Billie Moskona-Lerman

"I was a human shield": An Israeli visits ISM in Rafah



“Rains of ammunition, bullets came down on us on that one single night. A single night, for me. The shooting went on continuously from 1.30 to 4.15, near the first light…’So they never hit your house itself?’ I ask him with an enormous burst of hope. ‘Oh, sometimes they do. Look at the bullet holes’. I raise my head and look to the sides. The ceiling is fool of holes, the side walls are cut up. So is the kitchen wall near the tap, near the table, in the toilet, one centimetre from the children’s beds. Some of the holes have been filled up. Every night, once the shooting ends, Jamil closes the bullet holes with white cement. The walls are patchwork, and if you dare approach the window you can see that Jamil and Nora’s home is surrounded by ruins on all sides.” Israeli peace activist Billie Moskona-Lerman writes about a night spent in Rafah, southern Gaza.