ne w vocabulary of the alphabet - Can talent be the essence of suffering and pain?

Many Gaza children, are developing a new vocabulary based on the atrocities they witnessed during the 22-day Israeli onslaught.

Shaimaa, for example, a 10-year-old elementary student in Gaza has a complete vocabulary of the alphabet collection written in her notebook. Shaimaa wrote "A" not for Apple but for Apache, "B" not for Ball but for Blood, "C" for Coffin and "D" for Destruction or Death, etc.

A kindergarten teacher in Gaza, Amal Yunis admitted that many children in her class are also using the same words with Shaimaa used in her alphabet vocabularies.

One day, when she taught her class, Yunis put the colourful pictures of apple, flower and rabbits to cheer the kids. And then she asked, "Kids, who knows a word that start with 'F'?" One of the kids named Amgad immediately answered,"I know Miss. F, it's for F-16."

Amgad's answer make Yunis very surprised. She tried to explain that the right answer is "Flower" but she failed. Instead of taking her explanation, the kids gave her another various answers for the words starting with "F" such as Fear, Flee and Fire.

Fadl Abu Hayen, director of the Center for Social Rehabilitation and Crisis Management said that children's new vocabulary reflect their horrible experiences during the-22 days of Israel's brutal agression. "They forgot all about joy, fun and peace. They only talk about war, blood and death," he said.

Now, almost all chilren in Gaza seem to speak a new languange of war, bombardment and death. A 6-year-old Alaa Al-Shawwa does not believe anymore the bedtime stories her parents told her. She will say, "No, mom. The girl in the red dress was not eaten by the wolf. She was killed by the Israelis."

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