Today I was visiting the Haaretz’ website and reading an article titled: 'We thought you wanted peace,' the article was about a father’s response to the media when asked about the murder of his two daughters by the IDF. What struck me was not the capacity for Israeli leftist newspapers to report such tragedies in Gaza, but the comments posted by mainly American and Israeli readers. Some of those who posted on the site were condemning Haaretz for reporting the murders of these two Palestinian girls. However others were blaming the Palestinians in Gaza for the Israeli missile which stuck the home of Samah, 13, and Salwa, 18. One American even claimed “Arabs kill their women and children and then blame the IDF.” He then claimed that this was “well documented”. As a Palestinian I could not help but feel disgusted at the utter ignorance and contempt for a person with such attitudes. However it did not end there. An Israeli posted the following “A week later we find out terrorists used their house to launch missiles”. It has been well documented in low profile media sources who unlike many of the major media outlets such as CNN and ABC news that the accusation of Palestinian resistance fighters hiding among civilians is utterly distorted. It has also been well documented that Israel has in fact been found guilty of using Palestinians as human shields in both their assault on Lebanon as well as their assault on Palestinians territories. In northern Israel for example Palestinian witnesses told reporters that Israeli strikes against Lebanon were launched from Arab villages. These Arab villages of course were neither equipped with the bomb shelters nor the air raid sirens, which could be found in every Jewish village in the same area. So when Hezbollah rockets came showering down on Arab villages killing Arabs in the process pro-Jewish media sources could not help but report of Hezbollah’s utter disregard for their Arab and Muslim brothers lives.
Many in the pro-Israel camp believe that so called Palestinian “terrorism” is the only obstacle to peace. Such propaganda must be addressed in order to do justice for all who suffer in this conflict. While Olmert has welcomed Abbas as a ‘partner for peace’, Hamas have been sidelined because they do not recognize Israel. Similarly the late Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat was subjected to house arrest and military bombardment because he would not give up Palestinian rights such as the right of return. The greatest Irony is that the Israeli Government continued to demand Arafat crack down on the resistance, while under constant house arrest. The Israeli Government have mastered the art of asking for the impossible while still appearing to be peacemakers. Any form of resistance to Israel’s occupation can be expected to be met with assassinations, arrest and collective punishment. It should be worth noting that Israeli participation in these so called peace processes is in effect the Palestinian endorsement and legalization for continued settlement expansion, assassinations and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their historic homeland.
Because Palestinian group’s fire crudely made homemade rockets into Israeli towns, western media outlets term these actions as blatantly targeting civilians. More often than not it is never mentioned that Israel assassinates Palestinian leaders or murders innocent Palestinian civilians on a daily basis. Nor is it mentioned that Israeli settlement expansion continues and the oppression and humiliation of Palestinians continues on a daily basis, while the fallacy of Israeli efforts towards peace is meant to stir up emotions in the west when they see Palestinian rockets falling on Israeli towns for apparently no reason.
Throughout its history the IDF has massacred thousands upon thousands of Palestinians. For those who are not familiar with the history of Israel’s founding, the IDF was founded by the Hagannah a terrorist organization responsible for the bombing of British officials at the King David Hotel in 1948 among the countless other massacres they committed against Palestinian men, women and children. Statistical analysis of children killed by IDF ‘troops’ clearly shows that the IDF do in fact target innocents. YouTube is another source for proving this, although the Jewish owned website takes down pro-Palestinian videos whenever they can. The sheer number of Palestinians under the age of 18 killed by the IDF and the number of bullet wounds to the head proves definitively that Israel’s army has committed crimes against humanity from it’s very existence up until the present day. What really effects me as a Palestinian is that each and every crime committed against Palestinians is brushed of a either ‘accidental’ or because Palestinian ‘militants’ use Palestinian civilians as human shields. Another prevailing myth among Israeli apologists is that Palestinians murder their own children in order to gain international sympathy for their cause! Such fabrications are not only sickening they desecrate the very memory of those Palestinians murdered throughout Israel’s short, but bloody history.
A simple logical assumption can be made in order to determine if the actions we see in Gaza are legitimate force necessary to ensure Israel’s security. Israel has been carrying out similar attacks long before suicide bombings, long before Palestinians could even fire rockets at civilians and even long before the founding of Hamas. So this begs the question if Hamas ceased to exist, and the rockets and suicide bombings stopped, would Israel stop attacking Palestinian towns, villages and cities, would the continued settlement expansion and harassment end? All the historical evidence would indicate no.
Another myth used by Israel apologists in order to justify crimes against Palestinians, is that the Israelis unilaterally withdrew from Gaza, thus proving that the Israeli Government desired peace and the Palestinians wanted nothing less than Israel’s destruction. Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza serves three major advantages. Firstly such a move makes Israel appear to be a country which desires peace, while the Palestinians seek its destruction. The repopulation of Gaza’s Jewish settlers into what is now Israel helps to confront Israel’s own demographic threat.
Hamas’ apparent military coup of Gaza was used to further demonize Hamas making them appear the aggressors and murderers of fellow Palestinians, while the US supported Fatah were made to appear innocent of any wrong doing. However as we all now know it was the Bush administration that pushed Hamas and Fatah into war. In short the US administration wanted to stir up a civil war believing it could somehow reverse the outcome of democratic votes in Palestine which saw a Hamas victory. It was Hamas who first discovered that the US was arming much of Fatah preparing them for war against them. Hamas pre-empted the attempted coup a subsequently took over the Gaza strip by force. It should be noted that the Al-aqsa Martyrs Brigade who are also part of Fatah refused to confront Hamas, as the corruption of Fatah and in particular Muhammad Dahlan was leaked.
So while the Bush Administration claims it wants to find a peaceful resolution in Palestine, their anti-democratic attempts to fuel a Palestinian civil war has been exposed. What the United States want more than anything is to destroy Hamas and anyone else who confronts the Israeli occupation head on. Talking peace while Israel continues to expand its illegal settlements making any chance of a viable Palestinian state even more remote is nothing more than a weak attempt at leaving behind some sort of legacy behind a blood soaked and error ridden term in office. A Palestinian Government which allows Israel to dictate its terms for “peace” is a Palestinian Government both the US and Israel would like to deal with. Of course any form of objection to Israel policy is seen as a threat to Israel and therefore renders anyone involved in anti-occupation activities violent or non-violent an enemy of Israel, whether it be Hamas, Fatah or the general civilian population.
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