Open corridor, Mosquée de Paris. Photo by Jordana Shalhoub.
"Abiding in the midst of ignorance, thinking themselves wise and learned, fools go aimlessly hither and thither, like blind led by the blind." - Katha Upanishad.
Glenn Greenwald writes in Salon about the world's mounting opposition to the Israeli war in Gaza - while the US Congress thoughtlessly votes to support Israel.
"International pressure intensified sharply on Israel on Thursday, the 13th day of its Gaza assault, after the United Nations suspended food aid deliveries, the International Committee of the Red Cross accused the Israelis of knowingly blocking assistance to the injured and a top Vatican official defended comments in which he compared Gaza to a concentration camp.
"The Israelis have deliberately made it impossible to know the full extent of the carnage and humanitarian disasters because they continue to prevent journalists from entering Gaza even in the face of a now week-old Israeli Supreme Court order compelling them to do so. According to Palestinian sources, there are now 700 dead Palestinians -- at least 200 of them children -- and well over 1,000 wounded. Those numbers are not seriously doubted by anyone. By comparison, a total of 10 Israelis have died -- 10 -- almost all of them by "friendly fire." The unusually worded Red Cross condemnation of Israel was prompted by its discovery, after finally being allowed into Gaza, of starving Palestinian children laying next to corpses, with ambulances blocked for days by the IDF. Even with the relative "restraint" Israel is excercising (the damage it could cause is obviously much greater), this is not so much of a war as it is a completely one-sided massacre.
"As a result, much of the world is urging an end to the war and acting to forge a cease-fire -- except the United States. Here, blind and unequivocal support for the Israeli attack is actually increasing almost as fast as the Palestinian body count piles up. Apparently, it isn't enough that we supply the very bombs being dropped on the Palestinians and use our U.N. veto power to prevent any U.N. action to stop the war or even to urge its cessation. The U.S. Congress wants to involve the U.S. further still in Israel's war.
"This afternoon (Thursday), the Democratic-led U.S. Senate did just that by enacting -- via a cowardly voice vote -- a completely one-sided, non-binding resolution that expresses unequivocal support for the Israeli war, and heaps all the blame for the conflict on Hamas and none of it on Israel. Harry Reid -- who jointly sponsored the Resolution with GOP Leader Mitch McConnell -- proudly proclaimed: "When we pass this resolution, the United States Senate will strengthen our historic bond with the state of Israel." On its website, AIPAC is already patting the U.S. Senate on its head for "for conveying America's unequivocal and steadfast support for Israel's right to self-defense."
Read the full story here.
Meanwhile, Israel is ignoring the United Nations resolution passed last night, calling for an immediate ceasefire and end to hostilities. And history repeats itself.
Please read this for the cold hard reality on the ground in Gaza:
No room for the dead, no room for the living...
And a doctor describes the horrors he's witnessing in this short video:
On Saturday, Jan. 10, demonstrations are planned outside the Israeli Embassy in London and at Place de la Republique in Paris.
I am heartsick.
Posted by: Joyce Ellen Davis | 12 January 2009 at 02:55
Exactly...which goes along with the former soldier's assertion that the people of Gaza are being treated like animals. So sad.
Posted by: Tara Bradford | 11 January 2009 at 22:09
"You don't treat people like this!" Hear hear!
Posted by: dutchbaby | 11 January 2009 at 21:51
Thank you for this, Carolien. You're right; it's very important. If only more Israelis opposed to war would raise their voices and be heard. The world needs to hear not all Israelis are warmongers, without regard for human rights.
Posted by: Tara Bradford | 11 January 2009 at 16:47
It is shocking. WHY won't they open the border into Egypt? The UN could help the refugees and at least they'd be out of harm's way. It is appalling the way the Palestinians are being kept inside Gaza, like a giant prison. I was watching Al Jazeera this afternoon and becoming INCENSED at the Israeli atrocities against civilians - US-made white phosporous etc., which should NEVER be used against civilians. It seems the Israelis' behaviour is more monstrous by the day. Just outrageous. OUTRAGEOUS! (Yes, I'm shouting. I simply can't believe the magnitude of the suffering). xoxox
Posted by: Tara Bradford | 11 January 2009 at 16:46
Everyone, please watch this! Very, very important!
http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=O0LS_La2ar0
Posted by: Carolien van der Gaag | 10 January 2009 at 10:43
I wake these mornings, and immediately, I wonder what hell the Palestinian civilians have gone through while I slept. I have to get up then and read.
How will we make it up to these people?
It seems like the whole world watched, knew and did nothing.
Tonight Ms Rice announced that America was agreeing to the wording of the ceasefire tonight, in a manner that made me think of reality tv ... where the show's host deliberately draws out the result. I expected better from her but not from her goverment. My American friends would never allow what the American government is allowing ...
I'm watching Turkey now. Their government is appalled by the Israeli government. Let's see if their condemnation has some effect ...
Posted by: Di | 09 January 2009 at 23:39
So glad to hear they made it through another day safely.
As for the Dutch government, it seems they have learned nothing from their recent experiences with immigration issues. So terribly sad.
I read an account that said not only are people staying in the street, rather than seek shelter in a UN school in Gaza, they're praying in the street, rather than go to a mosque. The situation seems to be worsening by the hour, thanks to the Israelis and their indiscriminate shelling and firing. Shameful and inhumane behaviour.
Posted by: Tara Bradford | 09 January 2009 at 21:06
Hear, hear Colette! Thanks for your wise words. We're all hoping our next president will offer a more balanced view of the Middle East and its citizens. There is no excuse - NONE - for the carnage the Israelis are creating in Gaza. Nothing justifies their behaviour.
Posted by: Tara Bradford | 09 January 2009 at 21:01
Thank you, Tara. My daughter's father and brothers have survived another day in Rafah. I saw what happened to whole suburbs of Rafah on the site of the Guardian newspaper. A woman whose home had been destroyed said she would rather stay in the street than seek shelter in a U.N. school. No place is safe.
My daughter and I live in Holland. Today the Dutch government announced that Israel is respecting the rules of war and not using excessive violence.
Posted by: Carolien van der Gaag | 09 January 2009 at 20:49
This, like previous aggressions, will solve nothing. Except of course the elimination of a great number of Palestinians, including children who will never grow up to be adults. Sometimes it strikes me as a long, protracted way of eliminating a population. For some mysterious reason the U.S. government (not the people as a whole), instead of taking care of their own huge domestic problems, applauds this carnage and seems to have an unhealthy tie to Israel, whereby nothing it does, however dreadful, is wrong in its eyes. This kind of action never leads to anything good, not peace, not prosperity, just more violence, more anger, and more revenge.
Posted by: Colette | 09 January 2009 at 20:38
Not only frustrating, but infuriating. War is so futile. At least the humanitarian aid is set to resume shortly. Hoping your daughter's family is still safe amidst the nightmare enveloping Gaza.
Posted by: Tara Bradford | 09 January 2009 at 19:45
As women - who happen to be Americans - I think we have to do more of what we're doing now. Yes, write our congressmen/women and senators. Yes, pray. But more than that, talk to our friends and family. Tell them what's really going on. Share links and photos so that they get the real story, rather than the sanitised version we see in the West. On Al Jazeera English News, they're showing terrible pictures of death and destruction. The Israelis are keeping Western reporters out, to prevent the truth from being told. We have to talk to our children about peace and the value of human life of ALL people, not just the Israelis, who seem to think they have more rights than anyone else. We can get involved with human rights organisations and charitable foundations. We can talk about our own experiences (i.e. that of your daughter in Ramallah), so that people understand we are more alike than we are different. Every action we take, however small, has a ripple effect.
Thank you for your insightful comments and your open heart.
Posted by: Tara Bradford | 09 January 2009 at 19:43
What is happening is completely insane. It makes me furious that the US Congress could act in such a blindly stupid manner.
Posted by: Tara Bradford | 09 January 2009 at 19:39
My sentiments, exactly. Thanks for your comments.
Posted by: Tara Bradford | 09 January 2009 at 19:38
It seems the Israelis are concerned only about the lives of other Israelis. And the UN Human Rights group has today called for Israel to be investigated for crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Posted by: Tara Bradford | 09 January 2009 at 19:37
I am so confused by all of this. I just want the killing to stop. War terrifies me.
Posted by: Christina | 09 January 2009 at 18:28
When has this ever worked? How can you be a human being and do this?
Posted by: Diane Bronstein | 09 January 2009 at 17:49
Tara,
First, I am honored that you would visit Delights of the Heart. Thanks!
Second, my heart hurts for the Palestinian people. As an American citizen, what can we do beside write to our congressmen and senators to support a cease fire? and pray? When my daughter was in college she spent a summer in Ramallah helping to paint and repair the Friends School. She has friends there, they are people just like us, one woman brought her into her home and shared tea with her and cared for her. What can we do?
Posted by: Marilyn | 09 January 2009 at 17:17
When are the vested interests going to be put aside? The poor people of Palestine.
Posted by: Yoli | 09 January 2009 at 16:00
This is so terribly frustrating. How many more people have to die?
Posted by: Carolien van der Gaag | 09 January 2009 at 15:55