Friday 9 January 2009

Enough Posturing










I am so angry.

In his last days that bastard George Bush is blocking a serious international resolution of the United Nations to stop the fighting in Gaza. Instead he is trying to impose a skewed alternative that would legitimize the suffocating chokehold the blockade has on Gaza (why Hamas cites for their rocket attacks in the first place).

How is it that the United Nations can be blocked by one country?

What can I post here? Anyone with one brain cell left must be aware of the unevenness of the firepower and the blatant brutality of the invasion in Gaza.

The bloodshed in Gaza is escalating as politicians of the worst stripe posture and the diplomats allow them to continue to argue. Over 700 have now been killed with half of the people being comprised of civilians. There are well over 100 children dead. Thousands have been injured and 1.5 million terrified civilians have no escape from this prison-like enclave as the borders are sealed. Hamas (not innocent either) continues to fight and fire rockets at Israel killing five civilians.

The violence only worsens as Bush continues his posturing. Fuck I hate that bastard.

(Note that International Journalists are not allowed into the war zone.)

16 comments:

Julie said...

YES!!! I am so angry too. The West Bank at the best of times is a nasty, overcrowded ghetto. There is no place the people in that settlement can go to escape this. I hate it. I mean, after all this blows over, do they really think the same hoodlums won't start up their stupid bottle rocket campaign? All this over bottle rockets. Insane.

Anonymous said...

it is so unjust and horendous for those poor innocent children and their families ... with no escape.
can and will obama do something after he is sworn in on jan 20? i can only pray he will be able to and not be in somekind of legal stronghold with no way to help.
bush can not get out fast enough ...but needs more shock and awe to grandstand his way out....

Anonymous said...

Renee,you continue to amaze me with your compassion for the less fortunate. You always seem to be concerned with injustice is such a
passionate way.I am angry too at the lives lost by those trying to help in a humanitarian effort.
God bless you for speaking out.
Barb
p.s. I was worrying about you when there was no post at 11:00a.m. and you were worrying about others.That's you.

Kelly Kilmer said...

Renee,

You're not alone. I also feel the same way. There is so much happening that isn't going reported. There are no journalists allowed in the area (like you said). I am getting my news from bloggers in the area and the different radio stations and internet sites that I listen to and read.
I am devastated and very very angry. Why people do not realize that this is like the Warsaw Ghetto is above and beyond me.
I am so very tired of being called an Anti Semite. I live in a hugely Jewish neighborhood and many of my best friends are Jewish and I LOVE them. I am not Anti anything except Anti War, Anti Hate and very much Pro Peace.

Anonymous said...

The photo you posted says it all. My heart breaks at the sight of that child. The horror these people are living and dying in is unimaginable. Bush is so fucking evil. Who has more blood on their hands than him? No one.
Thank you Mrs. Khan for writing about what many of us are thinking.

Unknown said...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article5477420.ece

Renee said...

Thank you Ellis that was a good article.

Renee

Julie said...

One key aspect the article failed to mention was _why_ Hamas gained popularity among the Palestinian people. Israel was choking the West Bank by limiting resources and import/export into the region. Hamas then stepped in and provided basic things like medical care, food, sanitation when Israel as the "mother" nation refused to provide its own people (and yes, Palestinians still count as Israeli people for services such as water, electricity, social services, etc.) with basic needs, which can be considered an act of war.

That's why Hamas party representatives got democratically nominated. The Israeli government failed its own residents.

Anonymous said...

im going to stir the pot a little bit here....

obviously everyone wants a peacefull resolution, but doesnt hamas's own constitution state it will never negotiate peace with israel, and go into detail about wanting to kill every israeli?

its pretty tough for the israeli's to negotiate with a group that wants nothing but to destroy them, isnt it?

its disgusting how it serves hamas's purpose to have civilians killed....read below

****************************

an interesting article (if it fits)

******************

As the death toll in Gaza rises so do outraged calls for Israel to accept a UN-brokered ceasefire.

Israel has so far ignored these calls. It is right to do so, until the rocket attacks by Hamas on its citizens cease.

Hamas are the villains here -- the architects of violence and terror and the opponents of peace. For all its mistakes, and it has made many, Israel is a democracy -- the only functioning one in the Middle East.

The Israeli Defence Forces have made every attempt to minimize civilian casualties, including issuing warnings to those inside buildings before bombing them. These are not the actions of a military that wants to hurt civilians.

Supporters of the Palestinian people are understandably horrified at the carnage and the emerging humanitarian disaster in Gaza.

They should direct their protests to Hamas, which violently conquered the territory in 2007 and has been using the civilian population there as a mass human shield ever since.

The military dynamic in Gaza has long been that, because it is so crowded, it could not be attacked without great loss of civilian life. So Hamas felt it could launch rockets against Israel with impunity. If Israel did respond -- again, according to Hamas' demented strategy -- the guerillas could draw it into bloody urban conflict that would focus maximum attention on their cause.

In that sense Hamas wants Palestinian civilian casualties. They serve its purposes. This is why Hamas fighters regularly launch attacks from inside mosques, hospitals, schools and other public buildings.

If Canadian cities regularly received rocket fire from a foreign territory we would do no differently than Israel has.

Hamas, like the Taliban in Afghanistan, are Islamo-fascists. They will accept no peace that does not see them in absolute ideological and physical control of what they consider to be their lands. Therefore they cannot be negotiated with.

Israel has made more than its share of mistakes in its dealings with the Palestinians over the years but this war is not one of them. It has no choice but to defend its people.

Renee said...

Ben: You know I love you.

However, the very last paragraph in that article that states that what Israel is doing right now is not a mistake is blatantly criminal.

Hamas is definitely not correct and to me that is not the point here. Israel is definitely not correct and to me that also is not the point here.

What the point is, is that there are over 100 children dead as of a few days ago. Imagine our little babies living under that barrage of bombs day and night and the trama these innocents are under if they are left alive.

I personally don't care any longer that some Israelis hate some Palestinians and vice-versa. Because those particular individuals (on both sides) have so much blood on their hands they will never get it off.

But I do care about the injustice done to the civilian populations on both sides (please remember the count of over 700 Palestinians to 5Israelis.) This is not a battle it is a massacre.

About 10 minutes ago I saw Israel claim that they have killed another Hamas leader and the only thing I thought (because I don't give a shit about the Hamas leader)is but how many children or civilians did you kill with them.

These peoples borders are closed, they cannot leave the conflict area, it is a strip of land that is jam-packed with people.

The bottom line to me is the conflict has got to stop because the innocent are being murdered.

This is a case of David (Gaza) against Goliath (Israel) and this time no one is going to win.

Love you and I know you are being a little prick by playing devil's advocate with me. Brat.

Love Auntie Renee

Anonymous said...

Outrage that poor innocent people and children are going through this terror. A few mad men at the top making so much violence. Why don't every man in the war drop harms and refuse to fight. What would happen then? It is fear that keeps the fighting going and fear and terror caused in it.
I wish we were stronger minded and not ruled by greed of money or fear!
These poor families!

Anonymous said...

For years and years, the UN has tried to condemn, censure, and/or sanction Israel for her crimes against humanity...and it is always the USA who vetoes such things...

It's criminal, in my opinion, and immoral.

Will Obama's administration be any better? I dunno. Then Senator, Hilary Clinton, voted against banning clusterbombs being used on civilians...and Rahm Emanuel is long-time supporter of Israel's past immoral acts...and Obama has put them both into some very powerful positions.

Anonymous said...

These peoples borders are closed, they cannot leave the conflict area, it is a strip of land that is jam-packed with people.

i am not too political so i won't spout politics.... but

the above paragraph is where my heart and head are and i can not get past the innocent people having no way of escaping this horrific battleground...
it goes against my morals and makes me weep for these people.

Gusgamashuq Abunoori said...

at least someone still has a brain cell left. god bless and thank you for putting your sincerity and mental clarity into words for others to absorb. i like your writing style. how do you know of Orly Avineri and her artwork? She is my favorite auntie.

Emerald Arts said...

I hate him too... gawd only knows what he's going to try to get past as part of the Midnight charter or whatever it was called. I remember when Clinton left he tied the next administration up in the most ridiculous amount of paperwork...

kathy hare said...

Renee, you are not alone..