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Gaining Ground In Gaza

Posted by Jamaal Long on Thursday, October 29, 2009 1:17:35 PM

Will The Goldstone Report Give Palestinians The Justice They Call For?

By Jamaal Long

 

Tramadol is a drug used to reduce physical pain. Like any other drug, taking more than the recommended dose can lead to psychological and physical dependence. It was perhaps the psychological pain Abu Ahmed was hoping to alleviate when he began taking 800mg of the synthetic opioid, 500mg more than what the manufacturers recommend.

“You feel less frightened,” Ahmed told The Independent, a British newspaper. Ahmed is a 45-year-old unemployed Palestinian and a father of 10. He explained how taking Tramadol pills helped him get through Operation Cast Lead in daze.

For many Palestinians, including Ahmed, living in land in constant turmoil, dealing with internal conflict from feuding factions, Hamas, who controls the Gaza strip, and Fatah, who controls the West Bank; plus, economic siege and violent attacks on Hamas leaders by Israeli fighters, drug use has been the gateway out from reality.  

Tramadol is smuggled in through the tunnels from Egypt, and Gaza has seen an increase in supply of Tramadol and mental health professionals told the The Independent that this is way the people of Gaza cope with results of the latest attack from Israel last winter.

The bombs began raining down from planes over Gaza on Dec. 27, 2008, filling the skies with billowing smoke. The traumatic chaos and blood shed that ensued during the three-week campaign in Gaza left another grisly reminder of the constant and impending violence that surrounds the inhabitants of that small strip of land.

But now the billowing smoke has dissipated, the last mortar shell has dropped and tightly squeezed index fingers have eased their pressure from the triggers. Now the actions from the bloody conflict will call into question an inquiry that may never have been considered by passive observers of the Israel-Palestine conflict who get their information from the brief sound bites from their newscast. A question that the Goldstone report raised and the International Courts Justice in Hague would have to answer is: Was Israel guilty of war crimes?

Scrutiny of Israel by the international community is not a commonly discussed topic by reporters in the American press; however, this report marks another instance when the international community has chastised the Israeli government’s action.

One of the main focal points of controversy in Israel-Palestine conflict is in regards to the Israel-occupied territories. After the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel controlled and occupied Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Golan Heights, East Jerusalem, West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

The United Nations Security Council attempted to promote peace in the region and took diplomatic measures toward that aim after the war concluded. The council passed Resolution 242 that called for the withdrawal of Israeli forces and for both states to live peacefully within their boundaries.

Israel, however, tainted its image in the eyes of the international community when it established settlements in the territories it captured. That action officially brought to light the illegality reflected in the policies the Israeli government endorses, especially toward Palestine.     

In response to the settlements in Palestine, General Assembly of the United Nations in 1998 declared them illegal and further stated that it “deplored” Israel’s practices and policies toward the Palestinians and that it violated their human rights.

Even the officials from the European Union and the International Court of Justice are both in agreement and opposed the settlements in the Occupied Territories for its adverse effects to the Peace Process.

Jewish South African former Supreme Court Judge Richard Goldstone’s report brings damaging allegations of actions that took place during Operation Cast Lead that suggest that Israeli soldiers and Hamas should be prosecuted for war crimes.

The Independent reported that the Goldstone report showed that attack on Gaza reflected policies that were geared toward collective punishment. The Independent reported that the Goldstone investigation uncovered:

“. . . an overall policy aimed at punishing the Gaza population for its resilience and for its apparent support for Hamas, and possibly with the intent of forcing a change in such support.”

Bloomberg reported that Goldstone’s panel investigation discovered “disproportionate force” in Gaza. Fred Abrahams, a senior Human Rights Watch researcher, said the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) even used white phosphorus over a densely populated area with no regard to making the distinction between civilians and combatants.

Dispute over how many combatants died versus noncombatants has been ongoing with Israeli officials asserting that their actions targeted combatants. To the Israeli officials’ much discontent, B'Tselem Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories investigation confirmed what the Palestinian human rights organizations said that majority of the Palestinians killed in Gaza were not militants, but in fact, civilians.

According to B’Tselem, of the 1,387 Palestinians that were killed, 773 were noncombatants and only 330 were combatants. Of the civilians killed, 320 were minors under the age of 18 and another 109 were women.

Israeli officials have balked at the entire investigation.  They denied such allegations of war crimes and said that IDF acted in accordance with international law.

Israeli officials stated that Operation Cast Lead, the official name for the December 27th attack, was in response to Qassam rockets from Palestinian groups, which, according to B'Tselem, killed 11 Israeli civilians.

The reason cited for the Qassam rockets that were launched from Palestinian groups was because of the blockade imposed by the Israeli government.

Israeli officials protest that the report lacks the valuable insight necessary to understand what Israel has to deal with when it comes to protecting their country. The officials see the report as undermining their response to attacks against their civilian population. 

The foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said the UN mission had “dealt a huge blow to governments seeking to defend their citizens from terror,” and that its conclusions were “so disconnected with realities on the ground that one cannot but wonder on which planet was the Gaza Strip they visited.”

“We are upset and angry,” Gabriela Shalev, Israel’s ambassador to the UN said. “We take all precautions to respect international law.”

Despite the assurance from Israeli officials that the soldiers acted in accordance with international law, the UN Human Rights Council backed the Goldstone report that accuses both Israeli soldiers and Palestinian combatants of war crimes. This means an investigation needs to be conducted by both parties, or they face prosecution.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an adamant speech early October promised to never allow Israeli leaders or soldiers to stand trial on war crimes charges over their actions during Operation Cast Lead.

The ongoing conflict and the Israeli blockade have left Gaza de-developed according to a UN report. The delays in humanitarian aid have disrupted the livelihoods of the people of Gaza—a reality Abu Ahmed knows all too well.


The blockade caused him, like 100,000 other Palestinians in Gaza, to lose his job. Before, Ahmed worked as a driver, but when he lost his job he became overwhelmed with depression and started having headaches. He began taking Tramadol, just one pill a day. But gradually his addiction grew and he began taking more. Before long, he was taking as many as four, and when he could afford it, eight pills a day.


“I tried to get away from it but I couldn’t,” Ahmed explained. “I had a headache, pain in every part of my body. I had to go the bathroom every 10 minutes. I was sweating. Then you take one pill and you feel better of course. When I took it, I felt very relaxed.”

 

“Before the war the situation was so hard. There was no work, plus I had to take care of 11 people, including my wife. All people could do was sit around in the street and drink tea or coffee.”

As time passed, Ahmed turned to Gaza Community Mental Health Program (GCMHP) and with counseling from the group's trained therapists, Ahmed has stopped taking Tramadol. He has even gained his weight back to 187 pounds; up from 128 pounds where he was previously at the height of his addiction.

Still, with high professional standards the psychologist at GCMHP set for themselves they are only able to help a few people in Gaza beat their drug addictions.

Hasan Shaban Zeyada, a senior psychologist for GCMHP believes the contributing factor to the drug addiction is their vulnerability.

“They don't have hope, they cannot do anything for the future. They are disappointed, depressed, helpless and powerless. They can't find a job, they can't plan for the future, or [afford to] get married.”

 

The culmination of the many problems that exist in Gaza and for the Palestinians stem from the same source according to Mr. Zeyada: “the siege, internal division and the war.”


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The UN Undermines Peace For Palestinians

Posted by Jamaal Long on Tuesday, June 16, 2009 2:01:09 PM
Deciphering The Media’s Disinfo On The Middle East
By Jamaal Long

It is unforgivable. It is unconscionable. But, because it is the United Nations—it wasn’t unforeseeable.

So, it was not surprising that after a UN investigation into the attacks on Gaza, which started on Dec. 27, 2008, and ended Jan. 18, will yield no prosecutions of war crimes.    

BBC news reported that Israeli military says that their internal investigation showed that a few errors occurred, but they acted lawfully.

These errors included shooting an elderly woman who came within a 100 yards of a commandeered house.

“What’s great about Gaza?” an Israeli squad commander said when asked by the New York Times, “You see a person on a path, he doesn’t have to be armed, you can simply shoot him. In our case it was an old woman . . . the order was to take down the person, this woman, the minute you see her.”

Three teenage brothers of the al-Attar family told The Guardian, a British newspaper, that they were used as human shields to clear buildings. They were made to go into areas before the Israeli soldiers did in order for the bullets to hit the young boys first.

Nothing was off limits for the soldiers attacking Gaza.

And the Israeli weaponry was gruesome. 16 Medics and ambulance drivers were killed as they tried to attend to the wounded. One of the tanks that was used against the paramedics had a shell filled with 8,000 metal darts.

BBC News reported that there was "indisputable evidence of the widespread use of white phosphorus." And according to the Guardian, the use of white phosphorus was indiscriminate over a civilian population which is a violation of international law.

The effects from White phosphorus are devastating.  The Guardian stated that White phosphorus burns on contact with oxygen and causes deep burns when it touches human skin, sometimes reaching to the bone.

Yet, in spite of evidence that war crimes were committed, the UN will do nothing. And the world looks away. There will be no shirts across college campuses in America adorning a “free Gaza” message like the other heavily promoted, celebrity driving campaigns.

Gaza isn’t that popular.

In America, the people get their cue from their misleaders on whom to feel sympathy for. When politicians and journalist take aim at the subject of Gaza or Muslims, they are completely off target.
 
Quite often in political speeches and editorials when the Muslim-Israel conflict is discussed Muslims are depicted as anti-Semitic. It is a fallacious statement considering Arabic is a Semitic language; therefore, Muslims cannot be anti-Semitic. That is equivalent to an American saying they hate England then being accused of being anti-English.

One of the most outrageous statements, which was recently said in Obama’s Cairo and AIPAC speech, was Palestine doesn’t  recognize Israel’s right to exist. This is misleading on two fronts. First: Palestine is made up of predominantly Sunni Muslims that follow Islam which teaches that Jews are the “people of the book.” Second: What goes largely unreported in the media is that the State of Israel is a young country. It is even younger than the United States. Israel didn’t come into existence until May 14, 1948.

Palestinians on the other hand, are the descendants of the Canaanites. The historic region of Palestine covered over 10,000 square miles. The word Palestine came from the Greek word “Philistia” to recognize the land of the Philistines who occupied modern day Tel Aviv-Yafo and Gaza during 12th century BC.

Around 2nd century BC, Palestine came under Roman Rule when Pompey the Great conquered the land for the Roman Empire. During this time Judea was named Syria Palaestinia.

At the conclusion of the Byzantine-Ottoman wars, Ottoman came out the victor and ruled over the Palestinians until the summer of 1918 when Palestine came under the rule of the British Empire.

To Britain, it was crucial to maintain an alliance with the Ottoman Empire because peace with them ensured their trade routes from India across the Ottoman land. But when the Ottoman Empire started collapsing during the World War I, the Ottomans sided with the Germans. The British countered by promising the indigenous Arabs independence if they aligned themselves with British against the Ottomans.

As early as 1915, the British had entered into three separate agreements that would ultimately decide the fate of Palestine. One of the agreements was with the French; one was with the Sharif Hussein leader of the Arab Revolt, and the other was with Lord Rothschild leader of the Zionist movement in Britain.

The Zionist, believing they had more sway, began urging United States Congress to recognized the British mandate over Palestine, which ensured the Zionist right to the land.

After being pressured into a response, the British released a “white paper” that became the official explanation of the Balfour Declaration. The Balfour Declaration was named after Lord Balfour British foreign secretary to Lord Rothschild.  

The white paper proclaimed that the Jewish people and the Palestinians had a claim to Palestine and the Jewish people did not need permission to occupy the land in that region. But that was not enough for the Zionist who wanted more.

In 1942, at the Bitlmore Hotel a conference was held that pushed the Zionist agenda onto the international scene. Their plan now was for establishing a Jewish homeland.

Less than two years later, United States Congress passed a joint resolution backing the Bitlmore program. In November 1947, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 181 which resembled the Zionist plan crafted at the Biltmore Hotel conference.

A year later on May 14, Al-Nakbah, Palestine’s catastrophic destruction was complete. Palestinians become the “other section of the population.” Palestinians became the new Native Americans and Gaza became their trail of tears. They became the new African slave on a 360-square-mile plantation. They became the new—Jew—at the mercy of their occupiers.

Palestinians—people in modern day society where no attention is paid, no truth of their struggle spoken—and still—no justice rendered.


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