Silvia Cattori is an independent journalist. she lives in Switzerland

Gaza , the land of the sad oranges.

Silvia CATTORI

April 2003 Occupied Palestine

Translated by V.I.

To those who went martyred for the land of the sad oranges…

And those who have not been martyred yet…



Mothers , Fathers , brothers , sisters , friends. To you all who can still find in yourself some kind of indignation; where are you?

The damned of Palestine are searching for some sense of humanity and they put their hopes in you.

In you ,the international volunteers members of our movement ,find their strength to go on when the faces, all covered with blood , of Rachel , Brian and Thomas break our hearts.

With your support , we would so much like to break the silence of the media and expose the misery , the terror that Israel inflict on the Palestinians..

We count on your genuine help for people as generous and politically aware as Rachel , Brian and Thomas , to join the International Solidarity Movement (ISM).



I will never let anyone say that these people; images of great beauty , who gave so much of themselves in Palestine, died because of their lack of consciousness.

These ambassadors of Peace only died because the State of Israel ,that refuses any kind of dialogue toward peace , do not like them.

It is true : the ISM members are always there when the Palestinians are particularly threatened. Consequently, they are the first and very disturbing witnesses of the Israeli army ‘s deeds. They dare say out loud what no journalist has the courage or the will to say: The truth about Human Rights violations occurring in Occupied Palestine.

Israel succeeded until now ,in hiding to rest of the world the horrors its occupying army, only driven by its desire to expand , inflicts on the Palestinians daily. The massacres can go on as long as they are kept secret.. That is the reason why , even if the context is one of the most frightening , we can not abandon the Palestinians. Our duty is to stand by the victims and unveil the oppression they live under.

As long as Israel violates the UN charter demanding that each side finds peaceful means to reach an agreement; we should still have the right to help the Palestinians.

What is Switzerland , my country , doing to stop Israel murderous madness? What is Europe doing to prevent this racist state from persecuting the Palestinians with a massive arsenal?

If this so called international community did fulfill its duty to protect the Palestinian population from Israel ; the international volunteers would certainly not be today , paying off with their life.

Thomas, Brian , Rachel are examples of righteousness and virtue that we have to go on following and be inspired by. Among others , Tobias, Swedish , in his 30’s , based in Jenin 5 months ago; Tom , British,18, based in Raffah 6 months ago; are too , great examples for us all.

The Palestinians in agony , still find the strength to look at the situation in Iraq with compassion and say “ Here is now better than in Bagdag.”

We feel so tiny in front of the huge disaster. We do not have enough to give candies to the children whose distress break our heart.

We are so powerless in front of the world ‘s lack of courage and the media ‘s lies!

Nevertheless , in this place outstanding hell , our presence give them the strength to hope that all is not lost. Khaled , an energetic and active man confided in me this morning:” In Bagdad , we lost our last chance to be part of the human society.”

All this , is not right, and Israel does not want us to witness it. So its heavy artillery targets our international volunteers; That way , they will not tell about the violations.



My mind is bawling with distressing stories. I am overwhelmed. They do not let me sleep. I wanted to free myself by writing them down to you. I tried. I did not know which end to take to begin with the right word. Which word can describe what is indescribable?

I did not tell you yet about my pain in Hebron when teenagers came to me in a hurry to tell me about their sad experiences, as if my knowing was an urgent matter. I did not talk to you about the sadness I felt when , stuck with Palestinians from Gaza to Raffah ,the bus zigzagged between the craters the Israeli bombs left on the road we were using. I did not write about what the Palestinians feel when they are forced to stand ,threatened by the Israeli soldiers in their miradors to be shot down at any moment.

I promised myself I would tell what , along the roads of Palestine ,afflicted me; but today, I can not bring myself to say a word about it. I feel crushed. I understand why the Palestinians are discouraged and I now understand their silence.

Nevertheless, I would so much like that these untold stories , talking about terribly oppressed men and women , be heard by your souls with fairness: to be taken further…