Assalam alaikum,
The last few days have seen an escalation of Isreal's terror hostilities against Palestinians. In a week in which, the Israeil Prime Minister has threatened a Palestinian holocaust, and 54 people have been killed in clashes, as Israel is revealed to be obstructing transfer of urgent medical cases.
Please write to your MP to demand that the UK government pressurise the Israelis stop this brutal terror.
Please remember our fellow Palestinian brothers and sisters in your duas. Also please spare 5 minutes of your time and go to this website and enter your postcode, it will list your local MP and allow you to email your MP:
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/
Here is a template you can use:
Dear ...
I am writing with regards to the escalation in Israeli brutality in the Gaza region. I have been watching in horror as Israel has killed dozens of innocent civilians and has been revealed to be obstructing transfer of urgent medical cases. This in a week when the Israeil Prime Minister has threatened a Palestinian holocaust.
I urge you to lobby the UK government to pressurise the Israeli government to stop this brutal state-terrorism.
Kind regards
....
It was not the Prime Minister, it was the deputy defence minister. But I agree with your point.
Don't just do something! Stand there.
A few short points, in case anyone's interested, rather than ignoring the issue. I don't intend to elaborate or discuss the issue much further so I'll try to be comprehensive. I don't intend to have a discussion of the history, because I don't enjoy arguing about such a sensitive subject.
1. The word "shoah" means disaster. Jews in the diaspora refer to the holocaust as the shoah. In Israel the expression for the holocaust is "HaShoah". It is certainly possible to imply by using the word "shoah" that one intends a holocaust, but that wasn't the minister's intention. If he were threatening a genocide he would use the phrase "am retzach" but he was not threatening genocide, he was using the word shoah in its proper sense, he said that an Israeli response to Hamas would be a disaster for the Palestinians. It was a stupid choice of words. Many in the media, and especially in Arab and Iranian media and politics, are having a field day with it. There can be no credible comparing this last week, a military operation in which dozens of Palestinians - no doubt including a great many innocents - were killed, to a genocide.
2. Israel has every right to respond to the rockets from Gaza, not "proportionally", as if to exact revenge, but tactically and with a sense of moderation or accuracy, so as to stop the rockets and to target those firing them. It is very rich for those who deliberately have provoked Israel for many months and who maintain in their charter a commitment to crush Israel, to react with indignation at the same time as they continue their attacks. I would not mind if Israel responded to unsuccessful attacks by attacking any number of Hamas operatives.
3. It is indeed a disaster. I don't know how reliable are the numbers of dead being cited, but I am sure they are significant. Not only has this mission had minimal impact on the Hamas attacks, but it has cost a great deal of life including innocent life that should not be necessary were the mission well planned. Israel cannot legitimately conduct major warfare, while moreover failing in its intent to quell the attacks. It is not acceptable to respond to these inaccurate missiles with such a heavy hand. I am all for a targetted response, but even if Hamas is placing civilians in harm's way - which I do very much suspect - there has to be a more precise way of responding to Hamas rockets. It is as if they have learned no strategic lessons from the war on Hezbollah.
4. Hamas will and indeed should face a violent response to rocket attacks, and cannot expect Israel to end the embargo or commit to lines of supply under these circumstances. Hamas should put an end to the rocket attacks. To wait until Israel makes some promise or another first, assumes precisely no value of Palestinian lives, and a stronger commitment to the unrealistic goal of crushing Israel. Whereas Israel has on most days tolerated the attacks, but refused to let them be a leverage. Hamas have always calculated thus erroneously, if indeed it is an error and not a ruse. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. Hamas should declare a peace on that front. If they were to declare a peace on the other front as well they would then be a party to negotiations for the West Bank.
In conclusion, I care nothing for Hamas, I care very much for Israelis and Gazans as a whole, Hamas needs to stop firing rockets at Israeli towns, and Israel needs a change of tack starting with a halt to the current operation.
I will write to the Israeli embassy, and I won't be writing to my MP. Otherwise I would write to my MP regarding Saudi Arabia and many other countries I find objectionable. I find the mobilisation of Muslims for a case like this but not for Sudan or atrocities across the Muslim world to be hypocritical and cynical. I don't know precisely who is responsible for the devastating attacks on Pakistan this week but I imagine that they have the sympathies of many who will write letters such as the above.
JdV:
Please read the following: http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/
Re: Point 4: A bullet is a bullet, whether its from vigilate terrorism(Hamas) or state terrorism(Israel).
Hypocritical? Cynical? Thats laughable. We are merely trying to do what pitiful little we can to try and get some action from the so-called OUR MPs. It has nothing to do with whether we do this for other countries or not.
It's a cycle of violence. Does not really matter who started it, who stepped it up. Question is who will give it a degree of sanity.
As for the word for holocaust (or the word holocaust itself) - it should not be given the "reverence" it is. Or made exclusive to one event or community.
The guy who used the word Shaoh - I don't really care what it translates to. Just what it means. (Different things) Macho language by someone in the position to carry out such threats.
PS I wanted to start covering such things on my blog, I thought it best to wait to when I could have a more "neutral" start.
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
dark^knight, think about what I said. Are you concerned for loss of Muslim life and human rights? When did you write a letter about millions killed in Sudan? Who do you complain about when thousands of Iraqis, Afghans and Pakistanis are killed by IEDs and suicide blasts? What is your view on rights of women and foreigners in Saudi Arabia, and who do you tell? By all means write a letter, but don't dismiss my point. For Hamas, every word that comes out of their mouths is a cynical ruse, for they do not believe in ever making a peace with Israel, and they fire dozens of rockets over the border every day. It makes some difference that most of the missiles are poorly aimed, but Hamas should not believe there will be no response. When Israel holds back, they will not heave a sigh of relief, they will claim some ridiculous victory. In pursuit of their goal, they don't care about Palestinian life. I do. I would like both sides to hold off. I could write no letter that excuses Hamas and still be an honest man.
Admin, I gave you an explanation of what shoah means. I don't think his meaning should be distorted. It was a stupid word for him to use, for the reason that it would be distorted, not because anyone honestly believes Israel plans a Nazi "final solution". I would object far, far more strongly if there was even a slim chance he meant that. Do you believe that was what he meant?
Israel withdrew from Gaza, and Hamas began firing rockets. When Hamas ejected Fatah from the government, Israel moved to sanction them. After missiles hit Sderot and Ashkelon, Israel responds from the practical standpoint that Hamas, which is receiving Iranian weapons and training, has to be weakened. When Israel does nothing, Hamas fires dozens of rockets every day. When Israel backs off, even after tremendous loss of Palestinian life, Hamas declares a victory and steps up its campaign. That isn't a cycle. Hamas is built to antagonise.
My argument was based on that word NOT meaning holocaust - I do not think such a thing is practically possible (in the normal military sense) even if Israel WANTED to carry it out. It is not a major point though - words mean almost nothing when bullets are flying.
Gaza has been being starved (of essential goods) for months. That is a big concern for me. There was always going to be violence, but lets say the worst happens and Israel "invades" Gaza. At that point it will have to allow food and sanitation for the residents. They (Gazans) may not like it, the Israeli's may not like it, but it will have to happen.
Is that better or worse than the current policy? I do not know.
As for violence elsewhere - I do not like it. But I cannot do anything about it. Hence I have not highlighted anything recently. But the Israel/Palestine situation is more in the media and will draw more attention.
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
Thanks for clarifying what you meant, I'm sorry I got it wrong. I don't want to quash or dominate the issue - discussion is healthy.
In the event of an invasion I would hope and expect that Israel should not impede vital food supplies and that Israeli human rights organisations would rush to the fore.
Things are fast developing today. At the moment Israel has wound things down, although small operations seem to be continuing.