 Hit go live now. All right. And it did it on its own. I will let you know when it actually starts. Hi, everybody. I want to thank you for tuning in and watching. We are here live with Rana from We Are Not Numbers. Rana is in Gaza, and we're going to be talking with her about the situation on the ground, what it's like to live in Gaza, largest open-air prison on earth, and what the past few days and the past few months have been like for her and for people in Gaza. So Rana, thank you so much for joining us. Hello, Erily. Thank you for having me. I'm really glad to be here. Could you tell us where you are in Gaza? Yes, I'm located in Gaza, in the center of Gaza City, to the west of Gaza City, actually close to the Gaza Beach. Yeah, so the center of the city. Rana, I know you're a writer with We Are Not Numbers. And I also know that you have children and a family. Could you tell us just a little bit about yourself and your kids? Yes. I'm a mother of three children. They're 13 years old next week. And I'm also my job is on my freelance English language trainer and I'm a writer. And I like to spend most of my time reading and writing and following up on the news, what's happening around and how people are following up on what's happening here in Gaza. So this is my main interest. And my passion is writing, of course. We're going to be posting some links to the pieces that you've written for We Are Not Numbers, just to let our listeners know that we will be supplying that while we're in this webinar. Thank you. Rana, we were all anxious as we heard about the bombings of Gaza just before the weekend, the largest assault on Gaza since the 2014 massacre. We were thinking that another war was about to start. And concerned for you and concerned for everybody there, could you tell us what it like on the ground? If you also thought that another massacre was about to start and how you judge that based on your past experiences? Yeah, so everyone knows that summer vacation and families around the world, they'd like to spend their time together, they go places. But for us here in Gaza, we're not going anywhere. We were just staying, trying to spend some good time, safe time with our family here. But this summer has been a very tough and excruciating one. The past few weeks just deprived us from the sense of security. Even just going out to the beach with family or going out anywhere with them is no longer safe. So for example, last Friday, I was about to go out with my family. My kids were nagging that they wanted to go out. And so as we were just about to leave, I checked my mobile and then it said that there was bombing in Rafa to the south of Gaza Strip. OK, so I decided at the beginning, you say, OK, it's going to be under control. It's not going to turn into something serious or dangerous. So I went out. But it was only like maybe for 15 or 20 minutes. And then the airstrikes started to get more tense. And we had to cancel our outing and we went back home. And of course, you would think that by instinct, going back home means that you're safe. But in Gaza, home is different. You could be sitting at home and not feeling that sense of security. Because something next to your home could get bombed and your windows could come down, chattering over your head. So these airstrikes are very unpredictable. But what happened that day, just like the past few weeks, that international interventions tried to get things under control. So it wouldn't escalate into a large scale aggression or something like that. So this is what happened. And so every time it just things escalate and then they cool down because people intervene like Egypt or Turkey and other parties or countries. And so you never really have this sense of security or that you're really safe to go out and spend time with your family. Take, for example, also what happened last week was these two kids were playing at the top of the roof. They were playing soccer or something. It was a public park. And then they got attacked by an aerial, by an airstrike. And they were killed. Everyone's holding Amir and Loei. And these two kids were just trying to have fun. They weren't posing any threat to anybody. And we all know that the Israelis have high precision weaponry where they can see everyone and what they're doing. And so their drones, which don't leave our skies, could clearly see these two children playing on the top of a roof. So this is what the situation is like. I think a large number of our kids are traumatized. When I went home last Friday, I was really shocked. My son came to me. He said, mom, I want to die in my sleep. I don't want to die getting bombed. I didn't even know how to answer him or respond to him. Because I couldn't tell him that everything was going to be all right. I could lie to him. But this is how, as parents, what we face with our children, we really, they turn to us for support, security, but we can't really guarantee them that. We just tell them it's going to be OK. But we really don't know if they're going to die or if they're going to be safe. So this is the situation on the ground. I myself am a mother of a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old. And I can't imagine worrying about such simple things as them going to the park that they could die in a bombing that moment. I've been following for quite a long time now the electricity crisis in Gaza. I hear less than four hours a day. And the fuel situation that Israel has cut off fuel supplies and that hospitals are facing a severe crisis. This is as protesters from the Great March of Return are flooding hospitals as well. Can you tell us more about the fuel situation, the medical situation, and any ways that it's affecting you and your family personally? Yes. Well, we all know that Gaza has been under siege for 12 years now. So you can imagine that when Israelis decide to close the only commercial border that connects us to Israel, and they decide to ban things, necessary things such as food and fuel, how that could affect our daily life. Because we have no other exit to the outside world except for this commercial border and the Rafah border connecting us to Egypt. So despite the fact that I just want to give the viewers an idea of what the situation is on the ground here, despite the fact that Israel disengaged from the ground in 2005, it still continues to occupy land, air, and space. So last week when they decided to close the Karam Abu Salim crossing, they threatened that they would cut the fuel and other goods, which are necessary for people here. But this hasn't happened. I contacted some officials before this interview and asked them about the fuel crisis. So they said that it still comes in in small proportions. But if Israel decides to close the Karam Abu Salim crossing for a long time, this could affect our lives. So what does this mean when we don't have a sufficient amount of fuel to come to Gaza? First of all, it affects the electricity. And we already have a three to four hour electricity plan. So you can imagine or maybe you can't imagine what life is like to have when you only have four hours of electricity every day. If you're home, things go bad in the fridge, in grocery shops, food goes bad. In the medical sectors, hospitals have been operating under emergency circumstances for a long time, especially since the protests began. And even before that, throughout the 12-year-old siege, they have also been under a state of emergency. There has always been shortages of medical supplies. Doctors, surgeons sometimes they find themselves having to operate critical surgeries using power generators. And these power generators could just suddenly go off because they require extensive maintenance. There are infants and incubators at risk. There are renal dialysis patients and much, so much more. If you look at schools, for example, kids, I mean, my own kids, I mean, I have heard this from them. When they go to school early morning, they have to sit in a dark classroom where they can't see the board. And sometimes the teachers tell them to bring in their own lights. I mean, can you imagine that? Classrooms are supposed to be a colorful place where children feel comfortable sitting. But they often come and tell me, mom, we didn't see what was written on the board because it's so dark in the classroom. Students and employees are always chasing electricity wherever they find it because they want to charge their laptops or their phones to get their work done. So I think, I don't know, I would suggest that someone who's living outside Gaza should try to do this for a day to only have three or four hours of electricity and see what their life is like. I don't think they can survive. So we have been surviving under this type of crisis for years and it has only been getting worse. At home here, my daughter, she is one of my daughters is responsible for following up on the irregular electricity schedule. So I'm always asking her, is there electricity today? What time did it come on? What time is it gonna go off? So you have to have someone like this in the house to follow up. So it's really, it's stressful. And I think if the Israelis decide to cut off the fuel, it's gonna blow into a bigger crisis. But we do have some fuel coming in from the Egyptian border. So that helps to alleviate somewhat the situation. But as of the moment, there is no really crisis. There is no real crisis now. So I know there's the, there's also been the closing of the main commercial crossing between Gaza and Israel, which is what, from what I understand is what you depend on for all of your imports. What has been the impact of that closing? And right now, what we hear is that Israel is saying that it will open the crossing tomorrow if the calm holds. How do you feel about Israel having that type of power over you? No, as a citizen here, someone from Gaza, I see this constant threatening of cutting off supplies and exacerbating the already crippling siege is something which is immoral and illegal. It's a form of collective punishment upon a helpless people who only want to live in freedom and dignity. Israel hopes that by tightening the siege and closing borders that things on the ground may erupt. But if they erupt, I mean, they were only erupt in the face of occupation because everybody knows that the Israeli occupation is the one responsible for the siege and for this constant closing borders and how it affects our every aspect of our lives. The closure of the border, if it continues, and I hope it doesn't, it means it also will affect Gaza's exports because Gaza exports things such as fish and fruits with outside world. And they also, it also means banning many products to come in here to Gaza. Mainly medical supplies, certain types of foods, and things which Israel calls have double usage. I don't know what kind of things there's a long list of these which are banned from entering Gaza. And so I think we have to always shed light on the fact that this closure and more banning of entry of products to unoccupied people in light of this 12 year old siege is only like a crime upon a crime. I mean, can you imagine how they just keep imposing these things, a siege, a closure and banning from things, banning from movement? So I think we have to always shed light on the illegal and criminal fact of this siege so the world can see that they are just trying to deprive us of the air that we breathe in simple terms. But there's news, like you said, that it may open tomorrow. So we're hoping that this will happen. Sorry, I was muted there. We've been following the Great Return March closely and it seems to be just as strong today as when it started. Could you tell us where you think it's headed, it's having any impact and if it gives you any sense of hope? Yes. Well, I'm a positive person. I always like to think that there's hope and actually for me, every Friday is booked. I always just, I just have to go to the protest. It's something that I feel, I don't know, I gravitate towards that place for some reason. So the Great March return has continued for the 17th consecutive week and the momentum of these protests, as everyone knows, was May 14th on what people called back then the Bloody Monday where 60 protesters were killed. After that, but after that Bloody Monday, people did not stop to go. Okay, numbers have dwindled down but the protesters still continue to go and actually there's something nice that's been happening. There have been a number of initiatives where young people go and they do peaceful activities. They take tours across the five encampments across Gaza Strip where the protests are held and they do, they play music, they sing, they do that, they perform art works and they cook some Palestinian foods. They do all of these things because they keep saying, we wanna show the world that we are a peaceful people and we have the right to return to our homes. We don't have to do this by force or by resistance. We can do this by just protesting peacefully. Something happened, also interesting happened two weeks ago there was an all-women's march and women from all across Gaza Strip came to the Gaza encampment area and they protested there and it was really a beautiful day. I took my daughters and I went with my family and friends there. Mothers of martyrs were there. Rezan and Najjar's mother was there. She gave a speech that day. There were women from different political factions and they all spoke on that day. And I think that was something really heartwarming that I discovered on that day was that all women, I mean, regardless of our differences, whatever political faction we are affiliated to or whether we are not affiliated, wherever we live, wherever we are, women across the world and here in Palestine, they just wanna live in freedom and they wanna secure a future for their children. They don't want their children to get killed. They don't want them to go to the fence and do something crazy. They just want to teach them that you have the right to live in dignity and freedom. And it was really, so I'm expecting that the marches will continue because every party that the organizing committee has activities there and people are still going there. I'm glad that you're still going there. We send all of our support and solidarity there with you. Something else that we've been following at Code Pink is the coming peace plan from the US brought by Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of our President Trump. What we're hearing is that it's likely to be a proposal for an influx of money for such things as infrastructure, largely money from surrounding countries like Saudi Arabia in exchange for an acceptance of the status quo, in exchange for the siege being ongoing for Palestinians giving up your claim to your rights to East Jerusalem and so on. I'm wondering if you could tell us if you have any thoughts in return for that type of proposal and also what you'd like to ask of us and all of your international listeners. Okay, so regarding the deal of the century or yeah, is that what it's called? I think that I know very well that my people, the Palestinian people, I mean, if you look at the different generations throughout the 70 year catastrophe, Nekabe that we have been living, they have been offered many things. I mean, many of them have been offered to give up the right of return to sell their homes which they own inside Palestine. And none of them agreed to do this. And if you ask these people, even the young generation, they will say that if you pay us all the money or all the gold in the world, we will not leave our country because they know very well that, you know, when you, I mean, home is where dignity is. They don't wanna sell their land. They don't wanna sell their homes. They just want the right to return as you and resolutions dictate. So I think that even if they offer us all these jobs and I don't know, I've also heard that they're offering us to transfer Palestinians to the Sinai or to open up projects there. I think the Palestinian people have endured a lot in 70 years and they will not give up and they will not, the only thing that they will accept is their right to live in dignity, their right to return, their right to live in freedom in their own country. So they're not going to sell or anything in return for that. As regarding our friendly international listeners, I mean, first of all, I would really like to thank all of our international friends out there. And my, it's really, I mean, heartwarming when I see people like you here in Code Pink or Jewish Voice for Peace and other people around the world where when they stand up for what is right and they stand up, they stand with the Palestinian people. And I think that this kind of support, I mean, we can, we follow it and we see it. And although it may seem that it's something small, but I think it's what starts small will turn into big leaps along the way. So I would really like to thank all of our international friends who are watching us now and who are standing with us. But on the formal level, of course, we know that international silence towards all these crimes that Israel continues to perpetrate on the ground here is a green light for them to continue. I think the international community has the duty to stand up and to take measures to put an end to our misery. I mean, we have been living under this illegal and criminal siege and all of these countries know that the high contracting party to the Geneva Conventions have the duty to respect and to put an end to these crimes. We also ask on the formal level that they open up and investigate into these crimes which are committed and nobody is paying attention. I mean, when these kids are killed up to date, there have been 28 kids which have been killed since March 30th. 60 young men have had amputations. I mean, this is something that was rare in the past. It was rare to see an amputee in the street, but now it's like wherever you go, you see these young, beautiful young people who have turned into amputees and you can just imagine what their lives are like. So we want the Israeli occupation to be held accountable for their crimes. We want them to stop these crimes. We don't wanna keep living under this constant threat that something might fall on top of our heads. So I think that there's a lot to be said regarding responsibilities and duties from the international community. For everyone out there, I would like to just say, I'd like to share with our stories on We Are Not Numbers and other websites and I want you to come and visit us and you will see that what we have in common as human beings is something that your media tries to hide. They try to portray it as some kind of aliens from outer space or something. I think that if you really just contact with us, communicate with us and read about us and try to come and visit us, you will learn that we have so much to share and so much to work together with. And as a mother, I think my hope is that I want my children and I can speak for other mothers as well. I want my children to see the world, to travel outside of Gaza and to see that there are other people out there. And they live under such limited circumstances which limit their talents. I mean, one of my daughters, for example, is a great swimmer. I really would love it if she could travel and just participate in international contests because this is not available here. So I think that we're really, I mean, if everyone outside just reads more about us, they will really find out that we have so much to share and so much in common. Thank you so much. And I want to also encourage our listeners. We at Code Pink have just launched a new campaign to hold Israeli weapons company, Elbit Systems, which supplies the drones and so much more of weapons used to carry out these assaults on Gaza. We've launched a new campaign to hold them accountable and people can learn more at codepink.org slash stopelbit, ELBIT. Rana, we're going to be sharing your writings from We Are Not Numbers on our social media today, providing links for people. And I really want to thank you for being with us. You'll remain in our thoughts and actions and we look forward to talking with you again soon. Thank you so much for having me. I was thrilled to be here and I hope we can have more interviews in the future. Absolutely. Take care. Bye.