Palestine

I listed one of my interests as Palestine and now I want to explain why.

Firstly, I have been brought up with an understanding of politics. My Grandfather and my Grandmother were Socialists. My Mum's family (and my family) were brought up believing in the ability of the common man and woman to bring about positive change in their circumstances and in the circumstances of the people as a whole, knowing the evils of fascism, nepotism, corporate greed, racism and bigotry of all kinds, and with a healthy disregard for politicians and their duplicitous lying ways, encouraged to be aware but not a part of (or a victim of) politics.

I remember lecturing the other children at primary school on the necessity for the boycott of South African goods. I must have been insufferable ! Apartheid in South Africa was eased during 1992-3 but the other sore spot in the human world, Palestine, seems to have grown more monstrous and painful as the years have gone by. What shocks me is the apathy and the ignorance of people in the West.. how little they connect the "terrorism" with the genocidal actions of the Occupation.. and how they don't understand that this directly affects us all. I am not anti-jewish - my grandparents sheltered jewish refugees during WW2 - and german refugees afterwards - but news coverage in the West is appalling and very biased. Check out this article by James Read : Mid-East coverage baffles Britons - Role reversal: Palestinians seen as occupiers An academic study suggests that TV news coverage in the UK on the Middle East conflict confuses viewers and features a preponderance of Israeli views. So much so, that many viewers think Israeli territory is occupied by Palestinians, not the other way round.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3827207.stm



There are many Israelis with a conscience, but just like there were many Democrats in the USA who voted against Bush - more in fact than voted for him - their voice is not being heard in any way politically at the moment. The fascists have power in Israel, and they are merciless. The use of military force against a powerless civilian population is unparallelled anywhere in modern history - except in Nazi Europe - a point which is not lost on the Israelis. The Justice Minister Yosef Lapid recently said that a TV picture of an elderly Palestinian woman in the rubble reminded him of his grandmother (in Eastern Europe under Nazi occupation) and was censured for saying so: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3740649.stm



Oxfam and Amnesty International are hardly revolutionary organisations, and usually meticulous. They have this to say: Mid-East civilians 'suffer most' Oxfam says more should be done to reduce the impact on civilians Aid agency Oxfam is calling for more to be done to protect civilians caught up in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Both sides have failed to safeguard civilians as required under international law, it says in a report. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3748155.stm
Israeli demolitions 'a war crime' Israel says the demolitions are needed for security reasons Amnesty International has condemned Israel's destruction of Palestinian homes as "war crimes". In a new report the human rights group accuses Israel of destroying more than 3,000 Palestinian homes in the current three-and-a-half year intifada.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/3724361.stm



The infamous War on Terror - Iraq - etc. Please read this article by Firas Al-Atraqchi writing about the situation regarding the beheading of civilians in Iraq, and making the point that.. "Until the Palestinian issue is resolved with the Palestinian people recognized as an indigenous part of Palestine and with their right to a contiguous homeland recognized as much an enshrined right as the right of Israelis, there will always be conflict in the Middle East. Invading and illegally occupying Iraq didn't help. And it will gradually get worse and worse." I think he's probably right.
http://www.yellowtimes.org/article.php?sid=1987



I am not very religious but I have the Tao Te Ching and I read it. Number 74 says:

If men are not afraid to die,
It is of no avail to threaten them with death.

I am against all violence which breeds more violence. But I know that if my country was invaded, my home taken from me, my family members killed, my right of movement and assembly restricted, my livelihood denied me, food and water supplies put the other side of an insurmountable wall, I would resist. My heart is with the Palestinians.

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