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Overview of the Situation–
On Thursday, January 17th, the Israeli government shut the border crossing between Israel and Gaza, stopping the flow of all goods between the two countries, including food and fuel. On Sunday, Gaza's power plant announced major cutbacks, and by Monday, an estimated 40 per cent of Gaza's population was experiencing blackouts.
With food supplies running low and hospital generators rapidly losing power, international relief groups, including the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, Oxfam, and the World Health Organization declared a looming humanitarian crisis.
In response to mounting international pressure, including a personal phone call from Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak to Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the blockage was partially lifted and 13 aid trucks entered Gaza today with supplies from Jordan.
Gaza's border with Israel was closed down in response to an especially high number of rockets launched last week. Elder of Ziyon's January Qassam Calendar counted the combined number of rockets at 138 on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Since the border closing, the number fell to a total of 50 on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, increasing again to 18 today as the border was partially opened.
Over the last seven years, over 6,300 rockets have been fired by Gazan militants on Israel's civilian population.
Israeli Bloggers Ask: What Would You Do?
Israeli bloggers ask, “What would you do? How would your country react?
Rachel, a rabbinical student living in Jerusalem and the author of the Rachel Chronicles, is critical of the media's condemnation of Israel, asking them to think about Israel's options in the face of ongoing rocket fire on civilian populations.
“What I am not impressed with is the quickness with which people, the media, organizations, etc. are ready to abandon Israel and paint the Israeli government as either an evil empire that submits an entire population to collective punishment, or a weak government that can't keep its' own residents safe. When the Gaza power plant decided to shut down, did it also turn off the lights to the world's critical eye?…
The spin that all the major newspapers in the States is that big bad Israel is cutting off Gaza. And while it is true that the border crossings have been closed, Israel is being very careful not allow a humanitarian crisis to emerge - at least outside of the city of S'derot, which is the one that they are trying to prevent…
S'derot has lived under a barrage of rocket attacks for the past seven years, or so. Israel has been very very patient and blatantly turned a blind eye to the daily torture that Gaza militants have poured on them. It is time for that bullying and harassment to stop. And while I respect the right of the Gaza civilians to live in peace, until the people that they fund, support, house, and hide stop trying to murder the people of S'derot, I will support the Israeli government's attempts to stop that murder.”
Yael of Oleh Girl adds to Rachel's criticism of what she perceives as the media's slanted reporting.
“A lot of newspapers carried as headlines, Abbas’ claim that Israel was conducting a ‘massacre.'
Nowhere did you read during the three days that such headlines listed above were appearing that, during those same three days more than 130 Qassam rockets hit the Israeli city of Sderot. Also during those same three days, more than 80 mortars were fired from Gaza into Israeli civilian communities along the Gaza border. Nowhere did you read that… snipers fired repeatedly at civilian targets or that Hamas issued a statement calling for constant sniper attacks against Israeli farmers and farm workers. Nowhere did you read that, in just the past year alone, Palestinian militants have launched considerably more than 1,000 rockets targeting the civilian population of Sderot.”
The Gentile Warrior questions why Israel is seen as the aggressor when its civilian population is also under attack, and asks how Gaza can simultaneously attack and demand services from Israel.
“Israel didn't do this just for the heck of it. Why doesn't this group accost Hamas, Fatah, and Al Aqsa to stop launching rockets into Israel? Why is the respondent considered the guilty party? If the “palestinians” would stop launching rockets they would have food and fuel. Instead, they allow their elected and unelected leaders to continue with attacks on Israel and expect Israel to keep feeding them. This is beyond insane…
This is a self imposer humanitarian crisis. The “palestinians” brought this retribution down on themselves. This same civilian population put Hamas, a [known] terrorist organization, in charge. This is the repercussions of that ignorant act. Besides, isn't it quite embarrassing to rely on Israel for your basic needs? The same nation the “palestinians” want to erase from the map is the one that can shut off fuel supplies as well as food? It is suicidal to want to destroy the only supplier of daily necessities…
Have them come to us unarmed. Have them come to us after they have overthrown the murderous regime they have put in charge. Until then let them have their self-induced humanitarian crisis. The longer the world caters to these murderers the long they will commit murder.”
David Bogner of Treppenwitz echoes Gentile Warrior's concerns and asks why humanitarian aid is not being channeled through Egypt's border with Gaza.
“Gazastan cannot continue to be both an openly hostile entity, committed to Israel's destruction… and at the same time a fully dependant beggar-state that relies on Israel for all of its basic needs. This kind of dysfunctional relationship has never existed before in the world, and I dare say no other nation would tolerate such a parasitic situation to continue.
The Gazan border with Egypt is, for all intents and purposes, open. Weapons, money and people pour across from Egypt unchecked every single day. There is no reason why the world can't channel it's sympathy for the Gazan population into humanitarian aid supplied via Egypt. Except, of course, that this would remove the albatross from around Israel's neck… something that nobody really wants to do.
The world seems to enjoy the delicious irony of Israel being forced to keep the lights and heat on in the kassam workshops and explosive laboratories of Gaza, even as the lethal fruit of those laboratories rains down on the heads of Israeli civilians in the western Negev.”
World renowned author (and occasional blogger) Naomi Ragen gets specific. She points out that many of the employees of the Ashkelon power plant are residents of neighboring Sderot and that Ashkelon has additionally been the target of attacks.
“Picture this: the electric plant which supplies 70% of electricity to the Palestinians in Gaza is in Ashkelon. The Palestinians in Gaza have been shooting kassam rockets at the plant ever since the ‘disengagement' i.e. the abandonment of Gush Katif [Gaza]. Now, Palestinians are crying that they don't have enough electricity. They are complaining about Israeli sanctions against them. They are going to the U.N.
The truth is, Israel has not stopped supplying electricity to Gaza. Not only that, but Israeli electric company employees are risking their lives to do so.
Mickey Tsarfati, head of the union of electrical workers, was quoted in YNet: ‘It is unbelievable chutzpah for them to complain. We have not stopped supplying them with electricity for a minute. And they have not stopped logging bombs at us for a minute.' Many of the workers who fix the lines to Gaza daily are residents of Sderot. It has happened more than once that bombs fell next to their homes as they were fixing the lines to supply electricity to the bombers.
Now the U.N. and the Quartet, and the Arab League are all getting demands to stop Israeli 'sanctions' against the Gazans…. You tell me what other country would be supplying electricity to people who are bombing their children on a daily basis, and risking their lives to do so.”
Lirun of East Med Sea Peace is concerned with the humanitarian implications of the crisis and suggests a way that Israelis can help provide food for Gazans.
“heard it on the radio this morning.. apparently on saturday morning a convoy of cars will be driving to gaza to pass on some supplies to the gazastanis.. who as you probably all now know are languishing in starvation and darkness.. because apparently nothing short of that could bring the rocket fire to an end..
people who want to drive down and donate flour sugar and rice should be at the arlozorov train station no later than 8 am and the reading bus depot no later than 830am..
i hate the qassam rockets just as much as the next guy.. and as far as i am concerned the hamas and co are collectively punishing a whole region of israel for israel not conforming to hamas' demands.. however - people are starving in gaza and dying of hypothermia because of the measures we are taking and i cant accept that.. “
Meanwhile, Elliot Chodoff of Mideast On Target leaves us with suggestions for Israel's leadership.
“What can be done in the meantime? First, the Israeli leadership needs to conclude that while inaction under the circumstances is bad, improper action is worse. The Gaza population need not be provided with everything its heart desires, but allowing the creation of the image of a humanitarian disaster is counterproductive, especially when the image is false. Second, military activity needs to be stepped up, not only in quantity, but in quality. We have seen early indicators that this is occurring over the past two weeks, but if Sederot and its surroundings are to have any hope of weathering the rocket rainfall of this winter, the IDF will have to operate more intensively in Gaza until the weather permits the extensive operation that will be sure to occur sooner or later. It is high time the Israeli leadership stopped making declarations and starting taking effective action.”
Learn More–
You can learn more about the reactions of the Arab blogosphere from these Global Voices Online authors:
- Palestine: Gaza Under Siege by Amira Al Hussaini
- Egypt: Gaza in the Headlines by Eman Abd al Rahman
- Pitch Black Gaza: Jordanian Bloggers React by Naseem Tarawnah
Your Reactions–
After you have read reactions from the Israeli blogosphere in this post and opinions from Palestine, Egypt, and Jordan from my colleagues, come back here and let us know what you think about the whole situation. What are your reactions reading the voices of those whose lives have been touched on both sides of the border? What do you see as possible solutions? What do you think your country would have done when faced with similar threats from its neighbors?
I look forward to learning from your perspective.
Hi,
I really fail to see how you/anyone can express concern for human rights and humanitarian care and compare death tolls in the same breath/post?
If you care about human rights you should care about the value of ALL humans’ rights and realize that any life lost is a source of pain. Do you count your pain?
Talk to the Mothers in Black on both sides of the border and discover that it is NOT a competition and there is no validity in that argument.
Instead we should be looking to the future in search of ways for resolving the issues. That’s how I’d like to see the discussion progress.
The uniqueness of such forums is that we can speak as individuals and we should use that to veer away from politico-speeches that keep the axes grinding.
Dear Nas,
How easy it is to assume the worst of each other.
My question of Palestinian culture was a very real one. I know that Jews have these things as a diaspora culture and am interested in learning more about the Palestinian diaspora culture as well. I think you have mistaken my honest interest for condescension. I am sincerely interested in learning more about Palestinian culture as distinct from other Arab or national groups. If you don’t like the idea of Palestinian diaspora culture, then let me know where I can learn more about Palestinian culture as a separate entity, if you have ideas. I want to learn more.
Listen, so my lens is Judaism and the experience of the Jewish people in exile when we are talking about diaspora issues. When in these comments I ask about the people of Palestine and reference the Jews, I see that it can raise hackles because of the bad blood, but in learning about things, we take what we already understand and try to add, develop, and expand those ideas with other new thoughts. If I put the words Jew and Palestinian or Arab and Israeli together in a sentence, it doesn’t mean that I am raising one and lowering the other. That is my basis of comparison based on what I already know.
In your opinion, can an Israeli and Palestinian state exist simultaneously and securely as neighbors? What do you think would need to happen for that to occur?
Look forward to hearing from you, Nas.
Maya
Maya,
I’ll jump in here again even though you directed your last post at Nas.
Tell me, what is it that you don’t understand about the simplicity of the problem ? Can you not see that it is an arab problem ? We Israelis do not have a problem living side by side with neighboring arabs as long as they are not violent towards us and respect our sovereign right to exist.
I fail to see how cultural differences are worth discussing when looking for a peaceful solution.
Surely you can recognize that there is no grey area in that , it is black and white, STOP THE VIOLENCE !
Maya,
To answer your question, I simply can not for the life of me understand the concept of a “Jewish Nation”, just as much as the concept of an Islamic Nation perplexes me that is, Nations, countries, states [at least, modern, democratic, and humane ones] can not be built upon exclusive concepts like religion, ethnicity, etc…
A democratic state, by definition, is one that is able to accommodate any number of cultures inside of it, and as a part of it. That’s the only real solution that I can actually support. Yes, maybe a palestinian state, and a an Israeli state solution is more popular because of the bitterness that is everywhere, but I truly don’t think this kind of solution is moral, nor sustainable.
Yes Maya, Palestinians have a unique culture of their own, their own folk songs, their own traditional outfits and dances, yes they are real people, their culture is part of the levantine culture, just as much as the levantine jews were part of this culture. And that levantine culture was part of the bigger culture of the mediterranean. I think googling “Palestinian people” or “Palestinian culture” would be a good start, don’t you think? ;)
“Palestinian diaspora culture”
Maya, it’s not assuming the worst of each other, its coming to expect it. Such as the irony of an Israeli who is, after all these years, willing to learn about a culture he or she helped exile, and a diaspora he or she helped create.
“In your opinion, can an Israeli and Palestinian state exist simultaneously and securely as neighbors? What do you think would need to happen for that to occur?”
The answers to both those questions lie in the 5th to last paragraph of my first comment which starts with the sentence “and to those who are quoting”.
David:
“We Israelis do not have a problem living side by side with neighboring arabs as long as they are not violent towards us and respect our sovereign right to exist.”
yeah, like i said, if the palestinian resistance were to die tomorrow, it is highly unlikely that your vision of a peaceful lovey-dovey Israel would emerge. settlements would not disappear. stolen land, would not be returned. walls would not be torn down. and checkpoints would not be removed.
“I fail to see how cultural differences are worth discussing when looking for a peaceful solution.”
I’m not discussing cultural differences. I was pointing out to Maya that Palestinians do actually have one! They are not an entity created when zionists showed up on the scene.
“Surely you can recognize that there is no grey area in that , it is black and white, STOP THE VIOLENCE ”
I agree with you 100%!
Stop the Israeli occupation! Stop the daily Israeli acts of violence! And with that an end to the resistance and its own violent ways will emerge.
Yazan, a “Jewish nation” is a combination of two ideas that aren’t commonly joined (religion and nation). But that it is not common is not a reason for criticism. It works for us, and since we have a state founded as a homeland for the Jewish nation, if you’re not a citizen of it what really have you to say about it? Are you bothered that Saudi Arabia and Japan have even more exclusive standards than Israel does?
Also, many states consider themselves democratic, not least of which is the PA. They always speak of Hamas being the result of democratic choice. Well, if that’s so, then so is the democratic choice of Israelis to live in a Jewish state. But only Israel is worthy of dismantlement. Why is Israel under special scrutiny?
Such scrutiny is not meant for Iraq, which considers the Koran a reference document for their constitution, or Japan, where non-ethnic Japanese find it difficult to become citizens, or in Denmark which is probably more democratic than what most people consider the paradigm of democracy (the US), where the members of local cities vote on the citizenship rights of newcomers, or the US because it is not as optimally democratic than Denmark – there are a lot of styles of democracy; in Israel we have just one of them.
And, Jewish identity and religion have been separate things for at least 200 years – yet, we see ourselves as a nation, though many of us don’t practice the religion at all (or any other religion). Our religion is part of our nationality, not all of it – we don’t stop becoming nationally Jewish when we stop being religiously Jewish. Just like there are athiests who are Americans but don’t stop being athiests even though they use currency with the words “In G-d We Trust” on it. Not everybody buys into everything, but that’s no reason to throw the whole thing away, right? And that there are athiests, is that a reason to say that America is not a “religious” nation?
People who can’t understand our way should consider it a sign of their toleration for diversity, that they’d be able to tolerate something even if they themselves can’t understand it or agree with it. I don’t think that Jews or Israel deserve less of that benefit from others than they demand from us.
Quoting Nas:
“I’m not discussing cultural differences. I was pointing out to Maya that Palestinians do actually have one! They are not an entity created when zionists showed up on the scene.”
Hmmm…
Did a distinct “Palestinian culture” arise before or after the advent of Zionism?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinians#Culture shows a good history of Palestinian culture, and documents an explosion of distinctly Palestinian poetry, art and literature occurring in the 1940s and 1950s. Prior to that there is virtually nothing to set Palestinian culture apart from Arab culture. It’s true that Palestinians had a unique style of dress prior to the 20th century, but that’s about it. Everything else (art, music, pottery) was indistinguishable from the Arab culture which dominated the region.
I’d say only one dominant non-Arab culture of the levant survived the past 2000 years and that is Judaism.
Maya,
I think some of you are living in the fantasy rather than reality. If everyone starts occupying lands because they are kicked out thousands of years back then the whole world will cease to exist.
Some of you are blaming Hamas and its resistance. My question is there was no Hamas even 20 years back from now. No rockets were fired to Israels then nor were there any suicide bombers. Why did Israel continued its oppression against the millions of Palestinians rather than handing back the occupied land?
I am from Asia so I can’t tell you much about the cultural aspects of Palestine. However, I strongly believe in every event that occurs has a cause. Here we fail to understand which one is the cause and which one is the effect. The resistance is the effect of years of occupation, killings of innocents including children and daily humiliation of Palestinians. There were no resistance before occupation by Israelis. Since occupation is the cause, we should talk about stopping it first to get rid of the effects (resistance) it caused.
Sarfaraz