“Doesn’t my baby have the right to life?”
On 19 September 2008, Dina Cohen, a 22-year-old mother living in Sderot, Israel, asked that question of the UN Human Rights Council. Her statement is in French; an English translation is posted below.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U3ZkJZJh9E[/youtube]
Thank you, Mr. President.
All human lives have equal value and all innocent suffering is tragic. Permit me to present my story, in the context of paragraphs 14 and 18 of the report.
I am a young mother who lives in Sderot, Israel. Every night, before falling asleep, I face the same dilemma. What will happen if a rocket falls on my son’s room? This crazy scenario is my daily life.
We have fifteen seconds between the alarm and the explosion. Fifteen seconds to run to the closest shelter. In which direction to go? How to react?
Every day the same thoughts haunt me. Will my son, who is only a year old, be safe at the nursery school during the day? And will I, his mother, be able to protect him at home?
A few months ago, I had an experience that I will never forget. That weekend, the attacks were incessant. And when the alarm sounded again, my husband and I, with our son in our arms, ran to the shelter. This is when the rocket hit the ground, only a few meters from our home.
The windows exploded, the walls trembled, and suddenly, we heard piercing screams. The leg of our eight-year old neighbour, Osher Twito, was instantly torn off. His eighteen year old brother was also seriously wounded. I will never forget their cries.
We are a city in shock. At school, at home, at the supermarket, 24 hours a day we are ready to run to the shelters or to throw ourselves on the floor as a way of protection.
In 2005, Israel fully withdrew from the Gaza Strip, in the hope of peace. In return, Palestinians chose the Hamas who, since that time, launched 4,637 rockets targeting innocent civilians, like me and my family. This is the root cause of the problem we are discussing today.
I would like to ask: Does my baby not have the right to be protected? Does he not have the right to life?
Thank you Mr. President.
Would any other Western country tolerate even a single rocket fired toward its territory?
h/t: A Deeper Look
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