ZGram - 6/18/2002 - "Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: The Story
Behind the News"
irimland@zundelsite.org
irimland@zundelsite.org
Tue, 18 Jun 2002 21:13:07 -0700
ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny
June 18, 2002
Good Morning from the Zundelsite:
Sometimes my readers get upset with me because they don't agree with
one part or another - but please remember that the function of my
ZGrams from the beginning, almost seven years, ago has been to show
up our enemies' true nature and evil agenda - and to REFLECT, as
accurately as I can, the voices that speak up in this struggle for
the hearts, minds and souls of our times.
The last sentence in this essay says it best: "Silence kills."
[START]
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:
The Story Behind the News
by Linda Belanger
For the last month, since the Israeli attacks on Palestine my
feelings have shifted several times daily from swallowing back tears
to anger and despair. I have attempted to assuage these feelings by
an obsessive and masochistic search for information, information
beyond the images on television, information that could explain these
images. This has only led to more tears and anger.
I am embarrassed to admit my ignorance of this situation that has
been going on for 35 years. I did not know that even since the early
days of the occupation, the Israeli government expropriated
Palestinians from their land and homes without compensation. I did
not know that the homes of people resisting the occupation, even by
peaceful means, were demolished. I did not know that the Israeli
Defense Force (IDF) imposed curfews and shot people who were caught
outside after hours on sight . I did not know that the Israeli
government has diverted water away from Palestinian farmland to serve
the Jewish settlements that they have established within Palestine.
This has all been done in self-defense we are told.. But an
occupation with the purpose of self-defense does not last 35 years
and, involve the establishment of settlements in contravention of
international rules of occupation.
How could I have missed this. Me, the politics junky, the follower of
world events; I have slept through this issue for 35 years. I who so
pride myself in being a human being above all else. I am guilty of
just glancing through the headlines and perhaps the first few
paragraphs of a news article. Why pay attention, the middle east is
so far away. Beside Israel must defend itself we are told so often.
Some of them sound a bit fanatical but everything would be fine
because Jews would never do unto others what had been done onto them.
As for the Arabs, well I know there are good and bad in all races and
religions but that area of the world is underdeveloped and
uneducated. The people shout and shake their fists in the streets and
the terrorists who hijacked the planes in the 1970s came from there
and now they are responsible for suicide bombings and their leader
wears an army uniform and is an ex-terrorist fighter. They must be
largely to blame for all of this.
How I cringe now when I read those words now. I was tempted to delete
them but decided not to. They are true. I am a proud Canadian. A
Canadian who buys into the dream of a nation that takes pride in its
different races and religions and sees itself as a microcosm of the
world, a haven for the oppressed and an example of how people of all
races and religions can live together. I could not be a bigot.
But there has also been a problem in the language used by the media
and politicians. Perhaps this has been done in the interest of
promoting moderation or in attempting to remain objective by
reporting the facts or because of the outcry of anti-semitism by
certain Jewish groups every time a crumb is tossed to the
Palestinians. There is a point where moderation and objectivity in
reporting the news can create a lie. People fighting for basic human
rights may be driven to terrorism by desperation but they are
resistance fighters. After 35 years of Israeli settlement in
Palestine it is time to call the "occupation" by its proper name -
invasion. Although it is true that Israelis have not built
extermination camps one has to wonder what they expect to achieve by
destroying a people's livelihood, culture and dignity. If these
things had been done in a period of a few years most people would not
object to the use of the word genocide. Is it different because it
has taken place over a period of 35 years?
There is also a problem created by the language used by a different
culture. We are horrified when we hear the Arab world praise suicide
bombers as martyrs to the cause. How can they sacrifice their
children that way people say? Why then, are we not horrified when
Israel sends its children to control the Palestinians, who have been
denied control over the water in their territory, to defend settlers
sitting by their swimming pools. Yes the killing of innocent Israelis
is wrong but destroying the homes of thousands of refugees to capture
50 or so alleged terrorists is collective punishment not heroic self-
defense. Aside from the obvious moral distinction in the above
examples, the only difference is that, for us in the western world,
the words, sacrifice and martyrdom are not 'cool'. We are so superior
and advanced: we use words like heroic and self-defense.
I've also frequently heard condemnation of Yassir Arafat for walking
away from the Camp David peace proposal without making a counter
offer. I was incensed when I found the terms of that proposal. Arafat
rejected it because it was an insult.
The Palestinians have been open to compromise to some extent in
regard to the borders of the new state but have understandably
demanded territorial continuity. According to the Camp David
proposal, Palestinians were expected to relinguish nearly half their
territory creating a convoluted state where one might have to drive
50 miles to get to a town which was only actually 10 miles away in
order to avoid entering Israel's territory. The remaining areas
although appearing to be territorially continuous would be broken up
by Israeli bypass roads, check points and roadblock. The Palestinians
were also expected to accept Israeli supervision of borders crossings
and to relinquish their rights over water and airspace among other
things. (<www.gush-shalom.org>)
The Palestians have a right to a state, just as the Isrealis have the
right to the state of Isreal as it was given to them by the British
in 1948 and not one inch more. Israel occupied Palestine in 1967 on
the pretext of self defense and has remained there for 35 years. Now,
the Isreali govenment would have us believe that because they
established settlements there (against the international laws) the
Palestinians should concede territory to accomodate them.
But amidst the suicide bombings and the Israelis who justify the
crimes of the occupation as self defence there are those on both
sides who feel for the pain of the other side, who are putting
themselves in their shoes. In a recent inteview with Larry King on
CNN, Queen Rania of Jordan said:
"... I saw a few days ago on one of the channels, a mother of a
suicide bomber who was saying that had she known what her son was
going to do, she would have prevented him from doing it. And she said
that she felt with every Israeli mother who has lost a child. I also
heard on the Israeli side, a bystander after one of the attacks on
one of the buses, who was saying that if he was a Palestinian he'd
understand how they could become suicide bombers living under such
terrible conditions. "
But how and when will this all end? How much longer can the
Palestinians endure the punishment inflicted on their entire society
. Ariel Sharon does not want peace. Of that I am absolutely
convinced. The Israeli government is sacrificing its own people to
the suicide bombers to justify continued military oppression in the
hopes of eventually gaining total control of Palestine. The
Palestinians have no army, no tanks, not helicopter gunships. They
cannot expel the IDF, yet to stop fighting would be to deny their
basic humanity. The suicide bombings are only an indication of their
desperation.
Nonetheless, there is some light in this dark scenario. The Israeli
peace camp is vocal and well organized. Israeli soldiers are refusing
to do military service in the Palestinian territory. Israelis
civilians are placing themselves in Palestinians homes to act as
human shields against the IDF. I am convinced that when the
Palestinians have their state and Israel is liberated from the rules
of Ariel Sharon and his kind, that the people of Israel will be there
using the bulldozers that were used to demolish Palestinian homes to
dismantle the roadblocks that have destroyed their economy.
In the end it is the voice of the international community putting
pressure on the United States to stop funding the Israeli government
and to demand that the Israeli government abide by United Nations
resolution 242 passed in 1967 and reaffirmed many times since. This
resolution calls for:
(i) Withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in
the recent conflict;
(ii) Termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect
for and acknowledgment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and
political independence of every State in the area and their right to
live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from
threats or acts of force.
Public opinion turned the tide against apartheid . We can all play a
part whether it is by writing to our elected representatives to urge
them to support the UN resolutions, or to a newspaper or simply by
talking to friends. The Palestinians must not be subjected to the
humiliation of being asked to come to the negotiation table to
discuss which parts of their territory they will be allowed to keep
but rather a suitable manner and schedule by which the above
resolutions are to be applied.
Yes I know, writing letters takes time; your kids have soccer
practice tonight, you haven't done your workout in a week, you are
getting together with a friend, you are tired after a long days work.
I understand. But silence kills.
[END]
=====