What should we do to stop the cruel attack on Gaza ?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by matahari on December 29, 2008 at 8:59am

Sanciones internacionales y bloqueo a Israel para que cese los ataques. Sentar en el tribunal internacional a los criminales de guerra culpables de este genocidio y antes que nada ayuda inmediata a todo nivel a Palestina y restauración de sus territorios ocupados. Nada de lo que se haga con justicia restaurara las vidas y el dolor de las víctimas de uno y otro bando, pero hay que ser rigurosos. Es una verguenza para el mundo que continúen ocurriendo estas cosas y que los paises "civilizados" seamos incapaces de pararlas.

Permalink Reply by Majed Abusalama on December 29, 2008 at 12:35pm

i can,t tell you what happen in Gaza, when i can,t describe the sad situation, the killing in all the places

the sky raining war rockets and bombs
the palestinians children need your voicestand up and move for the human

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_GBjZVtoQ0&feature=related

see the killing please,the palestinian people need your voices
http://rabiemedia.wordpress.com/ see what happen?

Dear friends. Please, go to http://www.cnn.com/ and vote against the Israeli attack ( condemnable) .... u will find it down right " Quick Vote." And please, send it to all your friends.... Thank you....

majed abusalama
youth worker
gaza

Permalink Reply by Tree Thunderchild on December 30, 2008 at 6:24am

I cannot find the "Quick Vote " location for the cnn link.
I did find this "The demonstrators threw an Israeli flag on the ground, put President Bush's picture on top of it and set both on fire."
I will not support violence. And the above acts seem to shout that. And to be honest I am an American and think Bush is a psychopath (but I think the truth of that to most political and war business people is self evident), yet I wish the man no harm.

If I was not a man of peace then I would have killed the one who killed my loved ones.

An eye for an eye, and the world goes blind.
I will not support violence from either side, nor hatred.
I support the people on both sides, who support PEACE.
And it is THEY that I will honor.
It is THEY who will have my attention,
it is THEY who I will listen to.

Lest I be convinced it is okay to murder.
Being a psychopath, is contagious.

So is being a man of peace.
So I will give my ear to BOTH SIDES,
who speak of PEACE.

And turn my ear away from those who preach hate.

Permalink Reply by myron joshua on December 31, 2008 at 12:24am

Majed, I am sorry but i can not judge Israel without relating to the whole context ..but I can not judge you as you are caught in the middle of this destruction.

I saw your post yesterday...and could not reply...because i thought to myself..
How can I even look you in the eyes, Your eyes that are full of visions of rockets and bombs

But then i thought...i must be willing to reply to you..to respond
To try to know the pain you feel and see

Permalink Reply by Tree Thunderchild on December 30, 2008 at 7:41am

I'm copying this to here so it wont get buried beneath many added posts, but adding his image/link/name so he gets appropriate credit.


Comment by Scott

Copy/modify & address to your local Government at will..

To the Honourable Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia

Dear Mr Rudd,
As you are fully aware, the long-standing conflict between the States of Palestine and Israel has once again escalated into organised warfare. Hundreds of innocent civilians have been killed over the past few days, and neither ‘side’ appears to be willing to take on ceasefire.
Israel has announced its intentions to ‘change the face’ of the region. Hamas has announced its intention to resume ‘martyrdom’ tactics and will obviously attack and defend using those methods of warfare available to it. There seems to be no immediate end to the Violence
The UN has denounced this Violence, while the US states that ‘Israel has the right to defend itself’. Israel has taken on a role far exceeding simple self-defence, and for this reason it is time for your good self to represent the majority of Australians who aspire to peace, and publicly denounce Israel for its ignorance of World opinion and the Violent tactics in use by both sides of the conflict.
There are a number of ways described here in increasing level of expression, that your Administration should consider adopting over this issue. These are primarily aimed at Israel, due to their expression of aggressive intention.

- A public announcement denouncing the War and all forms of institutionalised Violence.
- A public announcement disconnecting Australia from the US policy over the War.
- A personal letter from yourself to President elect Obama asking for a review of the US policy over the War, and the long-standing conflict.
- A personal letter from yourself to the Israeli and Hamas administrations requesting a ceasefire, in support of the UN announcement.
- An Address at the UN General Assembly stating Australia’s stand against the War.
- If Israel continues to remain belligerent over the concerns held by most of Humanity, punitive action should be considered. The formal pathway here is to sever diplomatic ties with Israel through expulsion of the Israeli Ambassador from Australian shores. If the US remains firm in its support of Israel, similar action must be considered toward our political ties with the US.

Only under these actions can the majority of Australian opinion over the War be truly represented..

Kind Regards,

Scott Wilkie,

World Without Wars Australia.

Permalink Reply by Majed Abusalama on December 30, 2008 at 12:54pm

MR MYRON ,

IT STARTED IN 1948 WHEN THE ISRAELIAN SOLDIERS enter to palestine and attack the palestinian people and kill alot of people in 1948 and the palestinian people escape and become refugees in all the refugees camps in all the worlds and now 7 million palestinian people refugees in the countries near palestine like jordan and syria and egype and europ and all the world,

and iam refugees in jabalia camps, my grandfather killed when he defended about his house in my villge,

palestine in occupation , israel is our country and this is palestine.

i hope if i can take my return right.

majed abusalama
refugee human
now i live in jabaila refugees camp
my villge is biet gierga
Gaza
palestine

Attachments:

• 28gazamap2.jpg, 7 KB
• untitled.bmp, 1.3 MB

Permalink Reply by myron joshua on December 31, 2008 at 12:31am

Majed, Thank you. I see that you understand that Occupation did not start in 1967, but in 1948. Maybe it started earlier? Maybe it started when jews began to resettle themselves in Palestine, during Turkish rule...and when the continued purchasing land and settling it during the British rule.

Or maybe those were better days, when Jews and Arabs both lived in the land under Turks or Brits..And then came the UN and decided to partition the land..And most Arab villages were to be part of Palestine and most Jewish villages were going to be part of Israel.

And then..and then there was a war..because the UN Partition plan was rejected. And then there was Naqba.

Permalink Reply by Isabelle on December 30, 2008 at 7:41pm

Hi everyone,
I live in Quebec, Canada, and I feel very concerned about what is happening on Palestine and Israel. Unfortunately I dont know a lot about your history, and the more i search informations, the more i find it hard to understand the whole situation. As I undertand better the french language than the english, i was thinking someone from this group could give me some links to understand much better. But feel free to explain me in your words if you want, even in english.
I feel very frustrated to see whats happening without being able to do something that can change things. All that sufferance is horrible. Here we sign petitions, we try to make our government take some actions, but it seems that for the moment its all in vain. We continue, we pray, we try to hope, we share informations, we want all the world to know, but what can we do more??? Gandhi said "First they laugh at you; then, they ignore you; and after that, you win". I still dont know if our government, and all those implicated, is laughing at us or simply ignoring us. I hope peace will win and rise very soon, cause for the moment too much people are suffering too much, its indecent, its shameful.
Shalom, shalom, shalom....

Permalink Reply by Vincent Mespoulet on December 31, 2008 at 2:38pm

Bonjour Isabelle, c'est effectivement une histoire cruelle et compliquée qui demande une connaissance assez pointue... J'enseigne l'histoire en France, et je suis plutôt spécialisé dans cette histoire... Le projet sioniste (établir un foyer national juif) a une très longue histoire qui est souvent caricaturée ou manipulée... Il y avait par exemple dans les années 20 des sionistes allemands comme Martin Buber qui plaidaient pour un foyer binational... Ils n'ont pas été entendu... Il est impossible de refaire l'histoire et la création de l'Etat d'Israël est un fait historique sur lequel il est inutile de vouloir revenir... Il faut à mon sens oeuvrer pour qu'Israël passe du sionisme au post-sionisme en aidant nos amis Israéliens et palestiniens pacifistes à faire entendre leur voix... J'ai bien l'intention de construire des ressources pédagogiques sur le sujet mais c'est long et c'est un travail collectif que je souhaite mener avec des collègues israéliens et palestiniens. Tu peux cependant regarder ce que j'ai fait avec mes élèves à cette page...

Bonne et heureuse année quand même à Québec,
Vincent de l'école hors les murs...

Permalink Reply by Irit Hakim-Keller on December 31, 2008 at 7:10pm

Dear Haya
I condemn the attack on Gaza, and have signed petitions to stop it, and went to the demonstrations and I do what ever I think I can for stopping the horrible situation. But - I can't and I wouldn't forget or disregard the fact that there is a non-stop rockets attacking from Gaza onto Sderot and around.
What I mean in this comment is - there are two sides to any coin, and we must see them both. When discussing the war now, one cannot ignore one of the sides in this issue. Yes - I do think the Israeli attack was not right the way it has been, but I do think and believe that Israel had to answer the rockets from Gaza. These rocket are killing citizens, adults and children,I am sure you know this.

So, I would like very much to see in peoples' comments more objectiveness, although I can understand the way people see things when one side is very much on the wrong.
Let's don't forget that.


Myron, thank you for your important comment.

Permalink Reply by Martha on January 3, 2009 at 9:29pm

Dear Irit,
maybe this analysis written by Jennifer Loevenstein might help to get at the bottom of things....

If Hamas Did Not Exist
By JENNIFER LOEWENSTEIN
January 02, 2009 "Counterpunch" - -Let us get one thing perfectly straight. If the wholesale mutilation and degradation of the Gaza Strip is going to continue; if Israel’s will is at one with that of the United States; if the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and all the international legal agencies and organizations spread across the globe are going to continue to sit by like hollow mannequins doing nothing but making repeated “calls” for a “ceasefire” on “both sides”; if the cowardly, obsequious and supine Arab States are going to stand by watching their brethren get slaughtered by the hour while the world’s bullying Superpower eyes them threateningly from Washington lest they say something a little to their disliking; then let us at least tell the truth why this hell on earth is taking place.
The state terror unleashed from the skies and on the ground against the Gaza Strip as we speak has nothing to do with Hamas. It has nothing to do with “Terror”. It has nothing to do with the long-term “security” of the Jewish State or with Hizbullah or Syria or Iran except insofar as it is aggravating the conditions that have led up to this crisis today. It has nothing to do with some conjured-up “war” – a cynical and overused euphemism that amounts to little more the wholesale enslavement of any nation that dares claim its sovereign rights; that dares assert that its resources are its own; that doesn’t want one of the Empire’s obscene military bases sitting on its cherished land.
This crisis has nothing to do with freedom, democracy, justice or peace. It is not about Mahmoud Zahhar or Khalid Mash’al or Ismail Haniyeh. It is not about Hassan Nasrallah or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. These are all circumstantial players who have gained a role in the current tempest only now that the situation has been allowed for 61 years to develop into the catastrophe that it is today. The Islamist factor has colored and will continue to color the atmosphere of the crisis; it has enlisted the current leaders and mobilized wide sectors of the world’s population. The primary symbols today are Islamic – the mosques, the Qur’an, the references to the Prophet Muhammad and to Jihad. But these symbols could disappear and the impasse would continue.
There was a time when Fatah and the PFLP held the day; when few Palestinians wanted anything to do with Islamist policies and politics. Such politics have nothing to do with primitive rockets being fired over the border, or smuggling tunnels and black-market weapons; just as Arafat’s Fatah had little to do with stones and suicide bombings. The associations are coincidental; the creations of a given political environment. They are the result of something entirely different than what the lying politicians and their analysts are telling you. They have become part of the landscape of human events in the modern Middle East today; but incidentals wholly as lethal, or as recalcitrant, deadly, angry or incorrigible could just as soon have been in their places.
Strip away the clichés and the vacuous newspeak blaring out across the servile media and its pathetic corps of voluntary state servants in the Western world and what you will find is the naked desire for hegemony; for power over the weak and dominion over the world’s wealth. Worse yet you will find that the selfishness, the hatred and indifference, the racism and bigotry, the egotism and hedonism that we try so hard to cover up with our sophisticated jargon, our refined academic theories and models actually help to guide our basest and ugliest desires. The callousness with which we in indulge in them all are endemic to our very culture; thriving here like flies on a corpse.
Strip away the current symbols and language of the victims of our selfish and devastating whims and you will find the simple, impassioned and unaffected cries of the downtrodden; of the ‘wretched of the earth’ begging you to cease your cold aggression against their children and their homes; their families and their villages; begging you to leave them alone to have their fish and their bread, their oranges, their olives and their thyme; asking you first politely and then with increasing disbelief why you cannot let them live undisturbed on the land of their ancestors; unexploited, free of the fear of expulsion; of ravishment and devastation; free of permits and roadblocks and checkpoints and crossings; of monstrous concrete walls, guard towers, concrete bunkers, and barbed wire; of tanks and prisons and torture and death. Why is life without these policies and instruments of hell impossible?
The answer is because Israel has no intention of allowing a viable, sovereign Palestinian state on its borders. It had no intention of allowing it in 1948 when it grabbed 24 per cent more land than what it was allotted legally, if unfairly, by UN Resolution 181. It had no intention of allowing it throughout the massacres and ploys of the 1950s. It had no intention of allowing two states when it conquered the remaining 22 per cent of historic Palestine in 1967 and reinterpreted UN Security Council Resolution 248 to its own liking despite the overwhelming international consensus stating that Israel would receive full international recognition within secure and recognized borders if it withdrew from the lands it had only recently occupied.
It had no intention of acknowledging Palestinian national rights at the United Nations in 1974, when –alone with the United States—it voted against a two-state solution. It had no intention of allowing a comprehensive peace settlement when Egypt stood ready to deliver but received, and obediently accepted, a separate peace exclusive of the rights of Palestinians and the remaining peoples of the region. It had no intention of working toward a just two-state solution in 1978 or 1982 when it invaded, fire-bombed, blasted and bulldozed Beirut so that it might annex the West Bank without hassle. It had no intention of granting a Palestinian state in 1987 when the first Intifada spread across occupied Palestine, into the Diaspora and the into the spirits of the global dispossessed, or when Israel deliberately aided the newly formed Hamas movement so that it might undermine the strength of the more secular-nationalist factions.
Israel had no intention of granting a Palestinian state at Madrid or at Oslo where the PLO was superseded by the quivering, quisling Palestinian Authority, too many of whose cronies grasped at the wealth and prestige it gave them at the expense of their own kin. As Israel beamed into the world’s satellites and microphones its desire for peace and a two-state solution, it more than doubled the number of illegal Jewish settlements on the ground in the West Bank and around East Jerusalem, annexing them as it built and continues to build a superstructure of bypass roads and highways over the remaining, severed cities and villages of earthly Palestine. It has annexed the Jordan valley, the international border of Jordan, expelling any ‘locals’ inhabiting that land. It speaks with a viper’s tongue over the multiple amputee of Palestine whose head shall soon be severed from its body in the name of justice, peace and security.
Through the home demolitions, the assaults on civil society that attempted to cast Palestinian history and culture into a chasm of oblivion; through the unspeakable destruction of the refugee camp sieges and infrastructure bombardments of the second Intifada, through assassinations and summary executions, past the grandiose farce of disengagement and up to the nullification of free, fair and democratic Palestinian elections Israel has made its view known again and again in the strongest possible language, the language of military might, of threats, intimidation, harassment, defamation and degradation.
Israel, with the unconditional and approving support of the United States, has made it dramatically clear to the entire world over and over and over again, repeating in action after action that it will accept no viable Palestinian state next to its borders. What will it take for the rest of us to hear? What will it take to end the criminal silence of the ‘international community’? What will it take to see past the lies and indoctrination to what is taking place before us day after day in full view of the eyes of the world? The more horrific the actions on the ground, the more insistent are the words of peace. To listen and watch without hearing or seeing allows the indifference, the ignorance and complicity to continue and deepens with each grave our collective shame.
The destruction of Gaza has nothing to do with Hamas. Israel will accept no authority in the Palestinian territories that it does not ultimately control. Any individual, leader, faction or movement that fails to accede to Israel’s demands or that seeks genuine sovereignty and the equality of all nations in the region; any government or popular movement that demands the applicability of international humanitarian law and of the universal declaration of human rights for its own people will be unacceptable for the Jewish State. Those dreaming of one state must be forced to ask themselves what Israel would do to a population of 4 million Palestinians within its borders when it commits on a daily, if not hourly basis, crimes against their collective humanity while they live alongside its borders? What will suddenly make the raison d’etre, the self-proclaimed purpose of Israel’s reason for being change if the Palestinian territories are annexed to it outright?
The lifeblood of the Palestinian National Movement flows through the streets of Gaza today. Every drop that falls waters the soil of vengeance, bitterness and hatred not only in Palestine but across the Middle East and much of the world. We do have a choice over whether or not this should continue. Now is the time to make it.
Jennifer Loewenstein is the Associate Director of the Middle East Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She can be reached at amadea311@earthlink.net

I don't want to disturb 'peace & harmony' here - but people should see the context in order to make real peace!

Each life is as valuable as the other - therefore there is no justification for the bloodshed in Gaza where people don't have shelters, and have been desparate due to the 18 months of siege - even before the Israeli military attack!

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor." Bishop Desmond Tutu

Permalink Reply by myron joshua on January 3, 2009 at 10:35pm

I understand from your post that in 1948 the Arab world recognized israel
that when Egypt turned to Israel in Peace, that initiative was welcomed by other Arab states
But that is in the past..How about today?

I understand from your post that today Hamas accepts the UN resolutions about two States?
Or did i miss something...

Bishop Tutu is right..How can we be neutral in light of injustice..But what can we do when no on is looking for justice for the other side..when each side negates that the other side exists.

The fighting MUST stop. The world must bring the parties to a solution recognizing the national rights of both Palestinians and Israelis.

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