In that small strip of land called Gaza, it has become the problem of the living to bury the dead. Dying is such a regular occurrence that outstrips birthing and aging, and the Palestinians have run out of graveyards. Those buried by the rubble from the bombs and big guns of Israeli tanks may be retained where they perished. And if the Jewish State offensive continues, the entire Gaza may become a graveyard - not only of the mangled bodies of civilians, but also of the dreams of young Palestinians for a better existence and a place to call their homeland.
As of the 12th of January, 971 Gazans have been killed - one third of them children. Those that will eventually perish from diseases, wounds, and starvation brought on by the humanitarian crisis now engulfing the area, have yet to be factored in. The latest is that Israeli bombs have struck a United Nations aid storage facility, aggravating the already volatile and inadequate aid supply in the city. Israel has also struck the office facilities used by foreign journalists. Both bombs have been confirmed to contain phosphorous - a fact Israel has consistently denied.
Israel's claim of self-defense is not all that plausible. Prior to its recent barrage in Gaza, it has not suffered an armed attack, which in the UN Charter preserves the right of a state to retaliate. What Israel has initiated is a war of aggression. Since the rocket attacks versus Israel in 2002 commenced, about two dozen Israelis have perished. These attacks by Hamas may be considered war crimes; yet in the same period, Israel's retaliatory strikes have killed 2,700 Palestinians.
In June 2008, both sides agreed to a 6-month truce which neither party fully complied with. Hamas fired rockets into Israel after the Jewish State killed or seized Hamas members in the West Bank, and Israel's refusal to ease the blockade that effectively starved and suffocated Gaza. Israel then broke the truce in November 2008 and killed a Palestinian. The resulting Hamas rockets killed no one - but Israel then killed 5 more Palestinians. The current conflict was thus initiated by Israel's violation of the truce - and it cannot claim self-defense against this escalation because it was provoked by its own abuse.
This armed attack by Israel, unjustified as self-defense, is a war of aggression; and definitely a war crime. And although it has withdrawn its soldiers and settlers in Gaza since 2005, Israel continues to strictly control the coast, borders and airspace, making the Jewish State an occupying power with the legal obligation to protect the civilian population. Hamas can be charged for its violative tactic of using civilians and governmental facilities as shields in launching attacks on Israel, but it is not as serious as Israel's crime of launcing a war of aggression against the civilian population.
The idea that the constant battering of the Palestinians will soften them and accept the peace Israel wants to impose on its own terms, is unrealistic. It will only fuel hardened hatred and rage against them. The statements by Condi Rice and George Bush admonishing Hamas to desist from firing rockets is a subtle way of projecting that Hamas is the aggressor. It is both laughable and incredible, since Israeli tanks are inside Gaza bombarding the city to rubble, its planes dropping bombs, while its ships blasting at Gaza from the coast - yet no admonishing is given to Israel. The lopsided statements have resurfaced America's ugly and obnoxious image in the Middle East.
Talks of a truce have been initiated, but the latest bombardment that burned the food, medicine, fuel, and water supplies of the UN to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, puts into question Israel's idea of peace. It may be that Israel's concept of peace is an exact copy of America's pacification campaign in the old west against the native Americans - that peace, as a goal of the Jewish State means no Palestinian left standing alive - either by bullets, bombs, disease, starvation, or intolerable misery. And that no possible regeneration will ever take place. Gaza will then be recorded and renowned in history as the graveyard of Palestinians, and the burial site of their dreams of a Palestinian State.
Haaaarrrrrrwwwwwk...Twoooooooph...Ting!
Source: Johann Hari, The True Story Behind the War is not the One Israel isTelling
George E. Bisharat, Israel is Committing War Crimes
news.bbc.co.uk
As of the 12th of January, 971 Gazans have been killed - one third of them children. Those that will eventually perish from diseases, wounds, and starvation brought on by the humanitarian crisis now engulfing the area, have yet to be factored in. The latest is that Israeli bombs have struck a United Nations aid storage facility, aggravating the already volatile and inadequate aid supply in the city. Israel has also struck the office facilities used by foreign journalists. Both bombs have been confirmed to contain phosphorous - a fact Israel has consistently denied.
Israel's claim of self-defense is not all that plausible. Prior to its recent barrage in Gaza, it has not suffered an armed attack, which in the UN Charter preserves the right of a state to retaliate. What Israel has initiated is a war of aggression. Since the rocket attacks versus Israel in 2002 commenced, about two dozen Israelis have perished. These attacks by Hamas may be considered war crimes; yet in the same period, Israel's retaliatory strikes have killed 2,700 Palestinians.
In June 2008, both sides agreed to a 6-month truce which neither party fully complied with. Hamas fired rockets into Israel after the Jewish State killed or seized Hamas members in the West Bank, and Israel's refusal to ease the blockade that effectively starved and suffocated Gaza. Israel then broke the truce in November 2008 and killed a Palestinian. The resulting Hamas rockets killed no one - but Israel then killed 5 more Palestinians. The current conflict was thus initiated by Israel's violation of the truce - and it cannot claim self-defense against this escalation because it was provoked by its own abuse.
This armed attack by Israel, unjustified as self-defense, is a war of aggression; and definitely a war crime. And although it has withdrawn its soldiers and settlers in Gaza since 2005, Israel continues to strictly control the coast, borders and airspace, making the Jewish State an occupying power with the legal obligation to protect the civilian population. Hamas can be charged for its violative tactic of using civilians and governmental facilities as shields in launching attacks on Israel, but it is not as serious as Israel's crime of launcing a war of aggression against the civilian population.
The idea that the constant battering of the Palestinians will soften them and accept the peace Israel wants to impose on its own terms, is unrealistic. It will only fuel hardened hatred and rage against them. The statements by Condi Rice and George Bush admonishing Hamas to desist from firing rockets is a subtle way of projecting that Hamas is the aggressor. It is both laughable and incredible, since Israeli tanks are inside Gaza bombarding the city to rubble, its planes dropping bombs, while its ships blasting at Gaza from the coast - yet no admonishing is given to Israel. The lopsided statements have resurfaced America's ugly and obnoxious image in the Middle East.
Talks of a truce have been initiated, but the latest bombardment that burned the food, medicine, fuel, and water supplies of the UN to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, puts into question Israel's idea of peace. It may be that Israel's concept of peace is an exact copy of America's pacification campaign in the old west against the native Americans - that peace, as a goal of the Jewish State means no Palestinian left standing alive - either by bullets, bombs, disease, starvation, or intolerable misery. And that no possible regeneration will ever take place. Gaza will then be recorded and renowned in history as the graveyard of Palestinians, and the burial site of their dreams of a Palestinian State.Haaaarrrrrrwwwwwk...Twoooooooph...Ting!
Source: Johann Hari, The True Story Behind the War is not the One Israel isTelling
George E. Bisharat, Israel is Committing War Crimes
news.bbc.co.uk
25 comments:
That was a well explained scenario. Now i do understand more of the conflict. Thanks for a very informative post. As usual, it is delivered with fluency and expertise. Kudos to you Durano.
Though this post goes to great lengths to present details of the current conflict, it is essentially one-sided.
My dear friend.
It is such a heartache to read about the deaths of thousands of innocent because of war.
While the rest of the world worries about not being able to afford a bigger Jeep and downsize to a smaller car, there are so much sadness in some parts of the world where people just want .. to be alive.
Being alive is such a luxury don't you think so?
Go see the movie 'Defiance', a true story about a band of brothers during WWII...similar to the story of the Maccabees in the fight with the Assyrians (hence the
Miracle of Lights', or Chanukah). You might look at this current conflict differently.
all the best,
Amy
Ah, the civilized world is at it again. Calling defiance a form of terrorism. Everything really changes depending on one's state of denial. Freedom fighters were once called rebels, then resistance, then guerrillas, then insurgents, and now terrorists. How perception changes everything depending on where you stand. Obviously people will continue to see things on the shallowest of levels, completely ignoring how things began. This is a cruel world we live in my friend, a world where the lack of understandings leads to truth.
This is where humanity stands where people believe in the proganda and lies spread by those with vested interests. The world should understand that other people have rights too and that force only exposes the greed and lust for absolute power. The world is indeed regressing when people can shut their eyes to the truth.
Great post my friend. There are only a few of us who still believe that every man deserves to be free.
i am against the killings!
but, do you think that God made a mistake in choosing the Israelis as His chosen people?
Excellent post. See my information on this and the videos at EuroYank
I´m not even taking sides in the conflict becausde both behave(d) badly. It is just sad as usual to see the population and civilians suffering because of the crazy few...
hello! i like your blog and i am adding you to the list of my nominees for the triple awards. kindly read the post on my blog.tnx!
Hi Jena,
Thanks Jena. This is a senseless conflict where one side uses a civilian population as a shield to further their agenda, while the other side has no compunction about killing civilians in their effort to pursue the their attackers.
The real protagonists are the right wingers on both sides and as always, civilians who only wish to live in peace are the ones caught with the most casualties.
By the way, I still haven't fulfilled a commitment to you. Sorry about that. Our monitoring activities for the engagement we started last October had to be done, among a number of other things. Thanks for being patient. :-) --Durano, done!
Hi Paul,
Let me say at the outset that I am not anti-Israel nor pro-Palestinian, but I am pro-peace and anti-slaughter. Wherever intolerance or oppression, or greed, or corruption and neglect rear their ugly heads - I am against them. This blog has always been consistent in that area - regardless of what side does the abuse or who is at the receiving end.
If the post is one-sided, its because the facts are stacked that way. What do you make of the conflict? Do you think that the siege and the resulting devastation and deaths aren't one-sided in Israel's favor? It was like China versus Tibet or worse.
If the world cannot look at the truth in the eye and refuse to see the oppression, we may as well all live in a cocoon. That is what happened to the Jews during the last World War - everyone looked the other way until they were slaughtered beyond belief. If we start doing this again, that same event could be repeated.
WE cannot judge a conflict on the basis of our sentiment but on the basis of facts. Israel has a right to defend itself, but it has no right to launch a war against civilians they are duty bound to protect because of their control over the strip. That is a fact and that provision is embodied in the Geneva Convention.
The use of phosphorous bombs is another thing.Do you realize what this does? When a shrapnel hits a person, it continues to burn inside the body - thus burning the person within and searing all internal organs. Screams are not even possible because the lungs burst first and the external body melts like a candle. It is a most horrible death to watch and an excruciating way to die. Such cruelty is unimaginable coming from a country who experienced cruelty several decades ago - it is difficult to think that they can do this to others. These bombs come from the US - in the name of preserving peace. Ironic isn't it? But even creating cruel weapons of destruction can be justified and rationalized as essentially good. That's how twisted the world has become.And that is what I am trying to express. :-) --Durano, done!
Hi Amy,
I have seen Defiance Amy and really liked it. I have also read countless books on the Second World War and the horrors of the Holocaust, as well as the books of Leon Uris, the Nuremberg Trials,Dr. Mengele, the exploits of Simon Wisenthal in documenting and apprehending these war criminals.
Throughout all these, my heart bled for the Jews and I was and still am in sympathy for the sufferings they have undergone in WWII. I was also on their side during the 1967 6-day War and the Yom Kippur War. I applauded the peace pact with Egypt under Anwar Saddat.
What I am saying Amy is that in this particular conflict, I am saddened that Israel has taken the aggressor's side. The reaction to Hamas is overkill but it was launched against an unwilling shield of civilian Palestinians who are already being victimized by the war freaks within. How much suffering should they receive when all they want is to live normal lives in a land they feel their roots can grow and develop.
The results bear out the impunity by which the attacks were made and we must not close our eyes to what oppression exists - otherwise, there will be no one who will speak for us if oppression is directed at us in the future.
I sincerely hope you understand. And if the difference in our sentiments about this conflict remain, I hope it is confined only to this one incident, as I truly like and admire you - not only for your artistry and generosity, but for your nurturing character and parenting efforts which are worthy of emulation. :-) --Durano, done!
Hi Sher,
Being alive is fast becoming a luxury, my dear friend. When the months of March and April come, drought may hit the agricultural side of the global economy which will add to the woes of unemployment and tight credit situation worldwide.
With no money and no job, no home plus scarcity of food, the poorest of the lot may be driven to desperation - and heaven knows what they would do. If they believe they have nothing to live for, they may just do something they believe can be worth dying for. That's where the danger lies.
In the US, a man and his wife both lost their jobs recently and the husband decided to kill his wife, their 5 kids and himself. That is a sad scenario that should not have happened.
We should count our blessings. :-) --Durano, done!
Hi Joel,
I agree. A label can do much to disparage a cause. Rebel connotes something romantic; Freedom Fighter is associated with idealism; Resistance Groups are viewed as defenders of liberty; Guerillas are perceived as determined reform seekers or ideological fighters; but Terrorists are senseless mass murderers without cause nor reason.
In the Bush era, countries outside the US viewed America as a terrorist, but their media reach and savvy managed to whitewash their activities and justified their actions in the name of defending democracy.
Very few indeed see the treachery and the deception, and a blindness to the truth is the most dangerous of all traits. :-) --Durano, done!
Hi Desperate Blogger,
I do not take it against the Israeli's to claim the title Chosen People. The God of Christianity does not make mistakes but does things for a deeper reason.
The title however is a biblical term, one which may have been attributed to the Israeli's by themselves because Jesus was said to have been from the tribe of David. I don't know if the term was indeed conferred to them by God or by Jesus. :-) --Durano, done!
Hi EuroYank,
Thanks. I've seen the videos and the explicit footage therein. It's awesome! Where do you get these? I am really amazed! :-) --Durano, done!
Hi Zhu,
I am not taking sides of either protagonist, but merely taking the side of those who suffer from this lunacy and the slaughter that it created.
I agree, the death of civilians is the saddest part of this conflict between idiotic right wingers who have lost their sense of people and focus only on their sense of battle and stupidity.:-) --Durano, done!
Hi Shasha,
WELCOME!
Thanks for your kind words. I appreciate it. I will visit your blog, and thanks for the honor you have given.:-) --Durano, done!
a very frightening situation for all concerned Durano...
I do hope that this war can be resolved peacefully ..
Hi Durano,
How are you? I hope everything is okay with you. We miss your postings and of course you.
May you be safe and sound. Cheers.
Hi, Durano, hope all is well and we see you back blogging soon!
Take care!
Fitness Diva
Hi Durano,
Where are you? I hope everything is fine? God bless.
Donde estas, Durano?
SEO
Where are you Durano? I hope everything is well with you. WHRE ARE YOU?
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