Jenka's journal

bloodbath in gaza
6 june 2006
palestine

the scenes we are watching on palestine tv right now are horrific......a pile of bodies on the sandy beach in gaza, emergency crews stumbling, tripping over the sand, running out of stretchers, running toward ambulances holding the bodies of children, a small girl screaming "daddy, daddy daddy" and falling over the body of her dead father, weeping uncontrollably as the palestinian emergency crews rush past her to bring the injured to the hospital.

it is as horrific as any palestinian suicide bomb in israel -- 11 killed, 40 injured -- babies missing limbs, body parts falling off of stretchers....but will this bombing, a missile shot from an israeli naval vessel at a crowded beach full of vacationing palestinians, be put on the front page of the washington post? or reported on CNN? will this child who lost her father be interviewed by sympathetic news teams who will broadcast her story to the world? or will this broadcast on palestine tv be the only news coverage that this event will get?

today's attack reminds me of a similar one in 2002 - when a crowded apartment building in gaza was hit by an israeli missile, and two dozen family members, asleep in their beds, were blown to pieces....and is it a strange coincidence that the most brutal attacks happen just when delicate coalitions and agreements for peaceful solutions are being made? in the 2002 attack, the missile strike came just hours after all the palestinian factions had made an agreement (after months of fragile talks) to stop suicide attacks against israel. the israeli attack later that night, followed the next morning by an announcement from the US that they were increasing aid money to israel, so infuriated the palestinian factions that they called off the agreement.

and now, this blatant massacre of civilians in gaza - coming just as palestinians were on the brink of a major breakthrough regarding a document of national unity that would implicitly recognize israel -- now that chance has been shot down again by israeli violence. hamas had been going the diplomatic route, adhering since last february to a ceasefire (despite the israeli side violating the ceasefire hundreds of times since the agreement), engaging in democratic elections and peaceful methods of diplomacy. but now, faced with just the latest in a series of atrocities, the armed wing of hamas says they will no longer adhere to the cease-fire, and will resume attacks against israel.

americans are not getting the real picture of what is happening here. in the US, this conflict is portrayed as an embattled jewish nation, traumatized by the holocaust and struggling to survive, up against a sea of arabs who hate them only because they are jewish, and irrational attackers who blow themselves up in the name of allah.

but what do americans know of the palestinian people? do they know how the palestinians were pushed from their homes in 1948 to become landless refugees in crowded camps and in diaspora around the world, just so the state of israel could be created on their land? do they know that jewish refugees and survivors of the holocaust were turned away from the US and britain after world war II, because of anti-semitism in those states, and many ended up coming to the new 'jewish state' unwillingly, or unwittingly, lured by promises from leaders in the political movement known as zionism? or how the palestinians were massacred, their land stolen, their homes taken over by zionists? do americans know the history of the state of israel, pre-emptively attacking its neighbors time and again, and pushing the palestinians into smaller and smaller areas of land -- much like the 'reservation' system created for native americans in the USA? how the israeli government developed a nuclear program in secret, exposed only by the actions of one brave israeli scientist (mordechai vanunu) in the name of peace -- who was subsequently imprisoned for 27 years and still remains under house arrest - israel now has over 30 nuclear weapons, and no one in the international community has said a word. what about how the israeli military has occupied the palestinian people's land, all of it, for the last 40 years, dividing the people into checkpoint-divided enclaves, shooting at children and dropping missiles into crowded neighborhoods on a daily basis, all the while seizing more and more land for their state?

and today....a child has lost her entire family. in a single moment, her whole life has been turned into a nightmare. others have lost children, brothers, wives, mothers....throughout palestine, people are watching and crying. three days mourning has been declared throughout palestine, including a general strike. while the world's media may be trying to stoke fires of division among these beleagured people, i wish you could see the steadfastness of shop-owners, schools and businesses that will remain closed for three days - not because someone is forcing them not to open, but in mourning for the palestinians who were just killed.

and meanwhile, the israeli military trivializes the attack -- likening it to a 'work accident' and downplaying the credibility of witness accounts. these soldiers who shot the missile will never face justice. israeli soldiers never do. they can kill at will. even when the families of those killed go to great expense to bring the case to trial, in a justice system where they are 'non-persons', there is never any justice served. even in the most publicized case - the case of iman al-hams, a 13-year old girl shot down in cold blood in gaza last year, with transcripts of the sniper who killed her and the sergeant saying 'it's a small girl...shoot her....anything that moves in this area, even if its a three year old, should be shot' - even in that case, where the evidence was overwhelming that a child was being shot in cold blood, the sergeant was promoted, not punished. when israelis build settlements on palestinian land, believe me the palestinians who live there try every means to stop them -- they take it to court...but no palestinian challenge to an israeli settlement has ever won in the israeli high court....or they hold protests, marching and holding signs and banners, which the people in bil'in village and other villages have done every week for the last 16 months, despite being attacked at every protest by israeli soldiers who are brutal in putting down the peaceful demonstrations.

most palestinians are incredibly patient. as my pal seth porcello, a canadian volunteering here in palestine, wrote last week:
"According to many of the people I have talked to here, Bil'in has
become a kind of symbol for non-violent resistance in Palestine.
Their persistence and endurance in continually confronting the wall
that separates them from their land remains unshaken even while under
the most intense repression. However, while Bil'in remains a symbol
of the non-violent resistance in Palestine, it is continually in
danger of becoming a symbol for something else: the failure and
hopelessness of non-violent resistance under the longest and possibly
most brutal occupation in the world. Wagi (wa-gee), a longtime
Bil'in resident who I met at the Outpost spoke to me about this
problem. Wagi has a disabled son, who was shot with a "dum dum" bullet
by an Israeli soldier while at a protest against the wall. The
bullet shattered his spine. Another of his sons was shot in the
shoulder while sitting down during a raid of Wagi's house, and a
third is in prison for three months after attending a non-violent
protest against the wall in Bil'in. While he continues to be
committed to non-violent resistance, he spoke to me about his worry
that the youth, including his sons, would abandon non-violent
resistance as the consequences are often just as dire as those of
picking up a gun. This seems to also be true for internationals,
considering last weeks demonstration nearly claimed the life of Phil
Reese from Australia. As Wagi put it - if people are not allowed to
demonstrate peacefully, then what other option do they have but to
become violent (paraphrasing)? It is a difficult question to answer,
and one that remains a matter of personal choice two generations, and
two intifadas, into this occupation. Wagi was arrested one week
after our conversation at the friday demonstration against the wall
and is now in prison. The shelter we took at the outpost to have our
conversation is now burned to the ground. And the next demonstration
is on friday. For more information on the history of the Outpost,
you can find an audio report here:
http://radio.indymedia.org/news/2006/05/9843.php"

when palestinians know that no one is hearing their mourning cries, no one is feeling their pain, no one is standing up to the power of israel to kill them at will and take their land piece by piece and imprison them into ghettoes -- how can anyone wonder why some young person would get desperate and go try to kill some israelis? of course it's not justified, there is never a justification for killing civilians, but, living without hope, occupied for generations, your children, brothers, sisters killed without any recourse, without any justice, with only silence from the world at large -- can't you understand why someone would?

and the israelis know it, too -- that's why they often arrest the family members of those who are shot in cold blood by their army, or at the very least put them on 'security lists'. my fiance saed, shot during a peaceful demonstration in 1991 and paralyzed, is one such example -- his family has been penalized for his having been shot by the israeli army. what have they done wrong? absolutely nothing. but israeli authorities feel that those whose family members were shot in cold blood may be likely to commit 'thought crimes' against the israeli government - thinking bad thoughts about the israeli soldiers that shot their loved one, for instance. and these 'thought crimes' (see george orwell's book _1984_) would be a threat to the israeli goal of complete control and submission of the palestinian population. saed's mother, a devout christian, for instance, was denied permission to go to jerusalem to pray in the church of the holy sepulchre during christmas and easter (an age old tradition among palestinian christians, dating back to the first days after christ's death) -- why? 'security reasons'. no other explanation, no way to know. but it probably has to do with the fact that her son was shot, in cold blood, and paralyzed, 15 years ago, by their soldiers -- they worry that she might take revenge. this sweet old lady, who would never harm a fly, let alone another human being, is being penalized because her son was a victim of the israeli occupation!!! isn't there something wrong with this equation?

the booming blast of artillery shells every 15 seconds, relentless, non-stop shelling for months would drive most normal people insane. imagine - no place to escape the loud booms - any one of them could hit your home, kill your family, at any moment. palestinians live in constant terror. as former US attorney-general ramsey clark said, "the palestinian people are, along with the iraqi people, the most terrorized people on earth". and when they fight back against the occupying power -- a legitimate right under international conventions -- THEY are called the terrorists.

what is a terrorist anyway? it used to be that anyone who targeted civilian populations was a terrorist. but it seems that someone who targets palestinian civilians (ie. the israeli military) is not ..... someone who targets iraqi civilians (the us and british occupying armies) are not (and if you doubt that they are targeting civilians, check this british piece about a massacre carried out in cold blood by US marines -- for which the marines have been let off, with the US government saying they did nothing wrong:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1784705,00.html ).
or how about afghani civilians? do those who kill afghanis (the US military) count as terrorists? no, it seems the definition of terrorism has changed. it is only those who kill OUR civilians, who threaten OUR 'strategic national interest' (ie. our hold on natural resources that may be in someone else's country, but are needed for americans to maintain the 'american way of life') who are 'terrorists' in the US government's view.

take for example the trans-caucasus oil pipeline - just finished -- to get oil from azerbaijan out through turkey and onward to the USA (much safer - in the US government's eyes - than the original plan, which was to route this oil out through afghanistan). this article expains how the US-trained special forces protecting this pipeline as it runs through former-soviet georgia are most concerned about 'terrorism' -- by which they do NOT mean attacks on civilians. by 'terrorism', they are specifically referring to any attempt to destroy or hinder the constant flow of oil through this pipeline into americans' gas tanks:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/conservation/story/0,,1784834,00.html

oh, while i'm on the topic of afghanistan, i just wanted to point out that the war in afghanistan is far from over. death tolls are as high as they've ever been, US and british troops are perceived not as liberators but as occupiers, who have been there for nearly five years -- resentment of the foreign occupation is high, and reached a breaking point a week ago when riots broke out in kabul after a US military vehicle did a hit-and-run on a civilian in the city:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,1785599,00.html
and kabul is supposed to be the 'green zone'! the only place in afghanistan where US and british troops have any semblance of control - the rest of afghanistan has returned to the local mafias and the taliban has steadily come back to power in most areas.

and if you have any doubt that the reason for attacking afghanistan was oil, check out this statement from US representative ron paul from texas in 2002:
"The real reason for our presence in the Persian Gulf, as well as our eagerness to assist in building a new Afghan government under U.N. authority, should be apparent to us all. Stuart Eizenstat, Under Secretary of Economics, Business and Agricultural Affairs for the previous administration, succinctly stated U.S. policy for Afghanistan testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Trade Committee October 13, 1997. He said, 'One of five main foreign policy interests in the Caspian region is to continue support for U.S. companies and the least progress has been made in Afghanistan , where gas and oil pipeline proposals designed to carry Central Asian energy to world markets have been delayed indefinitely pending establishment of a broad-based, multiethnic government.' This was a rather blunt acknowledgment of our intentions. It is apparent that our policy has not changed with this administration. Our new Special Envoy to Afghanistan , Zalmay Khalilzad, was at one time a lobbyist for the Taliban and worked for Unocal , the American oil company seeking rights to build oil and gas pipelines through northern Afghanistan . During his stint as a lobbyist, he urged approval of the Taliban and defended them in the U.S. press. He now, of course, sings a different tune with respect to the Taliban, but I am sure his views on the pipeline by U.S. companies has not changed."
(source: congressional record 2002 - http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?r107:2:./temp/~r107Zo8Kbi:e7034:)

and of course there is the well-known statement from Unocal oil company before congress in 1998:
"From the outset, we have made it clear that construction of the pipeline we have proposed across Afghanistan could not begin until a recognized government is in place that has the confidence of governments, lenders, and our company." - Mr. John J. Maresca, vice-president of international relations, Unocal Corporation Feb 12, 1998
full statement here: http://www.progressiveaustin.org/afoilpip.htm (also available in the 1998 congressional record, print version only)

sigh.....

do americans think that afghani mothers suffer less than they do when they lose their sons or daughters? or iraqi mothers? or palestinian mothers? all people suffer, all people feel the loss of a loved one with pain, anger, sorrow and rage -- this is universal.

so why be surprised that after the daily indignities, the imprisonment, the constant shelling, the taking over of their land and the killing of their children with no justice in sight, that some palestinians resort to desperate acts of violence? but to classify the israel-palestinea tit-for-tat kind of conflict (ie. you kill my children, so i'll kill yours), although that element does exist. this conflict is the strategic, planned takeover of one people's land by another people using violence, occupation, imprisonment and constant humiliation as tools -- tools used by the israeli authorities, military and civilians to completely disenfranchise the palestinians of their land.

if israel is truly a 'democracy', as they claim, then why not take down the wall, give palestinians citizenship in a state (israeli OR palestinian), and let them have the equal rights that all people are entitled to under international conventions???

but that will never happen. because by giving palestinians equal rights, by defining the borders of their nation, by removing their military from the palestinian areas, they will not be able to fulfill their stated objective (stated clearly by israeli prime minister ehud olmert in his address to the US congress several weeks ago, to thunderous applause from the american legislators) to TAKE OVER ALL of this land.

oh and btw - the gutless corporate lackeys in the us house of representatives succumbed to corporate pressure and overwhelmingly passed a bill yesterday to essentially sell off the internet to the highest bidder (321 for, 101 against), as well as wrecking public access tv. take a moment to save the internet by letting your senator know to vote against it (H.R. 5252 - the COPE Act):
http://savetheinternet.com

the internet is still a new technology - it has allowed more media democracy than television and radio put together.....just think, you wouldn't even be able to get these updates from palestine, if it weren't for the internet! let's not let them take this away, as was done with radio and television (both of which were quite democratic at their start, but were allowed to become controlled by commercial, corporate interests with the help of the US government).

and here's an op-ed my fiance saed wrote about the Israeli attack on the Gaza beach, called "The Gaza sea cries pure and dear blood":
http://www.imemc.org/content/view/19247/1/

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