And I, as an inhabitant of Gaza, will try, in this article, to portray what it feels like for a human being to be caged inside the largest and oldest jail in history, The Gaza Strip Jail.

This jail is bordered by Beit Hanoun from the north, Rafah from the south, and the Mediterranean Sea from the west. To the east lies the Green Line, drawn between Israel and what remained of Palestine after the 1948 war. The Gaza penitentiary consists of 5 large cells "Gaza governorates", all of which hold about 1.5 million detainees. But what is considered really unique in this prison, is that no jailers are inside; all of them are located on its external fences and at its gates, while all of the detainees are sentenced to life imprisonment. If any of the detainees want to terminate their sentence, they should try to escape through the Rafah southern gate which opens intermittently at the whim of the jailer. Anyone bent on leaving their beloved homeland, namely the Gaza Strip, whether for a short period of time or for good, hence becoming one of the Palestinians living in the diaspora, has to pass through that gate. The freedom on the other side of the gate entices Gaza’s inmates out of the prison after having been easy targets for the ever-present jailers. Other detainees, intent upon fleeing, are those suffering from chronic diseases due to gloomy life conditions inside this huge penitentiary. Any of the detainees who toy with the idea of practicing their right to resist this humiliating life, face the risk of being sentenced to death as their only future. Once the decision of execution is taken by the jailer, the victim is tracked, and his life is unconventionally terminated, mostly by shelling, regardless if he is in his car, his house, his wheel chair; and if other people are killed while they are at it, then so much the better for the executioner.

In fact, I honestly believe that this description is not adequate enough translation of the daily suffering that the gazans undergo; the reality on the ground is far worse.

Anyhow, for some reason that no one knows, all of us got used to this life style; the life of chickens in cages. We breathe, drink, fight for food, get married and have children; in short we carry on with our daily life. Still, it is beyond my comprehension, how a person living such a miserable life can sentence another to it by bringing a child into this world! Coming to think about it, there is a difference between us and the chickens. In fact our case is far worse, because when a chicken dies, the jailer takes it out of the cage; however, in our case we are interred in the same closed area, actually competing with those alive over what remains of land. Even this much is denied to us when the jailers refuse the burial of our dead bodies if the cemetery is located by the borders.

Back to the title of this article which is about the visits paid to the detainees inside this jail and as I am one of those detainees, I would like to stress the fact that these visits, carried out several times by my friends and colleagues working with me in PYALARA headquarters, have helped me, so far, survive in this place. Thanks to PYALARA, I was able to escape this prison 5 times, the longest of which was less than 73 hours of freedom. Though short, nevertheless, it helped breathe new life into me. But what happened today renewed my suffering.

As usual when the PYALARA crew is visiting Gaza, I wake up earlier than usual, have a shower, shave my french beard, if there is electricity, that is, and wear my best. I usually buy something for each visit, whether I am leaving the strip to meet them or they are coming in. I wash my car, have it refueled, and get on my way towards the gate of Humiliation, the Eretz terminal between Israel and the northern part of the Gaza Strip.

As usual, I sat down there waiting, watching those lucky to leave, staring them in the eye to find out who were happy and who were leaving against their will. I also watched the steps of those innocent children wearing masks in an effort to protect their still, vulnerable systems from infections after having passed successful kidney transplants in the Israeli hospitals. Those children waiting to pass, were holding on to their masks trying not to breathe in the dust caused by businessmen running towards the gate. But, the waiting this time took longer, so I started to make the usual calls to the office and the friends who were coming. After a while I realized that they had been banned from entering the Gaza Strip because the loving and friendly Israeli army was afraid for their life if they were to enter, lest they be attacked by the uncontainable herds living inside.

Many might think that this article exaggerates in its description of the harshness of the situation in Gaza, but anyone who happens to believe that killing and home destruction are harder than the geographical, political, social, economic and cultural isolation that the Palestinian youth are facing in Gaza, is terribly mistaken and is invited to pay a visit with me to the PYALARA branch office in Gaza to see with their very own eyes the results of the PEER-2-PEER Counseling and Beyond project that is implemented by PYALARA in cooperation with UNICEF in the Gaza Strip for the psycho-social support to the Gaza Strip adolescents. There, it will be clear for all to see the great number of adolescents seeking the most effective and least painful way to end their life, cases with which our youth workers are confronted on a daily basis.

Now, what is the solution?? Is the solution to the problem in the jailer’s hand, namely Israel? Or is it in the hands of the jailer’s assistants, ‘the other involved powerful countries’? Or could it be with the Palestinians who are sentenced to a life imprisonment in the Strip?

From a logical point of view, we realize that:

1-    Israel is not willing to end our suffering, because it is the occupying power.

2-   We should not expect much of the other involved, Arab & non-Arab countries in the way of assistance since they can barely help themselves.

Therefore, we should help ourselves, but how?? Armed resistance?? Direct Negotiations?? I have no clue, but I'm sure of one thing, and that is, that any solution should be based on the national unity which will get us back the international respect which we lost, and which shouldn't be only on the level of the cabinet. What should be foremost in our minds and should be made clear to all, is that national unity can not be reached simply by halting the internal dialogue and going to watch the ASIAD Olympic games in Qatar, while people here are living their worst days since the 1948 war.