Suffer the Innocents
 Christmas
2008 was meant to be a time of goodwill. However there was very
little of that in the occupied territories. The end of the Hamas
ceasefire saw an escalation of hostilities leading to a full
scale invasion. French President Sarkozy quickly denounced it as
a "disproportionate" response. Indeed the numbers don't lie. In
a reverse of the Bible story we saw plucky young David throwing
rocks against a belligerent Goliath only to have Goliath crush
every living soul in sight. By the New Year
Hamas managed to kill only 3 Israeli fighters. Israel killed over 650 men,
women and children in Gaza - largely through the terrible and
completely inappropriate/irresponsible use of airpower. By the
time of the 16th January ceasefire 1300 Palestinians had lost their lives. 10
Israeli gunmen laid dead and just 3 Israeli civilians died.
 That is a 100 to 1 kill ratio. Talk about a sledgehammer to
crack a nut. Israel thought that if they targeted civilians it
would break the population's will to fight and destroy support
for Hamas. Of course this has always been the objective of
Israel in its previous terrorist attacks. It never works either.
It didn't work in the London Blitz in 1940. It didn't work in
Hitler's Berlin. It never works because it underestimates
civilian resilience. People rally around their cause and their
leaders in time of war. They see Hamas defending them and Israel
attacking them. Why would they think otherwise? It goes without
saying that for every Hamas soldier that falls two more will
take his place. For every small child or innocent killed here is
an embittered and angry family who yield one or more sons to
avenge the crime. Trying to kill as many civilians as possible
will just enrage the population swelling the ranks of Hamas. The
circle of only violence will only get worse. Do the Israeli
military planners take stupid pills in the morning? Does the
inability to read a history book qualify you for a role in their
Defence Forces? Maybe they should try paying the Palestinians
for their suffering in food, water, jobs, economic development,
prestige, independence and pride. Everything the Arabs desire.
Something we all desire. Instead of tanks maybe they could send
construction crews. Instead of F-16's maybe a Hospital or two?
 The
response of the media in Europe was positive to the plight of
the Palestinians. The BBC and UK
Channel Four News could not hide their contempt for the Israeli
position. Israeli officials protested that they were fighting
the "War on Terror". The BBC retorted that this was just "Bush
rhetoric". One Israeli spokesman found himself cut-off (quite
rudely) in mid-sentence when he tried to justify an attack upon
a UN Schools (claiming Hamas were using "human shields"). Meanwhile
over in the US things are seen differently. CNN claim that all
Israeli actions are responses to Hamas rocket attacks. The
Palestinians didn't get an entirely fair report as major UK
reporting stations kept referring to Hamas soldiers as "gunmen"
yet Israeli terrorists were routinely called "soldiers".
Language is a funny thing isn't it? George
Bush, in his last gasp as President, failed to come up with
anything new. The US still fail to recognise
Hamas as a democratically elected Government of an independent
country. As long as they are 'terrorists' the Israelis can just
keep grinding them into dust. In turn Hamas should feel fully
justified in wishing to shove the nation of Israel into the sea.
These two will not see eye to eye so they need to be kept apart
behind buffer lines manned by the UN. The USA needs to get the
hell out of the way. Israel needs to pay reparations to the
millions of refugees they have created through the creation of
 their nation. Without US support Israel wouldn't exist. It would
be broke. They need their neighbours, in the Arab world, to
exist. Hence they need to start dealing with it and stop hiding
behind the American military shield supplied to them. The Arab
League did meet and Syria condemned the Israeli aggression.
However Saudi Arabia and Egypt (close Washington allies) blamed
Hamas then pledged $2billion to rebuild Gaza. How does that
work? America pays Israel $2billion to go and kill 1300
Palestinians and the Arabs then have to pay that money again to
rebuild the homes for all those dead people. How is that
justice? Surely they need to stop Israel from doing it again?
Not rewarding them by paying to clear up their mess. Spend the
money bring war crimes tribunals against the criminals in Tel
Aviv. Seek a permanent solution to the Israeli problem. Stop
trying to be Washington's best friend. Washington has no
friends. The wind can change very rapidly in geopolitics....
 On
20th January 2009 a new President takes control of the
American/Israeli war machine. Will he make a difference? Time
will only tell. However, Israeli insiders have already promised
that every Israeli fighter will be out of Gaza by the Jan 20th
inauguration to save Washington embarrassment. Barack Obama has kept tight-lipped about it so far. He has
only broken his silence to say that he will have plenty of to
say after his inauguration. Maybe there is already a sense of a
change in the wind for Israel? A new sheriff in town. Let's hope so for the sake of the
suffering children in the photo's here. In mid-January a
sympathiser in Egypt sent us this selection of photo's of the
suffering of women and children in Gaza. Many
are so heart-rendering that we thought twice before publishing
them here. If you have children you may care to look away now.
However, do look. Get angry and do something. We suggest
supporting Muslim Aid. Visit
www.muslimaid.org
and pledge money to their £2million appeal. Send Cheques
payable to "Muslim Aid" to Muslim Aid, PO Box 3, London E1 1WP,
United Kingdom or call them in the UK +44 (0)20 7377 4200 and
pledge by Credit/Debit Card. More than 750,000 of Gaza's 1.5
million people are now dependent upon humanitarian aid for the
provision of basics like food, medicine, water and sanitation.
These have been taken away by the bombing and the blockade. Help
them now.
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