It's a Sad Thing, When Brother Kills Brother

Anti-Zionist Jews in London
I guess we shouldn't be surprised about the aggression the Palestinians are facing lately, it's election time and approval ratings ironically always go up in war time, it's a brilliant political strategy, used by us Americans as well.
Let's not make light of this situation. It's terrible for both sides, but numbers don't lie. Only 3 Israelis are dead while there are over 80 Palestinians dead. Among them, 37 have been confirmed as civilians (women, children, male non-combatants). Now, it's the popular notion the Western media pervades that Hamas militants hide behind civilians, although I am sure there has been a precedent for this, what could hiding behind an infant 11 month old child achieve? Forget about that, what could hiding behind anyone achieve in the face of bombs being dropped by Israeli jets from overhead? I could give some consideration for this notion if it were in the context of ground combat, even then it seems a bit much. But I am being generous to the opposing view.
Gilad Sharon made a startling and frightening comment when he was quoted as saying: "We need to flatten entire neighborhoods in Gaza. Flatten all of Gaza," Is this really a defense tactic? They are talking about genocide. You can't flatten all the structures of a city without MASSIVE civilian casualties. Also, please take note that any rockets fired into Israel have a less than 1% chance of actually killing an Israeli, while the Israeli Air strikes kill someone every time a bomb is dropped. Don't believe me, check out the news reports from multiple sources. Go on, you can do it.
Let's not make light of this situation. It's terrible for both sides, but numbers don't lie. Only 3 Israelis are dead while there are over 80 Palestinians dead. Among them, 37 have been confirmed as civilians (women, children, male non-combatants). Now, it's the popular notion the Western media pervades that Hamas militants hide behind civilians, although I am sure there has been a precedent for this, what could hiding behind an infant 11 month old child achieve? Forget about that, what could hiding behind anyone achieve in the face of bombs being dropped by Israeli jets from overhead? I could give some consideration for this notion if it were in the context of ground combat, even then it seems a bit much. But I am being generous to the opposing view.
Gilad Sharon made a startling and frightening comment when he was quoted as saying: "We need to flatten entire neighborhoods in Gaza. Flatten all of Gaza," Is this really a defense tactic? They are talking about genocide. You can't flatten all the structures of a city without MASSIVE civilian casualties. Also, please take note that any rockets fired into Israel have a less than 1% chance of actually killing an Israeli, while the Israeli Air strikes kill someone every time a bomb is dropped. Don't believe me, check out the news reports from multiple sources. Go on, you can do it.
Another note, the Israelis have a right to defend themselves and their people from any and all attacks, be they verbal or physical, clearly we are all more concerned about physical attacks. Yet, the Palestinians have the same right, just because Israel, America, and pretty much everyone else has labeled Hamas as a terrorist organization (and believe me, I am no fan of Hamas) they are the only defense for the people of Gaza, which is probably why they elected them in the first place (an election, mind you, that America and Israel were pushing for, they wanted the democratic process to take hold in Gaza and when it did, they didn't like the outcome). Also, we are all intelligent and logical thinking people, at least I hope we are, does it not surprise you that the world's fourth most powerful military and the world's second most effective intelligence agency can plan attacks on "Hamas militants" and have a collateral damage of nearly 100%? Think about that for a moment would you? For nearly every militant the IDF killed this time around, during Operation Pillar of Defense, a civilian was killed. Are they truly that incompetent? I highly doubt it. I bring you back to my argument above, that it absolutely makes no sense for Hamas to use civilians as body armor in the face of bombs being dropped by war planes. Try it yourself if you are ever caught in the middle of Gaza (I hope you are not), you won't survive.
Also, since we all agree that we don't like it when Hamas uses people as human shields, can we all also agree that we don't like it when the IDF uses people as human shields? Even if it is against rocks? Really? You're in an armored vehicle and you need two young men to stand in front of you and protect you? Nonsense. |
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The saddest part is, both sides are forgetting the humanity of each other. Either side looks on the other, thinking taking lives is in their own interest. Where is the humanity left in these people? I for one do seriously believe that Israel has used a heavy hand when retaliating the Palestinians, therefore, it only seems natural to conclude that the Israeli government, not necessarily its people, considers the lives of Palestinians as meaningless, unfit for continued existence. If this is true, it is quite saddening and also frightening. Numbers don't lie.
I can't stress this enough, violence is not the answer, but our Israeli and Palestinian brothers and sisters believe otherwise, their reasons are known and acknowledged to varying degrees. There will not be peace in the Holy Land it seems until reason strikes a fine chord and everyone agrees on a mutual and respectful existence or until one side obliterates the other. If the latter is to happen, it's quite obvious who will succeed.
Also, be mindful that not all Israelis want what their government is doing, nor do all Jews support the state of Israel. It's gone far beyond religion at this point, it's about nationalism and well, basically, power. Don't antagonize your Jewish friends or neighbors, even if they antagonize you, it's not fitting for a Muslim to instigate anything, look to the example of our Prophet (S) and we will all be put to shame, including myself. |
I don't care for hate, I don't care for violence, but let's at least accept the truth of things. May God have mercy on all of us.
The most important thing, I believe, that we should remember is that in the end, we all need to live with each other peacefully. For the vast majority of us that are not directly caught up in this conflict and are taking sides, we should not let our opinion foster enmity with our neighbors or friends that hold an opposing view, this does not propagate anything except hate and fear. If anything, we should be the moral standards for the people of Israel and Palestine to live up to. I have Jewish friends, I have Israeli friends, I have Palestinian and obviously many Muslim friends. I intend to keep my friendships despite what they think or say regarding a matter that truly does not affect our day to day nor does it change our characters. Let's be generous to one another so the world will be generous to us.
Let's hope the suffering on both sides ends soon.
The most important thing, I believe, that we should remember is that in the end, we all need to live with each other peacefully. For the vast majority of us that are not directly caught up in this conflict and are taking sides, we should not let our opinion foster enmity with our neighbors or friends that hold an opposing view, this does not propagate anything except hate and fear. If anything, we should be the moral standards for the people of Israel and Palestine to live up to. I have Jewish friends, I have Israeli friends, I have Palestinian and obviously many Muslim friends. I intend to keep my friendships despite what they think or say regarding a matter that truly does not affect our day to day nor does it change our characters. Let's be generous to one another so the world will be generous to us.
Let's hope the suffering on both sides ends soon.
Written by Abu Fulan on Monday, November 19, 2012