"Abba, I'm scared. Abba, I'm scared. Abba, I'm scared. Abba, I'm scared.Abba, I'm scared. Abba, I'm scared. Abba, I'm scared. Abba, I'm scared. Abba, I'm scared. Abba, I'm scared. Abba, I'm scared. Abba, I'm scared.Abba, I'm scared. Abba, I'm scared. Abba, I'm scared. Abba, I'm scared." he said as I tucked him in.
I cant say, "Don't worry, it'll be OK" because I don't know that it will be.
"What if rockets are fired here while we're sleeping?" he asked.
"Then I'll sleep with the window open and hear it and come and get you to the shelter."
"But we only have a few seconds."
"No, we have at least a minute," I said as if I was reassuring him but chuckling in my head as to how ridiculous that was. "In all the years living here, only one rocked really landed near us," again not so reassuring but trying to explain the "odds.'
I cant keep up with the number of Red Alert alarms continue to sound on my phone since he fell asleep, making me lie next to him for security. Rockets all night. Theres supposed to be a truce in the works. This is how the Gazans play.
Before he fell asleep, I tried to change his perspective. "Don't worry about us. Think about all the other kids who are trying to enjoy their summer vacation, trying to go to sleep and be ready for camp or whatever they have planned for tomorrow. They must be scared."
And as I am "comforting" him with these words, or distracting him and trying to change the subject (maybe not the best parenting but I never got a copy of the rule book on parenting when your country is under a barrage of terrorist rockets), I'm thinking of the parents of the kids near Gaza who not only need to protect and comfort their kids but wont get a good night sleep and be tired, angry and even scared as well.
Hamas uses this cynically because they hate us, they want to see us all dead, they don't care if we cant sleep, are terrorized or hurt or killed. That's their raison d'etre. And they don't care if we kill them and other Gazans because they will spin it for their benefit, to maintain control and to keep relevant.
No Red Alerts for the past few minutes. May it continue. But don't hold your breath.
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