|
| English.news.cn 2010-10-31 06:07:16 |
by Hamoudi Gharib, Saud Abu Ramadan
=============================================================
GAZA, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Sitting on his wheeling chair, Omer el-Khouli was very glad as he celebrated Saturday evening, with his bride, in a mass wedding ceremony organized by Gaza Strip ruling Islamic Hamas movement.
El-Khouli had been critically wounded and became physically disabled 22 moths ago, when Israel launched a three-week military offensive on the Gaza Strip in late December 2008. He was pleased to join other 69 grooms who were also victims of that war.
The young couples apparently neglected their suffering, while they were tottering and reeling with the ritual Palestinian music and Islamic anthems at the wedding.
"Despite my disability, I feel like I was reborn while I'm celebrating my new wife and sharing a mass wedding with other young men who tasted the pain of their wounds but didn't loose their aspiration in living," el-Khouli told Xinhua.
As'ad el-Nahal, another groom joining the mass wedding ceremony, said he expected to start a new life which is different from his previous painful days. "I hope I will pick up the flowers of happiness instead of the suffering I had during the Israeli army strikes on the Gaza Strip," Nahal said.
The al-Tayseer Association, which is close to Hamas, had arranged the mass wedding ceremony, with the theme "Despite the wounds we will continue happiness." Before the ceremony began, the 70 couples were riding in a long convoy of cars that drove around Gaza city's main streets.
Sa'ed Abu Nada, the executive director of Tayseer Association for the marriage ceremony, told Xinhua the mass wedding party achieved a lot, mainly "rewarding those who were injured during the war and supporting them economically to began a new life."
"The idea was to help those who had a permanent disability to be merged in our communities and rehabilitate themselves to continue their normal life," said Abu Nada.
The deposed premier of Hamas government in Gaza Ismail Haneya blessed the couples in a speech at the ceremony. "It is happiness that the Palestinian people achieved victory in facing the Israeli war."
"This mass wedding ceremony is not only to reward the heroes, but also to reiterate that resistance is the only choice of our Palestinian people who want to liberate homeland and establish the Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital," said Haneya.
He added that the wounded grooms "are sending a message through this ceremony to the international community that shows Israeli crimes and brutalities against our people."
He accused that Israel has been carrying out a psychological war by threatening to wage another war against the Gaza Strip, adding that "I don't expect another war soon because their scandals and crimes are chasing them everywhere."
During the three-week Israeli operation, around 1,450 Palestinians and 10 Israelis were killed and around 5,000 Palestinians were injured.
============================================================
No comments:
Post a Comment