Stargazing under siege in Gaza

Ma'an
A Palestinian astronomer who returned to Gaza after Israel's Operation Cast Lead killed his son and demolished his home brought with him the means to show children there is a world outside the Strip.

Dozens of children will soon be stargazing under the supervision of Gaza-born astrophysicist Suleiman Baraka, a former employee of the US space agency NASA. Baraka's group will have the help of a telescope imported to Gaza with the help of the French Consulate in Jerusalem and the French Cultural Center.

Baraka said he wants to get children interested in astronomy in order to help them overcome what he calls a "stereotype" of the sky as a source of death, with its unmanned Israeli drones, helicopter gunships and fighter jets.

Baraka told Ma’an, “When we ask a child here, ‘what do you see in the Gaza sky?’ He would say he sees Apaches [helicopters] and F-16s and all of the causes of death and destruction.”

Despite these fears, he says, “The Gaza sky is beautiful with all of its stars and galaxies.”

Baraka studied at French universities and later worked with NASA at Virginia Tech in the US. He was at work in Virginia when Israel launched its three-week war in Gaza in late 2008.

On the third day of the war, his 11-year-old son Ibrahim was killed in an Israeli airstrike that destroyed his home in Khan Younis. Seventeen members of his family were left homeless by the same bombing....

“My house is not a military base. Ibrahim is 11 years old. He doesn’t need F-16 jet fighters to kill him. My house roof was there for me and my children to use my telescope, not anti-aircraft missiles or rockets,” he said.

Baraka says he returned to Gaza after the war in part out of the sense that his country needs him. “What would happen if I stayed at NASA with an excellent salary and carrying out research? If you are qualified then it’s better for you to stay in your homeland,” he told Ma’an.

Now back in Gaza, he is brimming with ideas for projects, saying he intends to establish an observatory and astronomy programs in Gazan universities. He is also interested in setting up a facility to study the earth’s magnetic fields. He says his friends in the world astronomical community will help him bring telescopes into Gaza despite the Israeli-led border closure...

...“The universe is wide and the globe is bigger than having Beit Hanoun and Rafah as your only surroundings. Seeing the Gaza sky is an attempt to break the siege in all of its educational and political aspects, in belief that the Palestinians are capable of greatness in science.”  Full story