Posted By Veiled Muslimah on/at 1/02/2009 08:01:00 PM

Five daughters. Imagine that. Gone in one go.

I come from a family of Five Sisters and the bonds we have are unbreakable. We're together through thick and thin. Some of the happiest and memorable moments I have spent were with my Sisters.

In the on-going Israeli massacre of Gaza, among hundreds that were killed and are still being killed was the story of a family which lost five daughters.

Washington Post reports:

JERUSALEM, Dec. 29 -- Trapped in the rubble, Iman Balousha, dressed in her green pajamas, said she could hear her sisters' cries. "Mother! Mother! Where is my mother? Pull me out!" Their muffled voices slipped through the toppled bricks.

Early Monday, an Israeli airstrike on the Jabalya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip destroyed the family's house, located next to the Emad Aqeel mosque, the intended target, which was also flattened. Rescuers tried frantically to save the girls. Iman was lucky: She was half-buried in the debris.

One by one, the cries stopped, Iman recalled in an interview. She could see the leg of her 4-year-old sister, Jawaher, whom her family called Ayah. She could touch her hair. But minutes later, Ayah stopped breathing.

"I've lost five sisters," Iman, 16, said at a relative's house Monday evening, her soft voice fading. Tears slid down her face. Her mother, Samira, held her 16-month-old son, whose face was bruised and specked with dried blood.

"Does my 12-days-old baby have a rocket with her?" Samira demanded. "Or my son, does he have a missile with him? Or did my daughters have AK-47s beside them? Why did they target them?" The five daughters who died were ages 4 to 17.


What really hurts is that they were aged from four to seventeen. Children and teenagers. These are the ones being killed in this inhumane War.

How can anyone justify this?

Samira Balousha carries her surving child, Mohamad while crying over the body of her daughter, Jawahar, during the funeral.


Mourners carry the bodies of the five members of the Balousha family killed in the air strike.

A mourner lifts the body of four-year-old Dina Balousha, one of five members of the same family - including three children and two teenagers - killed in an Israeli missile strike.


May Allah subhanna wa ta'ala accept them as martyrs and give them patience. Ameen.



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14 comments:

American Muslima Writer said...

Ya Allah my heart weeps for them as my eyes weep for them and my anger is fueled by their loss and May Allah's Wrath decend upon the real terrorists.

nida said...

reminds me of my father whos lost 5 of his brothers in the genocide - n he watched them being killed while he escaped seconds before they could have killed him too! :(
May Allah gift them all with Jannah inshaAllah -

coco jumbo said...

Islamic Khilafa is the only solution. The Khilafa that is aggressive in eliminating the enemy that poses danger to the life a Muslim. May Allah bring the Khilala of the pious from among us.

BuJ said...

Thanks for writing about this Veiled Muslimah.
I feel sorry for Iman, I feel sorry for Samira Balousha. I feel I should do more to stop the wasting of innocent lives like that.

Inspired Muslimah said...

My heart hurts for that family and everyone in Gaza experiencing this tragedy, May Allah ease the pain they must feel right now.

Anonymous said...

May Allah give us the courage to stand against the forces of evil..May Allah rest their soul in peace *Ameen*

Kyle said...

VM:

In compliance with your request to not drag politics into your label at the Community Blog post, I am writing this comment here at your blog.

Thank you for listing the emergency requirements over at the Community Blog. Unfortunately, at the end of the day, all these would just temporarily alleviate the suffering of innocents caught in the crossfire.

I do not wish to politicize this issue (as well) but if you (and I believe you are a Good Muslimah that practices without bias) really wants to help and I truly emphasize HELP then you and your brethren (here and all over the world) have to make an effort to slowly let go of the past. I know it may sound easier said than done but believe me, it's doable.

You can start by directly talking to your opponent, you can use a third-party to initiate the process if you have to but you have to start talking. This is a MUST if you truly care for all those people that are in-between. I won't make a generous use of the term 'violence' in this comment because it's a non-issue apart from being a dilettante approach to any issue, be it the one at hand or anywhere else.

Seeing images of women & children, be they injured or dead and then using explicit words to vent isn't going to help any body and I've come across these quite often. In my book, those who vent using explicit words are no different than their opposition. They both deserve a place in hell.

Now I know, most won't agree with what I've written here but there's no other way unless both parties start talking to each other. That's the only way forward, nothing more, nothing less. You owe it to all those that have perished and continue doing so with each new day.

No disrespect intended to you in any way, VM but I thought I'd let you know my take on this issue.

If you feel, I was out of line any where in this comment, please do let me know.

Respectfully

Veiled Muslimah said...

AMW: Ameen.

NiDa: Innil lilahi wa inna ilayhi rajioun. I don't know what to say, except I hope things become better inshaAllah. Ameen to the dua - InshaAllah they are accepted as martyrs.

FE: Ameen to that! A United Muslim Ummah and a true Islamic Caliphate is what we need.

Veiled Muslimah said...

BuJ: I know what you're feeling. It's the same helpless feeling I went through and so many others all around the World are going through.

I guess in the end, all we CAN do is spread awareness, donate and may dua for them and help them and those around the World being oppressed as much as we can with whatever means available to us.

Inspired Muslimah: :( Ameen to the dua. I hope they are blessed with sabr and strength to go on.

An Illusion: Ameen.

Kyle: My response to you will take more time, so I'll get back to you in a bit inshaAllah.

But in the mean time, no I don't find anything disrespectful in what you've written. :)

BuJ said...

hey dear VM.. i tell you what I really wanna do? I wanna donate all my F-16s, AGM-114 Hellfires, and my pride and joy aircraft carrier to Hamas...

then at least the battle will be a bit balanced.. eh?

Veiled Muslimah said...

Kyle:

Sorry for the late response.

I appreciate that fact that you didn't drag political comments on the main post. God knows, quite a few people did. Thank-You.

You need to explain a bit clearly what you mean by 'letting go of the past' and 'talking'.

Letting go off the past, I'm assuming that the Palestinian Muslims forget all the torture, oppression and murder they've had to endure for years.

Or you mean, letting go off the Land that belongs to them and giving in to the Israelis?

Whatever it maybe, lets say they do 'let go off the past' & forget whatever was done earlier.

What guarantee do you have that Israel will stop in its atrocities its been committing for decades?

And again, you need to explain clearly what you mean by talking. There have been numerous 'peace processes' as far as I can recall in reference to the Israeli/Palestine conflict.

Secondly, what *do* we talk about? [I'm assuming that you mean not the governments here, cuz they're useless anyway, but the people with the people]

Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs have so much bad blood in them and are so firm in what they believe in, i really doubt anything constructive would come off it.

I kind off understand where you're coming from Kyle, and I would also appreciate it if you would discuss in a bit more detail the above.

But you need to realise the full reality of the situaton. The Palestine/Israel conflict has so many issues attached to it.

Also, apart from it being a poltical issue or an 'Arab' issue, first and foremost, it is also an Islamic issue.

Muslims too believe that Jerusalem is a holy land of the Muslims. The Masjid Al-Aqsa there [Dome of the Rock], was the first direction of prayer in the early days of Islam.

Then it is was turned towards the Kaabah which exists in Saudia Arabia.

There is a lot of importance attached to Jerusalem. We also believe that Jesus [Upon him be peace], will return to Jerusalem.

And above and over all, it is incumbent upon Muslim, first and foremost, Islamically, to fight back if they are being persecute/oppressed. And secondly, incumbent for Muslims all around the world to help their brothers and Sisters.

I hope the above was helpful.

Veiled Muslimah said...

BuJ: Definitely. Considering they fight back with stones...

Sigh. Even if you don't, make the intention for it... you'll get reward for that inshalla.

I personally want to go in and help too... but it's kinda impossible.

I saw this interview online from a Palestinian Father & Mother on CNN, and he said, it is not only Hamas defending its people and land, it is everyone who is fighting back, the civilians - the people.

And I don't blame them... considering that Israel does not differentiate between fighters and children.

Kyle said...

VM:

Thank you so much for writing back.

What I wrote by 'letting go of the past and talking' means /sincerely/ re-initiating peace talks. And yes, to try and forget all the torture, oppression and murder that Palestinians had to endure for years. It's like you cannot unscramble scrambled eggs or for a lack of a better term 'undo the past'. In my opinion, this is the next best option to offset all future torture, oppression and murder(s). By doing this, humanity will be advocating the command of Isaiah, which is 'undo the heavy burdens and let the oppressed go free'.

Now, you talk about Jerusalem being a holy land for Muslims. Is it not the same for Christians and Jews? So, what's the solution for Jerusalem? Do we split it into three segments to /each/ lay a claim to our beliefs or we share it as one?

I do not believe or buy anybody's claim that there's so much bad blood between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs. There's good and bad everywhere. Only in this instance the bad outnumbers the good, which (urgently) needs an offset.

Most importantly, you and I, we can go round-and-round with this issue. I write, you counter and vice-versa but at the end of the day, a simple fact remains. There is a place on the map called 'The State of Israel'. How, why & at whose expense it was created is a pointless discussion now. The only valid discussion worth pursuing without any further delay is peaceful co-existence.

I am of the opinion that we hold the key or a solution to this problem but we don't want to admit we do because of our fear that it would signify, whoever blinks first, loses! Moreover, it is also attributed to human pride, which tomorrow, if not any earlier, would destroy (the entire human race) before we could pursue a path of compromise.

Again, maybe you won't agree with what I've written here but I believe it's time to draw the line and say 'enough is enough'. By doing this, you'd be doing a great favor to all those children that are waiting to be born. I say this as a Parent of our two adorable girls for whom I would anything to keep them safe and out of harm's way.

I don't deny that it's a tough road ahead but you and your brethren can smoothen the ride!

I end this comment with my best wishes to you and all those that you so passionately care for!

Take care and God Bless.

BuJ said...

dear VM.. u know.. time heals almost anything but history doesn't forget.. it really really pains me that most of the world doesn't see what you mentioned, i.e. that Israel doesn't differentiate between child and militant.

i am not an advocate of killing people because i think it's wrong, but one day in the future the sons of the murdering israeli generals and politicians will be subjected to a similar fate to the poor children of gaza.. and no one can say i didn't tell you so.

the same goes true for thousands of recorded terrorist acts by israel be it, sabra + shatila, burning of al aqsa, the shooting in al khalil, the lebanon 2006 war, house demolitions, village erasing...etc.

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Musings, Articles and Ramblings of a Muslim Woman which range from a variety of different subjects.

Location: Dubai - United Arab Emirates.
The believers are only those who, when Allâh is mentioned, feel a fear in their hearts and when His Verses (this Qur'ân) are recited unto them, they (i.e. the Verses) increase their Faith; and they put their trust in their Lord (Alone).
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