Julie Webb-Pullman: Today in Gaza...

....we had no power at the office for the second day in a row. Yesterday I climbed the 8 floors to reach it four times, because of various appointments...today I did so only once – but without stopping for breath, so I must be getting used to it...

Not so the people who need to keep the sick alive, the employed in jobs – the queues outside the petrol stations stretched for miles today. At our office, we have only 20 litres of fuel left, which will last one day, so there is to be a meeting to discuss what we will do...playing musical cafes or musical homes, going to whoever’s house electricity on – if anyone’s house has electricity on - might be our only option. We are lucky, we are office-workers and can find alternatives – imagine the situation for producers, workshops, businesses that rely on machinery, for whom there are none.

I have just managed to do my laundry at 1am, and to heat the hot water cylinder – it should stay hot for a morning shower at least. I look out my window and down at the gym, at the people on the treadmills and exercycles, and wonder if maybe I could hook them up somehow, to generate power for our building...

The cafes have become the cyber-havens of those with money – they always have electricity, and always have internet. But they pay for it!! A cup of tea can cost 12 shekels, or about $3.50 USD, and you have to buy at least one an hour in order to stay...which puts them out of reach of most people – you could feed a family for a day, for that.

And while we down here have no fuel, no electricity, US-funded Israeli warplanes fly above us, devouring as much fuel in a fly-over as would run an entire refugee camp for a day, maybe even a week.

Our only solace is that when the oil-wells run dry, we at least will be able to survive – we are getting plenty of practice.

ENDS

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