Every time a warning siren goes off in Israel, I cannot help but think of my friends in Gaza, where there are no sirens, no shelters, no hospitals, no food, and no water.
by Diana Buttu, reposted from Zeteo, June 17, 2025
“Diana, are you and your family ok?” This was the first text message I received from a friend after missiles landed in Haifa following Israel’s illegal attack on Iran. Many friends from around the world have since messaged and called, but it was that first message – from a friend in Gaza – that has stayed with me these past few days.
Yes, we are fine, physically. I live in Haifa, where the amenities that are provided to Jewish Israelis are available to me: we hear the warning sirens; we get warnings on our phones; I have a bomb shelter in my apartment (it was built after 1990, so by law, it must have one); there are public bomb shelters throughout many parts of Haifa; we have electricity, food, water, phones, and internet.
Before any of Israel’s apologists chime in to show that this is “proof” that there is no apartheid in the country, it needs to be said that Israel has failed to build public shelters or safe schools in the vast majority of Palestinian cities and towns. Out of 71 Palestinian towns examined in 2018, only 11 had public shelters (29 shelters in total). It has not gotten better since. Palestinians often reported being ousted from or harassed in these shelters.
This week, as a missile hit a family home in the Palestinian town of Tamra, killing four members of the same Palestinian family, Jewish Israeli residents of the neighboring Mitzpe Aviv were seen cheering as the missile hit Tamra, with some cheering, “May your village burn!” – a common chant uttered by Israelis towards Palestinians. (Among the first sentences I learned in Hebrew!)
In Tamra, a town of 37,000 Palestinians, there are no public shelters, while Mitzpe Aviv, with its 1,100 residents (including some who cheered for the missile), has 13 shelters (continue reading here).
Diana Buttu is a Haifa-based lawyer and analyst who was a legal adviser to the Palestinian negotiating team in the early 2000s and is a frequent commentator and writer on Palestinian and Israeli issues. She writes Zeteo’s ‘A Diary from a Palestinian in Israel.’
