Military intelligence. Quite the oxymoron. It implies that there is a comprehensive thought process within military strategies, when in fact evidence has proven otherwise. For example, you'd think that with all of the advanced weaponry technology the military powerhouses of the world have, they'd be able to strike their targets with little or no collateral damage. Unfortunately this isn't the case. Trying to solve diplomatic problems through military force doesn't work either. And to each aggressive side, collateral damage is just a statistic, just a number. Though buildings can be rebuilt, lives cannot. And it is sad to see how dismissive the apparently ''right side" of the conflicts are when it comes to the deaths of innocent people. Media reports are governed, sometimes strictly, to portray and support the propaganda of the aggressor's side, when in fact journalism is supposed to be un-biased.
The most prominent media outlets, such as CNN, BBC, FoxNews and others portray current events and interviews with only one perspective. But the other side needs to be heard as well. I turn now to some words from Avi Shlaim when he was interviewed last week on DemocracyNow! in regards to the recent crackdown on the people of Gaza:
"AVI SHLAIM: In a long-term historical perspective, I would begin with the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. I wrote a book called The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World. It is a history of the Arab-Israeli conflict since 1948. It's a very long book, but I can summarize it for you in one sentence, that throughout its sixty years, Israel has been remarkably reluctant to engage in meaningful negotiations with its Arab opponents to resolve the dispute between them and only too ready to resort to military force in order to impose its will upon them. And the current vicious Israeli onslaught on the people of Gaza is the climax of this longstanding Israeli policy of shunning diplomacy and relying on brute military force.
Now, let me give you some figures, which I think are the most crucial figures in understanding this conflict. Before the ceasefire came into effect in July of 2008, the monthly number of rockets firedKassam rockets, homemade Kassam rockets, fired from the Gaza Strip on Israeli settlements and towns in southern Israel was 179. In the first four months of the ceasefire, the number dropped dramatically to three rockets a month, almost zero. I would like to repeat these figures for the benefit of your listeners. Pre-ceasefire, 179 rockets were fired on Israel; post-ceasefire, three rockets a month. This is point number one, and it's crucial.
And my figures are beyond dispute, because they come from the website of the Israeli Foreign Ministry. But after initiating this war, this particular table, neat table, which showed the success of the ceasefire, was withdrawn and replaced with another table of statistics, which is much more obscure and confusing. Israelthe Foreign Ministry withdrew these figures, because it didn't suit the new story.
The new story said that Hamas broke the ceasefire. This is a lie. Hamas observed the ceasefire as best as it could and enforced it very effectively. The ceasefire was a stunning success for the first four months. It was broken not by Hamas, but by the IDF. It was broken by the IDF on the 4th of November, when it launched a raid into Gaza and killed six Hamas men.
And there is one other point that I would like to make about the ceasefire. Ever since the election of Hamas in JanuaryI'm sorry, ever since Hamas captured power in Gaza in the summer of 2007, Israel had imposed a blockade of the Strip. Israel stopped food, fuel and medical supplies from reaching the Gaza Strip. One of the terms of the ceasefire was that Israel would lift the blockade of Gaza, yet Israel failed to lift the blockade, and that is one issue that is also overlooked or ignored by official Israeli spokesmen. So Israel was doubly guilty of sabotaging the ceasefire, A, by launching a military attack, and B, by maintaining its very cruel siege of the people of Gaza.
But since coming to power, the leadership of Hamas has been much more pragmatic and stated that it is willing to negotiate a long-term ceasefire with the state of Israel for twenty, thirty, forty, maybe even fifty years."
Now I'm not defending Hamas and their actions of rocket fire into Israel. And perhaps they were smuggling in weapons through tunnels. But there was also food, fuel and medical supplies being smuggled in as well. And there have been quite a few times where ships carrying humanitarian aid for Gaza have been threatened and forced to turn back by Israel. It's very doubtful that these ships were carrying weapons, and I'm sure that they wouldn't disagree to a search of their cargo. What right does an occupying force have of blocking neccessities of life from the people that they are occupying?
It is like the Gaza strip is one big prison camp and the people have nowhere to go. It has been reported that Israel has dropped leaflets and flyers telling the people to leave, that their houses are going to be bombed. But with the bordered closed, where are they to go? Even UN camps and hospitals are being bombed. Their exact locations were sent to the Israel military before this assult on Gaza started, so it isn't as though their exact locations weren't known. But they were targeted anyways. Here are the words of a couple of men from within the Gaza strip as they were interviewed on DemocracyNow!:
"DR. MOUSSA EL-HADDAD: Well, I am in Gaza City itself. What's happening is a state that is almost impossible to describe. The Israeli army has escalated the attack on civilians since last night. I did not have a single minute of sleep for the last probably eighteen hours. There have been bombardment every day, every minute, all night long. My house was rocking all the time.
And this morning, when the sun rose, we could at least look from the window, and I could see, as you probably have seen on the TV, smoke coming out buildings, civilian buildings, apartment buildings. Actually, two hospitals were bombarded this morning, the Al-Quds and the Al-Wafa Hospital. Al-Wafa Hospital is a hospital for handicaps, by the way, and old people. A media apartment was also hit this morning not far from my house. That's Abu Dhabi news agency.
CHRISTOPHER GUNNESS: Well, this morning, there were three rounds of white phosphorus which landed in our compound in Gaza. That set ablaze the main warehouse and the big workshop we have there for vehicles. At the time, there were 700, also, people displaced from the fighting. There were full fuel tankers there. The Israeli army have been given all the coordinates of all our facilities, including this one. They also knew that there were fuel tankers laden with fuel in the compound, and they would have known that there were hundreds of people who had taken refuge.
DR. MOUSSA EL-HADDAD: Well, number one, there is nowhere to go. As you know, all the borders are closed. And if I leave, all the places are unsafe now. As we mentioned in the beginning, the civilians are trapped into this, betweenthis is a game being played between the politicians, and the civilians are paying the price. Number one, all the borders of Gaza Strip are closed. As you know, also the sea is closed. You cannot leave."
What is happening in Gaza has really riled up some of the average citizens. There are protests being held all over the world, slamming these attacks and the killings of so many innocent people. And yet there are also demonstrations that are defending the attacks. When I heard their voices I was quite disapointed at the savagry in their words and anger. But that's what war does to people, doesn't it?
Max Blumenthal is a Jewish-American reporter that was at one of those demonstrations and spoke with some of the people there. You can find some of his articles on thedailybeast.com. Here is an excerpt of some of his interactions with the demonstrators last week:
"MAX BLUMENTHAL: So how many civilian casualties would it take before you questioned the attack?
ISRAEL SUPPORTER 3: There is not a number involved.
ISRAEL SUPPORTER 4: Nothing good is going to come out of it, unless they keep fighting all the way with this 'til they wipe them all out.
MAX BLUMENTHAL: Wipe them all out?
ISRAEL SUPPORTER 4: Yeah, they got to go strong with this.
ISRAEL SUPPORTER 5: There's only one way to deal with a cancer. You burn it out or you remove it. And when people don't want to talk and just want to destroy you and not allow you to live, there's only one thing you can do.
ISRAEL SUPPORTER 2: They are forcing us to kill their children to defend our children.
ISRAEL SUPPORTER 16: If Hamas could not differentiate between civilcivilians and army, we don't need to either. I think we should go with all force and just go in and get them all."
Something that I'd like to point out is that no one is forcing anyone to kill children. Each of us can decide for ourselves what to do. I doubt that each one of those soldiers has a gun pointed at their heads, and hands on top of theirs, pushing their fingers down on the triggers. They are doing this of their own free will.
Since this attack had started the Israeli army has killed more than 1,100 Palestinians. At least 700 of those were innocent people, half of which were children. Well over 5,000 others are wounded. Now for the other side. Hamas, not the Palestinians, have killed 3 innocent Israelis, and 6 Israeli soldiers. Another 4 Israeli soldiers have been killed, but by 'friendly fire'. So I ask, who is wiping out who? Who is defending themselves against who? This kind of problem is not going to be solved through military means. Refusing to talk to the other side isn't going to solve problems either. It's childish and yet another form of bullying.
Diplomacy has to be given a chance, and a full chance. For a country to show that they are better than their enemies, they must not act worse than their enemies! Such things only give opposite results. You don't make friends with someone by scaring them and bullying them into doing so. You make friends by sharing and negotiating ideas and plans for the betterment of both.
Black and white doesn't exist anymore. In this world there are many, many shades of grey.