Now.. what ! Back to the electricity problem!

Heba from Gaza, 19/07/07. Back to the electricity problem! A year ago almost in October we had the major electricity power plant in Gaza shelled by F16. Then we suffered living with scheduled electricity for about 4 months. We used to have it for 8 hrs and then not have it for another 8 hrs. Our life was on hold. Bathing the kid, house chores, university assignments, exams studying, watching any TV at all and all other things that you can imagine were scheduled. I used to feel bitter and sad about the lack of electricity. I did not even have the “power” to feel angry. Of course this electricity problem started immediately before Ramdan , the month in which we fast all day and then have our meal by sunset . So we used to eat at the light of candles, how romantic!!. A year later and almost before Ramdan (what a coincidence), the problem arises again because the European Union will not fund the fuel for the major and only Gaza power plant. Mr. Abbas government says that it is the fault of Hamas and the EU says it’s temporary. This time it is not even scheduled as last year. Yesterday we had it for only 4 hrs in the 24 hrs, when I was at work. So again, collective punishment is imposed on Gazans because of political agendas. People are paying the price. My husband drove aimlessly in dark, gloomy, and full of smelly waste streets last night. It almost felt gothic to me. What can we say to the world and our leaders other than have mercy on us; the ill, the elderly and those, who like myself, feel that Gaza has become difficult to cope with.