"The Islamic militant group claimed responsibility for at least 15 of the rockets fired after midnight, as well as a barrage of mortar bombs. The attacks caused no casualties, and the Israeli army said nearly all of them appeared to land inside Gaza."
"In the Jabalya refugee camp, five Palestinians were injured on Saturday when a Qassam meant for Israel landed in the camp instead."
Since the Qassam rocket attacks on Israel started, 6 Israelis were killed. This information is readily available on the net. You also get the names of the victims, their ages, their cities, and pictures of some of them.
Yesterday, seven members of the same Palestinian family were killed, including Haitham Ghalia, the family's one-year-old baby and another 6 month-old-baby. Two weeks earlier, a man lost all of his family in another attack. The week before that another family was annihilated. In 2005, the same Ghalia family that was hit yesterday lost four members when an Israeli shell landed on their farm.
I guess these are your odds if you live in Gaza.
I don't know how many Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli response to Qassam firings alone. And I don't have names, ages or pictures of the victims. I do know that the kids of the Ghalia family loved corn-on-the cub. I suspect that the parents, now dead, must have loved the letter "H": the kids names are/were: "Huda," "Hadeel," and "Haitham."
I've said this before, but I guess it's worth repeating: the Palestinians are the ones endangered by the Qassam rockets, despite the inflated rhetoric of Hamas and the others firing them. The beneficiaries are Israeli politicians, who use these pathetic attacks to foresake any restraint when it comes to bombing a civilian population. The Qassam rockets and the war rhetoric that sells them obscure what is really going on: an Israeli war on Palestinian civilians.
Hamas uses the Qassam rockets to score political points. This is the rockets major function for the group. They do not offer any protection to the Palestinians, do not force any restraint on the Israeli army, and do not advance the Palestinians towards a just political solution. And of course, they do not change the imbalance in militrary might between the Palestinians and the Israelis one bit. Let's keep in mind that Israel does not only have a mighty army, but it's also a nuclear power. The Palestinians have the Qassam rockets that land, mostly, in Gaza.
Speaking of scoring political points: I don't believe the Israelis will let the referendum on the two state solutions take place. They will subotage it anyway they can. What happened the past two days, in my opinion, serves that purpose. They would prefer Hamas in the government, so they can annihilate the Palestinian cause from the international political map.
What happened also helps Hamas out of a tight corner: their back was to the wall because the business of governing was not going well and they were losing support. The polls show that the majority of the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza support the referendum document. Now, they are back to doing what they believe will restore their legitimacy.
8 comments:
Amal,
You seem to say that Israeli politicians want missiles to launched at Israel??? Do you have any evidence?
You are entitled to your view, but I know that the vast majority of Israelis, including the Government are very sad about what happened on the Gaza beach.
A the same time Israel has to continue responding to rocket launches. Never again will Jews allow themselves to be slaughtered without defending themselves.
Having read your posts, I believe that you are open-minded. I also think that you have been brought up on very one-sided information about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
I outlined my understanding of the origins of the conflict here
and would appreciate your comments/corrections and additions.
Hello Amal...
I do believe that firing rockets from Gaza is a very wrong act from Palestinians. As a palestinian, and regardless of the fact that some of these hand-made rockets really hit and killed palestinians, I think that using military force against Isreal is not wise at all. We have to work more on ourselves, present the conflict to the world in a better and more balanced way and then see what we can do ( but NOT through force ).
Shlemazel : I think that Amal has been brought up with enough insight to be able to see whats happening and know whats right and wrong. One of our major problems is that Isreal is controlling all the media and the whole story is being deliverd to the world in the Israeli perspectives : we( Pals ) are the terrorists and you ( Israelis )are fighting back .
...thanks for the post
Osaid,
You figured me out. I am controlling the media and all the world governments. Very hard and poorly paid work. Wouldn't wish on anyone :-)
As for the message that is being delivered to the world, I believe that until recently it was (unfairly) unfavourable to Israel. I believe this is changing fast now, mainly due to what Palestinians are doing with their self-governance.
Most Palestinians are not terrorists and everyone knows it. Terrorists are those who intentionally target civilians.
I would appreciate your comments/ suggestoins on "Shlemazl's history of te conflict". You have a different perspective and I might have well missed something important.
Shlemazl,
Israeli politicians exploit Israeli people's fears to score political points, win elections, and continue a policy that in the long run is destructive for the ordinary Israeli citizen. The only evidence I have is the daily news.
I read the Israeli press and I talk to my Israeli friends who are opposed to the occupation and the racist policies of the state of Israel. From both of these sources it's obvious to me that the majority of the Israeli public does not care. The majority, according to recent polls that I posted on this blog, want to transfer the Palestinians and would not live in the same building with a Palestinian (who is an Israeli citizen). When Palestinian children are killed, like the Gaza family recently, the Israeli public's main concern is about Israel's image, not about the victims.
There are some Israelis who do feel sadness and shock. They are working to end the occupation and for a just peace. I post about them on this blog too. But I also know that they are a tiny minority, totally ignored by their society and deeply alienated from it.
I hope things change.
Osaid,
I don't disagree with you.
Amal a,
Some of what you say is true to an extent. It is unfortunate and is a result of decades of conflict.
The Israeli public is most concerned about the safety of Israelis. I wish the same were the case with the Palestinian public, which appears to be most concerned with making sure that the Israelis are not safe.
As for the beach explosion... What did we have?
1. An explosion. Uknown source.
2. Film of a girl crawling to her dead parents and ambulance sirens in the background.
3. Palestinians blame Israel.
4. Israel states that they do not know the source and will investigate.
5. Israel's investigation declares that it is most likely that the bomb had nothing to do with Israel. The evidence is that shrapnel does not match Israeli shells, that the crater does not match Israeli shells and that the timing of the explosion does not match Israeli shooting.
Can I ask how did Palestinians know the source of the explosion prior to any investigation (item 3)? Their shells regularly go astray and they regularly have "work accidents".
Item 2 is truly disgusting. Unless the television crew and ambulances had been waiting for this to happen, they must have made the poor girl crawl for propaganda purposes.
While you are probably right that some Israelis are more concerned with their image than with the death of Palestinians, they do not enjoy the death of the Palestinians. They do not target civilians. They do not give away sweets and dance.
shlemazl,
Your post about the beach murders shows to what extent the Palestinians are dehumanized and demonized in your mind. Next you will say that the Palestinians planted shrapnel in their kid's skulls to implicate Israel.
Unfortunately, your mind is already made up and there's nothing I can say to change it.
Peace.
Nope. There are different Palestinians as there are different Jews. One of my 10-year old son's friends is a Palestinian.
Having said this, I am not a big fan of Hamas.
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