Unfortunately, I was never brought up, nor ever visited my home country, Palestine. However, living in a neighboring country in Jordan, I can’t help but feel guilty for living safely, while people from my own country are getting slaughtered for choosing and insisting on staying in their land, no matter how horrific the Israeli occupation gets.
All is aware of the Israelis’ striking at the Palestinians in Gaza. As of this writing, more than 300 ‘civilians’ died due to the Israeli Air Force attacks two days ago on the occupied Gaza Strip, not to mention the injured hundreds. Arabic Media doesn’t usually show a lot of the footage of the victims’ bodies, they don’t air it in respect for the victims’ families, but this time, Israel’s shameful crime just had to be shown to the world: men, women and children literally cut to pieces, making the duty of giving bodies back to families utterly painful.
Now without needing to get into the historic ownership rights of either the Palestinians or the Israelis, and disregarding the organization and political parties acts of each, killing civilians is just never acceptable. And if it weren’t for the United States’ support, this probably might have not happened: the US gave Israel this year 186 millions gallons of aviation jet fuel, and $1.3 billion worth of TOW, hellfire and missiles. In short, Israel’s attacks could not have happened without the military support of the United States.
I will end this post short, but if you’re interested to learn at all about the whole Israeli- Gaza conflict, I recommend you to read Mona El-Farra’s blog: She is from Gaza and she writes very well describing what happened on Dec. 27th, and how the siege of Gaza is really like.
Layla's Mixed Sorts 
Great post. I will read your posts frequently. Added you to the RSS reader.
Comment by Ben Waugh — December 31, 2008 @ 1:00 am |
Thank you Ben for your kind note. I came across your blog too, helpful tips indeed. 🙂
Comment by laylanajia — January 1, 2009 @ 12:59 pm |
Layla:
You can’t believe what you are saying. Please take off the “blinders” and see that Hamas and its Iranian supporters are responsible for the current situation. Yes, the US supports Israel’s survival as a State. If the Arab nations continue to refrain from acknowledging Israel’s right to survive, there will never be peace.
No one wants to see civilian casualties, but if Hamas hides behind civilians then such must be expected and the blame for such goes to Hamas.
Only Palestinians who are brave enough to see the truth (and SPEAK the truth) will end the violence and allow a strong Palestine to grow and prosper. Please, don’t follow the party line. This is 2008…almost 2009. Time for a change, eh?
Ma’salammah.
Comment by cannoncocker — December 31, 2008 @ 1:18 am |
John- I am amazed by the shallowness of your response to my posting.
You have to bear in mind at all times that Hamas is the elected government of the Palestinians, no less than Obama is by the Americans or Brown is by the British. The Palestinians have exercised their right in voting for a government of their choosing in one of the most internationally monitored elections in modern history. The saying goes “you cannot have the cake and eat it”, i.e. you cannot believe in a democracy that only brings your favorite party to power. Palestinians chose Hamas and the World should come to terms with this fact, just like no one has the right to question or second guess the Israeli people for electing into office such terrorists like David Ben Gurion, Menachem Begin and Ishaq Shamir (for your information the last two were on the Britain’s Most Wanted list for terrorist acts they had committed against British policemen and civilians during the British mandate over Palestine).
You also lose recognition of the fact that the Palestinian territories are “occupied territories” in the eyes of international law. Accordingly, the showdown in Gaza is not between two independent countries, but rather between an occupied and oppressed people and their occupier. International Law gives occupied people the right to fight their occupiers “by all means necessary”.
You also state that the US supports Israel’s right to exist; but the question is to exist where? Behind secured borders in the areas allotted to it in the 1947 Partition Plan, or also in South Lebanon, the Golan Heights, the West Bank and Gaza? In order to survive in peace with its neighbors, Israel must immediately and unconditionally withdraw from all the territories it occupies. Nothing short of that will bring about “the peace and prosperity” you talk about.
And this brings me to your somewhat offensive allegation of “Hamas hiding behind civilians”. When more and more Palestinian land is being confiscated by Israel to make way for the construction of illegal settlements designed to house people from Brooklyn and Manchester, the end result is that more and more Palestinians are forced to being crammed in ghettos. The West Bank and Gaza Strip have a combined area of 2,200 square miles: Palestinians are allowed only on roughly 500 square miles. This translates into a population density of 3,755 people per square mile, ranking the occupied territories as the most densely populated areas in the World; it is a human misery of epic proportion. This explains why “Hamas” emerged in the first place, and why it might give the appearance that it is “hiding behind civilians”!
Towards the end of your response you remind me that we are in 2009; frankly, I couldn’t figure out what you mean by that. Convictions and beliefs are not shoes or sandals that you change when they are no longer in fashion.
Comment by laylanajia — January 1, 2009 @ 12:54 pm |
Hi Layla,
I was looking for a Jordanian contact when I bumped into your blog. Being an Israeli, center on the political scale, I can understand your being horrified at the war that has thankfully ended. We were all horrified here in Israel. But I feel the need to explain what the majority of the Israelis think. If you think we’re a bunch of satans, you should come visit and hear what people on this side think and dream.
Israelis as a state have an urgent dream and desire for peace. Every religious Jew prays for peace 3 times a day. We all (well, 90% of the country) acknowledge the right of the Palestinians to their own land. I myself until a year ago was a left wing peacenik, arguing that the Palestinians want peace as much as we do.
And i was full of rituoss feelings, even tho the Hammas and the azadin el kassam were bombing Israeli settlements daily, starting 2001!!! I was one of those who screamed that we should fold all Israeli settlements in the Gaza strip and give the gaza’nians their land back.
3 years ago the Israeli government decided that the time had come for gaza self rule. Settlements were razed to the ground, places of worship, schools and industry centers abandoned, all in the hope of a new era between the gaza people and Israel. We were all dreaming that after the success of Gaza (we were sure it would show the world that the palestinians really do want peace) the next phase would be the west bank – an end to 1000s of years of hostility.
I cannot begin to tell you how pained and disillusioned i was when the Hammas was elected in the Gaza strip, and the bombings increased severely, with many Israeli losses and casualties. We’re talking hundreds of dead and wounded, billions of dollars worth damage. What would you do if the country next door to Jordan would bomb you to bits? I am sure there is not another country in the world that would hope for a peaceful resolution and do virtually nothing for 8 years!!!
The hammas political agenda does not recognize the state of Israel, and the organization calls daily for open resistance until the jews are gone.
To top it all, they offer the hellish concept of the Shahid, encouraging young men with lots of energy and not much education to serve as canon fodder to further their political aims. Makes me so so so sad. We were all sure there would be peace.
Anyway – don’t know why i suddenly decided to drop in on your blog. I would love to discuss this with you, and, in the name of peace to co-operate business wise…
Hope to hear from you.
Peace and light!
Comment by Yaron Levite — January 23, 2009 @ 3:33 pm |
Yaron- thank you for your comment. I actually do believe that many of both Palestinians and Israelis want peace, but I also believe that history is making more people hope otherwise. What strikes me the most however, is how each side has a different understanding of what the whole Palestinian- Israeli conflict is all about.
Israel actually believes that they are creating opportunities for peace, but are receiving ‘terror’ in return, that the Palestinians are not making their choice of peace. Israeli people believe that it is Hamas and the military action against Israel that put the people in Gaza in their current situation. On the other hand, Palestinians believe that peace and co-existence with Israel will never occur, at least not one that will offer the most important prerequisite for any just peace – an end to the occupation. Palestinians are sure that Israel seeks more of their land, and will carry on with more massacres like Gaza and Gineen and Nablus, claiming to fight terrorism, but allowing only the minimum amounts of humanitarian supplies to enter, killing civilians, hospitals have little or no fuel, doctors without medical supplies to treat the injured, all these acts are clearly directly designed to target the civilian population. Massacres and war crimes like that is how the ‘hellish concepts of Al Shahid’ emerged at the first place, and why Hamas ‘does not recognize the state of Israel’. To you Hamas are considered ‘extremists’ and the ones ‘behind the violence’, but to Palestinians they are the only ones who are willing to take up arms and fight back, which is why they got elected in the first place.
The main fact is, Israel is illegally occupying Palestinian territories, as one Israeli leader put it: “We must sear into their consciousness that they are a conquered people”. I don’t believe anything will change until its seared into Israel’s consciousness that ending the occupation is what will end the war.
Comment by laylanajia — January 27, 2009 @ 7:03 pm |