As you may have noticed, I have been on hiatus, mostly because I have overloaded on outrage fatigue and simply just needed a break. The Gaza situation, though, has been weighing heavily on my mind, a little more than it usually would, because I know a woman that lives near the Gaza border.
While she is a wonderful, very creative lady, whom I have a lot of respect for, policitcs was interjected into the craft list we both participate in. I can’t imagine living where bombs are constantly dropping near where you live. Nearly word for word, her sentiments were echoed here.
Mechi’s husband David:
Whenever human life is taken, it’s tragic, but when we’re talking about murderers who are trying to kill us, it’s a big relief.
On the other hand we’re convinced that the innocent people who were killed, this is totally the fault of Hamas who use them as human shields.
We believe all life is sacred, so the Hamas regime is at fault.
Now, this lady I know, bemoaned the media and world reactions, saying something like the world sides with the Palastinians when Israel bombs Gaza, because the terrorists hide behind civilians. The disproportionate reaction by Israel has become a huge concern,which leads people looking from the outside in, to be more supportive of the Palestinian people.
Israel and Hamas both must respect the prohibition under the laws of war against deliberate and indiscriminate attacks on civilians, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch expressed grave concern about Israeli bombings in Gaza that caused civilian deaths and Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli civilian areas in violation of international law.
Rocket attacks on Israeli towns by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups that do not discriminate between civilians and military targets violate the laws of war, while a rising number of the hundreds of Israeli bombings in Gaza since December 27, 2008, appear to be unlawful attacks causing civilian casualties. Additionally, Israel’s severe limitations on the movement of non-military goods and people into and out of Gaza, including fuel and medical supplies, constitutes collective punishment, also in violation of the laws of war.
Some would say that Israel’s heavy foot on Gaza has caused, in part, the Palestinian people supporting Hamas in elections. And, isn’t it interesting that you don’t hear about the Bush involvement in the Palestinian elections, which lead to Hamas’ winning 56% in democratically held elections? Also, let’s not forget when Israel pulled out of Gaza, they retained control of the land, air, sea, border crossings, water, sewage, electricity, and communications in Gaza, but no one I have read from Israel or Israeli supporters recognizes this. In fact, and very unbelievingly, this woman I know has the audacity to tell her world-wide friends that the Palestinians are “free.” If living like the Palestinians have been living is freedom, thanks but no thanks. The Gazans have no hope, nearly 80% of the people depend on humanitarian aid just to eat one meal a day. Abject poverty leads to desperation, desperation leads to an uprising against one’s oppressors. Basic human response that we have seen time and time again, throughout history.
But, it was part of Starhawk’s essay that really explained to me the reaction of this lady on the craft list.
I don’t get how my own people can be doing this. Or rather, I do get it. I am a Jew, by birth and upbringing, born six years after the Holocaust ended, raised on the myth and hope of Israel. The myth goes like this:
“For two thousand years we wandered in exile, homeless and
persecuted, nearly destroyed utterly by the Nazis. But out of that
suffering was born one good thing-the homeland that we have come back
to, our own land at last, where we can be safe, and proud, and
strong.”
That’s a powerful story, a moving story. There’s only one problem with it-it leaves the Palestinians out. It has to leave them out, for if we were to admit that the homeland belonged to another people, well, that spoils the story.
The result is a kind of psychic blind spot where the Palestinians are concerned. If you are truly invested in Israel as the Jewish homeland, the Jewish state, then you can’t let the Palestinians be real to you. It’s like you can’t really focus on them. Golda Meir said, “The Palestinians, who are they? They don’t exist.” We hear, “There is no partner for peace,” “There is no one to talk to.”
And so Israel, a modern state with high standards of hygiene, a state rooted in a religion that requires washing your hands before you eat and regular, ritual baths, builds settlements that don’t bother to construct sewage treatment plants. They just dump raw sewage onto the Palestinian fields across the fence, somewhat like a spaceship ejecting its wastes into the void. I am truly not making this up-I’ve seen it, smelled it, and it’s a known though shameful fact. But if the Palestinians aren’t really real-who are they? They don’t exist!-then the land they inhabit becomes a kind of void in the psyche, and it isn’t really real, either. At times, in those border villages, walking the fencelines of settlements, you feel like you have slipped into a science fiction movie, where parallel universes exist in the same space, but in different strands of reality, that never touch.
Some very powerful imaging here, and yes, a lot of truth. I have yet to read this my friend call the Palestinian people, people. She has not ever, to my knowledge, referred to Gazans as human beings, the closest term, and a very sanatized term, is civilians. These are not people that have families. The Palestinian children are not recognized as also living in fear.
This woman has bemoaned the fact that more and more people are supporting the Paelstinians and are against Israel because the news biasly reports the disproportinate response by Israel. Yes, the victimization card. I must note, that for Israel to place the victim card, they MUST leave out the humanization of the Palestinian people, as well as their part in creating severe oppression.
Someplace along the way, humanization must be brought back to the equation in order for peace to succeed. But, I don’t expect that any time soon. I heard not too long ago a quote, and I cannot remember where I heard it/read it. But, it went something like this:
Societies are not set up for peace. They are set up for war.
In order to change that, people must become human again.
