I turned on the news yesterday in an attempt to shrug off my ever growing despondency. This was my fourth time in the last hour. I’m not sure what I was expecting; Gazans were still being slaughtered by bombs dropped upon them from thousands of feet above by pilots not much older than myself. They’re trapped on all sides and the rest of the world does nothing to stop it. It was the same as the last three times...well almost. The death toll had risen. Desperate to believe in a prevailing Justice within society, I tried to take heart from the fact that at least these atrocities were still in the forefront of the news...for now anyway.
They were all covering the major story: CNN showed clips of the white trail of smoke following yet another bomb dropped by the IAF. BBC News reported that none of the Aid which Israel apparently let through into Gaza has actually reached a single hospital in Gaza. Fox News reporters discussed how the most horrifying detail about the thousands of shoes dumped onto a Miami Expressway, was that some of them were tied together (US officials were completely taken by surprise; they are not trained to deal with such adversity).
I switched to Al Jazeera English and heard the familiar voice of Azim Tamimi state that contrary to what has been reported in almost every news channel, and what has consequently become the consensus, Hamas did not break the ceasefire – Israel did. I had been so brainwashed, that for a second even I dismissed his claim as false. Surely I would have heard this from other sources? It was only when a close childhood friend of mine decided to get back in contact by pointing out the attacks of November 5, 2008 that I decided to read up on it.
We are told that the 6 month ceasefire between Hamas and Israel was broken by Hamas firing rockets into Gaza which killed an unfortunate Israeli. However on November 5, 2008 (4 months into the ceasefire), Israeli soldiers entered Gaza and killed 6 of Hamas’ men. 4 of the Israeli soldiers who illegally crossed into Gaza were also injured. When Hamas retaliated with their pathetic rockets, no one was injured. So Israel responded with an Air Strike which left 5 more men dead (See link 1 below for the full article published in the Guardian).
So why was the ceasefire not broken then? Why has the media (and the US, but we all know the answer to that one) decided that Hamas was to blame for this atrocity? It was because no Israeli was killed in November. The pattern is the same as it has been for decades. It is acceptable for Israel to blockade and starve 1.5 million people to the point where according to the UN report, more than half are malnourished. It’s acceptable for Israeli soldiers to shoot children at point blank range because they were throwing rocks at a jeep (see article 2). 164 nations vote against Israel every year in the UN. 4 vote in favour (Israel, the US, Marshall Islands (with a population of a mere 60 000) and another such obscure Island. In the International Court of Justice, out of the 15 Judges, 14 voted completely against Israel. The remaining was unsurprisingly from the US (and even he voted against Israel on one of the three issues).
However, the minute an Israeli is killed or even kidnapped (as was the case in Lebanon 2 years ago when Hezbollah took action), it becomes a justification for the indiscriminate killing of hundreds if not thousands of people (in Lebanon the death toll was higher). All in the name of the security of the Israeli Citizens. We get the same rhetoric every time, the same lies about letting in adequate Aid (if any at all), we get the same lies about how Israel is a liberal democracy. Where is its liberty in preventing any journalist from entering Gaza (even during the ceasefire, so don’t give me that crap about the safety of foreign journalists...Amira Hass, an Israeli journalist was recently placed under arrest because she got into Gaza)? We are told that Israel is not targeting civilians and yet civil institutions such as universities and the Ministry of Education have been targeted and severely damaged. The Ministry of Justice and the Foreign Ministry are utterly destroyed. If you target destroy the civic infrastructure, you can really strangle an entire people to the point where half of Gazan children have been found to have no will to live. The truth is ladies and gentlemen, if you lie enough, for long enough, you can distort anything...you can change history.
So what of Hamas’ bombings? The 23 people who have died in the last 8 years because of Katusha rockets were 23 too many. There is no doubting that sections of Hamas do want the death of as many Israeli citizens as possible and they have done more damage to the Palestinian cause than good. There are people in Israel too who wish to see the eradication of all Palestinian Arabs. The only reason why Hamas is in government is because in extreme times, people resort to extreme measures...they seek the radical solution. As Israel slaughters more innocent people in Gaza, it is sowing a hatred within a people who have been living in refugee camps for generations, because their homes are demolished by Israeli bulldozers, and this is going to give rise to a new wave of civilians deciding to become combatants.
I always hear members of the pro-Israeli camp arguing that what would Britain do in the same situation? The answer is simple, lift the blockade, return the illegally occupied territories which have been gained by slowly demolishing entire communities, stop bombing innocent civilians and apologise for the crimes committed. Once Palestinians have these, movements such as Hamas will never be able to gain support. Hamas’ greatest propaganda weapon is Israel’s mass killing.
Even within Hamas, there are others who are more rational and this I quote from the infamous Gideon Levy (an Israeli Jewish Journalist who is a public hate figure in Israel for speaking out against Israel’s atrocities...he is regularly labelled a "traitor" which you can see in comments of the last 2 articles below). I had the pleasure of meeting him 4 weeks ago after attending one of his talks and he said to me that what bothered him was that Israelis were not standing up against it. What bothered him most was that it was damaging not just the image of Israel and what it stood for, but the actions of Israel were a direct attack on what the Jewish community stood for.
I was recently given hope by the fact that in a protest outside the Israeli Embassy in London, I stood shoulder to shoulder with two Rabbis against Israel’s Operation. When a Muslim suicide bomber blows up a building killing hundreds, I curse him under my breath for bringing a bad name to Islam. I am surprised at the lack of voice from the Jewish community in condemning this recent atrocity and I ask those of you, who are Jewish, to voice your concern. This is not what Judaism stands for. Levy should be an inspiration (articles 2 and 3 are by him).
For all of us, take the time to write to your MP/MEP via
www.theyworkforyou.com to express your concern. Most importantly, talk to your friends and family about this issue. Convince them so that they may convince others and one day, just maybe, someone will stand in the British Parliament and question the validity of continuing our support of Israel and the support which the US gives it. Today we are all Gazans.
Asalamo Alaikum (Peace be upon you) all.
Adil N. Ahmad