These pictures of kids in Gaza celebrating the end of Ramadan stopped me in my tracks this morning. The celebration, Eid al-Fitr, marks the end of Ramadan, the 30-day period of daylight abstinence from food and drink observed by Muslims. It's a three-day "festival of the fast-breaking," a joyous time to visit friends and relatives and to give to those in need ensuring that everyone will have a holiday meal — especially important this year as more and more feel financial woes.
The kids in these pictures are clearly having a great time, celebrating the end of the fast, but the guns. Oh, the guns give more than a little pause. While yes, kids have played cops and robbers since the beginning of time (give or take) the adult way these children handle the weapons suggests the real cost of their turbulent environment. A study showed that a crushing 98 percent of children in Gaza have experienced or witnessed war trauma. Most children, who number almost half of the residents of Gaza, have been tear-gassed, had their homes searched, or seen shootings and explosions. No wonder they seem so at home with their arsenal.
It makes me want to replace those guns with some Basboosa (a traditional post-Ramadan dessert made with semolina and yogurt, soaked in a rose water syrup.) That would certainly be sweeter.
Vero Moda
Cinque
Elle Macpherson
that breaks my heart, poor kids.
1I hate guns.
I can't imagine having seen what most of these kids have seen in their lives..
2I wish kids could truly just be kids...this is heartbreaking.
3I'm sorry, when did you get so squeamish about guns? They shoot guns in the air in the Middle East, India, the Balkans, Afghanistan, parts of Latin America...
If you're going to feel bad for these kids, consider this:
"The Bush administration has just recently announced plans for a giant $60+ billion arms deal to a select number of client regimes in the Middle East. Primary beneficiaries are Israel ($30 billion alone, up 25%) and Saudi Arabia, but also Egypt, Jordan and five small Sunni Arab states in the Persian Gulf."
4every president brokers arms deals. I am sure Obama would too.
5Doesn't make it okay no matter who does it, and allowing it makes our concern about their children and guns seem disingenuous.
6okay i can agree with that.
7Cool, that's a good way for us to end the week.
8it's VERY scary to think about the lifestyle over there. when i was 7 years old i lived in jeruselem and i know that it's a world of difference from what we experience here in the US. regardless of that though - i don't think that i could EVER condone seeing a child with a weapon like that.
9sad....
10it is sad. i hate war.
11we dont like guns or teach our kids the killing these guns first of all toys go to toys r us and see how many kinds of toy gun they have that's the boys play maybe u didnt see or hear what israil did to the kids of gaza they killed a bout 300 kids 1,2,3,4.5 and older years old did they have guns or even played with guns maybe we have some men shooting gun in the air but we don't shoot any inisent kids when some one shoot u or bomb u i think u will not stand back and watch them killing u and ur whole familys toooo many familys in gaza died all of them they use elegal weabon on our peopel it burn them or cut them a part see it in the news all american moves a bout gun's and killing and boming what do u have to say a bout that is that ok if a palastinian did these moves we will be a terroris
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