It is really painful watching humans queueing up for portions of meager amounts of food in Gaza, specifically in the south, where thousands of people from the north have come in search for a solution to the question starting with “why?” which is frequently asked by adults and children.
It is very painful for the people of Gaza to remember the homes that they had worked hard to build have been demolished, the jobs that have been finished, the streets that have been dug by missiles, the homes that have been destroyed, and the schools that have become nonexistent. It is very painful to see everyone holding a small plate, in which drops of rain fall as if they were tears streaming over these brutal and desolate conditions, while some foods arriving through aid from various parts of the world fills it.
Gaza has been under bombardment and destruction for months, but today it is in a stifling famine, as it makes the human family feel shame, while watching scenes of killing and the remains of martyrs everywhere while doing nothing; seeing the forcible displacement of people towards the south and failing to intervene; and today it seeing empty plates while abstaining from making any reaction to this humanitarian situations that has worsened extensively.
Imagine in this regard an entire people deprived of all basic means of life. We say the basic ones, rather than the luxuries of life including trips and buses. We are talking about major issues that the people are bereft of, and we cannot find a solution soon. Of course, it needs a peaceful solution without which there is no prospect of a solution, namely an immediate ceasefire to be followed by negotiations through mediators to release prisoners from both sides, to deliver immediate aid to the starving people for fear that famine will become catastrophic, as well as to send medicine to the elderly, the sick, and the wounded. The end goal, is looking for a solution to this dispute in its entirety, whereby the Palestinian people would enjoy full independence on their national territory with noble East Jerusalem serving as the capital of the independent state. These are the principles that His Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein spoke about before the American president, and before the leaders he met on his shuttle tours for Palestine.
On February 26, the churches of the world mark the Feast of Saint Porphyrius, the bishop of Gaza who is known for defending the doctrine and spreading the Christian faith among the pagan peoples that inhabited Gaza at the time, a city which was a thriving port at that time and a connecting point between the East and the West.
He is the saint who distributed aid to the poor and the needy, especially in the year 395, when no rain fell, so Porphyrius prayed, and God answered his prayers. He is the one who distributed the wealth brought to him by his student Mark to the needy in cities, villages, and monasteries, as he further dispatched abundant amounts of money to the monks in Egypt. As for the strangers in Jerusalem, they had a loving father as he gave them all the money he owned, leaving nothing for himself since he had full reliance on God.
This is Gaza that presents goodies to the world. It needs, as it celebrates the feast of its first bishop Porphyrius, someone who would wipe away its tears, bandage its wounds, and feed its children.
