Spring... Term

After a month resting, exploring and playing around, its back to lectures and tutorials. Damn, I wish the holidays were a bit more longer.

What I did during the Christmas holidays were mostly exploring. Went to Newcastle, Cardiff, Bath and most of all Land's End (southern most part of England). Finally, my childhood dreams came true, and I dare say the 6 hour drive was worth it. Good view from there too.

Read BBC online, and I've just found out that 1000 people have lost their lives in the Gaza conflict. Out of the 1000, almost 400 of them were children and women. So far 13 Israelis lost their lives, with 3 civilians killed.

Its kind of disheartening to see lives lost in the Middle East. It does not matter whose side you're on - either Palestinians or Israelis. When I read the newspapers or watch the telly about people protesting against the conflict, there are two sides: either you are a pro-Palestinian or pro-Israeli. Both sides will never ever condemn the side they are supposting. For example, watch the video from this link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7822656.stm

That was from a pro-Israeli point of view. They say that Hamas should stop sending rockets, but they never say that the Israeli Government to allow the Gaza border to open up so humnitarian aid could be given to needy Palestinians. They never say that the Israeli settlers to stop occupying Palestinian land illegally. They never say that their government should respect all UN resolutions. They never say that their government should go back to the 1967 border.

I haven't gotten a pro-Palestinian, or I should say pro-Hamas video which I could show you, but generally they will never ever mention the lines 'Hamas should stop fighting and start sitting down and talk about getting into good terms with the Isrealis for the sake of Palestinians.'

I am sick of hearing the same old story, with the sound of modern weapons and suicide bombers. If we read about how an average Palestinian lives in Gaza, you can understand why they resort to such unethical and extreme measures to have themselves to be heard. Food and water are scarce. If there are food, probably you have to que in a very long line. If you want to go anywhere, you have to spend hours and hours going through Israeli army controlled checkpoints. That if you are lucky. They could just not allow you to pass through. And it doesn't look nice, with all the barbwire and armed soldiers. Sometimes they will be bullied by the Isreali army, and some may have their relatives or friends being shot dead. Or you are in a UN shelter seeking refuge from Israeli bombs, but the place you seek refuge in was bombed by the Israeli Air Force. You die. Funny thing is, the Israeli Defence Ministry will come out with this statement: "It is regrettable that this incident happened. We will conduct an investigation." But nothing will be heard ever since.

I rarely get to read about how an odinary Israeli living within the radius of Hamas-fired rockets, but surely it is scary for them. Imagine having a walk and soon "BANG!!", a rocket just landed and exploded in front of you. That if you're lucky. What happens if it lands on you? Another point is that the Israelis have been enduring rocket attacks from Hamas for a few years. I suppose they're quite pissed after being bombarded by rockets. One of the reasons why Olmert's government wanted to wage war with Hamas in Gaza was to stop Hamas launching rockets. However, was the attack proportionate to the justification saught? Massive military attack with schools, UN buildings, hospitals bombed? Continous air raids? Give only a three hour window for humanitarian aid?

Additionally, Gaza is now practically a prison: Israel and Egypt closed their borders with Gaza. The Israeli Navy blocks all sea traffic into and out of Gaza. How can a small patch of land sustain large ammounts of people? That is why Palestinians need humanitarian aid: people simply have nothing, nothing, nothing.

I am trying to be a neutral person when it comes to this crisis - I do not want to be emotionally driven. But it is hard for me not to put the bulk of the blame to the Israeli Government for being inconsiderate, careless killing of innocent civilians and not confroming to international standards of conduct in armed conflict. The same goes with Hamas's launching of rockets into Israel.

Why Palestinians support Hamas? How could the Palestinians not support them when Fatah is corrupted and more or less a toothless tiger? With all the circumstances around them, you may think that they have come to the point of desperation. Try looking the situation with a cat or a dog pushed into a corner, when it feels threatened they will bite. They're there. They're living for the sake of living.

Quoting the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, "The effect of war is more dangerous than war. It is sowing seeds of extremism around the region." Taking the words from him may make people think I'm a leftist or an extremist considering Syria is one of the few countries under Bush's 'Axis of Evil', lol. But hey, I think he's true for once. Suicide bombers in response to killing children; intifada's in response to air raids. This is what I can summarise why Palestinians and Israelis never stop fighting for 60 years.

I can safely say that Israel fights to prove that its strong for a tiny nation, while Palestine fights for its survival.

I think if i were to make a proper post about this, probably it would be the length of a thesis.

There are links for you to read more about this crisis: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/middle_east/2001/israel_and_the_palestinians/default.stm. This will lead you to more opinions, news and stories.