“As the world welcomes the new year, the people of Gaza receive 2009 with constant bombardment and bloodshed. Let us stand in solidarity with them on this occasion as we gather at Al-Hashemiyah Square in Downtown Amman for a candlelight vigil on New Year’s Eve between 11:30pm to 12:30am.”

Check the Facebook event page.

I have been in state of shock and numbness since the Israeli attack on Gaza started. It feels like words, demonstrations and vigils can’t change anything. Maybe the best thing to do is to help Gaza with money, food, blankets and clothes.

I will not be adding anything if I address the Jordanian and Arab audience through this blog post. People here are already angry, sad, sickened by what is happening. And while almost all the anger is being poured on Israel, some are also angry about Arab and Palestinian actions that helped bring this tragedy about.

But I also hope that through civilized action and writing, at least some in this world will take notice of what’s happening:

• That’s Israel is acting in a totally barbaric manner, pounding Gaza with advanced weaponry, in response to primitive rockets.
• That the people of Gaza, already impoverished and brutalized, have been subjected to an unfair blockade that has cut them off from the world. These are people who have been bottled up in a strip of land and punished again and again and again.
• That despite Israel’s claims of targeting only Hamas militants, civilian casualties are prevalent. There were several scenes of whole families being wiped out and parents seeing all their children killed.

So if you are reading this post in Israel, the US, Europe or anywhere else in the world, just take a moment tonight and think of the civilians of Gaza. Think about the future and how it will be shaped for a people that is being bombed into submission by the “democratic” state of Israel that owns nuclear weapons and commands one of the world’s most powerful armies.

Think about it and talk about to someone you know.