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Shema Yisrael, the cries of the Palestinian people


You live a peaceful life in a modest home. You've never bothered anyone and you've never caused trouble.

Out of the blues, a group of people claim that they should live in your house. Why? Because they have been persecuted in a war, and they claim that some 5,000 years ago, their God had told them your home was their promised land.

Somehow, the whole community agrees with their wishes, and asks you to grant them your spare-bedroom. You oblige.

After a few months, they take the whole top-floor. In a few year's time, they take over your kitchen.

After a few more years, they own your house and keep you and your family locked in the bathroom. They don't even allow you to get out, while they strip-search you the few times they do. Even if it's a medical emergency. Sometimes not even medical personnel and ambulances are allowed to see to your needs while your children die in your hands.

Desperation starts hitting you. Life seems to offer no hopes. In moments like these, you start to bang on the locked door and shout insults with all your might. Maybe the occupants might grant you a taste of freedom.

Alas, the opposite happens. They claim that your shouting is a danger to them. They come into your room, shoot at will and kill some of your children, in what they claim to be an act of self-defense.

You become furious. Seeing no point in living this sort of life, you surround yourself with explosives and blow yourself up next to the first occupant who comes near your family.

What this does though, is that it gives them another excuse to exterminate more of your people.


This is, in short, the plight of the people of Palestine. Walled up in ghettos, driven into poverty, bombed by powerful missiles and driven into despair, making Israel one of the topmost breeders of terrorists and Western-directed hate and contempt.

In the meantime, the Nobel Peace Prize winner Obama has declared that the US "fully supports Israel's right to defend itself", making his Nobel Peace Prize the joke of the century. Of course, Israel remains the state which has received most US military assistance in the world, the one armed with high-tech weapons to fight the stones of the natives, the one armed with nuclear, biological and chemical weapons without anyone batting an eyelid while wars are declared for suspected possession of such weapons in other countries. But of course, as long as the US President keeps pushing the corporatism which dispossesses the masses for the benefit of banks and corporations, he can surely count on their help when it matters most.


Comments

  1. "Out of the blues, a group of people claim that they should live in your house. Why? Because they have been persecuted in a war, and they claim that some 5,000 years ago, their God had told them your home was their promised land."

    Just to enlighten you on this aspect my friend. There is a lot of archaeological evidence proving Ancient Israel did exist which ties the Jewish nation to the land. Not once did the Jewish nation give up its statues as a nation or abandon the land from when they were forced into exile during the Roman occupation of their homeland.

    Therefore, we only work with facts in the secular world and have no need to use biblical references. As you seem an intelligent individual I am confident you will do your research on this topic and further enhance your knowledge.

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    Replies
    1. As I am sure you know, Roman descendants claimed new identities and thus gave up on their right to claim Malta as their own. When in history has the Jewish nation abandoned its identity?

      During their exile they did integrate with other societies but they never gave up on their Jewish heritage, culture and homeland. They did not willingly leave Israel. They were forced to leave by the Romans because they rose up against the occupation. Not once did they give up on their right to return to their homeland.

      I am not condoning all the actions of the State of Israel today but if individuals choose to disregard its history and its peoples, then it is only fair to disregard Palestinian history.

      The way you have framed your article disregards 95% of the people of Israel’s history. According to your article their claim to the land stems "Out of the blues" from persecution in WW2 and biblical sources. For a man of your stature and intelligence it is quite distressing to see the utter disregard of a people’s history and priority given to another’s.

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    2. Your whole comment shows how ignorant you are and devoid of history. "You should thank the countries that welcomed you to integrate them." your sentence here proves that. Study history of anti-Semitism and you will find how Jews who integrated into societies were later targeted.

      However, I am not portraying Jews as victims as they realised to stop being marginalised they needed to take control of their security and future. Not to rely on others who they thought would provide them with these fundamental responsibilities of any government.

      To get back to the history aspect, if you do not take history into account then, no nation has any legitimate right to any territory; this is basic logic any rational individual should possess. History that is a week, decade, centaury or a thousand centuries old must all be taken into account as long as there are facts proving the authenticity of it. It is people like you who further entrench polarization and do not try take other individuals perspective into account. Your reasoning of ethnic cleansing clearly is questionable (this is an entirely different debate) Please do not try insult me, I only delve into topics with people who possess rational thought as I believe Mr Mark Sammut has.

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  2. I don't really know whether you're insulted or not, and I won't apologize if you are. 'Jews who integrated into societies were later targeted.' If you have problems with everybody you mix with, don't blame everybody, blame yourself. It shows something about how you intend to 'integrate'.

    I don't blame Jews for being Jews. I'm not prejudging. I'm judging. It is good to stop relying on others, I agree - especially good to stop relying on foreign aid from poor people in rich countries being given to rich people in order to rain death and destruction on others. The fundamental responsibilities of other governments are the same responsibilities of Israel's government. You're not that special after all, and I don't give a hoot if you still believe your 'Gods chosen people'. In fact, after the latest stunt you (Israel) pulled, you've run out of compassion and understanding from almost everybody in the world.

    Most of the weapons being used today by Israel to kill Palestinians are US weapons, or others built from US funds. Most people know this, but they fail to look back at history. Hamas, was in created through Israel. They wanted Hamas to counter-resist Arafat. And then they argue "sure, Hamas served its purpose, but then we didn't want Hamas to come to this". So the US then says "oh we have such a great system, that we're going to impose it on the world..we're going to invade Iraq and teach people democracy and we're going to get Palestine to have free elections". They 'encouraged' the Palestinians to have free elections, which they did, and they elect Hamas.

    So first the US directly and indirectly (through Israel) help establish Hamas. Then we get elections and Hamas becomes dominant. So then they have to kill it. Your justifications for war make no sense. They're downright irresponsible, racist, and ultimately evil. THAT is how polarization is created. Not from people like me. I never went on a killing-spree. So keep your 'reflective' history to yourself, and don't put all of us with the same lot.

    And finally, if you want to 'delve into topics rationally' start by putting a name to yourself, rather than hiding behind anonymity.

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  3. I have quoted statements from your latest comment and followed with my own relating to the quote.

    1. “If you have problems with everybody you mix with, don't blame everybody, blame yourself. It shows something about how you intend to 'integrate'.”

    If you look at history you will find minority groups in many societies have been marginalized when states have to deflect attention from themselves. Just look at the Kurds in Iraq or the Kachen, Karen, Shan minority groups in Burma to name a few.) It has nothing to do with the minority group being the problem. Your statement holds no substance.

    2. “You're not that special after all, and I don't give a hoot if you still believe your 'Gods chosen people'. “

    I do not recall myself ever mentioning Jews are 'Gods chosen people' in any of my comments. I stated in my first comment if you took your time to read correctly, “we only work with facts in the secular world and have no need to use biblical references.” If you look at most religions they believe they are Gods chosen people. Christian extremists would say Jews are not Gods chosen people and Arab Muslims believe they are Gods chosen people due to the Qur’an being revealed to their prophet. Your continued targeting of Jews seeing themselves as 'chosen' is highly unfair. If you did not know the Zionist movement was predominantly made up of secular people who identified themselves as being part of the Jewish nation so your continued persistence on religion is not relevant in this discussion. You stereotyping Jews as being religious and believing they are “God’s chosen people” shows your narrow mindedness and as I previously mentioned in my other comment, you “do not try take other individuals perspective into account” and continue to base their legitimacy on the bible and not on secular facts. “So keep your 'reflective' history to yourself, and don't put all of us with the same lot.” I would recommend you adhere to your own statement. Thus, I am correct in saying “people like you […] further entrench polarization.”

    3. “Your justifications for war make no sense.”

    I never once justified war in any of my comments. I have just stipulated that disregarding one people’s history is highly unfair and therefore if you apply that to one it must be applied to others. I cannot even begin to start mentioning the PLO, Hamas, Jordan, Britain or the United States in this discussion, even though I have much to say. Your interpretation of the Jewish peoples claim to the land of Israel is solely based on the bible and you refuse to absorb what I have said that this has nothing to do with biblical references. There are solid archaeological facts, which it seems you refuse to acknowledge. It is not my position to enlighten you further; I have just ‘so to speak’ lead you to the door and you need to discover the facts for yourself because believe me they are out there.

    4. “And finally, if you want to 'delve into topics rationally' start by putting a name to yourself, rather than hiding behind anonymity.”

    Hiding my name has nothing to do with how I “delve into topics rationally”. The above statement makes rational thinkers question the level of your logic. By the way I do not feel insulted I just do not want our conversation to turn into a barrage of profanity in future comments as you portrayed yourself in your writing as being highly enraged with my previous commentary. Just to let you know I hold no animosity towards you. :)

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  4. Congratulations on re-writing history M.A. Sammut. Palestine never existed as a state in the last millenium; there is a ton of info to research on the subject that one can delve into; yet you chose to ignore it.
    There was never a "Palestinian" people either, just people exploited by their arab brethren (Black September anyone?) & worse: reneged by their own muslim brethren; all in the name of eradicating Jews from the area.

    Love is the solution, not hate. Yet it is putrid hate that is being taught to each & every Muslim in the middle east & beyond; which creates enormous obstacles if the issues are to be tackled at grass-root level.

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  5. You keep trying to distance yourself from your religion, yet you refer to the 'Jewish state'. So are you members of an ethnic tribe, or of a religion? What is a 'semite', and why do you use anti-semitism as something that embraces only people who are from Eastern-Europe while excluding Arabs and other native middle-easterners?

    You keep mentioning 'evidence', and 'history', whilst you refuse to acknowledge your racially separatist, cosmically racist and supremacist idea of a religion that you've built over thousands of years. You want to mix secularism into it? Sure, secular Jews. That's a good one. As for archaeological facts - that's history mate. Get over it. Just because you had something there 2000 years ago, it does not validate your 'claim' to a land. You don't just 'claim' a land and expect it to be yours. It's that kind of reasoning that just compels you to kill babies. And that's what you do.

    Do you refuse the possibility that it was Jewish behaviour, rather than murky and mystical and ultimately unprovable notions such as "anti-Semitism" that led to negative perceptions about Jews? Not even once? You're laughable.

    In a EU document calling for equal treatment between people regardless of raciality or ethnicity, why does it urge that we focus "in particular" on "anti-Semitism", if everybody is to be treated equally?

    Why does our current world culture allow one to decry 'white privilege' but never 'Jewish privilege', especially since Jews are undeniably overrepresented statistically when it comes to wealth and power?

    And finally, while your throwing missiles on others and killing kids and families, why should we, the rest of the world, care about Israel? A dubiously founded and very disruptive nation to the rest of the world - you're not worth the attention.

    The way you play the 'anti-Semitism' card every time somebody criticises Israel's foul play is very paranoid and naive. But it doesn't work anymore, thankfully.

    P.S. Putting smileys at the end of your comment as if to justify somehow being smart and having 'won' an argument - doesn't work either. I know you're anonymous and scared to put a name to your blabber. But spare us the online keyboard warrior crap.

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  6. So now that I have replied to your incessant barrage of stupidity. Let us start with facts:

    1) An examination of the sequence of events over the last month shows that Israel played the decisive role in the military escalation: from its attack on a Khartoum arms factory reportedly supplying arms to Hamas and the killing of 15 Palestinian fighters in late October, to the shooting of a mentally disabled Palestinian in early November, the killing of a 13 year-old in an Israeli incursion and, crucially, the assassination of the Hamas commander Ahmed Jabari last Wednesday during negotiations over a temporary truce.

    2) Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, had plenty of motivation to unleash a new round of bloodletting. There was the imminence of Israeli elections (military attacks on the Palestinians are par for the course before Israeli polls); the need to test Egypt's new Muslim Brotherhood president, Mohamed Morsi, and pressure Hamas to bring other Palestinian guerrilla groups to heel; and the chance to destroy missile caches before any confrontation with Iran, and test Israel's new Iron Dome anti-missile system.

    3) After six days of sustained assault by the world's fourth largest military power on one of its most wretched and overcrowded territories, at least 130 Palestinians had been killed, an estimated half of them civilians, along with five Israelis. The goal, Israel's interior minister, Eli Yeshai, insisted, had been to "send Gaza back to the middle ages".

    4) True, the bloodshed hasn't so far been on the scale of Operation Cast Lead in 2008-9, which left 1,400 Palestinians dead in three weeks. But the issue isn't just who started and escalated it, or even the grinding "disproportionality" of yet another Israeli military battering (even before last month's flareups, 314 Palestinians had been killed since 2009, as against 20 Israelis).

    5) To portray Israel as some kind of victim with every right to "defend itself" from attack from "outside its borders" is a grotesque inversion of reality. Israel has after all been in illegal occupation of both the West Bank and Gaza, where most of the population are the families of refugees who were driven out of what is now Israel in 1948, for the past 45 years.

    6) Despite Israel's withdrawal of settlements and bases in 2005, the Gaza Strip remains occupied, both effectively and legally – and is recognised as such by the UN. Israel is in control of Gaza's land and sea borders, territorial waters and natural resources, airspace, power supply and telecommunications. It has blockaded the strip since Hamas took over in 2006-7, preventing the movement of people, materials, and food supplies in and out of the territory – even calculating the 2,279 calories per person that would keep Gazans on an exemplary "diet". And it continues to invade the strip at will.

    One word for Israel - fascist savages. Actually that's two words.

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  7. My friend let us just agree to disagree you simply have an agenda against Jews. You are narrow minded as you completely disregard their history based on secular facts. Who is to say I am Jewish or not? You keep refering to me as I am Jewish, this shows you steryotype and we don't need individuals who possess your qualities for peace to be achieved. If you have to learn anything just remember compromise is needed. Good luck with your life if you use it for the greater good for humanity as a whole.

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  8. 1) I don't have an agenda against Jews. I have an agenda against murder of innocent people.

    2) I never had the intent of getting to agree with you, or getting you to agree with me. My issue was with Israel's political class, not with you.

    3) You may be Jewish, or not. My arguments are unaffected by that.

    4) My qualities for peace include discussion, democracy and liberty. Not missiles, concentration camps, and poverty.

    5) Compromise is needed. That's one thing I agree with you on. I just don't see compromise in the land takeover, and the methods used to take over.

    6) Thanks for your well wishes, the same goes for you.

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