A cooler cloudy day to wake up to. News of the increasing death toll in Israel and Palestine and more and more victims' bodies from the weekend slaughter are found, and more become victims due to the bombing of Gaza city by Israel. Twelve hundred Israelis are known to have died. Over three thousand Gazans including the Hamas fighters killed early on The denial of electricity and fuel to Gaza will lead to hospitals no longer able to function within this day. More will die untreated from injuries sustained during the prolonged bombing which is destroying whole blocks of city high rise buildings. Both sides acting without mercy. How can good come out of this?
There were just six of us for the Eucharist at St Catherine's, the situation was the focus of our prayer and our conversation over coffee afterwards. Roger, who has friends living in the north of Israel spoke about the messages he's received from his friends, living far from the sources of present danger, but sharing the grief and distress of the whole nation.
Anger is being expressed by some at the concessions Benjamin Netanyahu has made to far right political parties in order to retain his hold on power, leading to increased injustice and oppression of Palestinians. There is no consensus supporting this. At the moment, Netanyahu is negotiating to unite all political interest in a government of national unity, but how much will it be possible for its members to agree on? All agree on the need for national security and stability, but opinion could be divided about how to achieve this, both in the short and long term. The world outside watches, concerned about escalation of the conflict beyond the Holy Land.
After coffee, I collected this week's veggie bag from Chapter. Clare was half way through cooking lunch already, with a delicious gammon steak for me. Later in the afternoon, I did the week's grocery shopping at the Co-op, and then went for a walk in the park. Finally, after four and a half months, temporary traffic lights at the pedestrian crossing on Penhill Road have been removed and the new set of lights installed a few months ago are finally working.
The only problem is that the green man flashes to tell pedestrians when they can cross only allows ten seconds to cross the road. In effect, if you can't walk at one meter per second, you're at risk from traffic. People pushing buggies or wheelchairs and people with walking sticks are not always able to walk that fast. A twenty second interval would be preferable for safety's sake. When I got home I tweeted about this an appeal which I hope the Council will pick up. If nothing happens, I'll have to contact a local council about it.
Clare went out after an early supper to her Plygain singing group. I recorded and edited my reflection and Thursday Morning Prayer for next week and then watched the second episode of the money laundering mystery drama 'Payback' on ITV. An intriguing plot is developing. Then the news, reporting on the Israeli troop buildup around the Gaza Strip. Regrettably, whatever the Israeli government says about the urgent necessity of utterly destroying Hamas, the death of so many civilians in the razing of sections of Gaza city, and the deprivation of energy, food and water supplies, looks like the collective punishment of the entire civilian population. There are indications tonight however, of negotiations with Egypt to open the Rafa crossing into Gaza, one Israel doesn't control, for emergency aid food and fuel to be delivered. And now to bed.
No comments:
Post a Comment