Gaza Massacre: from a post on deviantArt
This comes from a post by Lillymon about what’s happening in Gaza. Must be a great way to start a new year. I agree with most of what is said and in the comments the author offered permission to repost it, so here goes (or read it with comments on deviantArt):
Firstly, I didn't want to update anything here until I've returned all my messages and comments but this matter is urgent and I can't postpone it any longer. I usually restrict my political journals\rants to my Livejournal but I believe this one particular issue needs to be addressed loudly so that everyone is aware of it. This is part of what I, as a human being, can do for fellow human beings in Gaza who've been deprived of their basic human needs, dignity, any minute sense of safety and warmth in the heart of winter.
From my experince in dA, I'm pretty sure half of the members are oblivious to what's going on in the world they live in, let alone anything related to the Middle East since it's the place where people still ride camels to schools and all of it's men, women and children are terrorists
common stereostype. But for the other half of you who care enough to follow the international news and keep yourselves aware of what's going on on the other side of the world, I hope you'll join me in spreading the word about the current huminatarian crises taking place in Gaza in your journals, LJs, bloggers or where ever you can reach your audience.For those who are not up to date with the world affairs, here is a summary:
On December 26th, the Israeli military have launched 60 jets to bombard innocent civilians in Gaza strip. It claimed the lives of 300+ innocent civilians including women and children and severely wounded 1000+ others. The death toll is still rising and the attacks are still on-going to date. These air strikes come after a murderous siege against Gaza blocking international humanitarian aid from reaching to the needy, cutting the Gazans off water, electricity, medicine and food in winter last year. Some of you might go like “but they allowed some caravans and such”. It's true that through international efforts, the inhumane sanctions on Gaza were temporary lifted at times but these measures are not worth applauding since it's has no justification to begin with. This is a form of a completely unjustifiable collective punishment. It's ineffectual and a violation of human rights according to the Geneva Conventions.
I know some of you might think that frequent sieges and bombarding innocent lives isn't something new to Palestinian people. But imagine yourself in the place of those courageous people who put up with these outrageous attacks on daily basis, living their lives unsure whether they'll see their family or loved ones again when they return home or whether they'll wake up in the first place. It's horrible the feeling of insecurity. I've felt it. Anyone who has lived a war can understand it.
No matter what justifications are provided by the Israeli government or you, whoever supports Israel, there are no words that can justify this bloodshed. You just need to take a look at the ratios; 3000 innocent civilians, men, women and children were killed in Lebanon for 2 armed Israeli soldiers & now more than 300 Palestinians killed & thrice as many injured for Hamas's rockets that killed 1 Israeli & barely injured few others. Such a disproportionate response of collective punishment committed by the Israeli government against innocent non combatants civilians is an act of terrorism yet no one is asking why Hamas needed to fire the rockets in the first place! Self defense, does it even mean anything to anyone anymore ?
I'm sure the biased Western media never shows real images of what's happening in Gaza or the Middle East in general but click on the links below, look, read, understand and then tell me who are the ones suffering the most ? The people in Gaza without food, electricity or gas and little employment are an easy target. This is a humanitarian crisis. The least you could do is to boycott all products from Israel and spread the word around where you live. If not spoken, then at least do it online.
I find it sad that in today's world, people can't distinguish the real victims from the actual terrorists. Now suddenly, defending your own right to exist labels you as a terrorist !!!
I am no defending Hamas in this journal. I find them as responsible for this blood bath as the actual criminals. There is no difference between Hamas and the Israeli government. They are both not bothered by collateral damage done to any of the civilian in this war.
The Western democratic countries, though condemning some of the Israeli actions through occasional press releases, do nothing significant to stop the attacks *If this is not a disguised support and an ugly face of hypocrisy, I don't know what is it called* Arab governments are no better than their Western partners. None care about what's going on for their own political reasons.
If I were American or a citizen of the EU, I'd be embarrassed to be a part of a country that claims they do not support terrorism but when it comes to making allies *such as Israel* majority of these countries seems to have no problem with the murder of innocents. Such acts are condemned if the religion of the attacker is Islam but not otherwise ? Why ? What do the world expect the Palestinians to do ? Sit back and watch everything fall apart and do nothing ? Is defending yourself an act of terrorism ? What an upside down world we live in !
In the news
To read more about the current crises, please view the following links or google if you'd like to find your own news.
» Al-Jazeera English – Israel resumes Gaza bombardment
» Reuters – Israel mounts third day of Gaza raids
» In pictures: Gaza attack aftermath
» Haitham Sabbah – Photos of the Gaza attack aftermath
» Maan News – Israeli airstrikes continue on Gaza; 235 Palestinians dead, 700 injured
So, what can I do ?I've written so much and I perfectly understand that words won't do much to ease the suffering people in Gaza but there is still a lot that people like us can do.
» For those who are aware of the world happenings, your next step is to write about it, raise the attention of those living on the other end of the world in front of a similar screen that does not show them what is it like to be in Gaza.
» If you've got some spare cash, please consider making a donation at any of the following sites;
UNRWA – Emergency activities in WestBank and Gaza
Human Appeal International
FreeGaza.org
American Near East Refugee Aid.You can also donate at The red crescent or The red cross websites. Even a 1 dollar donation can make a difference so be charitable and help out.
» If you don't know much about what's going on, you can start educating yourself from reliable unbiased sources.
» If you already know the correct history of the Arab\Israel conflict, educate others and help eradicate the ignorance.
» Understand the difference between self defense and terrorism. Defending your own rightfully owned land, home, family does not make you a terrorist when you are the one with the legitimate argument. And please, don't come at me with the “one mans terrorist is another's freedom fighter”. We all know where Israel came from. It never existed until last century while the people of Palestine, Muslims and Jews have always lived in that land for hundreds of years without any problems.
» Leave a prayer for your fellow human beings who are going through so much hardships.
My thoughts and prayers are with the Palestinian people. I hope there'll be an end to this senseless murdering soon. Amen.
Sorry for the long journal and sorry if my thoughts sound incoherent. Revising long entries is such a headache but I hope you've read it. To those who did read it, thank you very much. May God bless you all.
p.s.: Thank you for all the comments on my previous journal entry and my frontpage. I'll get back to you as soon as I can orzllll|||||
Happy New Year.
January 1, 2009
Tags: 2009, Gaza, Hamas, Israel, photography, warFiled under: Life — January 1st, 2009 - By Yillb Comments (4)
4 Responses to “Gaza Massacre: from a post on deviantArt”
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cbrtxus Says:
January 1st, 2009 at 5:42 pmIt seems to me that the sensible thing would be for Hamas to stop firing missiles into Israel. The last that I heard, they were still doing it.
Those missiles are not aimed at specific military targets. They aren’t that accurate. The casualties that they cause in Israel are mostly civilian.
If they were not attacking Israel, there would be no justification for Israel attacking them.
If Hamas did want to minimized civilian casualties, they they should not use innocent civilians to shield their military assets. My own opinion is that Israel should not have waited this long to respond to missiles being fired into their territory. I suspect that the response to missiles being fired into the United States would be swift and terrible. At least I hope so.
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Yillb Says:
January 1st, 2009 at 9:05 pmAll well and good but I seem to lack sympathy for a country that rams a ship trying to bring aid to the civilian’s that their attacking.
Considering that people on the ground might prove more useful and accurate than bombs and help avoid civilian causalities, I mean it isn’t like Israel is boasting how it might send ground forces in anyway but hasn’t, easier to just drop bombs I guess.
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andreea Says:
January 6th, 2009 at 8:27 amVery good place
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Colombia Says:
January 15th, 2009 at 8:56 pmI really liked your blog. Very useful information, I read it detail, also book-marked it and will be back in the future to read some more of your interesting posts ! keep up the good work.
