While our collective disgust with the cowardly air attacks on Gaza is warranted (can you say shooting fish in a barrel?), let's not forget that our brethren in Gaza had been suffering for long before these terrorist attacks. Ali Abunimah says it well:
"But today's horrific attacks mark only a change in Israel's method of killing Palestinians recently. In recent months they died mostly silent deaths, the elderly and sick especially, deprived of food and necessary medicine by the two year-old Israeli blockade calculated and intended to cause suffering and deprivation to 1.5 million Palestinians, the vast majority refugees and children, caged into the Gaza Strip. In Gaza, Palestinians died silently, for want of basic medications: insulin, cancer treatment, products for dialysis prohibited from reaching them by Israel."
Read the entire article and get a better understanding of the Israeli understanding of a truce:
"Under an Israeli-style truce, Palestinians have the right to remain silent while Israel starves them, kills them and continues to violently colonize their land."
In reality, Israel has never wanted real peace. Their existence is based on a perpetual state of conflict. That's why whenever a ceasefire or a lull in the tension lasts too long, they'll agitate the Palestinians by carrying out an assassination of a local leader or some other unprovoked act of stupidity. The political entity of Israel needs to justify its settlement expansions, oppressive policies, tight control of borders, and so on all in the name of security - and that can only be accomplished with a backdrop of violence and mayhem.
Frustration is abound all over. Let us all focus our energies back to our Creator and pray for His Mercy to descend on those who wish for nothing but a peaceful life in which they can worship Him properly.
WAW
4 days ago
18 comments:
Out of curiosity, what would you have the Israeli government do to protect the civilians of Sderot and Ashdod? There have been calls for months for the daily rockets and mortar raining in Sderot to stop, but they have gone unheeded. Loss of life is the ultimate travesty, but it cannot be a surprise that the cornered dog (Israel) is biting.
^^^^you're so full of shit
RE:^^^^you're so full of shit
damn coward.
This is just so sad? What should Israel do to protect its citizen!? ISRAEL SHOULD GET OUT OF GAZA.
If Israel leaves Gaza, Hamas may not be satisfied, but right now the people are in support of Hamas because of Israel Oppression. If Israeli left, the people would be fine as long as they could live life peacefully. eventually Hamas would be taken care of.
But under Hamas rule, people get bread on their table, but with Israel in Gaza they get war, (trucks of aid being blocked), their borders closed, air space controlled and just oppression in general.
They must leave Gaza.
the 1st anonymous wasn't me I'm the second anonymous responding to the first anonymous, I apologize for my language there.
Out of curiosity, what would you have the Israeli government do to protect the civilians of Sderot and Ashdod? There have been calls for months for the daily rockets and mortar raining in Sderot to stop, but they have gone unheeded. Loss of life is the ultimate travesty, but it cannot be a surprise that the cornered dog (Israel) is biting.
How about let basic needs get into Gaza so that women and children don't go hungry! What do you expect to occur from starving a people? Placing a blockade on them that doesn't even allow basic UN needs to pass!?
But of course the ONLY people you care for are your zionist murdering friends.
Victory shall soon be tasted by the Muslims and the tyranny of the zionist murderers will stop.
...but it cannot be a surprise that the cornered dog (Israel) is biting.
Israel the "cornered dog?" Are you for real? Why don't you try living in Gaza for a while to see who's really the "cornered dog."
"Victory shall soon be tasted by the Muslims and the tyranny of the zionist murderers will stop."
You really believe that? I don't see the Muslims doing much to help, but I don't live among them. Are they doing anything? It seems the Arabs are not from what I understand.
First anonymous here again,
"ISRAEL SHOULD GET OUT OF GAZA." As I recall, Israel withdrew from Gaza years ago, and was certainly not in Gaza for the past several months during which the residents of Sderot were under constant fire.
As for the blockade, I am honestly asking for information here: The majority of the Gaza's borders are not with Israel. They have a long stretch of beach and a border with Egypt as well. Was the Israeli army blocking those as well? Or just the border with Israel?
I haven't been able to get a straight answer on this second question, and I would appreciate your honest responses.
Anon,
"The majority of the Gaza's borders are not with Israel."
Not sure which map you're looking at, but 90% of Gaza's border is controlled by Israel (that includes their shore for which the waters are patrolled by Israel - witness their attacks on humanitarian boats trying to ship supplies to Gaza).
http://www.mideastweb.org/mgaza.htm
The Rafah border with Egypt is a mere 10-miles.
What are you trying to get at?
Sorry, I was unaware of the sea blockade. But surely the Egyptians send aide through that border? Or the UN sends aide through the Egyptian border - 10 miles is long enough to allow truckloads upon truckloads.
My question (and as I hope you can tell, I am still learning) was how Israel should act in the best interest of the citizens of Gaza without putting any of their own citizens at risk. When I asked at other websites, I was told the Gaza border was closed to prevent weapons coming into the country. This makes sense to me, because all those rockets must have come from somewhere. So, until the rockets stop, Israel thinks it has a valid reason to block the borders.
I don't think that anyone will argue that the victims of this situation are the Palestinian civilians of Gaza. But if you were an Israeli official, and your first priority was the safety of your own citizens, what would you do if you had already pulled out of Gaza, you were doing your best to keep rocket-makings from getting into Gaza, how would you respond?
Simply allow weapons into Gaza, expect rockets to keep hitting southern Israel, and hope that they would eventually stop?
"But surely the Egyptians send aide through that border? Or the UN sends aide through the Egyptian border - 10 miles is long enough to allow truckloads upon truckloads."
Nope, Egypt is equally in cahoots in this slaughter of innocents.
"how Israel should act in the best interest of the citizens of Gaza without putting any of their own citizens at risk."
I can tell you how NOT to act and how to BEST put their citizens at continued risk. By carrying out this immorally stupid act of war.
"how would you respond? "
Israel has the intelligence to track down individual leaders of Hamas inside Gaza, but they can't track down the tunnels used for smuggling rockets? That's total BS.
They have the 4th largest military in the world, Mossad is one of the world's elite spy agencies, they control almost all the borders to Gaza and yet their only way to stop the rockets is to massacre a civilian population??
Surely my friend, you can't be that naive.
First of all, don't underestimate my naivete. I'm looked at your blog in the first place in order to learn.
Second, I understand how NOT to act. But continuing as they had been was not an option.(and they are bombing the smuggling tunnels) Are you saying they should have sent in covert mossad agents to assassinate Hamas leaders one by one?
I admit that would be a far preferable, but how would they then keep other people from stepping into the same positions?
As for the loss of civilian life, I was taught that people fighting the Israeli army have historically
used their own civilians, and sometimes even children, as human shields, and this has often stopped the Israeli army in its tracks. The soundbites coming out of Israel would indicate that Hamas purposefully put rocket and weapon stores in schools and mosques in order to keep them safe, and Israel isn't playing this time.
One of the things I used to respect about Israel was quote from former Prime Minister Golda Meir - "I can forgive them for killing my children. I cannot forgive them for making me kill theirs"
But one of the reasons I posted here is because, contrary to headlines, no one, even terrorists, would purposefully bring this on themselves. Since this conflict started, I have been trying to read an English Koran, and I have yet to see a justification for such a widespread "martyrdom" as this would have to be to fit the Western idea behind a suicide bomber.
So thank you for entertaining a rational dialogue with me, and thank you for explaining.
Anon,
"First of all, don't underestimate my naivete."
Heh, your humility is quite refreshing.
"But continuing as they had been was not an option.(and they are bombing the smuggling tunnels)"
Please explain to me how preventing medical supplies and other basic necessities preventing the rockets from being fired? Is Hamas being trained by MacGyver or the A-Team enabling them to construct rockets from antibiotics, syringes, and some flour?
The reality is that Israel doesn't simply want the rockets to stop, but wants to 1. Destroy Hamas and 2. Collectively punish the Palestinians for supporting Hamas.
"people fighting the Israeli army have historically used their own civilians...and this has often stopped the Israeli army in its tracks. The soundbites coming out of Israel would indicate that..."
The IDF is not as benign as you have been taught. If I may say so, part of the problem is that you are taking soundbites from a biased news source - the Israelis themselves.
Seriously, why not introduce yourself to some objective witnesses - like humanitarian orgs and the like?? Why are you insisting on getting your news from one-side?
While I watch Al-Jazeera and read sites that support Hamas, I also try and listen to the other side (by watching CNN, BBC, and Haaretz).
If you are sincere in your search for the truth (and you do seem to be), expand your horizons and listen to the 'other side'.
Thank you for your humility and respect. I always enjoy such conversations.
I figure if I'm going to keep posting, I should give myself a name here.
A full blockade of the borders seemed like a reasonable thing to do when the rockets didn't stop, though why the Israeli soldiers can't allow thoroughly searched and x-rayed food and medical supplies in does confuse me.
As to my news sources, part of the problem is that I have been exposed to "anti-Semitic" propaganda all my life, and have been taught to disregard anything that sounds like it may have been influenced by NAZI beliefs or those sillies who think The Protocols of the Elders of Zion was actually written by Jews.
As a religious Jew, I have my own problems with the state of Israel, but when I tried to set up my equal news sources, I made sure to check FOX and CNN - Arutz Sheva and BBC. Normally these sources disagree about who is in the right. That's what is so disconcerting to me about this conflict, is that they're agreeing! And when the casualties are so heavily on one side or the other, there should not be such universal condemnation of the more wounded party.
However, sites like Al Jazeera (which I have investigated) loses their credibility with me when they compare air strikes and ground assaults with anything deserving the name Holocaust. As you mention in a later post, other people have suffered and are suffering worse - not just other people, other Muslims. The focus on this particular conflict, using words such as Holocaust instead of warzone, and comparing the grandchildren of camp survivors with NAZIs, smacks to me of anti-Semitism when so many other atrocities go unreported. In short, it invalidates them as a credible news source in my opinion. Can you recommend another please?
JNZ,
I can understand your reluctance in accepting Al-Jazeera. However, there are so many other sites that are providing a counter narrative to what you are used to. Here are some:
Salon, DemocracyNow, UK Guardian, Reddit has many links to interesting articles, CommonDreams, CounterPunch, and so on.
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