For Gaza friends and others: How to stay connected if the
internet is shut down
have a rooted android phone? You can install this app to
make mesh network calls when the cell towers go down. http://www.androidzoom.com/android_applications/communication/the-serval-mesh_bgstt.html
Actions: Emergency global actions for Gaza
Israel forces have been attacking Gaza, destroying power
grids, destroying infrastructure and killingcivilians. They intensified the brutal attack after two
home made rockets landed in Tel Aviv. Hospitals in Gaza are at the breaking
point trying to deal with casualties while under siege for years. But resistance forces in Gaza also reported
dowing an Israeli jet. Israeli
authorities are caught lying to their own people about the extent of damage
coming from the resistance (e.g. saying the rockets were intercepted and did
not fall while Israeli citizens see them fall, fires breaking and ambulances
rushing in. I myself heard the sirens blaring in the settlements of Gush Etzion
and heard the thud of one largeb rocket (presumably of the long range Fajr
type). But now for an analytical comment.
Is history repeating itself?
The Israeli attack on Gaza this week is happening between the US
Presidential elections and the Israeli (early) elections. The attack on Gaza four years ago also
happened after the US elections and before Israeli elections. Some Israeli
citizens thus put an advertisement in an Israeli paper titled "No to the
election war!" Netanyahu and
company today are trying to repeat what Olmert and company tried to do four
years ago: pound Gaza into submission while gaining right-wing votes. This
attack could also be a test of preparedness for a coming war on Iran (Gaza is
weaker than Lebanon or Iran). Early
results show that the Israeli hasbara spin machine failed to make the attack on
Gaza appear as "self-defense" and will fail at all its other goals
just like happened in 2006 and 2008. During
the last attack on Gaza four years ago Israeli forces murdered 1400 Palestinians
including nearly 400 Children in a period of just three weeks. It was and remains a difficult propaganda task
to hide the scale of atrocities against natives especially when all human rights
groups and the UN describe such actions as war crimes and crimes against
humanity.
In Gaza just in the last 48 hours, the martyred Palestinians
included two babies 10 and 11 months old.
Netanyahu hopes the Zionist media network and his bombing campaigns succeed
in 2012 at what they failed to achieve in 2008.
Israel as an occupier/colonizer hopes to get away with murder while labeling
any resistance from the occupied people as "terrorism." In the age of instant communication it is
difficult. After repeated aggressive
wars (e.g. in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1982, 2000, 2006, 2008, and now 2012), the
world is finally waking up. People of
the Arab world who engaged in real democratic revolutions now demand real
change. It is symbolically significant
that high level officials from Egypt and Tunisia traveled to Gaza during the current
attacks.
People know that Israeli lobbies like AIPAC (whose website
was hacked by Anonymous this week) keep pushing for wars including an illegal
war on Iran in the same way as they pushed for the illegal war on Lebanon and Iraq
before. The latter war was foisted on the Western public using lies (connections
of Iraq to terror actions of 11 September 2001 and weapons of mass destruction).
The war cost thousands of American lives, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives,
and $3 trillion in direct cost to US taxpayers. People know that Gaza is
still under occupation per international law as the UN itself reported. Even Israeli spokespersons and an Israeli
document released by court order showed Israel is engaged in collective
punishment of Gaza population, a crime against humanity per international law. The
UN warned of a humanitarian catastrophe if the Israeli siege of Gaza continues.
Israel also continues to target any and
all humanitarian ships trying to break the siege.
Israeli politicians find it convenient every few years to launch a massive war to keep the "home-front" scared and united and hope to bolster their political careers. "Rooting out terrorism" and keeping "Israeli citizens safe" are now seen even by Israelis as simply propaganda. Israeli intelligence reports submitted to the Israeli government showed that Hezbollah became even stronger after the Israeli attacks of 2006 and that Hamas came out stronger after the Israeli attack in 2008. Impoverished Gaza is teaching all lessons. Olmert and Livni discovered that war crimes do not necessarily translate into votes. A more important lesson that may take longer to sink in is that safety does not come from oppression and ethnic cleansing, the two pillars of Zionism. Safety comes from justice. Israel is a racist apartheid and militarized state that caused the largest remaining refugee population on earth (7 million of the 12 million Palestinians are refugees or displaced). Peace can come by acknowledging wrongs and engaging in restorative justice. After the return of the Palestinian refugees (including the one million in Gaza) to their homes and lands occupied in 1948, we can all live here regardless of religious or other backgrounds in one secular democratic state. I suspect the Israeli immoral and cruel attacks on Gaza will hasten this inevitable outcome.
Israeli politicians find it convenient every few years to launch a massive war to keep the "home-front" scared and united and hope to bolster their political careers. "Rooting out terrorism" and keeping "Israeli citizens safe" are now seen even by Israelis as simply propaganda. Israeli intelligence reports submitted to the Israeli government showed that Hezbollah became even stronger after the Israeli attacks of 2006 and that Hamas came out stronger after the Israeli attack in 2008. Impoverished Gaza is teaching all lessons. Olmert and Livni discovered that war crimes do not necessarily translate into votes. A more important lesson that may take longer to sink in is that safety does not come from oppression and ethnic cleansing, the two pillars of Zionism. Safety comes from justice. Israel is a racist apartheid and militarized state that caused the largest remaining refugee population on earth (7 million of the 12 million Palestinians are refugees or displaced). Peace can come by acknowledging wrongs and engaging in restorative justice. After the return of the Palestinian refugees (including the one million in Gaza) to their homes and lands occupied in 1948, we can all live here regardless of religious or other backgrounds in one secular democratic state. I suspect the Israeli immoral and cruel attacks on Gaza will hasten this inevitable outcome.
*Anonymous pulled AIPAC website down (this is the website of
the third column that is destroying the American economy for the sake of
Zionism) http://www.aipac.org/
Mazin Qumsiyeh
Very well said, Mr. Qumsiyeh.
ReplyDeleteIt makes everybody sick to watch how the powerful Israeli forces are killing innocent Palestinian civilians. This kind of terrorism MUST stop and Israel should pay compensation and repair all the damage they have done.
You are right. The world is waking up to the reality of what Israel is. The instant communication, social media, twitter, video and photos shared and livestream reporting shows truth that the pro-Israel,corporate media cannot hide. They only hurt their credibility further trying to hide the truth for Israel. This attack will weaken Israel. The U.S. "unsinkable battleship in the Middle East," as Alexander Haig called Israel is becoming too expensive a burden for the U.S. empire and of less and less value. It's days are numbered. All will see their horror, shun them and turn their backs on them. Spread the word - say farewell to Israel, the theocratic, Apartheid state is committing suicide.
ReplyDeleteThe IDF has just posted a cartoon on FaceBook showing missiles hitting Europe -- with the caption, "What would you do if this happened to you?" Well, guess what. It IS happening to Palestinians.
ReplyDeleteThere are only 12 million of this cult in the world compared to 7 billion of us. If they want to be arrogant fools that lack humility it will be on their heads.
ReplyDeleteOne would never know from reading Mazin's highly creative accounts that the reality is the terrorists from Gaza are targeting innocent civilians while all Israel is doing is trying to stop those terrorists from doing that.
ReplyDeleteterrorism is the word power gives to their oppressed people when they dare to fight for their freedom and dignity. 'All Israel' is trying to stop the oppressed people from doing that! Mathguy should better go to have a look at the reality in the illegal military occupied territoiries on a daily basis as I have experienced. His blind eyes are nothing else than an expression of his cowardness to go there, his brutality to support the killing and destruction of Palestinian existence since four generations and at the end his stupidity not to distinguish between oppressor and oppressed.
DeleteThe Zionist "mathguy" has problems with math. Otherwise how would we explain that the ratio of civilians killed is 100 Palestinian civilians for every single Israeli civilian (both during this attack and during the last "war" on Gaza).
DeleteA shame that people suffer in this way
ReplyDeleteGreetings,
Burun Estetigi
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ReplyDelete