Freedom for Gaza

I'm the least likely person to be on a march for anything. I don't watch the news, I don't know my left from my right wing (getting there though!) and I don't know why they don't replace the whole news broadcast with weather news. I am a bit obsessed with the weather.

I'm also a very westernised arab. I have my own theories about religion, based on science fiction novels for the most part. All I know is that religious beliefs are very personal. So I was just as confused as everyone else when I ended up in the middle of a demonstration to end the seige in Palestine. Especially as I have never been on a demonstration before.



I think it was because despite everything that I'm not, I'm also a humanist. I had gone to a talk earlier this week which had a speaker on medical aid to Palestine. Now, what I need to explain is that I have this interest in specialising in 'world disaster medicine' and being on the call list to help out with any big disasters (I think I've watched too many hurricane shows). So I went to this talk to hear what someone who has been involved in medical aid would say about it. There were two other talkers, one man who was a bit too cocky and aggressive for my liking and this other woman who was Palestinian.



Hearing her talk about her situation made me think of all the times in history when people were subjected to a similar violation of their rights. Berlin, South African, the second World War, America. I realised that I was living through a similar situation and that I was too busy watching the weather to notice the extent of suffering. The least I could do was wave a placard. That is until I get good enough as a doctor (if I ever do) to be of use in another peaceful way.

Peace out.