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Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Friday, February 13, 2009
After Gaza: What Now?
We can take no more
As the Gaza conflict entered into it’s third week, Palestinians in the West Bank found themselves to be leaning towards another third. Israel’s brutal attacks against the civilian population in Gaza has led to a world outcry with people demonstrating in record numbers from London to Jakarta and world leaders assembled in at the UN headquarters in New York battling regional politics to produce an effective resolution for ceasefire. But what does this mean for the average Palestinian living in the West Bank? Massive demonstrations are occurred frequently in Ramallah, Hebron, Nablus and Jenin to name but a few West Bank cities. These demonstrations were, on the face of it, relatively peaceful. But when will demonstrating cease to be a satisfying outlet to the anger felt here? With television screens that show a constant stream of their fellow countrymen, women and children being blown apart by the Goliath-like Israeli Defence Force, these people cannot but ask themselves: Is demonstrating enough? Who is listening to our calls? Certainly not the Israeli people who are fed lie after lie by the well oiled Israeli propaganda machine. One previously moderate Palestinian told me about the mind set of many of those "terrorists" living in Gaza and why they will never stop fighting. “What they (Israelis) need to understand is our way of thinking. You can beat us and oppress us as much as you like but we will always come back. Life to Muslims is just passage to a much better afterlife. Why do I care if I leave this life where I live under occupation, with no water, no electricity and no decency, if I can die a martyr and be rewarded endlessly in the next life?”
The war on Hamas in Gaza, was a war against the people of Gaza. The Israeli propaganda would have you believe that Hamas is on much the same level as Hezbollah in Lebanon, or even as great a threat to world peace and security as Al-Qaeda. But you cannot separate Hamas from the people, for they are the people. They are resistance fighters who would rather die a martyr than settle for the siege that has been the status quo for the last year and a half. A status quo that has pushed these people to the very edge of desperation. No regular access to clean water, limited food, electricity and medicine. Their infrastructure has literally crumbled around them. In Gaza, people literally drown in shit due to the ruined sewage system.
Israel frequently blames Hamas for civilian casualties. "Why do they hide in civilian areas? A brave guerrilla fighter will take the fight away from civilians." But these fighters are civilians. Not every militant believes in wiping Israel of the face of the earth and if they do, they know that this is not a reality. They know they are fighting the 4th most powerful army on earth. They are not naïve. But to present a challenge to this army, to send the message that they will not go down without a fight is what they truly believe, which leads me to ask, is this terrorism?
It is undisputed that indiscriminately firing Qassam rockets into Israel is wrong and creates an atmosphere of terror in the Israeli cities. Noone expects for this to go unnoticed by Israel and they are fully within their rights to defend themselves. But let’s not forget who broke the six-month ceasefire on November 4th 2008. Israel wanted to keep starving Gaza and Gaza said no. The legitimacy of a ceasefire under Fatah was consistently questioned due to factional fighting. Arafat had no real control over the military wing of Hamas or any of the other military factions and could thus not effectively promise a ceasefire. Under Hamas’ control in Gaza, the promise of a ceasefire has been legitimate. The government under Ismail Haneyeh has been somewhat able to control their forces and rocket fire meaning that when they promise a ceasefire, they are the most qualified to assure it. But what use is having a ceasefire as a bargaining tool if you are not prepared to reneage once the agreement is not fulfilled by the other side? In agreeing to renew the ceasefire, Hamas merely asked for the lift of the blockade to allow their people a sense of normalcy – food, water and electricity and the opportunity to live decent lives. By branding Hamas a terrorist organisation, Israel has made it’s negotiation process completely clear. It is easy to repeatedly say no and show no compassion.
This has been going on for a year and a half. And nobody was listening. The world had become bored of the Palestinian problem and deaf to the pleas for normalcy. For that is what will stop the rocket attacks. Look at the West Bank. Look at what they have accepted. For ten years the people of Nablus have had to negotiate a checkpoint that can take up to three hours just to leave the city. They have watched as they have been enclosed by a ten foot grey wall that eats their land. The have suffered the nightly Israeli incursions that steals their men from their families to an unknown fate – imprisonment without trial for the lucky ones and an ‘accidental’ shooting of those with less fortune. But they live in peace, a repressed and bumpy peace at that, but it is no Gaza. This only asks the question: why? They have food, they have water and they have a sense of normalcy. They suffer, this is true, but they have acclimatised to the situation. They have had no choice, and what is left is a people beaten to believe that this is the best that they can expect. Keep your head down and live the best life you can under the circumstances.
But Gaza has raised old issues. Re-opened wounds that have been stitched but not healed. “Why should this be what we accept?” People who used to condemn indiscriminate suicide bombings within Israel are now turning to recognize their use. “They kill our women and children, what other tools do we have?... Why should we talk to these people? All they understand is violence and terror. Why shouldn’t we speak their language.” There is now a new generation of stone throwers ready to pick up their rocks. This generation has been born and raised under a more stringent occupation that their parents. They don’t know a world without the infamous Huwarra checkpoint, without the wall and now they are exposed to pictures of their peers in Gaza being bombed in schools and screaming bloody on hospital floors. A third intifada is looming with the custom hatred simmering below the surface about to boil over. The ‘security fence’ is passable, and may be about to be exposed as merely the land grabbing mechanism it really is.
As the Gaza conflict entered into it’s third week, Palestinians in the West Bank found themselves to be leaning towards another third. Israel’s brutal attacks against the civilian population in Gaza has led to a world outcry with people demonstrating in record numbers from London to Jakarta and world leaders assembled in at the UN headquarters in New York battling regional politics to produce an effective resolution for ceasefire. But what does this mean for the average Palestinian living in the West Bank? Massive demonstrations are occurred frequently in Ramallah, Hebron, Nablus and Jenin to name but a few West Bank cities. These demonstrations were, on the face of it, relatively peaceful. But when will demonstrating cease to be a satisfying outlet to the anger felt here? With television screens that show a constant stream of their fellow countrymen, women and children being blown apart by the Goliath-like Israeli Defence Force, these people cannot but ask themselves: Is demonstrating enough? Who is listening to our calls? Certainly not the Israeli people who are fed lie after lie by the well oiled Israeli propaganda machine. One previously moderate Palestinian told me about the mind set of many of those "terrorists" living in Gaza and why they will never stop fighting. “What they (Israelis) need to understand is our way of thinking. You can beat us and oppress us as much as you like but we will always come back. Life to Muslims is just passage to a much better afterlife. Why do I care if I leave this life where I live under occupation, with no water, no electricity and no decency, if I can die a martyr and be rewarded endlessly in the next life?”
The war on Hamas in Gaza, was a war against the people of Gaza. The Israeli propaganda would have you believe that Hamas is on much the same level as Hezbollah in Lebanon, or even as great a threat to world peace and security as Al-Qaeda. But you cannot separate Hamas from the people, for they are the people. They are resistance fighters who would rather die a martyr than settle for the siege that has been the status quo for the last year and a half. A status quo that has pushed these people to the very edge of desperation. No regular access to clean water, limited food, electricity and medicine. Their infrastructure has literally crumbled around them. In Gaza, people literally drown in shit due to the ruined sewage system.
Israel frequently blames Hamas for civilian casualties. "Why do they hide in civilian areas? A brave guerrilla fighter will take the fight away from civilians." But these fighters are civilians. Not every militant believes in wiping Israel of the face of the earth and if they do, they know that this is not a reality. They know they are fighting the 4th most powerful army on earth. They are not naïve. But to present a challenge to this army, to send the message that they will not go down without a fight is what they truly believe, which leads me to ask, is this terrorism?
It is undisputed that indiscriminately firing Qassam rockets into Israel is wrong and creates an atmosphere of terror in the Israeli cities. Noone expects for this to go unnoticed by Israel and they are fully within their rights to defend themselves. But let’s not forget who broke the six-month ceasefire on November 4th 2008. Israel wanted to keep starving Gaza and Gaza said no. The legitimacy of a ceasefire under Fatah was consistently questioned due to factional fighting. Arafat had no real control over the military wing of Hamas or any of the other military factions and could thus not effectively promise a ceasefire. Under Hamas’ control in Gaza, the promise of a ceasefire has been legitimate. The government under Ismail Haneyeh has been somewhat able to control their forces and rocket fire meaning that when they promise a ceasefire, they are the most qualified to assure it. But what use is having a ceasefire as a bargaining tool if you are not prepared to reneage once the agreement is not fulfilled by the other side? In agreeing to renew the ceasefire, Hamas merely asked for the lift of the blockade to allow their people a sense of normalcy – food, water and electricity and the opportunity to live decent lives. By branding Hamas a terrorist organisation, Israel has made it’s negotiation process completely clear. It is easy to repeatedly say no and show no compassion.
This has been going on for a year and a half. And nobody was listening. The world had become bored of the Palestinian problem and deaf to the pleas for normalcy. For that is what will stop the rocket attacks. Look at the West Bank. Look at what they have accepted. For ten years the people of Nablus have had to negotiate a checkpoint that can take up to three hours just to leave the city. They have watched as they have been enclosed by a ten foot grey wall that eats their land. The have suffered the nightly Israeli incursions that steals their men from their families to an unknown fate – imprisonment without trial for the lucky ones and an ‘accidental’ shooting of those with less fortune. But they live in peace, a repressed and bumpy peace at that, but it is no Gaza. This only asks the question: why? They have food, they have water and they have a sense of normalcy. They suffer, this is true, but they have acclimatised to the situation. They have had no choice, and what is left is a people beaten to believe that this is the best that they can expect. Keep your head down and live the best life you can under the circumstances.
But Gaza has raised old issues. Re-opened wounds that have been stitched but not healed. “Why should this be what we accept?” People who used to condemn indiscriminate suicide bombings within Israel are now turning to recognize their use. “They kill our women and children, what other tools do we have?... Why should we talk to these people? All they understand is violence and terror. Why shouldn’t we speak their language.” There is now a new generation of stone throwers ready to pick up their rocks. This generation has been born and raised under a more stringent occupation that their parents. They don’t know a world without the infamous Huwarra checkpoint, without the wall and now they are exposed to pictures of their peers in Gaza being bombed in schools and screaming bloody on hospital floors. A third intifada is looming with the custom hatred simmering below the surface about to boil over. The ‘security fence’ is passable, and may be about to be exposed as merely the land grabbing mechanism it really is.
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