One story that stuck in my mind from the Israeli assault on Rafah. Probably you read it, so stop me if you’ve heard it before.
This old Palestinian bloke finds his house is in the path of the Israeli bulldozers. There’s shooting all around. People are being injured and killed all over. His family and friends tell him to get the hell out. He tells them, no, it’s his home. He’s not going.
He says that if he stands outside his house with a white flag, the Israelis won’t dare hurt him or his house.
With all that’s gone on since 1947, with all that’s going on in the world, with all that he’s experienced in his life, after living in Gaza for so long and with the bombs and bullets flying, he still has enough faith in decency, and enough faith in humanity in general and the Israeli army in particular that he will bet his life on a white flag on his doorstep to protect his house.
So he steps outside with the white flag, the Israelis shoot him right away and bulldoze his house over his dead body.
True story.
May 27, 2004