진은영

Hajj Hussein Ali Faqih “Abu Ali,” 87, wasn’t killed in a strike. He wrote his own final chapter. He chose to return, every day, to the ruins of his home in Srifa, South Lebanon. His daily return to the rubble, as if the house were still intact, had become a story in itself. He slept on its stones, among the remains of a life he refused to leave behind, searching through the debris for the life he had lived there. Abu Ali died there, sleeping on the stones that were once the walls of his life in Srifa, taking shelter in memories heavier than the loss itself. War doesn’t always kill in a moment. Sometimes it finishes the job slowly.

Four ways Israel is unique: 1) Israel is the only country in the world without declared borders. 2) Israel is the only country in the world that systematically tries children in military courts. 3) Israel was the last country in the world to outlaw torture. It still tortures but until 1999, it was the only country in the world that ‘legally’ tortured people. 4) Israel is the only country in the world—in history even—where the population rioted for the right to rape defenseless people in their captivity.