To the extent that the recent military acts in the territories are debated in Israel at all, the debate almost solely revolves around the question whether or not it is possible to end the Palestinian terror this way. The Palestinians, as human beings, simply do not exist.
A few days ago it snowed in Jerusalem. On Tuesday, Ferbruary 25th, the cold wave featured in all Israeli papers as the main news. Even in my heated home in Tel Aviv it was cold. My thoughts wandered to my Palestinian friends - colleagues from Bir Zeit University. How does the snow fare with a family that still has a home, but not that much money to heat it? And what's with those who no longer have a home? It snowed in Jenin as well. How did the Jenin refugees survive the cold, and those who were recently made to flee from Hebron? And what about the old people, for whom the cold is particularly dangerous? Where did the new homeless of Gaza spend the night - those whose homes were destroyed that same day? Is UNRWA still able to provide them with blankets and tents? At the beginning of February, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinians in the Near East (UNRWA), renewed its emergency appeal to the international community for urgent contributions for the first half of 2003. They stated that without these contributions, which have decreased lately, their budget would end in March(1).
The heart seeks answers, but the papers tell you nothing about that. Across the fence, outside the media, outside of consciousness, the Palestinians don't even have weather.
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