Hope

The Israeli army pulled out of Gaza yesterday and the Palestinians swarmed over their newly acquired land on their first day. The writer for the Boston Globe captured the scene pretty well.

Mohammed Maluala'in, 33, rushed out of his house in pajamas at dawn when he heard that the Israeli army had left Rafiah Yam, the abandoned Jewish settlement separated by a few hundred yards of sandy no-man's land from his concrete apartment block in Rafah, on the Egyptian border.

That meant he and his neighbors, whose houses are pockmarked with bullet holes from years of conflict, would no longer have a nighttime curfew. They'd no longer have to thread their way through each other's back yards instead of walking on the street facing the settlement, where suspicious movements once drew Israeli fire.

He was still standing by the gate in mild shock yesterday afternoon. He knew he had a silly grin on his face.

''I'm in a good mood," he said, giggling.

One fella in the article says that now it's time to fire more Qassam rockets at the Israelis to push for more land and to get revenge for the martyrs. Giggles will not last long if that attitude wins out.

by Brett Rogers, 9/13/2005 7:32:07 AM
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You're much more optimistic than I. The stated goal of these people is the removal of Israel from existence. Short of a major cultural attitude adjustment, they're going to stop at nothing less.

Congrats on the 50#, too! You DO look awesome. I couldn't have pegged your age at all, which is unusual for me because I can usually place someone quickly, until I had talked with you a while and recognized the wisdom that comes from a few years. Punk thirty-year-olds don't talk like that.

:)

Don't be a stranger around here. You're always welcome in the Wood household.

Posted by Anonymous, 9/13/2005 1:43:18 PM