1. Myth: Anyone seeking a cease-fire in Gaza is a sell-out and a traitor:
A cease-fire is first and foremost about stopping the killing of innocent people. Let us define innocent as unarmed. Fellow blogger Fadi wrote appealing for moderation, and in return he was bombarded with a deluge of hateful comments. What is so dangerous about asking for peace ?
2. Myth: Qassam rockets are good for Palestine and the resistance:
The media often publishes pictures like this one which look pretty intimidating:
In realty Qassam rockets have only made things worse. Why ? Rockets are considered a military-grade weapon. Qassams may look like rockets, but are so inaccurate dozens can be fired only killing 1 Israeli. They are about as likely to kill someone as a coin dropped from the top of the empire state building. In the mean time Israel has the real thing, the kind that actually kills dozens. Notice the kids writing graffiti on missiles (To Nassralah From Israel with love):
What is closer to the truth ?
Is it A: Palestinian Kid throws stone at tank
or B: What do you wanna be when you grow up?
In the past few days, the death ratio of Israelis to Palestinians in Gaza has been 1:35+ according to a UN report (Thank you Hala). What happens if we apply this ratio to the entire country ? Starting out with 4,909,982 (nearly 5 million) Israelis, this means 171,849,370 (nearly 170 million) Palestinians would have to die.
A 2006 report by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, shows the number of Palestinians all over the world is approx. 10.1 million including approx. 4 million living inside the Palestinian territory.
Arabs have lost the war on Israel many years ago, and since then we’ve only grown weaker militarily, and economically. Worldwide sympathy for the Palestinian cause is at an all-time-low. Based on the above, our only chance to win is at the negotiating table.
The Worst things for the Palestinian cause in the past 20 years:
- Iraq invading Kuwait (The beginning of the end)
- 911 (Arabs in general perceived as terrorists)
- Arafat dying (the last symbol Palestinians united behind)
- The new Palestinian War - Hamas V. Fateh (Palestinians happily killing each other)
- Qassam rockets - toy weapons Vs. Helicopter gunships, Merkava tanks & F16s (all the ingredients for a massacre)
3.
3A. Myth: If Israel kills civilians, Palestinians are justified in doing the same.
3B. Myth: If Palestinians launch Qassams, it justifies Israel massacring hundreds of civilians.
The modern definition of terrorism is killing unarmed civilians. Israel kills far more unarmed civilians than all of the groups the US classifies as terrorist organizations put together. The military term we’ve all come to know since the first war in Iraq is “collateral damage”. Terrorism is terrorism by any other name, and it’s wrong no matter who does it. 3A and 3B go together, so you can’t disagree on one unless you also disagree with the other
4. Myth: Gaza is under attack, let us cease living to show our respect:
- Some of us think the situation is so bad in Gaza, that the best thing we can do is shut up.
- Others think we should stop all expressions of humor. Talasim posted one of their usual funny signs that make us laugh, and someone commented asking them if by posting their “trash photos”, they were trying to bring down Gaza on the Jordanian blogosphere!
- On discussing the situation with some friends, one of them mentioned that “so and so had a wedding, and they were celebrating”.
Does making yourself miserable help Gaza ? Does keeping quiet about it show your respect ? Does canceling your wedding stop the killing ? Does not sending your kids to school show solidarity ?
No ! Gaza should make you appreciate the life you have, and try to live it as fully as possible. About the only thing we can do for Gaza is make sure everyone knows. So add your voice to mine.
Stop the slaughter!
21 Users Commented In This Post
Posted from
3-6-2008 at 08:44:20
THANK YOU HANI! That is an excellent post. You said everything in my mind! I just hope people read and think about it before they jump on attacking you.
I loved the picture of the peace word above the planet with all the symbols.
Good work!
Posted from
3-6-2008 at 09:21:42
very well said !
I hate seeing the photo with the girl signing the rocket or the kid with the toy gun ! they are innocent and shouldn’t be dragged into this !!
Posted from
3-6-2008 at 09:36:33
Wow man, that was great! I liked the way you portrayed your ideas, they were very objective and to the point. I add my voice to Observer: Plz READ the whole thing.
And i add mine to yours.. STOP!!
Posted from
3-6-2008 at 09:56:30
Hear Hear. Maybe I can hire you to answer back the freaks on my own site who seem to justify the ridiculous.
Posted from
3-6-2008 at 10:46:38
very well written Hani.
Posted from
3-6-2008 at 10:59:47
I have to agree, it’s nicely, smoothly, and logically written.
However, I disagree with one point: The negotiations. They’ve been negotiating for more that half a decade now, long before the Qassami rockets, what did that bring? Can you list me 3 tangible, positive outcomes for those negotiations for the Palestinian people?
Posted from
3-6-2008 at 11:14:31
u r right ! asking 4 peace is the best answer 2 this problem , there is no point in more people dying , people have suffered enough !
u put it 2gether very nicely.
muy bien !
Posted from
3-6-2008 at 12:14:05
Hani, I loved this. Well done.
Posted from
3-6-2008 at 20:04:10
This is really a very good post! I like it a lot! It has some great ideas in it.
But there are also things like blaming Al Qassam rockets which is the Israeli excuse to just about anything.
Resistance must continue, there’s no other choice. But the methods need to evolve.
Resistance and peace can coexist. But we mustn’t also blame victims for their roles. If it was up to them, they wouldn’t be the victims here
Posted from
3-6-2008 at 20:05:57
“Gaza should make you appreciate the life you have, and try to live it as fully as possible.”
:)
Posted from
3-7-2008 at 03:09:01
Unbelievable, we have 8 for peace, and 2 for resistance. I was expecting the opposite.
Fadi Thank you for the tag. I wrote the text. The pictures, I just got off Google images, but I like that one too. Space is something we can look up to, and dream of a better world!
Lost Within I picked the photos of the children to make a point. On both sides Parents, teachers, and the media teach their kids to hate the enemy at a very early stage, and as if that’s not enough, they use them for propaganda, and last but not least, the number of dead children in the current Gaza fatalities is shocking, so it was very much on my mind when I wrote the post particularly after seeing some of the more gruesome pictures.
Wonders When I have something to say, the words just seem to write themselves! Thanks.
Hal I’m sorry You got some of the really one sided people commenting on your post, the ones fed and bred on the mainstream international media. Qwaider posted some excellent videos on this subject. I appreciate the link to the report, the figures put things into perspective, particularly the percentage of civilian deaths.
mab3oos Thank you for supporting peace.
Adoosh My main point was to stop the murder from both sides. Missiles, rockets, bombs tend to be indiscriminate, they don’t care if you are armed, or unarmed, a man or a woman, an adult or a child. I don’t claim to have the answers to the Palestinian problem which has been tackled by much smarter people than myself without success. I just can tell when something isn’t working, and the militant option isn’t producing positive results either, but is very effective at producing a large number of corpses! The other point is, you have to consider what Israel is thinking, what do they want from Gaza ? It’s not like it has oil wells or anything. Basically, they want Gaza to stop attacking their settlements, and populace. They have the power to cut electricity, water, fuel, food, and medicine. They are willing to carpet bomb the whole city. So knowing what they want, and what they are capable of, I think negotiation is the best of the 2 not so great options we have. A more optimistic way to look at it is, we’ve hit rock bottom, and it can only get better.
Rantooshitika When I was a kid living in Ramallah, around the mid 80s, my cousin from Amman came to visit us. Our dishwasher broke down, and the repairman from the dishwasher company was coming to fix it. The only problem was he was an Israeli. My cousin had never seen one up close, other than the soldiers at the border. She was expecting some kind of monster. Of course, he arrived, and he was flesh and blood, and I was too young to ask at the time, but I like to think she changed her mind. I think that’s the first step, just acknowledging the enemy is human.
Kinzi Thanks, I did my best. I had you , Fadi, and Hala for inspiration :)
Qwaider If you thought I was reiterating Israel’s position on Qassams, I think you misunderstood my point. Israel blames Qassams as a serious military grade weapon justifying a full scale military attack on Gaza. My point was they’re not really military grade, it just appears so. This makes them very dangerous to Palestinians. Notice how even the UN secretary general responded by saying Israel has a right to defend itself, and unlike a lot of people, he has seen the actual casualty figures on both sides. Better methods of resistance you say ? If we attack Israel with knives, they hit us with guns, if we attack them with guns, they hit us with rockets. If we attack them with rockets, they respond with helicopter gunships and F16s. Notice the casulaty ratios. I see a pattern here. I’ll ask you something similar to what Adoosh asked me; Where do you see resistance taking us in the long run ? I see more massacres. It is about saving the victim’s lives, resistance would only wipe them out.
KJ Yes, how else can one think positively on seeing such a tragedy.
Posted from
3-7-2008 at 07:48:21
*cracking up at the words he is getting for the spam filter*
Qwaider - I don’t get how peace and resistance can coexist. The definition of resistance is to defy a given rule, government, idea, etc. If there was peace there is no need to defy anything - if by peace you mean large-scale peace.
I am sorry I always get philosophical but the truth is that most of the terms we use and take for granted really do have subjective meanings because of their abstractions.
If you remember the Oracle in the Matrix you’d understand what I am talking about.
Gaza’s situation cannot be ended by either side stopping. We know this is just a break for both to patch up before going at it again. It is pretty obvious peace cannot be achieved between the two parties given the concept they are fighting over. It is an all-or-non situation. Yes it is a grim and pessimistic view, and even if coexistence did exist a la Andalus, it is only a matter of time before an Isabel comes along.
Posted from
3-7-2008 at 15:42:38
FINALLY… a voice of reason,thank you..
PEACE..
PEACE..
PEACE..
Please !!!
Posted from
3-8-2008 at 11:10:31
Noura thank you for adding your voice to ours.
KJ, I agree.
Inspired by the people calling for resistance, I took the trouble to extend the Gaza death ratio (35+:1) to the whole country. Starting out with 4,909,982 (nearly 5 million) Israelis, this would mean 171,849,370 (nearly 170 million) Palestinians would have to die to free Palestine.
According to a 2006 report by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the number of Palestinians all over the world is 10.1 million. This includes approx. 4 million living inside the Palestinian territory.
Posted from
3-8-2008 at 12:22:35
great post.. im really impressed..
and thanks for the comic.. might have to pinch it for my blog..
Posted from
3-8-2008 at 12:24:52
by the way i agree that resistence and peace can to an extent coexist.. there are avenues for that..
but they fall within the system.. personally i think had they been followed to begin with - we all would have won..
Posted from
3-8-2008 at 13:03:53
Lirun, I’m glad.
I got all the photos/graphics on this post from google images myself, so pinch away!
Peace and resistance can coexist in that different people from the same side can choose to fight/negotiate, but negotiations won’t be taken seriously while the fighting continues.
It’s too bad we don’t share the same religion because we might have otherwise become one people given enough time, and the issue would have solved itself. The Normans and Saxons in England are the best example I can think of.
Posted from
3-10-2008 at 14:32:15
mmm.. so it’s only about “life” regardless “how” this life looks like?
Posted from
3-10-2008 at 19:47:05
Adoosh You have a point, there’s something to be said for quality of life.
Some believe that all the dead are going to heaven, in which case I would think they would take the first bus to Gaza, and there would really be nothing to mourn. I don’t have the luxury of that belief.
I lived in Ramallah for 16 years. I’ve been tear-gassed, curfewed, searched and humiliated at a checkpoint, but I’ve never been arrested, shot at, bombed, seen my house and belongings demolished, seen my family killed in front of my own eyes.
I can only imagine what that is like, and despite it all, I think Gazans would prefer to live in peace than die as meaningless a death as this.
Posted from
3-11-2008 at 16:45:23
Thank you, Hani! You voiced a lot of my thoughts in a delightfully succinct manner.
Posted from
3-11-2008 at 19:21:41
TeacherLady I am honored. Thank you.
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