Jan 02 2009
Don’t Let The Images Fool You
War is hell, bodies are broken, people die, homes are lost, lives are shattered, kids are traumatized, families are broken yet, I say, don’t let the pictures distract you from what is really happening, the underlying ugliness that has created this perpetual state of being called war in the area of Israel and Gaza.
In the war against poverty, control, freedom, respect, independence and a basic quality of life, that is unfolding between Israel and Gaza, Israel has taken their plight to the public by way of the internet, through Facebook and YouTube in a battle for world opinion and a means to explain its campaign against Gaza militants.
Hamas’ supporters have in turn, posted images of the devastating Israeli offensive on websites and blogs as well.
A Picture of Life In Gaza
Conditions for regular Gazans, who primarily live in refugee camps, have deteriorated dramatically in recent years with the autonomy given to Israel in the 1990s, giving them the independence and the capacity to make moral decisions regarding Gaza and to act on them. Eighty percent of Gazans live on less than $2.30 per day according to the United Nations while two-thirds of all Palestinians do not have access to a sewage system.
Not only that, the population of Gaza is subjected to Israeli closures and checkpoints as well as tight blockades which often make it difficult to impossible for food, water, medical supplies and other essentials to reach the population. Where is the morality, the humanity, the respect, in the actions of Israel when not allowing basic needs to be delivered to the people of Gaza?
Israel possessed
Gaza from 1967 through 1994 – almost 30 years. Twenty-seven years of obsessive control to the point of having the power to cut off basic needs to a nation, who only wanted independence, yet only received oppressive control and the demand for obedience. Even under a corrupt Palestinian rule between 1994 and 2007, Israel still held the power to cut off supplies and necessities from Gaza and the people in that area.
Twenty-seven years with this type of attitude, ruling your life, deciding when you will have fuel, food, medical supplies water and other essentials, is bound to have some lasting affects on the minds and hearts of the people experiencing these attitudes.
In 2007, with the election of Hamas as the “ruling party” in Gaza and the relinquishing of power and, as much control as Israel was prepared to relinquish in Gaza, Israel named Hamas, terrorist. The definition of a terrorist is somebody who uses violence, especially bombing, kidnapping, and assassination to intimidate others, often for political purposes.
With all that has gone before, and all that is happening now, the malicious bombing of innocent people, the destruction of homes and lives, the threat of ground warfare, with military machinery lining the boarder of Gaza, in an extreme show of force, can Israel glean a sense of world acceptance in the assault against a group of people who are suffering from poverty, malnutrition, lack of medical attention, because in some instances, their permission to be treated comes from Israel who has shown no respect for the people since the book of Samuel in the Bible. I am compelled to ask, who are the real terrorist here?
Is it time to reevaluate the intentions of this bully nation that has withheld so much of the necessities of life from a group of people who just want to live and worship as they wish without the occupation of Israel in their midst.
Put yourself in their position, feel their sorrows and their pains but most of all feel their need for independence. Walk a mile in the shoes of a Palestinian who has suffered the injustices perpetrated on them by an indifferent, vindictive parent called Israel.
If Israel truly felt, in the deepest part of their soul, that they were truly right, would they need the world’s confirmation, would they need this propaganda going out over the web?
And that’s the way I see it!!!
