Cry and Shout and Weep and Scream

[eumelia]

First of all, thanks to everyone on my f-list who is raising awareness about the Gaza War, there are various voices and the more people talk and write about it (no matter their opinion) this is a good thing.

Second of all, I'm seeing my LJ being plugged all over my f-list. Which is flattering in a purely egotistical way, I'm glad you all find me so informative.

I've been told that I should write outside this little milieu, but I don't really know where or how to go about looking for a place.
So if any of you reading this have a suggestion, I'm all ears and eyes.

My writing is fairly stream of conciousness like, so I hope you will forgive me the jumps between "hard facts" and "feelings".

Since the IDF's ground incursion into Gaza, 34 soldiers have been wounded, three seriously and one soldier has been killed.

Rockets keep falling in the South of Israel, since the beginning of "Cast Lead", rockets have been flying more and more and hitting farther and farther.
Israelis are hiding in shelters, children are being treated for anxiety and all schools in a radius of 40 km from Gaza are closed, including Ben-Gurion University - my darling, my girl, my [Southern!Girl] studies at BGU and lives in range of the rockets falling.
So far so good.

Over on the Other Side, casualties rise on the Gaza offensive. Since the ground incursion into Gaza 90 people (both civilians and militants, approx. 26 children - that is Palestinians under the age of 16 - have been killed).
So far over 500 have been killed and there almost 2500 wounded.
There are no more hospital beds.
The term "living conditions" with regards to Gaza is such a laughable term I only want to cry.
Israel said they're sending 80 trucks filled with Humanitarian aid and last week (maybe still) Israel was evacuating some wounded Palestinians to Israeli hospitals.
At first I couldn't understand what these gestures were supposed to mean? Did we[Israel] really expect the Palestinians to drop onto their knees with thanks that we're throwing them a scraps while demolishing their entire infrastructure.

It was pointed out to me that these may have been done so that Israel can claim that there is no Humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

"Hello Desk"
"We meet again Head"

I can only cry and shout and weep and scream.

I'm really sick of hearing people call me "Self-Hating Jew", "Traitor", "Fifth Column" etc.
Why is thinking that that what the government and IDF are doing is wrong, a betrayal to The State?
Are we not allowed to criticise this glorious nation, who goes on to attack one the most densely populated stretches of land in the world because they've been resisting an Occupation that has been suffocating and draining their lives.

I'd like to reiterate once again, and I will do so again and again so that no mistakes about my views can be made:
I think Hamas as an organization are vile and have a shitty vision (the annihilation of Israel and the Jews and the creation of an Islamist Sharia law based state).
However, at the moment they are the leaders - democratically elected, seeing as people were sick of Fatah - and they are the ones that need to be spoken to.
There really isn't that much more to it.

I've been wearing my Keffiyah around my neck for the past week and some (I wear it quite often regardless, but this week it's been quite overtly political). After the anti-war demo on Saturday I was eating in a cafe with a friend and one of the counter-demo facists came up to me and shouted at me while giving me the finger "What is this shit?!" pointing at my Keffiyah.

I very pointedly ignored him.

Today, for the first time in memory, a security guard asked me for an ID. My bag and things had been searched and it would appear that the train station security guard noticed my Keffiyah a few seconds later and asked for an ID.
I of course complied.
But fuck, I'm whiter than the bloody dry-wall. My political alignment is now grounds for extra special treatment around the metal detector?
*shrug* It bothered me on the intellectual level, because obviously I get off very lightly for being a Jewish girl in a Keffiyah.

I've been keeping myself quite obsessively informed.
Thus here are a few articles of interest, which are more about the repercussions and peripheral happenings regarding Gaza:
From The Aggression towards Gaza and the Official European Discourse:

The European leaders and their supporting propaganda arms do not miss any occasion, whether important or trivial, to arrogantly demonstrate for us (and the EU-citizenry themselves) their hobby of acting as educator to us, the backwards, underdeveloped nations, and instruct us in the principles of democracy and morality. This tendency pushed us to a stage in which we, the nations who are still living the culture of apes, condemn ourselves as we failed to develop our behavior and awareness to the (expected) level of our master’s desires.
[...]
The paradox that the European leaders, the masters of morality, face today is that it is they themselves who reduce the principles of democracy and human rights—for which so many have struggled these many years—by transforming them into tools for political gain. And by doing so, they are losing their ability to affect events.

Hence, the great masters of politics and morals in the "modern world" stand unable to utter a clear position in response to the crimes Israel commits daily in Gaza. They voluntarily confine themselves to vague discourse, regarding provocation and/or censure of Israel a taboo red-line.

This is how Europe lost its active role, moral dimensions, initiative and political bravery—by deciding to stay in the back, void of any political and military depth or initiative[...]

Israel seeks to isolate Hamas in cease-fire talks with Europe:

[...]Israel's diplomatic strategy is based on a conclusion that it will not seek a new cease-fire agreement with Hamas through the services of an external mediator, which decision makers believe only legitimizes the radical Islamist organization.

"Hamas has already proved that it is not a partner [for peace] when it violated the cease-fire," a senior political source said Sunday in Jerusalem.

Israel will instead seek separate agreements with moderate Arab states, with the Palestinian Authority and with the international community.

"The international community will initiate the agreements and will impose it on Hamas," the same source said. "The agreements will be with both the PA and Egypt and then if Hamas will not agree it will pay the price, mostly by even greater [diplomatic] isolation[...]

War of the Tunnels—Economic Aspects of the Israeli Attack on Gaza:

[...]from an economic perspective, the situation is more complicated and interesting.

The Israeli media has been quietly spreading the lie, today widely believed by most of the Jewish Israeli public, that Israel has been sending humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. Through multiple uses of headlines such as "Israel to allow more trucks to enter Gaza," the media has helped conceal the fact that the trucks are paid for by the UN and international donors, that no aid actually comes from Israel to Gaza, and that Israel actually profits from this aid.
[...]
The Hamas party in Gaza was able to put some dents into the Israeli mechanism of exploitation. By breaking through the fence to Rafah in early 2008, and later by importing goods from Egypt via underground tunnels to supplement the diet of beleaguered Gazans under siege, the Hamas has been able to smuggle goods into the Gaza Strip without paying customs to Israel. The goods, coming from Egyptian merchants, have become an unofficial import channel into the Israeli-controlled customs envelope, a channel through which Israeli foreign currency escapes (because Egyptian merchants are paid by Gazans, with Israeli currency, which is then exchanged for foreign currency from the Central Bank of Israel)[...]

Oil price rises on Gaza conflict:

Opec sources have said that is is highly unlikely that the oil producers' cartel will follow Iran's call to boycott supporters of Israel.

Among Opec's biggest producers are Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, all of which have good relations with the United States.

Gaza conflict: Who is a civilian?:

The bloodied children are clearly civilians; men killed as they launch rockets are undisputedly not. But what about the 40 or so young Hamas police recruits on parade who died in the first wave of Israel's bombing campaign in Gaza?

And weapons caches are clearly military sites – but what about the interior ministry, hit in a strike that killed two medical workers; or the money changer's office, destroyed last week injuring a boy living on the floor above?
[...]
Israel says lawyers are constantly consulted in its operations. It says it takes all possible steps to minimise civilian casualties.

Guided weapons are used; telephone warnings are often given before buildings are bombed; the IDF says missions have been aborted because civilians were seen at the target.

And it says its enemy is far from a standard army: "We're talking about an entire government whose entire raison d’etre is the defeat of Israel … and all of whose energies are directed at attacking Israeli civilians," says Mr Rutland.

Witnesses and analysts confirm that Hamas fires rockets from within populated civilian areas, and all sides agree that the movement flagrantly violates international law by targeting civilians with its rockets.

But while B’Tselem's Ms Montell describes the rocket fire as a "blatant war crime", she adds: "I certainly would not expect my government to act according to the standard Hamas has set for itself - we demand a higher standard."

Someone has already commented anonymously on this entry. Please note that anonymous comments are automatically screened and if you wish to discuss what I wrote you should identify yourself.

Comments

[sabotabby]

You are awesome Mel, and I am so glad that your voice is out there.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

It's getting very grating and tiring.

But thank you. It's always nice to be appreciated and called "awesome".

[tinyrevolution.livejournal.com]

Seconded.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[toukohater.livejournal.com]

Hello. I saw you made a post in free_palestine and followed your link here.
I've got to say that I really appreciate this post. And I perused through some older public ones you have posted, and really find that we share many similar thoughts – something I was slightly appalled at at first since I seem to have thought that most Jews/Israelis were on the total other end of the spectrum in terms of mentality {since I am Palestinian}.
Something I distinctly remember that kind of made me involuntarily laugh out of .. the sheer truth, really. Quote:
I suppose we can forget 40 years of Occupation and the fact that Israel helped create Hamas (ala Taliban style like the US did in Afganistan) so that the Palestinians themselves would fight the PLO - a major bit on the ass for Israel that one became.
Your wit and slight sarcasm at presenting the facts that nations are too egotistical to admit really makes me laugh at times.

Concerning the first article you noted, that's definitely something that I've been scratching my chin over. It really is a sad paradox. Europe really can have a say if they just weren't too afraid to jeopordize their "relationship" with the US. Underneath the facade all the nations are putting on for each other, I think there's a lot of frusteration.

And concerning oil, I think those Arab nations know it would be a bad move. For their economy as well not like they need more money in their pockets to construct Dubailand or anything. Again, it disheartens me that the Arab countries aren't willing to get together and come to a consensus and stand up just so they can keep good relations. It's funny how leaders are so easy to stay quiet about big things like this when actual human lives are on the line.

I think I might really get worked up if I say anymore. Sorry if this was a big unnecessary ramble, but I think a lot of people take things at face value and tend to not look into things like this, so I really appreciate your post. I feel like I can actually talk to someone who really does their research and understands the situation really well. Makes me feel a bit better about all of this.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

It's the same on our side, it's always "shocking" to hear Palestinians who don't want the destruction of Israel, who don't hate Jews for being Jews etc.

There so much mis- and dis-information going around, especially in the mainstream media (a lot of which I link here, it's important to see the hegemonic view of things IMO), which is just counter productive to, well, everything.

I'm glad that reading this has actually been beneficial in some way.

[danamaree.livejournal.com]

Second of all, I'm seeing my LJ being plugged all over my f-list. Which is flattering in a purely egotistical way, I'm glad you all find me so informative.

Is that OK if I do that? Because I get a lot of people saying that they are Jewish, so of course they support Israel absolutely in all it's endeavours and Israel is for the Jews only.

And I keep wanting to say, but I know a few Jewish people who don't feel like that at all.

They conflate the two as the same.

(ETA to clarify, it seems that they don't see past the 'am Jewish so must support Israel' as if thinking otherwise is being a traitor to their identity).

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Please do.
No need to ask even, if it's public, it's public and thus all the interwebs can see it if they chose :D

[neriah.livejournal.com]

I can't begin to say I have a true picture of it being on the safe side of the pond. But what is happening now is not good on so many levels. I am a Jew and I am cringing at this.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Understatment and Yes!

[weirddave.livejournal.com]

How about this: Israel is sending humanitarian aid because it is the right thing for a civilized state to do? I have dumb asses in my country baldly state that the US attack on Iraq was "imperialistic" and all we want is to take their oil; as to the first, they plainly do not know what the word means, which doesn't excuse their ignorance to the fact that the US is buying Iraqi oil at market prices. Israel is a civilized, peaceful democracy, so we get humanitarian aid, text messages to civilians warning of imminent attacks and leaflet drops in target areas hours before strikes go in, all things that put IDF forces in more danger than if they didn't do them. However, since Hamas is the duly elected government of Gaza(as you admit) their attacks on Israel constitute an act of war, and not responding to them would be an act of national suicide. Far from being ashamed of your country's actions, you should take great pride in their restraint. Objectively, I think it's ultimately self defeating and futile(history shows that the only way to win a war like this is to eliminate the hostile leadership while decimating (etymological root meaning: "kill 1 in 10". I hope that it won't come to that but fear that, given the cultural and religious extremism working against you that mere decimation may not be enough) the opposing population to the point that they are unwilling to support leaders calling for further attacks. Only then can a true peace be forged. Note that this is the case with regards to Gaza and probably the West Bank, with other nation states, fortunately, less extreme measures can be effective-Israel has not been attacked by Egypt since the Camp David accords, for example), but it's admirable.

[mikebg.livejournal.com]

"Israel is a civilized, peaceful democracy"

Lemme guess--this would imply that the Palestinian society (and if you're REALLY racist, Arab societies in general) are barbaric, chaotic, primitive, and uneducated? Actually, I'd say that direct line of thinking of yours is very primitive and archaic.

Also, the small amount of humanitarian aid brought in does not make up for the horrors wrought upon the region, not just by the carnage from Operation: Cast Lead, but even before this by the various blockades (including economic sanctions) that Israel has continuously imposed upon the region, causing the vast majority of Gazans to live in poverty and a shitload to deal with malnutrition as well.

The fact that in this day and age people let blind jingoism overtake them and cause them to support policies that are grossly anti-humanitarian (and in the end, self-destructing, as these policies and Cast Lead are sowing the seeds of hatred in people who have lost everything) and cause unwarranted deaths is absolutely beyond me.

[hemlock-sholes.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry, but how do you get from "A is civilized" to "if A is civilized, then B is barbaric"? Many wars have been fought between two civilized groups.

I notice that your post shifts all the blame onto Israel. I'm curious that you're ignoring the carnage wrought upon the region by other groups over the last few decades.

I don't think that anyone here has been demonstrating "blind" jingoism (or knee-jerk opposition to the war). The signal-to-noise on this post is very high. People are supporting their views with facts and links.

[weirddave.livejournal.com]

Lemme guess--this would imply that the Palestinian society (and if you're REALLY racist, Arab societies in general) are barbaric, chaotic, primitive, and uneducated? Actually, I'd say that direct line of thinking of yours is very primitive and archaic.

Sorry, you lose. But you get lots of great parting gifts, including Rice-A-Roni, the San Francisco treat!

Defining one player as X does not imply that their opponents are the opposite. That's simplistic thinking, but thanks for playing anyway.

Also, the small amount of humanitarian aid brought in does not make up for the horrors wrought upon the region, not just by the carnage from Operation: Cast Lead, but even before this by the various blockades (including economic sanctions) that Israel has continuously imposed upon the region, causing the vast majority of Gazans to live in poverty and a shitload to deal with malnutrition as well.

And what does Hamas do to make up for the unprovoked rocket attacks on Israeli citizens? Anything? Bueller? Bueller?

The fact that in this day and age people let blind jingoism overtake them and cause them to support policies that are grossly anti-humanitarian (and in the end, self-destructing, as these policies and Cast Lead are sowing the seeds of hatred in people who have lost everything) and cause unwarranted deaths is absolutely beyond me.

What's beyond me is how anyone can conspire to excuse terrorist rocket attacks on an innocent civilian population. There is no jingoism here, no marching bands, no Israel ubber allus. Simply a quiet recognition of the fact that as long as a terrorist state insists attacking and killing innocent civilians, with a clearly stated mandate to obliterate the attacked population, anyone who denies the attacked country's right to defend itself and halt the wanton attacks upon itself by any means necessary is a blithering fool. I feel sorry for the majority of Palestinians who must hunker down and endure the Israeli response, many of them will die, which is horrible. But I won't let my compassion for their plight blind me to who exactly is responsible for it, and guess what, it ain't Israel.

[mikebg.livejournal.com]

[I]Defining one player as X does not imply that their opponents are the opposite. That's simplistic thinking, but thanks for playing anyway.
[/I]

I know, but it is a common argument I have seen before, and it often begins with "Israel is a peaceful, civilized society" when describing it in relation to surrounding neighbourhoods. Why did you bother trying to point this out in your argument? You were trying to make a comparison between Israeli and Palestinian society.

And why are you saying Hamas is responsible while Israel is not? Because Hamas supposedly violated the ceasefire? I think what Hamas has done is absolutely horrible, but the thing is, there was never a real ceasefire to begin with. One main requirement for any ceasefire would be to open the border crossings to allow the flow of supplies. Because Israel blockaded this, most sources of employment in the Gaza Strip were eliminated, pushing hundreds of thousands to the brink of starvation, stopping most hospitals from functioning, disrupting the supply of electricity and water. No real ceasefire can occur when the Gaza Strip becomes an impoverished hellhole as a result. When rockets got fired into Israel, they responded with Operation: Cast Lead. What is this operation's ultimate goal? To remove Hamas from power forcibly, no matter the cost? Look how well eliminating Hezbollah in the 2006 Lebanon War worked. Look how well the Iraq war worked--but wait, Saddam Hussein WAS removed from power (with heavy civilian casualties and huge infrastructure damage)...and then a powerful insurgency sprung up, turning the place into a quagmire.

Here's another thing. If you lost your entire family in Operation Cast Lead, and your entire life was in shambles, you would feel motivated to act out revenge against those who wrought this upon you--as a result, terrorists are born. Thus the cycle of violence continues.

We could probably go back and forth like this till the end of time, considering how hot-button an issue this is. I say we just drop it for now. If you reply to this, I probably won't post a counter-reply. If anyone else wants to chime in, be my guest.

The OP can obviously also respond; I don't speak for her but wanted to say on my own behalf that

[mao4269.livejournal.com]

1) If Israel were doing those things for humanitarian reasons it would also be doing a lot more. Amira Hass describes the humanitarian crises in Gaza a lot better than me: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1052902.html

2) Hamas was one component of the democratically elected Palestinian government. When Israel and the rest of the world refused to recognize them, withheld the customs taxes to which they're legally entitled (under the 4th Hague Convention, if I'm remembering correctly), and controlled their air space and naval access, that could also have been an (well, several) act(s) of war. Both sides have consistently opted for violence instead of diplomacy.

3) What do you mean by "war like this"?

Re: The OP can obviously also respond; I don't speak for her but wanted to say on my own behalf that

[weirddave.livejournal.com]

1) If Israel were doing those things for humanitarian reasons it would also be doing a lot more. Amira Hass describes the humanitarian crises in Gaza a lot better than me: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1052902.html

So your beef is that Israel is not providing "enough" humanitarian aid? The fact that they are providing any is astonishing, and a great mark in Israel's favor. How much humanitarian aid has Hamas provided for the victims of their 6000+ rocket attacks, hmm?

2) Hamas was one component of the democratically elected Palestinian government. When Israel and the rest of the world refused to recognize them, withheld the customs taxes to which they're legally entitled (under the 4th Hague Convention, if I'm remembering correctly), and controlled their air space and naval access, that could also have been an (well, several) act(s) of war. Both sides have consistently opted for violence instead of diplomacy.

Funny, none of the sins that you've laid at Israel's door ( and they are sins, make no mistake, but they are passive sins that Israel probably wouldn't have committed if her opponents weren't dedicated to wiping her off the map ) directly killed anyone. Can you say the same for Hamas' missile attacks?

3) What do you mean by "war like this"?

A war where one side wants to simply be recognized as having a right to exist, and where the leadership of the other side states that it will be satisfied with nothing more than genocide. Funny how nasty those wars can be, even funnier is how those escalating the conflict in pursuit of genocide get a pass. Real funny. I'm laughing so hard I'm crying.

Re: The OP can obviously also respond; I don't speak for her but wanted to say on my own behalf that

[mao4269.livejournal.com]

1) (One of) My beef(s) with Israel is that it's providing token aid to minimize international recrimination while simultaneously creating a horrible humanitarian situation by completely cutting off the fuel supply to Gaza (taking advantage of having made it impossible for Gaza to be self-sufficient for the last 42 years and actively engaging in collective punishment).

2) Israel's blockade on Gaza has killed a couple dozen medical patients that Israel decided weren't *really * sick enough to need treatment. More recently, if you look at the article I sent in the first comment, the lack of fuel has prompted at least one known case of little kids going out in the open to light fires and then getting killed by an Israeli missile. The hospital has no electricity and hasn't been able to get the construction supplies to repair its structure since Israel began its blockade a year and a half ago. I would be shocked if its inability to function as a result hasn't resulted in many deaths. I could go on.

You say that this conflict is one in which one side wants to simply be recognized as having a right to exist, and where the leadership of the other side states that it will be satisfied with nothing more than genocide, and that as a result "the only way to win a war like this is to eliminate the hostile leadership while decimating". That could easily be flipped to, "We just want to exist autonomously, and the other side keeps using violence to make that impossible" and have it be true for a Palestinian saying it. In the West Bank, acknowledging Israel hasn't prompted Israeli actions that simply recognize the right of an autonomous Palestinian government to exist; I really don't think it's fair to characterize this conflict the way that you did.

[sadie-sabot.livejournal.com]

may i post the link to this post to an email list I am on? it's a queer moms list that has no palestinian voices, and so far as I know no arabs or muslims, but several jewish israelis (some living within range of hamas rockets)as well as jews living in other places. There's only so much that i can say and be heard, as a non jewish, non palestinian, white culturally christian woman living in the us; but I think your voice, as an israeli jew who's opposed, (and while I've gotten a lot of support for some of what I've said, it's seriously pissed off some other people)would be a good one to share there.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Feel free.
The more voices that are heard the better!

[hemlock-sholes.livejournal.com]

...to attack one the most densely populated stretches of land in the world because they've been resisting an Occupation that ...

Not because of the fact that they ARE resisting, but because of the WAY they are resisting.

Also, I think you're reading a little too much into the Security Guard thing. I'm sure the security people have been told to keep on their toes and do more spot-checks on people. If he gave you extra special treatment because of the keffiyah, I think it's more likely because he thought you were an internal security girl making sure he noticed that there's something out of the ordinary about you than because he really suspected you of evil-doing.

As for expanding the horizons of your message, try turning a few blogs into an article and submitting it to one of the foreign/English speaking news sources.

Let me review it first :)

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

I'm Paranoid! You already know this about me and that's a really interesting take on it, I hadn't thought of that.
Thanks.

Which ones (foreign/English speaking news sources) would you recommend?
And yes I'll let you review (but no language change unless it is mangles grammar).

[hemlock-sholes.livejournal.com]

Lets start with your last sentence ;)

I don't know where - but I'm sure the BBC/CNN/etc have a link which says something like "send us your thoughts"

[shimmerngspirit.livejournal.com]

This was very informative. Thank you so much for posting...

[seilduksgata.livejournal.com]

I am also glad your voice is out there. And even though I guess you are getting off lightly for wearing a keffiyah by being white, all your actions are still things you chose to do and you could be making your life much more brainlessly comfortable by not caring. (I am having a rather incoherent day today...hope this makes sense!)

Also, I want to give money to a decent ngo or charity but I can't get much reliable info on which ones are good and which aren't. My university has set up a cake stall but proceeds go to Islamic Relief, which I googled and from what I found, seems a bit extreme. There is NGO Monitor but it seems very pro-Israel in a stupid way...so not much help there. Do you have any recommends?

[ninboydean.livejournal.com]

I've kept my eye on the region for awhile - I know a few people from both "sides." What I will say is that most stories I've read about Palestinians, militant or not, very few of them have any real opposition to Judaism or the Jewish people. Hamas uses some dirty tactics which need to be opposed, but I don't know that their general character - particularly the membership and the social work they do - can be summed up as you did.

As tcpip pointed out int eh other thread, you are brave. I am so used to arguing with such ignorant, racist crap here in the U.S., that it is refreshing to read a sympathetic post that is actually informed and not driven by a racist agenda. It's also hard to know how to approach Israelis when most of the arguments I deal with in the U.S. are disinterested, ill-informed and / or racist.

Last night, I was infuriated when someone basically blamed Hamas for the civilian deaths. It's like Israel is some robot, and they have no choice but to execute random people just because someone else fired rockets. The people here just don't care, not about Israelis, not about Palestinians. They will just as easily say "nuke the whole region" as "bomb the Pals."

I just wanted to point out, it is refreshing to see someone who has sympathies for all the people there, with an Israeli viewpoint. In 2003, I stood outside with a "bread not bombs" cardboard sign in front of my school, in the rain, on the first day of bombing. I can only imagine how many more insults you get there for standing up for human dignity. Keep strong :)

[cbr-paul.livejournal.com]

Superbly put and it's nice to hear some non-state television feedback from the region.
I've added you as a friend; could you add me back so I can keep track of these blogs on my friends' page please?