Stay Human

“Take some kittens, some tender little ones in a box”, said Jamal, a surgeon at Al Shifa, Gaza`s main hospital, while a nurse actually placed a couple of blood-stained cardboard boxes in front of us. “Seal up the box, then jump on it with all your weight and might, until you feel their little bones crunching, and you hear the last muffled little mew.” I stared at the boxes in astonishment, and the doctor continued: “Try to imagine what would happen after such images were circulated. The righteous outrage of public opinion, the complaints of the animal rights organisations”. The doctors went on in this vein, and I was unable to take my eyes off those boxes at our feet. “Israel trapped hundreds of civilians inside a school as if in a box, including many children, and then crushed them with all the might of its bombs. What were the world`s reactions? Almost nothing. We would have been better off as animals rather than Palestinians, we would have been more protected.” – Dr. Vittorio Arrigoni