What Most US Media Isn't Telling You
Four days ago, Israel invaded Gaza on the ground to compliment its
aerial bombardment. The Palestinian death toll has reached 660. The
official Israeli death toll is up to 5, of whom 4 were civilians.
Attacks on civilians, no matter who they are, is criminal. Yet the US
government, public relations officials, and mainstream media—unlike
those of almost every other country in the world—continue to
criminalize Palestinian violence while absolving Israel (the
undisputed party in power) of almost any responsibility of its own.
The official position seems clear: Israel can do as it likes until
Hamas stops all violence.
The underlying assumption here is that Palestinians' human rights
depend on the actions of their leaders. This is false. Palestinians do
not have to earn the human rights inalienable to every person on
Earth. Human rights are non-negotiable. Likewise, Israelis do not have
to earn their human rights. Israeli state terror notwithstanding, it
would be criminal to bombard the entire population of Israel (in
which, as in Gaza, fighters live alongside their families in civilian
areas) for the crimes of its government.
But this is exactly what Israel is doing in Gaza with US weapons
before a seemingly impotent international community. Every day the
carnage unfolds on CNN-International (different from CNN-US—the United
States is the only country in the world with domestically customized
international news coverage): a mother and her 4 kids killed
instantly; a 7-year-old shot twice in the chest (I'm not sure how that
happens accidentally, but does that even matter?); more than 40
policemen in training obliterated (even Israel does not claim the
Palestinian police orchestrates rocket attacks); TV stations and
places of worship successfully destroyed; a mortuary out of room for
bodies.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs, "sewage water is pouring into the streets in Beit Hanoun,
following damage to the main pipeline between Beit Hanoun and the Beit
Lahiya wastewater treatment plant." Save The Children reports that
newborn baby Gazans are battling hypothermia due to power cuts and
freezing winter winds.
Some of the worst news comes from the doctors. Can you imagine a
hospital functioning without electricity? According to the mainstream
British newspaper The Guardian, medics are working around the clock
and running out of anesthesia. There is no more gauze so doctors are
using cotton, which sticks to wounds. Nurses are forced to draw blood
with the wrong sized syringes and without alcohol. The Guardian
article was entitled, "The injured were lying there asking God to let
them die." Many have gotten their last wish, dying as they wait in the
emergency rooms.
Medical workers themselves have also been under fire, with at least 4
killed as they tried to reach victims. Ambulances are not safe, nor
are the schools:
When I woke up yesterday a UN school had just been bombed, killing 3
of the civilians who had come to the school seeking shelter. Watching
the news later in the evening, I learned the same UN school had been
bombed again (twice in one day), killing 40 more. The British director
of the school, having lost his usual calm, was irate and imploring the
world to understand that nowhere in Gaza is safe anymore—there is
nowhere left to go.
Yet reading the Washington Post and watching the nightly news you
might believe that Israel's is in fact the most virtuous army in the
world, going as far as sending text messages to and dropping leaflets
in Palestinian areas explaining that unless civilians leave, they will
be attacked. Reported alone, this might sound reasonable, but quickly
becomes absurd if you know that Gazans have no place to go to! Nowhere
inside the strip of land is safe and there is no way to leave it,
since the borders are sealed.
The bombing and invasion have clearly heightened the threat against
Gazans' lives, but they did not start it. For the 18 months preceding
the invasion, the average Gazan could not reliably go to school, make
a living, contact the outside world, divert their sewage, heat their
homes, drink clean water, or eat. This was due to the enclosure summed
up in the words of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human
Rights: "Gaza is a prison and Israel seems to have thrown away the
key." This was the reality of Israel's "ceasefire."
The closure pushed Gaza's humanitarian crisis to a new low, with
poverty reaching 80%. Any attempt to counter poverty was thwarted.
Gaza students dependent on transportation could not reach their
schools, and those accepted at foreign universities in America,
Europe, and the West Bank were denied permits to leave. Without enough
fuel, industrial businesses were either shut down or running below 20%
capacity, resulting in the loss of tens of thousands of jobs. Contrary
to Israeli court order, the Israeli army allowed just 15% of fuel
needed for generators, wells, and transportation, resulting in garbage
piled high in the streets while up to 15,000,000 gallons of raw or
partially-treated sewage flowed into the sea every day. This was the
reality of Israel's "ceasefire."
On November 4th and 5th, Israel broke the "ceasefire" by killing at
least 6 Palestinians in Gaza, reported on CNN-International but
unlikely by CNN-US. Of course, there was no ceasefire to begin with,
since the main requirement on Israel was to sufficiently unseal Gaza's
borders, a requirement that was consistently ignored. By the end of
the "ceasefire," 262 had Gazans died due to lack of access to proper
medical care during the blockade.
Hamas should be condemned for its attacks on civilians, but it is
naïve to expect that they would renew a truce that Israel had never
adhered to. Whether or not it would cease cross-border attacks in
exchange for Israeli reciprocity—as Hamas continues to offer—is
something we cannot know, since Israel has never given the offer a chance.
10 IDEAS for TAKING ACTION:
Analysis and sympathy have no value if they do not result in any
action. There are enough action ideas below that every single person
on this list has the power to do at least one, ideally many more.
1. Monitor and contact local media to inform others and counter
misinformation. Write letters to the editor (usually 100-150 words) or
op-eds (usually 600-800 words) for local newspapers. Also contact
radio talk shows and television news departments, especially in
response to biased coverage. You can find all local media at:
http://www.congress.org/
The US Campaign to End the Occupation compiled a fact sheet about US
direct contributions to the war on Gaza, which you can use for facts:
http://www.endtheoccupation.
2. Organize and join demonstrations in front of Israeli embassies or
(if that's not doable) in front of the offices of elected officials or
other visible place. Inform the media beforehand. Here is a list of
the many demonstrations happening around the country (For example, St
Louis, where I live, usually has one a month, but this month there are
demonstrations every day):
http://www.endtheoccupation.
3. Join local activist groups organizing local actions. If there
aren't any, start your own. Now is an excellent time to rally support.
4. Initiate boycotts, divestments and sanctions to nonviolently
pressure Israeli compliance with international law, as was effective
in the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa. Now is an excellent
time to rally support and begin a campaign. More info and resources at
http://www.bdsmovement.net/
5. Send direct aid to Gaza through one of the following organizations:
- United Nations Relief and Works Agency: www.un.org/unrwa/
- United Palestinian Appeal: www.helpupa.com
- Islamic Relief: www.irw.org
- Canadian Red Cross: www.redcross.ca
- American Near East Refugee Aid: www.anera.org
- Physicians for Human Rights: www.phr.org.il/phr
- Other groups: http://gazasiege.org/support_
You can also support solidarity activists on the ground at
www.palsolidarity.org/main/
6. Contact elected and other political leaders in your country to urge
them to apply pressure to end the attacks. Find your representatives
and their contact info at
http://www.congress.org/
Call the Obama/Biden Transition Office at 202-540-3000, press 2 to
speak to staff member. Tell them the U.S. needs a new Middle East
policy, which holds Israel accountable to international law and UN
resolutions and human rights. Tell them the U.S. should not support
Israel with billions of dollars every year and should not be arming
Israel with U.S. made weapons. Add your own suggestions. The time is
right for President-elect Obama to hear from the peace community.
7. Sign petitions for Gaza, for example:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/gaza_
http://capwiz.com/arab/utr/2/?
https://secure2.convio.net/
8. Put a Palestinian flag at your window. Wear a Palestinian head
scarf (keffiya). Wear black arm bands (this helps start conversations
with people).
9. Do a group fast for peace one day and hold it in a public place.
10. Inform others in your community with flyers, vigils, and
conversations. At the very least, forward this on.
This list was based on a call from the Palestinian Center for
Rapprochement Between People and Friends of Sabeel.
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