Gaza blogs

Dear all,

For the past few weeks, I've been corresponding with a young journalist from Gaza named Sameh Habib. He first called me when he found out that I was working on a zine of Palestinian young women and girls' stories (I'll send another e-mail about that within the next couple days). He called to say that he's beginning his journalism and writing career and was wondering if there was anywhere I could publish his recent article about Barack Obama. We started writing back and forth, and I was hoping I would get to meet Sameh, as well as other folks in Gaza whose faces I have never seen, but my colleague and I did not get the necessary permits from the Israeli military to enter the Gaza Strip. Particularly in this time when Gazans are so isolated, the internet can be an especially powerful tool. In that spirit, I want to share with you three blogs from Gaza. Electricity is scarce in Gaza, so the blogs might not be updated as much as their authors or readers would like, but they are good sources to check.

More soon,
Hannah

1. Gaza Strip, The Untold Story
by Sameh Habib
http://www.gazatoday.blogspot.com/

This is Sameh's blog. He is also starting an e-mail list and wants to reach as many people as possible. If you are interested in being added to his list, please write to him at sam_hab@hotmail.com.

2. Raising Yousuf and Noor: diary of a Palestinian mother
by Leila Haddad
http://a-mother-from-gaza.blogspot.com/

Leila blogs from wherever she is - currently not in Gaza, but very much worth reading! Here's how she describes her blog: "I am a Palestinian journalist who divides her time between Gaza and the United States, where Yousuf's father, a Palestinian refugee denied his right of return to Palestine, and thus OUR right as a family to live together, resides. This blog is about the trials of raising our son between Gaza and the US, while working as a journalist, and everything that entails from potty training to border crossings. Together, we endure a lot, and the personal becomes political. This is our story."

3. From Gaza, With Love
by Mona El-Farra
http://fromgaza.blogspot.com/

Mona is a "physician by training, a human rights and women's rights activist by practice," and is involved in a variety of projects in Gaza. The blog is about women, health, children and human rights in occupied Palestine.