So what happened on that flotilla? This video tells another story.
Gaza Freedom Flotilla: Iara’s Testimony. from Cultures of Resistance on Vimeo.
it is clear that this video tells another story of what happened on the flotilla. We don’t have the whole truth from either video that we’ve seen. I suspect that the truth is somewhere in the middle. It appears that some on this flotilla were aching for a fight. Who brings a slingshot with them anywhere? On the other hand, Israeli commandos who attack in the middle of the night weren’t simply innocent victims either. In my opinion, this whole flotilla confrontation is a reflection of the whole Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Two peoples telling a story from two completely opposite sides of the spectrum. We’re not to get peace until we can find some middle ground. Right now, it doesn’t appear that anybody looking to hard to find that middle ground. Sooner or later everyone will need to come to the conclusion that they are not going to exterminate their opponent. Neither the Palestinians or the Israelis will get tired and move to Iowa. Both peoples have been in this land for thousands of years. an equitable solution needs to be found.
What is lost most in the conflict is the true history of Israel. Israel was founded on terrorism in 1948 upon the invite for all Jews to return to “their homeland,” specifically with Russian Orthodox bombing city markets in Jerusalem. A nation built on terrorism will live in terrorism. Israel has continually cried wolf in the wake of the holocaust by calling it self-defense, all the while committing the same vicious acts upon another people. Israel is the only nation that has it's own special word for genocide. When will we decry the holocaust of the Palestinian people, specifically in Gaza? When we will call it what it really is?
Further, after flotilla, it should *not* be a great achievement for Israel to “review” and allow basic human needs such as food and medical care. In other other countries–those with whom America is not so much in bed with–we call those denials of basic human rights “war crimes.” Part of the very reason Palestinians in Gaza support Hamas is because Hamas attempt to supply–when and where they can–these basic needs to the people. If you give people public, consistently available alternatives by opening a free market with other options, only then does change have a chance. The West Bank is such a clear and brazen difference from Gaza, it is baffling that no one acknowledges this fact, which is blatantly apparent in a country with two segregated (and barricaded) populations.
And let us not forget the Right Wingers/Zionists from our own country who will deny Palestinian Christians of their own existence–the people who have been the caretakers and keepers of Christian holy sites for milliennia–all in the name of Israel. For shame.
Julie –
thanks for stopping by. Yes, you are correct but both sides have similar stories. I'm reminded of a scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxFrXuly_B0
Some may say that I'm not taking this terrible situation seriously enough. I am. I truly am. I think that the conditions that the Palestinian people are being forced to live in are awful. Both sides have great men in their stories. Both sides have some awful men in their stories. We need to quit finger-pointing and find a solution that will work for everyone.
Thanks for your comments.