Thursday 17 July 2014

Palestine, Israel & Our Common Humanity



I took a few days from posting stuff on Facebook and just scrolled through posts. I read posts from friends and acquaintances living in Israel. My friend is a father, promoter of peace, advocate for intercultural dialogue and cycle activist. Another has been working on global intercultural dialogue for years. I read a blog of an Israeli woman living close to where Hamas rockets had landed. She tells her story of her little one running to her in the middle of the night several times saying they have to run to safety. She knows they are safe due to the Iron Dome and yet she is acutely aware that Palestinian families are not. Her son is safe. Their sons and daughters are not.

I read Israel Defence Forces (IDF) Solider accounts of how they feel about what they do and orders they need to carry out.[1] I had to stop reading when I read one account where the soldier’s superior admitted his order was one of many war crimes he was committing.

I read post upon post from Palestinian friends and supporters around the world identifying the disproportionate death count of Palestinians to Israelis. Access to water is grossly depleted and sewage and wastewater treatment systems are being hit by Israeli air strikes.[2] War crimes are being committed. Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, section 2 b) i and ii states that a war crime includes: 

Intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities; 

Intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects, that is, objects which are not military objectives.[3]

I read today of an intern, working for an organization where Palestinians and Israelis work together to end the occupation and resolve the conflict non-violently, whose cousin was killed yesterday by Israeli fire.[4] His two brothers were causalities in Operation Cast Lead. It was too much to bear. I cried. 

I watched a debate in the British Parliament dated July 15, 2014 -  MPs acknowledging how messed up the situation is and asking how long before something is done?[5] I sat there so very angry.

Talking is important but so is action. It must be collective, in my opinion, if it is going to make a change now and going to end the physical and emotional violence of a people living on the land as well as the diaspora of both the Palestinians and Jews who feel a connection to Israel.

I want to hear a conversation and see focused non-violent direct action. I want it to be known that this violence is unacceptable from any of the actors involved. How we choose to address the conflict is key. We must do it as human beings who recognize our common humanity.

There are people and communities working within Palestine/Israel and outside of it to bring peace through non-violent action. In addition to Facebook posts on the human face to this tragedy, I want to hear and see more about what we can and are doing to end it.

I would love for you folk to share your comments on non-violent ways to address and end this conflict.

On commenting on her right to defend the human rights of Gazans, a friend posted a few quotes. Let me leave you with this:

“We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results.” ~ Herman Melville



[1] “Breaking the Silence.” http://www.breakingthesilence.org.il/
[2] Qandil, Ala. “Gaza Faces Imminent Water Crisis.” July 17, 2014. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/07/gaza-faces-imminent-water-crisis-201471755035576420.html
[3] Rome Statute. July 2002. http://www.icc-cpi.int/NR/rdonlyres/ADD16852-AEE9-4757-ABE7-9CDC7CF02886/283503/RomeStatutEng1.pdf
[4] Marlowe, Jen.“Each one is a world.” http://donkeysaddle.wordpress.com/2014/07/16/the-message-you-dread/
[5] July 15, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJWNE83j__k&app=desktop