I apologize for not posting as of late, and I know this topic is way out of date now. Life has a tendency of getting in the way of less important endeavors like blogging, not to say that what I'm about to address is of little significance compared to living your daily routine day by day. Considering what is going on these days, I'm sure you'd be surprised as to why I am posting this now as opposed to day it started. Well, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls... I'm back, and what I'm about to say and show you is not pretty, nor for the faint of heart, if you know what I mean.
Last January, the Gaza Strip, an area no larger than Washington, D.C. and populated by 1.5 million Palestinians of whom at least 80% live below the poverty line and can not sustain or transport themselves [1], has been under attack by the Israeli army. The casualties number in at least 1,000 Gazans killed, mostly civilians and roughly half of the total being children [2]. Since the conflict began, at least 3 Israeli civilians and 10 Israeli soldiers were killed [3]. However, there is beyond doubt that since Israel's army has killed a greater number of civilians, it bears a larger burden in the cycle of death and violence that rampages on. Entire families have been wiped out [4]. Homes, schools, mosques, universities, seaports, and even hospitals and other places of refuge or aid have been targeted and/or destroyed [5]. Still, tons more have been injured, had their limbs amputated, traumatized, shocked, orphaned, and dispossessed as a result of the attacks. Truly, this is a massacre in the making.
Interestingly enough, these attacks have sparked worldwide anger with an intensity of the likes which has never been witnessed before in the history of this 60+-year-long conflict [6]. The Arab populations have never came out so defiant in the face of their governments, and protested for the Palestinians suffering in Gaza as a result of the inhumane siege being carried out by the Israeli army. The world over took to the streets in as persistent a fashion as possible to demonstrate against the Israeli army's actions in the Gaza Strip, thereby augmenting to the already considerable international pressure on the oppressive regime. Like these protests, however, the Israeli army didn't up in its attacks either, as it entered a phase of ground operations supposedly aimed at striking Hamas [7].
So, why is Israel doing this? Why is it carrying out a full assault, with high-tech weaponry and military ordnance, on the Palestinians in Gaza? The official story is that Israel is launching attacks to stop Hamas from firing rockets into Israel, an action Hamas undertook following the end of the truce [8]. The rockets were taken as a threat and that they were launched with the intention of "destroying the Jewish state" or "driving the Jews into the sea". Never mind that Hamas knows well that these rocket attacks can not fulfill such a daunting task, and that its actions are in fact fueled by the occupation [9]. It was only a matter of less than 24 hours, actually, that these rockets were being fired, barely causing any damage and missing all the way, when Israeli politicians made the absurd statement about having their nation being rained upon by rockets "every single day". It was a perfect pretext for the Israeli government, nonetheless, to launch a massive operation supposedly against Hamas, the initial goal being to wipe them out of Gaza. They seemed to be doing fine in that the rocket attacks were diminished in number. They also managed to "weaken Hamas", if such weakening involves targeting a civilian police force.
Let's face it: no one, and I mean NO ONE, who has a conscience and a pair really cares about Israel's military objectives in the scope of the consequences of its actions. It is ludicruous to assume that Israel's military objectives are of "self-defense" and involve the "sole targeting of Hamas" when civilians and civilian infrastructure are bearing the brunt of these attacks. It's even dumber to assume that civilian casualties incurred from "precision bombs" are "collateral damage" and "accidental" (yes, and I suppose bombs discriminate between civilians and militants, killing the former accidentally and the latter on purpose). Such buzzwords are nothing short of NyQuil for the IAF hellbird pilots that drop bombs and launch missiles at largely civilian targets, and knowingly so given the density of Gaza's population and its overwhelmingly civilian majority [10].
All one has to do is look at the news. Look at the targets of these strikes. Zeitoun, a Gaza suburb, has been reduced to rubble in its entirety. More people have become displaced from their homes and crowd themselves in schools and other public areas. Medical (and other) supplies in Gaza hospitals have run short and are still running short as thousands of wounded pour in, and many more are left to die. Tens are buried in rubble. Entire families have been wiped out. Food, water, aid, and shelter have become scarce [11, 12]. Fires from white phosphorus burned up buildings and people [13]. Children were orphaned, and others were left to die next to their mothers, while others have had the displeasure to watch their mothers die in front of them [14].
And in the midst of all this, Tzipi "the lying bitch" Livni (I apologize for my language for I can not find a kinder word to describe that hag) has the nerve to say that there is "no humanitarian crisis in Gaza", and that "Hamas is to blame" [15]. Even worse is that many other spineless politicians have followed suit, including our own pathetic "president" Mahmoud Abbas, Egypt's Husni Mubarak, and countless other Arab leaders [16]. You can also always count on Israel's backers in the states like Dubya and even Obama ("Israel has a right to defend itself") to say something absolving Israel of criticism, and indeed they did. Those who love Israel (out of fear) rushed to justify the unjustifiable actions of the government and army, both having garnered unwavering, almost devotional support.
Of course, this callousness and lack of concern for the dead is clear to those who can see the destruction for what it is without getting brainwashed with hogwash anti-Palestinian racism and Israeli propaganda, and that's when Hasbara falls apart like the house of cards that it is. Let's take a look at the notion that Hamas is to blame for the plight of the Palestinians. The argument is that since Hamas fired the rockets at Israel and hides behinds civilians, it is to blame for the ongoing suffering of the Palestinians. With a convenient scapegoat like Hamas, one that is demonized and centralized in Western media for being an "Izlamofashist" terrorist organization, Israel appears innocent as it is a "Western, civilized, liberal, democratic" nation "defending itself" against an "Izlamofashist, barbaric, totalitarian, terrorist enemy" that "threatens its destruction". At the same time, it puts Israel above criticism, liability, responsibility, and the like, even though it is responsible for its actions. Think about it: if someone pinches you, you don't beat the crap out of him or kill him as you are responsible for your actions as much as he is. Better scenario: if a man (God forbid) kills your son, you don't go around killing his entire family, destroying his house and his SUV with a wrecking ball, and making his life a living hell. If you were the Israeli government or army, there's a good chance that you killed his son by preventing him and his family from taking him to the hospital, or denying him any means to get supplies (food, medicine, water, etc.). Anyways, even if you are retaliating, you are still responsible for what you do as well as your "reaction" is also an action in and of itself.
Let's shove aside the fallacious Orientalist diatribe that admittedly and effectively paints such an image in your mind and look at the situation itself. To set the context of the present situation, it suffices to say that there is no question - in my mind at least - that the Israeli occupation since the late 60's has set the status quo of today: an impoverished and fragmented Palestinian society disenfranchised by roadblocks, military incursions, house demolitions, annexation of land (agricultural and otherwise), resource monopolization (diversion of aquifers, etc.), stemming of aid, and settlement expansion, all continuing to this day [17]. In 2005, Israel pulled out its settlements from Gaza but maintained control of its borders and eventually blockading them in 2007, restricting supplies coming and going [18]. During the ceasefire that started in June, 2008, Israel still maintained the blockade of Gaza and continued its operations in the West Bank, while Hamas and other groups kept their guns down [19]. Moreover, the UN reported 7 violations of the ceasefire by Israel in Gaza during its first few days. However, throughout this "ceasefire", Israel maintained its siege of Gaza, blockading it on all sides and pushing Egypt to maintain its closure of the Rafah crossing [20]. Many patients died during this time period [21], and over the past two years from the end of the ceasefire, over 1,000 Palestinians - 200 children - died at the hands of the Israeli army, whether directly or indirectly [22].
In the midst of all this, Israel's supporters claim that Hamas fired rockets unprovoked and unwarranted at Israel post-ceasefire, which - as shown above - was something that Israel (i.e. government and army, not the people) far from honored. Therefore, since Hamas fired the rockets, Israel gets free rein to do whatever it wants to the Palestinians, using Hamas as an excuse and a supposed take-down of Hamas as a pretext and/or "objective" - which apparently is the "only thing that matters". The house of card falls apart - as I said before - when we realize that the people who are suffering are not Hamas militants like Israel supposedly "promised", but rather civilians and their infrastructure. Another argument comes up: Hamas hid weapons in those homes and they exploded upon contact with Israeli ordnance. If Israel knew that there were "powder kegs" there, why did they fire on them in the first place with their so-called "precision ordnance"?
When the casualty counts kept coming in, the house of cards fell down hard and thus was exposed the utter racism of the Israeli government and its supporters towards the Palestinians. When the UNRWA HQ was bombed and civilians were killed, Israeli spokespersons came out and "justified" the incident by claiming that the casualties were only "local Palestinians" and that they - or even "some of them" - were "affiliated with Hamas one way or another" [23]. What's wrong with being a Palestinian?! Even worse, the forum I venture (Political Crossfire) was laden with remarks exhibiting anti-Palestinian racism, veiled genocidal threats, and fallacies that weakly "absolve" Israel's army from responsibility for the bloodshed that has befallen the Gazans. The worst goes as far as to dehumanize the Palestinians to the point that they're nothing but "terrorists" and "Hamas supporters" who just want to see Israel destroyed, or they happen to be people who "elected Hamas".
First, if Hamas is to be blamed for what Israel was doing in Gaza, would you have us believe that Hamas militants are piloting those bombers, driving those Merkavas, and attacking Palestinian civilians while dressed up as Israeli soldiers? I doubt it. Israel chose to respond to Hamas's rocket attacks in such an indiscriminate manner. Second, if electing or supporting a party like Hamas is a crime worthy of death, then every Israeli civilian who has died in the past few decades of this conflict is just as "guilty" since Israelis elected prime ministers who were notorious not only for their aggressive policies against the Palestinians (as they continued to perpetuate the injustices in the form of occupation and violation of human rights) but also - especially in the case of people like Yitzhak Shamir and Menachem Begin - for their terrorist actions against Palestinians during the heydays of Zionist colonization. Of course, I don't buy that argument: a civilian - whether Palestinian or Israeli - is a civilian regardless of political affiliation or support.
Make no mistake: I'm not supporting Hamas or their campaign against Israel as it is right now as it is one that is dodging and detrimental to peace, although not more than Netanyahu's recent "diplomacy" and that of Israel's government in the past few decades of its existence. I blame Hamas for the rocket attacks only, but not breaching the ceasefire. Israel already violated that ceasefire continuously by maintaining its blockade of Gaza's borders and denying the Palestinians from reaching sustainable aid. Such action did provoke Hamas, but instead of reaching for a diplomatic solution, it chose a militarily political "solution": fire rockets. Israel responded with an attack that would effectively crush the hopes and spirits of the Gazans and their will to survive. Given all that has transpired, it is clear that while both parties share blame, Israel carries the larger burden as it has nothing to lose from talking to representatives (PA, Hamas, etc.) of a fragmented society that doesn't even pose a threat to its existence.
Bottom line: what happened in Gaza - in my opinion - is utterly inexcusable. The majority of casualties were civilian, and the way Israel came down militarily on an overall defenseless populace can not be intellectually "justified" in any manner possible without being faulty in its premises to begin with. Even if this was in Israel's interests of "surviving", that doesn't mean it should violate the right of others to survive. Never mind that these rocket attacks don't pose a threat to Israel's survivability more than the infrastructure-destroying ordnance dropped by IAF Hellbirds and fired by Israeli tank operators. In efforts to promote peace between Gaza and Israel, a ceasefire mediated by an international organization - like the UN - should be enforced while Gazans rebuild, resupply, and empower themselves through society-building. Israel preferably should help in their recovery without interfering politically. This will in turn make conditions favorable for the Palestinians there and give them no reason to hate Israel - at least from that point on. Hamas would effectively be isolated, and - seeing no rocket attacks, blockades, air strikes, etc. - so would Israel's extremist elements, thereby enforcing negotiations and hopefully a lasting peace. I don't see that possibility with the now exposed racism and belligerency of Israeli propaganda.
What do you think? Do you think Hamas should be held responsible for this whole mess, even though neither Hamas nor the Palestinians of Gaza are able to fend for themselves to be held responsible? Or should Israel burden the larger blame it deserves?
Salaam, from Saracen
Last January, the Gaza Strip, an area no larger than Washington, D.C. and populated by 1.5 million Palestinians of whom at least 80% live below the poverty line and can not sustain or transport themselves [1], has been under attack by the Israeli army. The casualties number in at least 1,000 Gazans killed, mostly civilians and roughly half of the total being children [2]. Since the conflict began, at least 3 Israeli civilians and 10 Israeli soldiers were killed [3]. However, there is beyond doubt that since Israel's army has killed a greater number of civilians, it bears a larger burden in the cycle of death and violence that rampages on. Entire families have been wiped out [4]. Homes, schools, mosques, universities, seaports, and even hospitals and other places of refuge or aid have been targeted and/or destroyed [5]. Still, tons more have been injured, had their limbs amputated, traumatized, shocked, orphaned, and dispossessed as a result of the attacks. Truly, this is a massacre in the making.
Interestingly enough, these attacks have sparked worldwide anger with an intensity of the likes which has never been witnessed before in the history of this 60+-year-long conflict [6]. The Arab populations have never came out so defiant in the face of their governments, and protested for the Palestinians suffering in Gaza as a result of the inhumane siege being carried out by the Israeli army. The world over took to the streets in as persistent a fashion as possible to demonstrate against the Israeli army's actions in the Gaza Strip, thereby augmenting to the already considerable international pressure on the oppressive regime. Like these protests, however, the Israeli army didn't up in its attacks either, as it entered a phase of ground operations supposedly aimed at striking Hamas [7].
So, why is Israel doing this? Why is it carrying out a full assault, with high-tech weaponry and military ordnance, on the Palestinians in Gaza? The official story is that Israel is launching attacks to stop Hamas from firing rockets into Israel, an action Hamas undertook following the end of the truce [8]. The rockets were taken as a threat and that they were launched with the intention of "destroying the Jewish state" or "driving the Jews into the sea". Never mind that Hamas knows well that these rocket attacks can not fulfill such a daunting task, and that its actions are in fact fueled by the occupation [9]. It was only a matter of less than 24 hours, actually, that these rockets were being fired, barely causing any damage and missing all the way, when Israeli politicians made the absurd statement about having their nation being rained upon by rockets "every single day". It was a perfect pretext for the Israeli government, nonetheless, to launch a massive operation supposedly against Hamas, the initial goal being to wipe them out of Gaza. They seemed to be doing fine in that the rocket attacks were diminished in number. They also managed to "weaken Hamas", if such weakening involves targeting a civilian police force.
Let's face it: no one, and I mean NO ONE, who has a conscience and a pair really cares about Israel's military objectives in the scope of the consequences of its actions. It is ludicruous to assume that Israel's military objectives are of "self-defense" and involve the "sole targeting of Hamas" when civilians and civilian infrastructure are bearing the brunt of these attacks. It's even dumber to assume that civilian casualties incurred from "precision bombs" are "collateral damage" and "accidental" (yes, and I suppose bombs discriminate between civilians and militants, killing the former accidentally and the latter on purpose). Such buzzwords are nothing short of NyQuil for the IAF hellbird pilots that drop bombs and launch missiles at largely civilian targets, and knowingly so given the density of Gaza's population and its overwhelmingly civilian majority [10].
All one has to do is look at the news. Look at the targets of these strikes. Zeitoun, a Gaza suburb, has been reduced to rubble in its entirety. More people have become displaced from their homes and crowd themselves in schools and other public areas. Medical (and other) supplies in Gaza hospitals have run short and are still running short as thousands of wounded pour in, and many more are left to die. Tens are buried in rubble. Entire families have been wiped out. Food, water, aid, and shelter have become scarce [11, 12]. Fires from white phosphorus burned up buildings and people [13]. Children were orphaned, and others were left to die next to their mothers, while others have had the displeasure to watch their mothers die in front of them [14].
And in the midst of all this, Tzipi "the lying bitch" Livni (I apologize for my language for I can not find a kinder word to describe that hag) has the nerve to say that there is "no humanitarian crisis in Gaza", and that "Hamas is to blame" [15]. Even worse is that many other spineless politicians have followed suit, including our own pathetic "president" Mahmoud Abbas, Egypt's Husni Mubarak, and countless other Arab leaders [16]. You can also always count on Israel's backers in the states like Dubya and even Obama ("Israel has a right to defend itself") to say something absolving Israel of criticism, and indeed they did. Those who love Israel (out of fear) rushed to justify the unjustifiable actions of the government and army, both having garnered unwavering, almost devotional support.
Of course, this callousness and lack of concern for the dead is clear to those who can see the destruction for what it is without getting brainwashed with hogwash anti-Palestinian racism and Israeli propaganda, and that's when Hasbara falls apart like the house of cards that it is. Let's take a look at the notion that Hamas is to blame for the plight of the Palestinians. The argument is that since Hamas fired the rockets at Israel and hides behinds civilians, it is to blame for the ongoing suffering of the Palestinians. With a convenient scapegoat like Hamas, one that is demonized and centralized in Western media for being an "Izlamofashist" terrorist organization, Israel appears innocent as it is a "Western, civilized, liberal, democratic" nation "defending itself" against an "Izlamofashist, barbaric, totalitarian, terrorist enemy" that "threatens its destruction". At the same time, it puts Israel above criticism, liability, responsibility, and the like, even though it is responsible for its actions. Think about it: if someone pinches you, you don't beat the crap out of him or kill him as you are responsible for your actions as much as he is. Better scenario: if a man (God forbid) kills your son, you don't go around killing his entire family, destroying his house and his SUV with a wrecking ball, and making his life a living hell. If you were the Israeli government or army, there's a good chance that you killed his son by preventing him and his family from taking him to the hospital, or denying him any means to get supplies (food, medicine, water, etc.). Anyways, even if you are retaliating, you are still responsible for what you do as well as your "reaction" is also an action in and of itself.
Let's shove aside the fallacious Orientalist diatribe that admittedly and effectively paints such an image in your mind and look at the situation itself. To set the context of the present situation, it suffices to say that there is no question - in my mind at least - that the Israeli occupation since the late 60's has set the status quo of today: an impoverished and fragmented Palestinian society disenfranchised by roadblocks, military incursions, house demolitions, annexation of land (agricultural and otherwise), resource monopolization (diversion of aquifers, etc.), stemming of aid, and settlement expansion, all continuing to this day [17]. In 2005, Israel pulled out its settlements from Gaza but maintained control of its borders and eventually blockading them in 2007, restricting supplies coming and going [18]. During the ceasefire that started in June, 2008, Israel still maintained the blockade of Gaza and continued its operations in the West Bank, while Hamas and other groups kept their guns down [19]. Moreover, the UN reported 7 violations of the ceasefire by Israel in Gaza during its first few days. However, throughout this "ceasefire", Israel maintained its siege of Gaza, blockading it on all sides and pushing Egypt to maintain its closure of the Rafah crossing [20]. Many patients died during this time period [21], and over the past two years from the end of the ceasefire, over 1,000 Palestinians - 200 children - died at the hands of the Israeli army, whether directly or indirectly [22].
In the midst of all this, Israel's supporters claim that Hamas fired rockets unprovoked and unwarranted at Israel post-ceasefire, which - as shown above - was something that Israel (i.e. government and army, not the people) far from honored. Therefore, since Hamas fired the rockets, Israel gets free rein to do whatever it wants to the Palestinians, using Hamas as an excuse and a supposed take-down of Hamas as a pretext and/or "objective" - which apparently is the "only thing that matters". The house of card falls apart - as I said before - when we realize that the people who are suffering are not Hamas militants like Israel supposedly "promised", but rather civilians and their infrastructure. Another argument comes up: Hamas hid weapons in those homes and they exploded upon contact with Israeli ordnance. If Israel knew that there were "powder kegs" there, why did they fire on them in the first place with their so-called "precision ordnance"?
When the casualty counts kept coming in, the house of cards fell down hard and thus was exposed the utter racism of the Israeli government and its supporters towards the Palestinians. When the UNRWA HQ was bombed and civilians were killed, Israeli spokespersons came out and "justified" the incident by claiming that the casualties were only "local Palestinians" and that they - or even "some of them" - were "affiliated with Hamas one way or another" [23]. What's wrong with being a Palestinian?! Even worse, the forum I venture (Political Crossfire) was laden with remarks exhibiting anti-Palestinian racism, veiled genocidal threats, and fallacies that weakly "absolve" Israel's army from responsibility for the bloodshed that has befallen the Gazans. The worst goes as far as to dehumanize the Palestinians to the point that they're nothing but "terrorists" and "Hamas supporters" who just want to see Israel destroyed, or they happen to be people who "elected Hamas".
First, if Hamas is to be blamed for what Israel was doing in Gaza, would you have us believe that Hamas militants are piloting those bombers, driving those Merkavas, and attacking Palestinian civilians while dressed up as Israeli soldiers? I doubt it. Israel chose to respond to Hamas's rocket attacks in such an indiscriminate manner. Second, if electing or supporting a party like Hamas is a crime worthy of death, then every Israeli civilian who has died in the past few decades of this conflict is just as "guilty" since Israelis elected prime ministers who were notorious not only for their aggressive policies against the Palestinians (as they continued to perpetuate the injustices in the form of occupation and violation of human rights) but also - especially in the case of people like Yitzhak Shamir and Menachem Begin - for their terrorist actions against Palestinians during the heydays of Zionist colonization. Of course, I don't buy that argument: a civilian - whether Palestinian or Israeli - is a civilian regardless of political affiliation or support.
Make no mistake: I'm not supporting Hamas or their campaign against Israel as it is right now as it is one that is dodging and detrimental to peace, although not more than Netanyahu's recent "diplomacy" and that of Israel's government in the past few decades of its existence. I blame Hamas for the rocket attacks only, but not breaching the ceasefire. Israel already violated that ceasefire continuously by maintaining its blockade of Gaza's borders and denying the Palestinians from reaching sustainable aid. Such action did provoke Hamas, but instead of reaching for a diplomatic solution, it chose a militarily political "solution": fire rockets. Israel responded with an attack that would effectively crush the hopes and spirits of the Gazans and their will to survive. Given all that has transpired, it is clear that while both parties share blame, Israel carries the larger burden as it has nothing to lose from talking to representatives (PA, Hamas, etc.) of a fragmented society that doesn't even pose a threat to its existence.
Bottom line: what happened in Gaza - in my opinion - is utterly inexcusable. The majority of casualties were civilian, and the way Israel came down militarily on an overall defenseless populace can not be intellectually "justified" in any manner possible without being faulty in its premises to begin with. Even if this was in Israel's interests of "surviving", that doesn't mean it should violate the right of others to survive. Never mind that these rocket attacks don't pose a threat to Israel's survivability more than the infrastructure-destroying ordnance dropped by IAF Hellbirds and fired by Israeli tank operators. In efforts to promote peace between Gaza and Israel, a ceasefire mediated by an international organization - like the UN - should be enforced while Gazans rebuild, resupply, and empower themselves through society-building. Israel preferably should help in their recovery without interfering politically. This will in turn make conditions favorable for the Palestinians there and give them no reason to hate Israel - at least from that point on. Hamas would effectively be isolated, and - seeing no rocket attacks, blockades, air strikes, etc. - so would Israel's extremist elements, thereby enforcing negotiations and hopefully a lasting peace. I don't see that possibility with the now exposed racism and belligerency of Israeli propaganda.
What do you think? Do you think Hamas should be held responsible for this whole mess, even though neither Hamas nor the Palestinians of Gaza are able to fend for themselves to be held responsible? Or should Israel burden the larger blame it deserves?
Salaam, from Saracen
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