Watching War Live

It has been very difficult to document and share what I have seen and what I learn; there is so much everyday. While in Suseya last weekend, each night at sundown a few of the farmers, old and young, would take a respite from tea and conversation to pray. The first night I sat back and watched and thought about how beautiful it was to be so connected to the land and to each other and to god. The night was just beginning to set in and everything was serene. The environment facilitated feeling spiritual.



Watching the group flow from standing to kneeling to prostrating and back in rhythm with the melodic Allah uh Akbar being chanted was phenomenal. I am not trying to romaticize this moment, I've seen Muslims pray before, but the cantor's voice was soothing and the group moved like family. Then as if a DJ were fading in the next track, a plane flew into the aural mix. From where I was sitting back on a mattress under my tent, I saw a fighter jet flying through my peripheral vision above the heads of the prayerful. I stared in awe.



Once prayers ceased, I stood up and got a better view of the not one but two or more F-16 Fighter Jets slicing the desert sky into pieces. I didn't know what to think as I marveled at these foreign objects. I had no clue of my exact location, I could not fathom what was about to unfold.




A few of us were stirred out of our tent and proceeded to note the flight patterns and wonder what these fighter jets were doing until we all saw a flash of light burst out of one jet and head directly towards land at 45 degrees or so. The unimaginable came into our heads, could we be witnessing the bombing of Gaza?

The following day we confirmed with our Palestinian hosts the direction of Gaza; it was indeed the direction the F-16's traveled. That evening as the men prayed the fighter jets returned and we were left to witness the bombing of Gaza, approximately 60 miles from where we stood. I felt powerless, voiceless, miserable.

Later, via internet we learned that 5 people died the night we were watching war live.