So by now we’ve all heard about what’s going on in and around Gaza, yes? If you haven’t, you must be living in a cave. Or a bomb shelter.
Thing is, I really hope everyone keeps an open mind about things. I ask this not simply because I live here and really love it here, but because I fear a mob mentality brewing in regards to the international response to this and I wish people would recognize the muddiness of the whole situation. Can we really demonize one group and victimize the other, whichever side you stray towards, before we have a more clear idea of what happened?
I fear sometimes that people close their eyes towards the Middle East; either blindly support Israel and view all Muslims as terrorists, refuse to see Israel’s faults, the negative actions of the last few years especially, and fail to see it as an actual country, rather than the utopia they want to see it as, or people blindly condemn Israel and see only the displaced Palestinians and the closed borders without attempting to understand how these things have come about.
Mostly I’d just like you all to stop for a moment before any of you jump to condemn Israel, as it seems like it took poor actions from both sides to bring about this conclusion. Try to understand that this is a complex situation that has more behind it than simply Israel wanting to prevent aid from getting to Gaza.
Try this article: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-navy-commandos-gaza-flotilla-activists-tried-to-lynch-us-1.293089
One of the commandos said some of the soldiers were stripped of their helmets and equipment and a several were tossed from the top deck to a lower deck, forcing them to jump into the sea to escape.
“They jumped me, hit me with clubs and bottles and stole my rifle,” one of the commandos said. “I pulled out my pistol and had no choice but to shoot.”
This one I feel is a bit too biased at parts (“no humanitarian crisis in Gaza”?), but makes some points that have not been focused on much anywhere else as well: http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-EdContributors/Article.aspx?id=177084
Once again, they were fully aware of the fact that Israel intended to lead the ships to the port of Ashdod, deliver the supplies to Gaza and send the participants back to their country of origin.
The melee that greeted the IDF commandos as they landed on the boat can be seen in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LulDJh4fWI
The ‘Free Gaza’ Flotilla had publicly insisted on their non-violent intentions, however their violent attack on the IDF soldiers was clearly premeditated. They had knives, metal rods, firebombs and other items ready to use.
Whereas the IDF commandos went in with paint-ball guns (one of which can be seen in the video above), and the protesters on board attempted to steal other weapons they did have on them.
This whole channel on youtube done by the IDF has several videos worth watching: http://www.youtube.com/user/idfnadesk#p/u
A clip from Al-Jazeera TV prior to the flotilla heading out, in which men on board one of the ships chanted Islamic battle cries: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3L7OV414Kk
A participant interviewed: “Right now we face one of two happy endings: either Martyrdom or reaching Gaza.”
Here’s a pretty extensive article that you should really read all of, as it goes into great detail on the various factors involved: http://honestreporting.com/articles/45884734/critiques/new/Special_Alert_Flotilla_Battle_Unleashes_Anti-Israel_Wave.asp
Playing a central role in the flotilla is the Turkish IHH organization, which besides its legitimate philanthropic activities is also, according to the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, a supporter of radical Islamic networks, including Hamas, and at least in the past, even global jihad elements.
-
One soldier suffered a serious head injury, two others were injured by gunshots and one more was stabbed. A total of seven soldiers were wounded – four soldiers were moderately wounded, of which two were initially in critical condition, as well as an additional three soldiers who were lightly wounded.
-
During the commotion, another commando was stabbed with a knife. In a later search aboard the Marmara, soldiers found caches of bats, clubs, knives, and slingshots used by the rioters ahead of the IDF takeover. It appeared the activists were well prepared for a fight.
I realize these are all in defense of Israel’s actions, so I hope this isn’t coming off as completely biased, but I feel there’s so little of it out there at the moment and I’d really like to point out more of this side. I know that “Israel Storms Boats Carrying Humanitarian Aid, Kills Nine Activists” is an exciting, scary headline, but there’s a lot more to the situation than just Israel’s big, bad army massacred innocent people. The ships were told they would not be allowed into Gaza, were told to turn and dock in Ashdod, a city on the coast about midway between Tel Aviv and Gaza. Had the ships travelled there, they would have been searched and the cargo sent over land to Gaza. Why did the ships refuse to stop? Why the 700 activists on board in the first place if they were simply bringing humanitarian aid? Why did they ignore Israel’s demands to stop? When boarding the ship, the commandos were mobbed by several hundred people and beaten, their armor and weapons stolen, had been told not to use force unless their lives were in danger.
This isn’t to say that Israel is the innocent victim in all this, or that the deaths are justified, at all. This raid was extremely ill-planned, and for that the IDF should be held responsible – there had to have been a better course of action than dropping one-by-one down a rope onto the deck. I just want to put more facts out there, so that everyone takes a moment to think about the complete picture, and I find it interminably frustrating that so few news sources are discussing all of the factors that led up to this confrontation.
It all begs the question: what exactly is the price we’re all willing to pay for our safety? Israel exists under constant threat of invasion, rocket fire, terrorism, which you need to understand in order to understand the actions it takes. Again, I’m not trying to justify anything or explain away bad behavior, but just help you understand why things like blockades, strong military forces, road blockages are used: people are scared, and they’ve been scared for a long, long time. You know the few years in between Sept. 11 and the end of the Bush administration? When there was a random yet constant string of “terror threats” and such, and the country lived on edge waiting for the next big thing to happen? Imagine living like that for 60+ years, only interspersed with actual violent/terrorist acts taking place. It breeds fear, anger, hatred on both sides that has become so deeply rooted in some people that they are brought to defenses that seem extreme to anyone on the outside. Maybe they are extreme most of the time – I have deep issue with much of how Israel handles the West Bank, in particular – but they at least must be understood. People don’t erect giant walls, run citizens through security checks at every bank and mall entrance, train bus drivers in anti-terror defenses, enforce blockades to the point of death for no reason, and whether or not the ends justify the means, you at least must realize that there are reasons driving people to this end. Why the blockade? Because ships heading to Gaza had been caught bringing weapons to Hamas, and even a group claiming to be bringing humanitarian aid is suspect. Most of Israel, I believe, is desperate for peace, but even more so I think Israel is desperate for safety. Whether that justifies the tactics employed to keep order or not, I don’t know, but we must, must at least understand why before simply condemning. What will be the ultimate end of all of this? Is it possible to have peace and safety in this region of the world? Is it worth sacrificing lives and morality for that safety? I really don’t know.
But all I really want to say here is please, please keep your eyes open and take in everything you can. Please seek out all evidence before coming to any conclusions. It pains me to hear this kind of blind condemnation without any independent thought by people who are listening to the news rather than digesting it. I’m not asking you to come to the same conclusions as me, just that you consider all the facts before coming to any conclusions. It also makes me terribly sad to hear about things like boycotting Max Brenner’s in NYC because it’s an Israeli-owned company. I wish people would remember to seperate the actions of a country’s government from it’s people – it’s something I think we in this program struggle with all the time, when we work with populations overlooked by the Israeli government and in areas seemingly forgotten about, and must remind ourselves that it is not necessarily representative of the people as a whole. Please, please remember that even if you condemn the Israeli government for this, the owners of Max Brenner or B&H Photo are not a part of that, just like all of the great people I’ve met here don’t deserve racial slurs thrown at them or seeing their flag burned.
So that’s that. I’ll write about more fun stuff soon.
