I don’t normally blog on issues such as the war in Gaza, preferring to limit myself to issues closer to home and those that I believe in, but this time it was different. Now that there is a temporary cessation of violence from both sides of the conflict to allow survivors some breathing room to bury their dead and to survey their shattered lives, I ask myself what made me get so caught up in the moment? The sheer brutality of the assault on defenceless civilians is what shocked me initially but as I followed the news reports online, I found a different kind of story unfolding, that of Israel’s consistent and remorseless spin-doctoring, with officials churning out the same message time and again – that Hamas is at fault for Israel’s brutality. In so doing, were they expecting the world to understand and to forgive them for their merciless attack on Gaza?
I have always been more of a pacifist and don’t often get overly concerned with issues such as this faraway war in Gaza but as the death toll rose, I began to take notice and soon realised that Malaysian TV and newspapers just wasn’t giving enough insights into what was happening, focusing too much on our national outrage, Islam versus Jew, boycott of US and Israeli goods, the gruesome deaths and fund raising for Palestinians instead of the “what, why and how-come-it-was-allowed-to-happen” aspects of the war. So, I turned to the internet and, in spite of the huge amount of crap people have posted in that free-for-all communication medium, there was still a lot of information that showed that this war was the most ruthless in modern times.
With so much having been written and said by the world media and while analysts and experts dissect every aspect of the aftermath, to me it was the over-spindoctoring of Israel’s public relations machinery that made me so sick with disgust. In the age of the internet, events are harder to conceal from the world as people post first hand experiences, photos taken from handphones and personal opinions on the internet via blogs, facebook, and emails that help to counter whatever propaganda being churned out by Israel’s powerful spokespersons unit.
For me, it was Israel’s overkill in consistently repeating the same versions of their message, whether it was Mark Regev, or Tzipi Livni, or Avital Leibovith, that made them seem coldhearted, rehearsed and robotic and that was what shocked me most of all. In their own minds the Israelis have dehumanised the war and the death toll of Palestinian civilians meant nothing more than collateral damage. In justifying the war as an act of self-defence and by blaming Hamas, they can all sleep better at night. But the world will never forget and will never forgive them for their inhumanity.
This will be my last post on Gaza. In blogging about the war, I have learnt more about the crucial roles played by the media, humanitarian agencies and international diplomacy. I have also learnt that admidst the cruelty inflicted by man upon their fellow human beings, the true heroes of the war are the doctors who worked tirelessly to save lives as well as the aid workers who risked life and limb to rescue the injured and to bring food and other humanitarian aid to the survivors.
For the first time, I understood the importance of getting the truth out to the world and that global outrage can put an end to a senseless war that should never have happened. In my blog, I salute them as well as all those journalists who covered this humanitarian catastrophe for their courage to report the truth. In the court of public opinion, Israel has clearly lost the war,
Kak Tembam, too heartbreaking for the unnecessary loss of lives. The once oppressed race is now doing the reverse. You are correct, so many people are angry for the sake of anger, too many facts muddled up everywhere..maybe too much of facts overload. I only wish this will be over, but as we both know, such war will never be over. We can only pray.
Mary Kate, it was a mass slaughter of people kept caged in an open prison. Too much will be said in the days ahead but nothing will bring back those who died a senseless death. There is a powerful lesson here, that a nation given all the support by the United States, can very well take it upon themselves to be the worlds’ bully. The shameful response from Muslim nations, their silence and their inaction allows Israel to do what it may. The human race has become all the worse for allowing such inhumanity to triumph.
Sadly, war will never end but if more people take to heart the efforts made by humanitarian aid agencies irregardless of nationality, race or religion and emulate courageous journalists who were unafraid to tell the truth, maybe the world will be a better place, How can the world not hear the cries of the children of Gaza? Let us not descend down the path of barbarians.
Yes, pray and always follow the right path, insyaAllah! For this life here on earth is but a temporary sojourn. “To Allah we belong and truly to Him we shall return”.
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