The following conversation took place in the last two days on my Facebook page between an old friend of mine and me... I have edited some of the text to protect the identity of my friend. She is a wonderful New Yorker who has long been active in politics at various levels... However, after that exchange, I feel our friendship may be yet another casualty of the war on Gaza...
Read on and let me know your thoughts..
The following conversation took place in the last two days on my Facebook page between an old friend of mine and me... I have edited some of the text to protect the identity of my friend. She is a wonderful New Yorker who has long been active in politics at various levels... However, after that exchange, I feel our friendship may be yet another casualty of the war on Gaza...
Read on and let me know your thoughts.. (her replies are in quotes)
This whole thing started with me changing my Facebook status line to say:
reports 765 Palestinians murdered by Israel in Gaza (more than 230 children & 100 women) & 3125 injured. Donate your status :...
to which she replied:
I think this is horrible and a stupid waste of life. But you don't think Hamas bears ANY responsibility for this?
No I don't...
I'm not crazy about Hamas... but I feel that Israel with this barbaric attack on civilians (essentially collective punishment) is turning them into heroes..
the death ratio is now about 800 to 1... yet, pro-Israeli activists still want us to believe that it's the Israelis who are victimized by Hamas "showers of rockets".. if that is the case, then where are the Israeli casualties? and even if that was true, does it justify collective punishment? bombing of schools (including UN ones)? shooting at ambulances?
The argument that Hamas fighters are hiding in there so we had to blow them is as insensitive to those who argued burning Vietnamese villages to save them from themselves...
The blase attitude of many pro-Israeli activists vis a vis the number of innocent casualties amongst Palestinians is a true reflection of the racism embedded within Zionism.. it's a real shame..
Otherwise... how are you? when are we getting together for brunch?
sorry.. the ratio is more like 160 to 1... my bad
I do NOT support Israel's right to do whatever they want in defense of their country. I also think that the Palestinians have been used as pawns by others since 1948 when now-Israelis drove the British out. If this is only about Israel's "unbridled aggression," why aren't they also bombing the West Bank where Fatah, instead of Hamas, are the "democratically elected" authority?
The day after the British finally withdrew, the other countries in the Middle East massed together to attack Israel. Israel only survived because they were prepared and had superior weapons; that is still the situation today. And, still many of the countries in the Middle East won't provide the Palestinians for funding for anything except attacks on Israel. Why don't you go rally in front of their consulates? Why do you continue to buy into their manipulation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict for their own purposes? Why don't you blame those who surround their military/communications areas with women and children, knowing they have put them in harm's way? (For example, Iran and other powers have funded weapons and payments to suicide bombers. Why haven't they bought GENERATORS for the Palestinians on the West Bank?)
Israel isn't 100% blameless. Israel isn't 100% to blame. But, its an old social work maxim, instead of fixing the blame, why don't we fix the situation
Israel is not bombing the west bank (yet), however they continue the building the illegal settlements on stolen lands... Fateh, which was never elected by the people, are famous in Palestinian circles for their corruption, and technically, Abbas, as of today if no longer the president...
The reason things got hot in Gaza was primarily due to the blockade that the israelis imposed.. think of it as a concentration camp for 1.5 million.. no control of water, resources, travel, electricity... etc... Israel thought naively that by making their lives hell, that the people will revolt on Hamas and run back to Abbas/Fateh... quite the opposite happened....
As far as the other Arab countries are concerned... it's not true that they do no help.. many fund the refugee camps where millions of Palestinians are waiting to go home.. Lebanon, Syria and Jordan have all helped in setting up camps...
Gulf countries have also helped in terms of finances...not always for the best..
of course some of these countries have exploited the conflict to advance their agendas.. but, seriously, who hasn't?? the US? Russia? or how about Israel itself who shamelessly exploits world jewry (and it's tragic history) to promote their racist ideology and its manifestation (the state of Israel)
check out: http://www.nytimes.com/... a great piece by Rashid Khalidi of Columbia on the realities of Gaza
also: http://electronicintifada.net/...
by another one of your neighbors on the UWS.. this one looks at the Gaza issue from a historical colonialist approach to the region..
both fascinating
Palestinians in the West Bank do not need generators.. those in Gaza do... Human Rights activists from all over the world (including many Arab countries and Iran) have been trying to send them all kinds of help.. only to be shot at by Israel...
I realize that it is vey hard for Americans to accept that Israel can do monstrous things.. specially after decades of conditioning about how the Zionist state is supposed to the light upon nations...
If you belief that the state of Israel is the manifestation of a racist ideology, that sort of ends any discussion, doesn't it? Do you believe Israel has a right to exist?
I do believe that Zionism, the ideology that started the movement which led to the establishment of Israel is a racist ideology... How could the concept of a nation dedicated to one religion/ethnicity not be? I believe the way that was applied too is very racist in nature... Carter was on to something here... special rights for Jews vs. Non-Jews... roads, utilities, etc...
That said, I don not believe in "erasing Israel" or any of that nonsense.. just because Zionists erased Palestine (or so they think), doesn't mean history has to be repeated... rather, I believe in a post-Zionist Israeli state where all residents of the land get a vote.. one person, one vote... you know.. real democracy, just like post-apartheid South Africa (we can even call it Israelistine)..
and for the record, that belief does not warrant the quick to label "anti-semite" label... for many Israelis also believe in that...and many non-Zionist jews do too
I'm not sure why you feel that questioning Zionism's racist nature is a discussion ender Clearly the manifestations of that movement speak volume.. yet, whenever that is pointed out, many feel that this moves the conversation into the realm of the radical and unreasonable.. is it because we don't like what we see in the mirror? I have made a case to why I feel that ideology is racist.. many others have.. I'm assuming that you feel otherwise.. can you explain why? prove me wrong logically
as far as the right of Israel to exist.. it is almost laughable that the region's most militarized nation, including nuclear weapons, is playing the scared victim. The casuality ratio tells a different story, no? I'm reminded of the saying that the Palestinians biggest problem is that they fell victims to the world's biggest victims
Israel exists.. it's a reality.. Palestinians are reminded of that everyday as they witness their lands being stolen under their nose.. as they sit in refugee camps with memories of their towns and villages, now turned into ugly suburbs and shopping malls.. what about their right to exist? are they not humans?
Ultimately,we have limited choices here... we can either continue that cycle of violence forever, letting the fundies grow stronger by the day... or, we can push for a move forward by accepting certain facts and working towards a just solution
After decades of involvement in that conflict, I strongly feel that a one multicultural democratic solution is the only and best way out of this mess... I'll be more that happy to discuss the reasons why I believe everything else is doomed to fail and will only increase the misery..
now.. about that brunch....