Literature professor Haidar Eid, a South African Palestinian, who is currently in Gaza, has sent a voice note to his friends and family in South Africa describing what he is experiencing there.
The voice-note has been shared by his South African friends with Professor Eid’s permission.
This is a direct transcript of the voice note:
“This is Haidar Eid.
“I am a South African Palestinian literature professor, in Gaza right now, with a wife and two small daughters.
“My flat was bombed by apartheid Israel.
“Israel has said that Gazans must leave. This is exactly what the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had to say two days ago, but we all can’t go anywhere. Because the border was bombed.
“Rafah is the only exit to the eternal world, between Gaza and Egypt. And it was bombed.
“The other six crossings are controlled by apartheid Israel.
We have no food, no electricity; water and hospitals are bombed.
“The international community is standing idle, supporting apartheid Israel and blaming the victim. What is going on right now is genocide. The international law defines genocide and it is exactly what is happening to us right now.”
Attempts to reach Professor Eid directly on Friday morning were not successful as there is not electricity supply to the Gaza strip now.
War has broken out between Israel and Palestine with a total siege on Gaza over the weekend.