…beautiful blog post about the (British) Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s cemetery in Gaza.
The author of the In Gaza blog, Eva from (I think) Canada, gives us many poignant photos of the beautifully looked-after cemetery, and an indication of the broad cultural diversity of the commonwealth citizens who’ve been buried there since the First Wordl War… going right down to the 23 Canadian peacekeepers killed and buried there while serving as UN peacekeepers between 1956 and 1967.
She also gives us as well as a beautiful short profile of “Ibrahim Jeradeh, the 72 year old retired gardener and caretaker who tended and nurtured the cemetery for over 50 years before passing the task on to his sons.
Eva writes:
- The cemetary lies just hundreds of metres from the Dawwar Zimmo Red Crescent centre that I and other international activist volunteers came to know so intimately during Israel’s 3 week massacre of Gaza. And like the Red Crescent centre, and so many other hospitals, medical buildings, schools, UN centres and places ostensibly off-limits to the Israeli assault, the cemetary was also wounded by Israeli shelling during the attacks.
But toppled and shattered gravestones aside, the first thing one notices upon entering is the lush grass, the many types of beautifully-tended trees, the variety of flowers and shrubs, and the care which each grave is given…
But as I say, you should go read the whole thing yourself.
Her blog is great.