Yesterday, my daughter was at her university when her phone beeped around 4:00 a.m. It gave notice that there was a terrorist infiltration. There were no instructions...so she tried to go back to sleep. And when she did, she dreamed of terrorists coming into her room at school.
Within a minute of the time she got up to make sure the others were up, there was a knock on the door and the boy from the dorm room opposite theirs called out to them. He said his name, but one of the girls, frazzled and scared, yelled back "prove it".
My daughter rushed to unlock the door and when she told me about it...a few times... she kept saying how she saw her hand shaking as she struggled to get the key in the lock.
They opened the door and the boy came in. He's armed and the fact that he brought his weapon with him calmed them some. They asked about his roommate and with laughter in her voice, my daughter described how he had only thought of the girls alone and frightened. Shocked, he rushed back across to find his roommate sitting outside holding his gun looking all around, watching, waiting, guarding.
While one went to comfort and protect; the other, a soldier recently back from Gaza, stayed outside to confront if necessary, to protect.
Even now, my eyes fill with pride and tears and sorrow and anger.
As the door was open, they saw a few panicked young women rushing past them in the early moments of the day, "where are you going?" my daughter called out.
"To the bomb shelter," they answered and continued on their way. And my daughter explained that it shows how automatically we respond without thinking.
And she said that they automatically think of the bomb shelter as safety but this was a terrorist infiltration, not an incoming missile.
We talked about locking windows and doors, of maybe barricading the door....in what world does a mother have this discussion with her daughter? And when she explained that they had decided that of the three rooms in the little apartment, hers was the safest room because it was away from the street. I thought of the big bed she bought from last year's tenant and said - you could hide in the large storage area under the bed...she's so skinny and the compartment is very large.
No, she explained. She had told that to the boy who came back from Gaza and he looked at her and told her that when entering an apartment, the first thing they are told to do is shoot at the bed and the closet...because that's where terrorist might hide...
I got off the phone and my mind whirled with so many thoughts...of those girls rushing to a bomb shelter, of the boy who came back from Gaza taking up a position to defend, of the other rushing to comfort the three girls.
And I thought - this is my country...a nation that rushes to protect, to defend. A nation haunted by war, shattered by the agonies we've endured...and still, still strong enough to think, to worry, to protect the other.
Hi Paula,
ReplyDeleteI’m responding to your recent Facebook post where you claim that “23 out of 24 aid trucks from the UAE were stolen.” I’ve searched for a credible source to support this, but I haven’t found a single verification from official or independent outlets. Neither the UAE, the UN, nor any major humanitarian organization appears to have confirmed such an event.
Sharing claims like this without sources – especially in a situation where civilians are starving and dying – does not help. In fact, it seriously undermines your credibility.
Facts matter. Please treat them with the care they deserve.
So, sure here are some of the facts to correct what you wrote - absolutely the vast majority of the aid IS being stolen...in the incident cited above, 23 out of 24 were stolen...The Associated Press published that 88% of all humanitarian aid has been stolen by Hamas (who often turns around and sells for 10 times the price - according to AP: A kilogram (2.2 pounds) of flour has run as high as $60 in recent days, a kilogram of lentils up to $35; same report: A man in his 30s, who insisted on anonymity for fear of reprisal, said he had visited GHF sites about 40 times since they opened and nearly always came back with food. He sold most of it to merchants or other people). Some sources as you asked...if you haven't found a single verification from independent outlets, I fear you haven't tried very hard...
ReplyDelete9 out of 10: https://www.timesofisrael.com/almost-9-in-10-aid-trucks-looted-before-reaching-gaza-destinations-un-figures-show/
88%:
https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2025/08/05/un-reports-88-percent-of-aid-trucks-slated-for-delivery-in-gaza-since-may-looted-along-routes/
Data from the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) showed that between May 19 and August 5, more than 2,600 trucks carrying humanitarian aid crossed from Israel into Gaza. However, only 300 of these trucks reached their intended destinations in Gaza during that period, with some 2,309 trucks being “intercepted” and looted along their delivery routes — undermining the recent claim of Tom Fletcher, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, that “the vast majority of the aid gets to civilians.”
“The failure of the United Nations to effectively distribute aid in Gaza, as well as its grotesque practice of blaming Israel while turning a blind eye to Hamas, emphasizes the crying need for an alternative system of aid delivery. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has developed a model to bypass Hamas by directly distributing aid to those who need it; sadly, instead of helping the GHF refine that model and limit the risks to Palestinians arriving at its distribution sites, the international community seems determined to reinstate the failed UN system.” said a Senior Analyst and Rapid Response Director