From Tel Aviv
Last year on my birthday, Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in Pakistan. This year on my birthday, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) began bombing targets in Gaza to stop the rain of rockets falling on Southern Israel since the end of the ceasefire with Hamas on December 19. I wonder what next year's birthday will bring.
Technically, it is arguable that the incursion into Gaza can be called a war, as it is not a conflict between two countries but rather one country and a political-military entity. In Israel, however, the media has called it as such, as have the politicians. And so I state, that, my observations in Israel during a time of war are most disheartening.
What fails to make sense to me is: How is it that war is still considered an effective method of change? The United States got away with dropping nuclear weapons on Japan in 1945, bringing the war on that front to a stark and horrifying conclusion, but do we, as a human race ever EVER want for that to happen again? Are we not more evolved, more refined, more capable in the 21st century of managing conflict in a place, by the way, where people have more in common that what they have been led to believe?
It is understandable that the world is up at arms, marching through streets shouting slogans to end the war, to call for a ceasefire. It is unfathomable how in a week and a few days, hundreds have lost their lives, thousands have been wounded and those who survive this disaster will be left with nearly nothing to eke out an existence in the aftermath of Israel's attempt to remove Hamas from rule in the Gaza Strip.
However, there is more in the streets than a call for a ceasefire and a call for peace. There is a continued call for the end of Israel, and that is where the conflict intensifies and the Israel-supporting Jews and Israelis supporting the government's decision to invade Gaza, become more hardened, more embittered and more alienated from the rest of the human population.
The discussion, the demonstration, the debate, the tears, the anger cannot be about bringing an end to the State of Israel; it has to be a call for Israel to abide by international law and to make good on its promises. If anyone, the residents of the West Bank have greater reason to be fed up with Israel's policies than with those in Gaza, because Abbas and Fayad are toeing the line and, still, for the Palestinians the situation under occupation has not improved.
The violence is unforgivable on both sides. How it is that Hamas believes it will prevail with this method of rockets falling, killing, destroying, terrorizing and harassing Israelis of all walks of life, including Arab-Israelis, is incomprehensible. How an organization claiming to be for a living, developing nation could be so willing to jeopardize the lives of so many, filling them with hatred along way is also beyond my capabilities of understanding. But they have a right to resist, but they have a right to a country, but they have a right to Jerusalem, to compensation for refugees...
This is not what Hamas wants. Hamas wants an eternal battle, they will always need an enemy, if it is not the Jews or Israel, it is Fatah. If it is not Fatah, it is the United States, it is Egypt, one day it could be their current sponsor, Iran. They play a despicable game with people's lives, with children's lives. Children who have no choice but to emulate what they see and experience in their environment.
At the Tel Aviv University campus last week, Palestinian and Arab-Israeli students held a protest against the violence. Around a hundred students came out in their keffiyehs and their signs of solidarity with Gaza. They were angry and I found out, extremely sad.
My friend Davide and I spoke to two female demonstrators to ask what they wanted to get out of this demonstration. They wanted a stop to the violence. Telling us about a mother and her four children who were killed that morning in IAF bombings. One of the young women said, "They want all of the land," then thought again, "All of OUR land."
I responded to her, "It's all of our land, there's enough for all of us, and we have to all live here, so what do we do?"
I continued to ask her how do we make it stop? What's our plan? Other Jewish students were coming up to them and asking, "what about the rockets?"
They couldn't answer how to make the rockets stop, and neither were they justifying them.
But I wasn't interested in that argument. I was more concerned with the fact that none of us had a plan or a vision of what instead.
I continued to talk to the other young woman about the situation. She continued to tell me about the brutality, the starving, the suffering. And I told her, "I know, I want it to stop too, but how?"
We looked at each other and I asked her if I could give her a hug. I did, and when I pulled away I could feel tears forming in my eyes. When I looked up at her, she had started crying. There was no more anger in her body language, there was total sadness, defeat and helplessness.
She said, "I am so sad I feel like crying."
"Me too," I said.
Technically, it is arguable that the incursion into Gaza can be called a war, as it is not a conflict between two countries but rather one country and a political-military entity. In Israel, however, the media has called it as such, as have the politicians. And so I state, that, my observations in Israel during a time of war are most disheartening.
What fails to make sense to me is: How is it that war is still considered an effective method of change? The United States got away with dropping nuclear weapons on Japan in 1945, bringing the war on that front to a stark and horrifying conclusion, but do we, as a human race ever EVER want for that to happen again? Are we not more evolved, more refined, more capable in the 21st century of managing conflict in a place, by the way, where people have more in common that what they have been led to believe?
It is understandable that the world is up at arms, marching through streets shouting slogans to end the war, to call for a ceasefire. It is unfathomable how in a week and a few days, hundreds have lost their lives, thousands have been wounded and those who survive this disaster will be left with nearly nothing to eke out an existence in the aftermath of Israel's attempt to remove Hamas from rule in the Gaza Strip.
However, there is more in the streets than a call for a ceasefire and a call for peace. There is a continued call for the end of Israel, and that is where the conflict intensifies and the Israel-supporting Jews and Israelis supporting the government's decision to invade Gaza, become more hardened, more embittered and more alienated from the rest of the human population.
The discussion, the demonstration, the debate, the tears, the anger cannot be about bringing an end to the State of Israel; it has to be a call for Israel to abide by international law and to make good on its promises. If anyone, the residents of the West Bank have greater reason to be fed up with Israel's policies than with those in Gaza, because Abbas and Fayad are toeing the line and, still, for the Palestinians the situation under occupation has not improved.
The violence is unforgivable on both sides. How it is that Hamas believes it will prevail with this method of rockets falling, killing, destroying, terrorizing and harassing Israelis of all walks of life, including Arab-Israelis, is incomprehensible. How an organization claiming to be for a living, developing nation could be so willing to jeopardize the lives of so many, filling them with hatred along way is also beyond my capabilities of understanding. But they have a right to resist, but they have a right to a country, but they have a right to Jerusalem, to compensation for refugees...
This is not what Hamas wants. Hamas wants an eternal battle, they will always need an enemy, if it is not the Jews or Israel, it is Fatah. If it is not Fatah, it is the United States, it is Egypt, one day it could be their current sponsor, Iran. They play a despicable game with people's lives, with children's lives. Children who have no choice but to emulate what they see and experience in their environment.
At the Tel Aviv University campus last week, Palestinian and Arab-Israeli students held a protest against the violence. Around a hundred students came out in their keffiyehs and their signs of solidarity with Gaza. They were angry and I found out, extremely sad.
My friend Davide and I spoke to two female demonstrators to ask what they wanted to get out of this demonstration. They wanted a stop to the violence. Telling us about a mother and her four children who were killed that morning in IAF bombings. One of the young women said, "They want all of the land," then thought again, "All of OUR land."
I responded to her, "It's all of our land, there's enough for all of us, and we have to all live here, so what do we do?"
I continued to ask her how do we make it stop? What's our plan? Other Jewish students were coming up to them and asking, "what about the rockets?"
They couldn't answer how to make the rockets stop, and neither were they justifying them.
But I wasn't interested in that argument. I was more concerned with the fact that none of us had a plan or a vision of what instead.
I continued to talk to the other young woman about the situation. She continued to tell me about the brutality, the starving, the suffering. And I told her, "I know, I want it to stop too, but how?"
We looked at each other and I asked her if I could give her a hug. I did, and when I pulled away I could feel tears forming in my eyes. When I looked up at her, she had started crying. There was no more anger in her body language, there was total sadness, defeat and helplessness.
She said, "I am so sad I feel like crying."
"Me too," I said.
Comment
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Comment by Mie Storbekken on January 6, 2009 at 11:47pm
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Heidi I was so surprised to see your blog entry on the home page of the iPeace web site. My boyfriend told me to go in here and take a look at the site, read the blogs etc, and the second entry I saw was yours :) I liked your entry a lot. Neshikot from Mie :)
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Comment by Eva on January 6, 2009 at 11:20pm
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"I am so sad I feel like crying."
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Comment by Faisal Alam on January 6, 2009 at 8:41pm
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If two people dont sit in a table. what will 3rd person can do. I respect UN. But Dafure,Yugoslavia, present Burma , past Vietnam cant solved by UN. They always late, When everything is massed then they start thinking.
This the reality we are watching. As a citizen of Burma so annoyed. Only we can change our world. We can stop war and genocide if we want to stop. NOT UN.
I will say Today's hell can be Tomorrow's Heaven. This the reality.
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The story by Heidi Basch was unbelievably heartwarming. It should make us all realise that Peace IS possible. It is my belief that the vast majority of people in the world do want peace. There are many thousands of Peace sites and peace campaigners around the globe. What is unfortunate is that they are not working together. We all acknowledge that our ultimate objective is Peaceful co-existence throughout the world. The problem is agreeing how this can be achieved.
The United Nations is a wonderful organisation which does its best to help when conflict breaks out. What is lacking is a Peace group within the UN with ambassadors from every country who will meet regularly to discuss how war & conflict can be prevented. At present the UN is not held in very high esteem, the coutries of the world pay lip service to it and thus it has no teeth. In an ideal world it would have stopped Hammas firing rockets into Israel. It would have stopped the supply of rockets from the source - presumably Iran, and it would have prevailed upon Isreal not to use this as an electioneering ploy. There is an answer as to "HOW". It means that every country will need to be much more supportive of the United Nations by paying their dues when required and contributing Armed Forces as well as Peace keeping personel and diplomats. UN troops should be retrained as peacekeepers to help heal the wounds, rebuild & ensure that all people have adequate food, clean drinking water, shelter & safe sanitation. So please encourage YOUR government to be more supportive of the UN so that it may expand its peace-keeping roll to include PREVENTION. We who believe that peace is not just a dream must help to ensure that our politicians are made aware of what that vast majority of peace loving people who populate this planet want to achieve.
If anyone has a better idea on how we can help to achieve peace than through the UN, please DO tell us all!!
The slaughter of civilians, men, women & children cannot be allowed to continue. It is time for those in authority to stop talking and take action to stop existing conflict and prevent further slaughter.
Please contact me with your views, John Stephen, Founder of WWW.WORLDPEACECAMPAIGN.CO.UK
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Comment by Else Dean on January 6, 2009 at 7:39pm
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All that is needed to stop the violence is to recognize the human rights of all the peoples. The Declaration of Human Rights to put it into practice.
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Today's hell can be tomorrows heaven. We are in level of heaven and hell in this earth even.
Next year on ur birthday can miracle will happen. That is only my wish. That i can pray for you.
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Comment by JUAN PABLO VIAL on January 6, 2009 at 5:27am
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YO PIENSO QUE LAMENTABLEMENTE AQUELLAS PERSONAS QUE SE HAN ATREVIDO A LUCHAR POR LA PAZ SUS VOCES SON CALLADAS CON BALAS DE MUERTE Y QUEDARON SILENCIOSAS
Y QUIZAS POR ESO ESTE MUNDO ESTA FALTO DE LIDERES QUE REALMENTE SE LA JUEGAN POR LA PAZ
ENTONCES DEBEMOS SACAR LO MEJOR DE LAS LEYENDAS DE LA PAZ Y PODER CONSTRUIR UN MUNDO MEJOR SI NO SOMOS NOSOTROS SERAN NUESTROS HIJOS QUE LO HEREDARAN ELLOS SE MERECEN ESO NO DEJEMOS MUGRES EN EL CAMINO QUE VAYAN A CAER EN OTRO MUNDO DE MISERIA Y GUERRAS
ESCUCHEMOS LA VOZ DE AQUELLAS PERSONAS QUE SOLO BUSCAN LA PAZ Y NO VENTAJAS POLITICAS NI ECONOMICAS SOLO LOS PUROS DE CORAZON POR UN MUNDO MEJOR
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Comment by Judith Eufemia del Rosario Torres Sánchez on January 5, 2009 at 11:31pm
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Heidi's article says a lot, I would add is one of Hamas underworld beings that they are valid only in death, such absurdities to train young people for dizque sacrificed in the name of Allah and Palestine. Israel is doing what to do, a determination to end the firing of rockets at Israeli towns. That can not continue forever, that is why Israel, the Gaza invación, sad to die because of the Palestinian Hamas that has human shields, cowards who hide behind many Palestinian mothers, young Palestinian children and Palestinian. Does anyone has protested the firing of rockets? Sad deaths of Palestinians and Israelis, sad that others take advantage of this situation: arms dealers, fundamentalists in Lebanon: Hezbollah, Iran, Syria and similar species: in the bottom of their unique coranzoncitos what interests them is that it is eternal This conflict over the millions of dollars they earn. They do not care about poor Palestinians and Jews in peace with its neighbors, is the greed of these people.
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Comment by Eliana Gilad on January 5, 2009 at 10:17pm
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Ouch. HUGE hug. Your story reminds me of an experience of mine during the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel. My village was bombed daily. I chose to use the opportunity to face my own inner war. After all, if I am experiencing bombs exploding in my village and this world is all a reflection of our inner consciousness, it means that somewhere, I too, am dropping bombs. I decided to find out.
One day, I ventured out to the one supermarket that was open. THis market serves the entire Galilee, which includes both Jewish, Christian and Moslem communities. On the way to the market, the siren wailed, warning of the bombs about to explode. I prayed and high tailed it to the underground parking lot of the supermarket remembering hearing that underground lots double as safe shelter.
I felt thankful to arrive in one piece into the market. Inside were shoppers, Jewish, Arab, Christian, religious, secular, getting their food. It felt like an enormous miracle. No bomb exploded. I was relieved.
Picking out yoghurt in the dairy section, the entire building railed and rocked and people fell to the floor. The manager over the load speaker ordered everyone into the refrigerator section in the back warehouse and stairwell of the market. Filled shopping carts got left in the middle of the aisles as we followed orders. Kaffiyeh covered heads, skull caps, an array of multi colored head kerchiefs from both Jewish and Muslim traditions bobbed tightly close together, next to the hip hugging youngsters and fashionably dressed women from the secular communities. There we were, together, under one roof, bombs blasting around us.
Knowing the power of each one of our voices, I consciously chose NOT to join in the hysteria. Instead, I moved into the stairwell and sat on one of the stairs. I chose to keep my heart open, and I began to hum a wordless melody. I watched the women around me hysterical, and kept my heart open. Inside, I was torn to pieces.
Hebrew, Arabic, Russian and Amharic could be heard by people calling their immediate relatives to ask about their safety. The manager, who had been at the cash register near the open door when the bombs exploded was standing near me. She had no phone. One of the other people called for her to her family in the nearby Arab village. Ends up her nephew had been wounded.
I didn't know what to do. She looked at me, I at her. She's Arab, I thought to myself, the bomb was thrown by Arabs. How heart renching. How does she bear it? How do I bear it? What does it matter, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Israeli, Palestinian, Lebanese etc... We are all human beings with the same source. I shared this with her. I said: "I don't know what to do". I am committed to be part of the solution. I just want to love. How do I do that right now?
Then it came to me. I asked her gently: "Would you like a hug? I need to hug. I need a hug. Can I hug you?", as I opened my arms open wide. We locked in embrace and broke into tears. Tears of grief, sadness and immense pain. And with that, on the other side came compassion. Softness. Acceptance of our humanity.
We are all frail. Vulnerable. In meeting my own inner war, in the midst of war, I opened myself up to peace... that of showing up in the moment and loving unconditionally, no matter WHAT is going on around me.
Writing my inspirational and uplifting news blog from Israel is motivated by the need to share peace. As she wrote so eloquently, how will we know peace, if we have no true vision for it? That is the reason I write the blog. I will be sharing this post on it so that others can know and be informed of ipeace.me as well.
Please visit: http://www.inspirationalmessage.blogspot.com
And please contact me if you have an inspiring story like the above. I would be happy to write about it.
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Comment by janflora on January 5, 2009 at 9:15pm
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my heart goes out to you and everyone caught in the conflicts and crossfire...I am amazed by your strength-many people give into the vionece when it is surrounding them. I understand how you feel about your bday...mine is April 20th which happens to belong to a certain hateful figure in history and has been used as a date to commit violence by others...i almost dread it annually b/c i know something else horrifying will happen in the world... and yet others celebrate it for different reasons...peace to you
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