(no subject)
My father is currently on an EU engineering mission in the Gazastrip. He is an expert civil engineer with a specialism in airport runways. Since Gaza Airport (or lately Yasser Arafat International Airport) is currently lacking in runways I wondered what he should be doing there. The airport was financed by the EU and fully operational. However when the second Intifada started the Israelis bulldozed the runway, partially as a revenge measure and partially for security reasons. The airfield is quite a political symbol for the Palestinian people and represents their imprisonment in the autonomous areas. In protest they have kept the field running and all staff is still working and facilities are still available on an airport that can not receive planes and passengers.
All things aside... not surprisingly my mum is not very happy with this latest assignment even though she is quite used to his work (he went to many volatile places like Kosovo, Uzbekistan but cancelled a trip to Syria during the US invasion of Iraq). This time it is different, especially after my father informed us that the situation is very tense. A thing he normally never does. His hotel is in the north in Gaza City while the airport is 36km south at the Egyptian border. The UN advices against travel through the Khan Yunis area to the airport. Israeli unmanned aerial drones are patrolling the region and the ambassador of the EU told him activity went up after he arrived. Travel is restricted.
I may unlock a private post on this subject later. For now I I just hope he gets home quickly.
All things aside... not surprisingly my mum is not very happy with this latest assignment even though she is quite used to his work (he went to many volatile places like Kosovo, Uzbekistan but cancelled a trip to Syria during the US invasion of Iraq). This time it is different, especially after my father informed us that the situation is very tense. A thing he normally never does. His hotel is in the north in Gaza City while the airport is 36km south at the Egyptian border. The UN advices against travel through the Khan Yunis area to the airport. Israeli unmanned aerial drones are patrolling the region and the ambassador of the EU told him activity went up after he arrived. Travel is restricted.
I may unlock a private post on this subject later. For now I I just hope he gets home quickly.