Hope and dream deleted from Palestinian dictionary

Occupied Jerusalem: "The word hope has been deleted from the Palestinian dictionary," said 64-year-old Um Abdullah as she was giving her evaluation of 2007 in which tremendous changes occurred within the Palestinian arena.

"The country became two countries: one in the Gaza Strip and the other in the West Bank," said Um Abdullah.

She was sitting near Bab Al Amoud in Jerusalem and had bundles of green thyme, mint, parsley, and green onions to sell from her home's land in Al Khader Village near Bethlehem. Um Abdullah heads for Jerusalem everyday hoping to sell her goods at a higher price than in the West Bank.

"Last year I used to cross five Israeli military checkpoints before I arrived to Jerusalem and this year I cross seven checkpoints and have to jump the apartheid wall which has become a monster that swallowed the earth," said Um Abdullah.

Um Abdullah does not expect 2008 to carry happy news for Palestinians. She really wishes that the situation in Palestine will not deteriorate any more.

The spirit of pessimism was more evident among the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip. They found themselves, in mid-2007, surrounded by a national war that burned everything down. Moreover, a new military force "Hamas" showed up, took control over Gaza, and all of a sudden found itself responsible for the whole strip.

"This year's situation reached a level where many of the youth in Gaza wished to die. The Israeli siege was able to reach youth from the inside and affect them psychologically," said Rami Said, a 24- year-old. Rami, sarcastically adds that "the Coca Cola bottle has become a dream after it disappeared from the markets. Now

Coca Cola and cigarettes are the most wanted goods."
The most important wish for Rami in 2008 is for a better future in which he is able to escape the huge prison called "the Gaza Strip" so he can breathe fresh air.

The well known political analyst Hani Al Masri tells Gulf News that "the rapidity of events in 2007 was too quick for the Palestinians to absorb. We may need years to digest it and discover its deep effect. We have been through elections to a national war to a separation to a possible peace move here in the West Bank, and a destructive Israeli war in the Gaza Strip."