Gaza

As the news rolls in and in from Gaza, I’m finding it increasingly hard to read the stories without tears welling up (and this from the girl that didn’t so much as flinch when Bambi’s mother bought it).

This piece on the BBC documents the reactions of West Bank Palestinians as they too watch the events unfurl.

Violence breeds violence; be it the direct aggressions of belligerent incursions, militant rocket sorties and flighter plane bombing sprees, or the more subtle violence of strangulating blockades.

I passionately believe in non-violent resolutions, but right now, if I were there, if I had a stone in my hand, would I throw it?

Palestinian lawmaker Hanan Ashrawi says of the possibility of a third intifada:

"It's a response, a reaction to being on the receiving end of such unbridled violence,"

"There are many people who are reacting in a visceral way and saying we want revenge - it's unleashing a whole new cycle and escalating the spiral of violence."

A mother, Jamila Mohamad, speaks:

"Yesterday I was crying all day. I feel like they are all my sons. I am with nobody, not Fatah or Hamas. I just want peace."