on all people of conscience to demand his immediate release, and to pressure governments and international organisations to force Israel’s compliance with the most basic standards of international law. In particular we ask fellow football players and athletes to speak out in support of Mahmoud – don’t be silent when Israeli cruelty and arbitrariness has destroyed the aspirations of a rising athlete and keeps thousands under inhumane conditions in their jails. We ask sports teams and anti-racist fan clubs to organize in support of Mahmoud and all the other Palestinian political prisoners. Your voice can contribute to saving his life and to a little victory against injustice.

It is time to end Israeli crimes carried out with impunity, and to demand the release of all Palestinians held illegally by Israel, including the other Palestinian prisoners who, along with our beloved Mahmoud, striking for their dignity and freedom.

I was born and brought up in Palestine, and I know you have enough background about how life looks like in here.The daily news about martyrs, bombings, detention and protests. Every day, there are new stories to be told. And here I am trying to tell the story of a woman, putting my hands on the keyboard, looking at the screen and thinking if my words would be good enough to tell the story of a freedom fighter, I wrote a line then deleted it, but then I decided that it does not matter how to start, what really matters is to speak up.

Palestinian women or as I call them “glowing face of Palestine” were from the very beginning fighting side- by- side with men. They proved to the whole world that they are strong enough to stand in front of armed soldiers with their bare hands and hopeful eyes without being afraid of being shot. Through the past 63 years, Palestinian women have lost brothers, husbands and sons. They haven’t slept most of the nights praying for their children to be safe. I would describe them as “great mountains” since they carry lots of pains but still standing as a proud and strong mountain.

As an every Palestinian woman losing a precious thing. Hana Shalabi, 30 years old, is losing her freedom, and Israel “of course” is all behind it. At 2:30 am, 16 February 2012 Israeli soldiers broke into Hana’s house. Drag her out with a very aggressive way forcing her to go with them. Her family tried to protect her, but soldiers hit them with guns. I should mention that Hana was set free last October after the prisoners exchanging deal, and now she is an administrative detain which means that she is in prison without charge or trail.

Being arrested without charge is very illegal, but this is Israel who never takes in consider any law or right. Israel does not even know what humanity means. That should be the definition of terrorism I believe. The story is not over yet. Hana as an every Palestinian woman never surrender.

Once they arrested her, Hana declared hunger strike because she wanted to tell Israel that they can’t go on with their crimes any more. Administrative detention must be stopped wither they like it or not. Khader Adnan has started this mission and she is now completing it. Today is her 31st day in hunger strike and the empty stomach battle is still on.

Hana is fighting with her own weapon. Her empty stomach is standing in front of an inhuman army. Her empty stomach is speaking louder than Arab presidents who never seem to care, but they must know that Hana represents Palestinian .Hana’s empty stomach is the road to Palestine.

I am still looking for words that can tell the very true story. Nothing seems to help me. This is only a little part of the story, because no one in the whole world can describe it better than her, the one who’s actually living it. I imagine her sitting in the small cell trying to breathe hardly in this cold weather, I can imagine her wrapping her hands around her stomach feeling weak and sick, seriously, how can I describe that? You will have to live it so that you can know. I have nothing to say because Hana is saying it all without having to speak a single word.

So, If you consider yourself as a human being, pro-feminist, human rights activist, or anything you want. Please do anything you can to spread her story. Or to make sure you have some of the human spirit left in you.

A few days ago, seemingly out of the blue, Palestinian activists starting tweeting “F*** Egypt.” Many people started asking, Why f*** Egypt? What do you mean? Who are Palestinians, who’ve managed to be occupied by three warring forces—Israel, the PA and Hamas—to dare say such a thing to Egyptians?

 We Palestinians had immense expectations in the Egyptian revolution. The outlook of the revolution made us think that a change is coming and the revolution will leave good traces on the Palestinian situation , specially the situation of Gaza. We even celebrated more than the Egyptians themselves when Mubarak stepped down (at least that’s what it felt like). Everyone in Gaza took to the streets dancing, singing, shooting in the air and fireworks were filling the sky of Gaza. We were so emotional, happy and thinking that this is the time to say good bye to the siege and welcome freedom.

Truth be told, some of us activists were telling Israel, Hamas and the PA to “f*** off” in the months before Egyptians gave the finger to Mubarak, as evidenced by the founding of the Gaza Youth Breaks Out movement. But with the Pharaoh gone we started working for a change inside Gaza to fit with the change in Egypt, to build a better situation for both sides. We and the Egyptians celebrated when Mubarak stepped down, but not because the most hated dictator was down, but because we were convinced that with him would end the inhumane policies he stood for: not merely his tight grip on the country, but also his bonds with Israel, which made Egypt responsible in good measure for the imprisonment of the people of Gaza. We were hopping that the revolution would bring the people of Egypt and Palestine together, that the Rafah crossing would be open 24 hours a day, that the treatment toward Palestinians by the Egyptian government would become more humane. We had lots of hopes and dreams; but the more time has passed, the more we’ve lost the hope, while all the dreams we built after the revolution are vanishing. Apparently we were totally wrong. In fact, the Egyptian policies never changed toward Palestinians with Mubarak stepping down. it’s getting much worse day by day, or change by change.

 A couple of weeks ago, the picture of a young Egyptian woman went around the world. She was stripped and brutally beaten in front of cameras, but it wasn’t the brutality that made her a symbol for the current post Mubarak Egypt. She became a symbol because she is the living proof that Egypt without Mubarak is the same as Egypt with Mubarak. The men who beat her up and stripped her off were not only the ones that were celebrated for protecting the people against police violence during the revolution, they also were supposed to be the promise for a common struggle towards a better new government. A temporarily military rule it was supposed to be, giving time and power to the people to build up a democratic system. But while the pictures of military brutality go around the world, there is a much quieter and less prominent proof that the new regime is betraying the people’s hope in it. If you want to find out what that is, be a Palestinian. Be a Palestinian in Gaza, or be one in Egypt. You will feel it, notice it, and experience it every day, in your every move.

 As a Palestinian, you are not allowed to go in certain areas since its considered as a tourism place for Israelis. For a Palestinian getting into southern sinai areas is forbidden and if a Palestinian managed to tour these areas with a special permission, he’ll be watched by the Egyptian intelligence 24 hours a day. As a Palestinian, you are not allowed to stay in Egypt more than 72 hours unless you are a student or an employer otherwise, your stay will be considered illegal. As a Palestinian, you feel the humiliation when you go to the governmental organization and you see the special treatment toward westerners and you’re considered as a threat to the Egyptian security.

As a Palestinian,  I want a successful Egyptian revolution and I want to feel the positive change in Gaza.  

Why Do We Ask For Your Help?
What makes us special is our acceptance of different culture “hip hop” as a mean to communicate with the world through the language of love and peace “music”
Second we are using two languages, Arabic and English, in order to confirm the universality of our message, our words are simple, clear cut for everyone to understand and relate to..
……………………………………………………………

Projects Idea:
A musical track that can open the eyes of the Arab world to realize what kind of change and tolerance the Arab spring has brought to this new generation. this track promotes a peaceful approach towards dealing with our problems in a modern way, in a dynamic world.
It serves to document the human rights violations which took place during the peaceful demonstrations all over the Arab world. it also calls for youth to get out and express themselves in peaceful manners despite prosecution. The track envisions Arab youth playing an important role in the political and social areas across the region.

Please donate whatever you can. We thank you in advance. Peace be upon you.

If you can help Please send us an email at freegazayouth@hotmail.com

GYBO is a peaceful Palestinian youth movement in Gaza, which gained
international attention after publishing a Manifesto in January. Abu Yazan
is a leading voice in the movement that is representing a growing number
of Gazan youth. The group raises, mainly through new social media like
facebook, awareness about the situation under siege for young people in
Gaza, and recently called for unity among the Palestinian factions with
the aim to target the illegal Israeli occupation.

Abu Yazan regularly takes part in demonstrations against the illegal
Israeli occupation in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza.

No reasons for his arrest was given up to this time. He also was
denied visits by his family and a lawyer. We call on the authorities to
abide by the law.

Please call:
Ayman Tahah, spokesman for Hamas, 00972599480580 and/or
Gazi Hamad 00972599601779, to ask for Abu Yazans whereabouts and
demand his urgent release: WE NEED ALL OF YOU TO HELP!!!!

For more information:
AbuGhassan, 00972599842798
or gaza@riseup.net

Question is; is it the same case for the Palestinians living in Gaza? Can they travel easily? Can they just book a flight and leave? Is it possible for them to go to Egypt without any restrictions? Is it even possible to SET a date?

Let me sequence what you need to do if you want to travel from Gaza to anywhere else;
1- You have to go the registration office in Gaza at least 3 months before the date you wish to travel on. For example, if you want to travel on October, you have to register on July. Why? Because the Great Pharaohs allow only 300 people to leave daily and the number of people wishing to leave for several reasons is huge, so there is no empty place for you before October.
2- After waiting for 3 months, you go to Rafah gate. There, you would be really really really really really really lucky if you made it in your first try; people usually go 3 or 4 days in a raw, hoping to get in and not everyone crosses in the end as thousands are waiting for their turn.
3- If you made it and crossed the gate, you’ll have to wait in the Palestinian hall for at least 2 hours until you get your passport stamped.
4- Then you get in the bus and wait for some more.
5- Then you cross to the Egyptian hall and wait for them to call your name and stamp your passport. But guess what? They don’t stamp all the passports they receive. Almost 50 out of every 300 people will be returned to Gaza; depends on the mood of the person stamping the passport.

Some witnesses
A. Ruhmi is married to an Egyptian and wanted to go see his wife who was about to have her first baby. He registered, made it to the Palestinian hall, got in the bus then to the Egyptian hall. That’s when they told him to go back to Gaza. And when he asked them about the reason, they said that he was on the black list. He started explaining them that he used to live in Egypt and is not affiliated with any political movement and has never carried a gun in his life. They got him in the bus by force and sent him back to Gaza, without him being able to see his wife.

N. Matter is a student at an Australian university; she booked her flight for the 14th of July and registered to cross on the 11th of July. She couldn’t make it on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd attempts. She spent days going to the gate and coming back and hours waiting in the sun. When she finally managed to cross, it was too late for her to catch her flight, so she had to pay again for a plane ticket.

Traveling became a fiction and talking about it might make you look crazy in front of other people. Even though it’s a legitimate right, traveling is never for fun and entertainment for Palestinians from Gaza; the only reasons that make them seek to leave Gaza is a treatment, work or study – most of the time, it’s for humanitarian and urgent needs.

Some questions came to my mind while writing this; where are the Egyptian revolutionists? Why is all this torture for the people of Gaza? How do Egyptians justify banning thousands of people from traveling for basic needs? Why do children and elders have to wait for hours, days and sometimes weeks in the sun for their turn to come? Why do patients have to suffer more at Rafah gate?

Please close this gate… we don’t want it. We would be better without Rafah crossing; at least we wouldn’t think about it!

Abu Yazan