Gaza rallies: Palestinian mother tends to injured sons

By Nour Abu Aisha and Hajar Basheer

GAZA CITY (AA) - Nima al-Isawi, a Palestinian mother whose four sons were injured while taking part in anti-occupation rallies in eastern Gaza, is struggling to make ends meet under increasingly difficult circumstances.

Two of her sons have been immobilized by their injuries, while a third has been sent to a hospital in Egypt.

Through her tears, she explained how she, too, had been recently injured by Israeli gas bombs while at a protest camp set up in eastern Gaza.

“I don't care about myself, but I feel sorry for my children, two of whom can’t move as a result of their wounds,” she said.

Al-Isawi recalled how one of her sons had been paralyzed after being struck by an Israeli bullet, while another was temporarily confined to a wheelchair.

She explained how she must tend to the needs of her son, Ahmed, who was injured in the abdomen in May only to be injured again after rejoining the protests.

At one point, she thought her fourth son, Mazen, would succumb to wounds he had sustained near the border. He, however, survived the ordeal -- fortunately -- after receiving extensive medical treatment.

“My son Atef, meanwhile, has been injured six separate times; the doctors had said he was in ‘critical condition’,” she said. “He has since been sent to a hospital in Egypt.”

On the bright side, however, al-Isawi said one son -- Mahmoud, 22 -- had fully recovered from his injuries.

- Financial woes

Al-Isawi lamented that her family was now living in extremely difficult conditions, which have been made worse by her injured sons’ inability to work.

“Before, one of my boys would find a temporary job, allowing us to get by for a time. But now, given their current conditions, this is impossible,” she said.

Her husband, for his part, suffers paralysis, and is also therefore unable to work.

Yet despite all her difficulties, al-Isawi says her family will continue to participate in Gaza’s ongoing anti-occupation rallies, which first began on Mar. 30.

Since the rallies along the Gaza-Israel security fence began almost three months ago, more than 130 Palestinians have been martyred -- and thousands more injured -- by Israeli army gunfire.

Protesters demand the “right of return” to their homes in historical Palestine from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel.

They also demand an end to Israel’s draconian blockade of the Gaza Strip, which for the last 11 years has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its two million inhabitants of many basic commodities.

*Ali Murat Alhas contributed to this report from Ankara