Long hot day in the West Bank today with Ta’ayush in the village of Umm-El Hir. Working on a small video and write up to post tomorrow morning. In the meantime, Antony Loewenstein has a piece in The Nation today about his recent trip to Gaza. It is a must read.

“Gaza is unlike anywhere on earth. I regularly sat near the beach overlooking the ocean, sipping a cool fruit drink. The stylishly appointed bar at the hotel where I was staying could easily have been at some fancy resort elsewhere in the Mediterranean. It was designed for a tourist industry that no longer comes and an elite that now thrives on property ownership and the tunnel-smuggling industry. Just outside the hotel, however, stand an ever-increasing number of beggars amid rubbish-strewn streets, not far from the destroyed parliament building.”

“Many Gazans think the world, including the Arab states, has forgotten them. Egypt’s role in maintaining the siege was constantly damned by the people I talked to. Israeli behavior, while terrible and universally condemned, was better understood than that of their Arab neighbor. People expressed fear of Iran despite its public support for Hamas. The Islamic Republic’s strict clerical rule simply does not appeal to Gazans, who need more than rhetorical support. The world community has yet to deliver.”

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Antony Loewenstein has been traveling and reporting from Gaza over the last week. This is his latest from the ground published by Mondoweiss.

While the devastation, desperation and anger permeates every level of existence here and the siege is the topic of every second conversation, hope lives. Although many have said they would love to leave and go somewhere else, there’s a spark of proud survival. It is clear that the Palestinians here are victims of an insane experiment that aims to overthrow Hamas but in fact only strengthens the hatred towards Israel. I’m hearing it every day. Dislike of Jews has only been occasionally expressed. Rampant homophobia is sadly common. In the main, this is not a religious conflict. I even heard from my hotel tonight, situated right on Gaza’s beach promenade, a Hamas wedding with a DJ and cheesy, Western pop music. Sometimes, dancing comes before faith.

The streets, alleys and laneways are cluttered, dusty, often smelly and crowded. Cracked windshields can’t be replaced because the right size of glass is unavailable. Criss-crossing the Strip in countless battered cars, I’ve met drivers who live on a few shekels per ride. Yesterday I tried to give one younger man my change as a tip, but he insisted I take back the less than two shekels. It was humbling from a man who soon after was stopped and verbally abused by a Hamas policeman.