Health Sector Strike : is it over ?

The health unions have exploited the political situation to impose their new conditions : an extra 25-35% payments ( Calculated on the basic salary ) given to nurses, doctors, and technicians.
The Palestinian Nurses Union was the strongest part in these negotiations , sine the Physicians Union gave up the talks for unclear reasons.
Regardless of the political complications and the whole uncertainty about everything, this is a good step !
The government has promised to pay the salaries of the previos 6 months withing the following months, and has promised to pay the salaries of the coming months without any delay. Maybe they can fulfill their promises : this is possible if the money that Qatar promised to give to the Palestinians can practically reach the West Bank and Gaza.
The next two weeks will tell us more : will they fulfill what they promised, or the unions will go back to strike !

Palestine on strike

Almost 100% of all Palestinian employees have been on strike since few days. Even hospitals and clinics ( in addition to schools ) are not receiving patients ( except the Urgent ones I suppose ).
The reasons for this strike appear to me to be more political thatn related to the declared aims. This is another form of adding more pressure on Hamas Government, and it is a very successful one !
We are again floating in chaos . I cant see in this strike anything except more disregard to human life.

Death, but in another form

Being a nurse, seeing DEATH might not be an unusual event. Working in Hebron / Palestine : death and killing is surely NOT an unusual event especially when working in ICU's or ER's.
This time it was my Friend's son ( who is also a nurse ). The moment when we BOTH burried 'Shaaker' was very touching for both of us. Getting used to seeing dead people, and trying to work with serious injuries and gunshots in a 'professional' manner seems NOT to work in such moments.

This event has taught both of us more about DEATH. It touched both of us so strongly that we were both silent, abscent minded for few days.
Is it that we are touched only when death comes to those who mean a LOT to us ? Is it mean not to feel bad when you see other people die without feeling the same way when you feel for closer people ?

I don't know...

PELTA : a new and interesting use of a 'blog' in Palestine..

Reading through the Palestinian blogs today, I ran into the " Palestinian English Language Teachers Association " blog. Its founders said that it is still under construction, but the whole idea is unique and exciting, I believe.


Teachers of English in Palestine need the support and experience especially in the current situation. Can this blog gather the palestinian english teachers in a time where checkpoints made it almost impossible for everyone to reach even his own school ??!

The idea of this site is worth respect, taken into consideration the difficulties all Palestinians go through in their daily life.

WELL DONE GUYS !!

Things in my mind recently

..
I have been here for almost 20 days. So many things were in mind before I arrived, and so many other things came into my mind soon as I saw this 'new' reality and conditions I am in now..

Here are the few things I want to work on at the near future :

1. Try to find a permanent job. Choosing between the very little choices that I have is very diffcult, yet I see myself doomed to one choice day by day. I even someties see myself without anything to choose from.
2. Try to work out what I have learned and apply it on the ground. I know that I can easily put myself side by side among those who are 'speaking' about change and 'talking' about how to affect change , but I prefer to be the one DOING it, not TALKING about doing it.
3. Try to keep my spirits up. This is something that I have to constantly check and work on. The "default setting" here is frustration and depression, I have to keep booting my systems and updating them.

I will also have to think about my social life and start thinking about what I want my life to look like in the future. ( I mean : after LONG from now ).


The current war in Gaza and Lebanon is taking much from me. This is happening to me unconscioussly. I feel little frustrated and I want to concentrate more on my work, career, life, friends..but I simply cant do that.
Even if I wanted to, I won't be able to do that.

I think I just have to 'control' myself.
I think.... I think I don't know what to do, except to hold on and 'fight' all this negative input surrounding me.

Working to keep one's spirits is not bad I suppose. :)

The way back to home...

The road back to Hebron ( leaving fromJordan ) was unexpectedly easy. The car that we took was stopped only 5 times the time we left Allenby Bridge. This is 'FUN' in comparison to the 2 hours I spent the last time when I passed through the 'containor' checkpoint in 'Wadilnar' when I left to Amman last year.

Even in Hebron, it was unexpectedly calm. Untill this moment I couldn't see ANY Israeli soldiers 'patroling' the streets or ' searching for terrorists' !

In such moments I wonder : Would things be just fine if Israeli soldiers were allowed to do whatever they want without any type or 'resistance' ?
Will THEY leave us alone if we do ?

Even the 'pecaeful' moments are no longer peaceful in this ever going conflict.

My First Post...

My firt blog!

It is 4:00 am now and the moon is full in the sky.
I have been new to this blogging Idea. I started my other blogs four months ago and keeping up with the comments and commenting on other similar topics was both draining and a difficult task.In fact, my other blogs are purely professional or slightly political. Knowing that the human dimension is the most important one ( at least for me ), I decided to start this blog to share with myself (first) and with the outer world a personal and human experience of a Palestinian Blogger, whose life and thoughts are not different than any others.

I hope I will have the strength and power to go on with it.

Osaid