Palestine's right to fight
I have been inundated with text messages about the Gaza crisis, on subjects like campaigns to boycott Israeli goods, appeals for humanitarian aid and encouraging people to attend demonstrations.
On Saturday, I joined about 500 Bristolians on a march through the city centre to protest about the impending Israeli onslaught. We were welcomed with cheers and the tooting of car horns. I felt a sense of unity and accomplishment. Later that evening though, ignoring the world outcry, Israel invaded Gaza.
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There is now growing anger as images of dead Palestinian children flash on our TV screens. There is a frustrating sense that Israel is acting as a recruiting agent for the likes of Osama Bin Laden, and seemingly incapable of learning from history.
During World War II, after the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939, Jewish ghettos were set up to control the millions of Polish Jews. Inside the ghettos they lived on starvation rations before, in 1941, shipment to extermination camps began.
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Despite being trapped in effective death camps, Jewish resistance groups managed to operate. In January 1943, German forces tried to level the Warsaw ghetto, but were beaten off by Jewish resistance fighters. Another attempt to destroy the ghetto led to the uprising of April 1943. For one month, the Jews fought off the German army but their resistance was eventually crushed.
Today, conditions in Gaza are very similar to the Warsaw ghetto. Palestinian resistance groups operating against Israeli forces are little different to the Jewish groups that fought the Germans.
For the last 18 months, the 1.5 million people herded into the Gaza ghetto have had to endure a suffocating economic blockade of their land by the Israeli army. There was a critical shortage of food and medicine even before Israel's current war on Gaza.
Israel claims to be acting in self-defence, responding to Hamas firing "thousands" of rockets into Israel. In the last eight years, 20 Israelis have died, yet in the last 10 days, Israel has killed more than 500 Palestinians. When the IRA bombed London, did the RAF bomb Ireland to teach the Irish a lesson?
Why did Hamas not renew the six-month truce with Israel? Was it because Israel mercilessly refused to lift the economic blockade of Gaza? Who then is acting in self-defence? Israel, or the Palestinians, whose land has been occupied for 60 years? Do we ever hear of the Palestinians acting in self-defence?
The Palestinians are under occupation, and as such, they have the right to self-determination under the UN Charter. Recourse to an armed struggle to obtain that right is derived from international law.
Also under international law, Israel, as the occupying power, is accountable for the safety of the citizens of the territory which it is occupying. Instead, Israel is using horrid weaponry like phosphorous and cluster bombs in one of the most overcrowded territories in the world.
To add insult to injury, before bombing Gaza, Israel kindly dropped leaflets, asking people to leave their homes. And where exactly should they have gone? The sea?
Comments
by mrgas, S Wales
Wednesday, January 21 2009, 1:53AM
“Good article. The flow of arms to the terrorists must be stopped; the US and other countries pour billions of dollars worth of arms to them every year.”
by WorkingClassHero, Bristol
Thursday, January 15 2009, 10:30PM
“Brian, stop talking wet. You dont know the first thing about me. I stated the honest truth. So run along with your textbook insults.”
by Abdu, Gloucester
Thursday, January 15 2009, 5:42PM
“Rob, why dont you complain about the pro israeli and bias media that try and victimise the savage and bloody state of israel, anyway isnt that the west has been blabbering on about for the last several years.
Mr Sidique can say what he wants especially if it is the truth, youre just acting like that becuase the truth hurts sometimes.
The fact is that more than 1000 palestinian women and children have been slaughtered and 13 israelis have been killed in this conflict. Not to mention all the other hundreds of massacres that israel has done on the palestinians, many many millions have been savegely murdered and israel has stolen all the land illegally. So this is much worse than the holocaust. And hamas are justified in defending their families and fiends and themselves if there people have persecuted for sixty years. And rememeber hamas was democratically elected and was born years ago as a resistance group to israeli savagery. And dont give me the lie that hamas are hiding behind their own families, if israel didnt illegally occupy most of the land then hamas would find somewhere to go. And the gaza strip is tiny with 1.5million people inside, very densley populated area. Its yet again another lie from the israelis to give them an excuse to murder thousands more innocent civilians which is what they want to do. People who use the human shields lie, finding abetter lie to try and condone israel's violent actions!
And Rob, stop trying to victimise israel.”
by Rob Jones, Brentry
Wednesday, January 14 2009, 6:45PM
“Yet again another completely one sided view of the the Gasa situation. And to liken it to the holocaust is disgracefull.”
by Brian, cradiff
Tuesday, January 13 2009, 2:03PM
“to the person who commented below, (workingclasshero, bristol),
Your a pathetic, uneducated person!..You know nothing about muslims, you don't even know who they are, why are you even commenting, your just embarasing yourself!..Muslims get on well with lots of people, your just this sort of person who not just muslims don't like but even animals and non-religious people. So zip it!”
by WorkingClassHero, Bristol
Monday, January 12 2009, 10:55AM
“A silly protest in the centre of Bristol is not going to make a blind bit of difference to what is going on in the Middle East. They all just jump on the band wagon, because there is something to shout about. I dont remember any of the islamic community protesting when we were bombed in London. Or when the Twin Towers were attacked? Muslims dont care about US, or our people, our way of living, our values. So why should WE care about them?”
by Miriam, Bristol
Sunday, January 11 2009, 8:48PM
“Im fed up with reading the pathetic comments from the likes of Englishman (Israelman I think!), Kevin (common name -but no common sense) and tickledsilly (Incredibly silly as proven by your drivel!). Instead discussing the issue at hand ¿ the MASSACRE OF INNOCENTS BY ISRAEL - you digress away ¿as is the way of people who lack the knowledge to have an informed discussion. Its futile to have a dialogue with you.
Farooq ¿ again a fantastic article ¿ which is indeed thought provoking for all of us that can think. It certainly highlights the double standards we have become used to and the hypocrisy of Israel is astounding. The once oppressed people have become the oppressors and murders of the worst kind. I think the people that died in the concentration camps would be horrified to see this outrage by Israel.
I say to those people defending Israel ¿ if you believe Israel is so peace loving why don¿t you try and take an aid truck to Gaza and lets see if Israel is as indiscriminate in bombing you as they are with red cross and UN aid convoys!!
Or why don¿t you send your children and families to go and live in Palestine where you believe conditions are so good that they should not dare to fire a katushka rocket despite being oppressed, and living under occupation, and of course they shouldn¿t try and defend themselves now that Israel is unleashing uranium depleted weapons on them and when phosphorus weapons are used. No -how dare they fire rockets (similar to a firework rocket ¿ unlikely to kill as figures show), Its a rocket not a missile!! Why don¿t you send your families to live there and then tell me whether your children are more likely to die from the rockets of Hamas or the bombs of Israel?
EP well done for not giving into the ¿let¿s ban the freedom of speech of the muslims¿ brigade -and please continue to print the fantastic columns by Farooq Siddique ¿ Keep up the good work.”
by soarer, bristol
Sunday, January 11 2009, 5:22PM
“The state of israel only came about because of the guilt felt about the holocaust. The guilt by the winning powers to F all about it. It is also convenient for America to have them as another part of their empire in amongst teh arabs and closer to Russia. Hamas was elected democratically to lead teh palestinian people. If you have an oppressed, poor people, with their land taken and basically held in the large prison that is the gaza strip- all they want is hope and strong words. Thats how Hitler got in”
by Abdu, Gloucester
Sunday, January 11 2009, 3:56PM
“Sometimes i wonder why i even bother!”
by Abdu, Gloucester
Sunday, January 11 2009, 3:34PM
“How can both sides be as bad as each other when israel have killed 800+ women and children only in 2 weaks, let alone to the other hundreds of massaces they have commited over the last sixty years. they have 2nd strongest army in world f16 fighter planes tanks, most amount of nuc. weapens in the world, 400. While palestinians have rocks to fight back with and hamas has to hand make their own katusha rockets and have killed 28 in 8 yesrs!!!!!! That looks like it is only israels fault to me. And dont give the pathetic lie that hamas are situatiing themselves near towns and villages so they can have their own families and friends killed. If israel didnt occupy the land illegally then they would find some space to locate themselves and by the way there are 1.5 million people in gaza in a tiny strip 23 miles long 15m wide, very densely populated. Im sure you can find a betterlie than that to try and condone israel's bloody actions. And rememeber if it wasnt for them "scary" katusha rockets wouldnt be landing in israel because they broke the ceasefire, theyt stole the land illegally and they created hamas due to israel's savegrey on innocent palestinians.
"I say let them carry on but the problem comes when it spills over onto the streets of MY country when Muslims abuse the freedom of speech they enjoy here but would never be allowed in Islamic republics or "democracies"." - MY country - BNP by any chance? Sure sound like it.
And maybe englishman if muslims wernt being murdered all over the world. Im telling you that people being killed in iraq, palestine,chechnya, srebinicia, afghanistan etc. etc. are in a MUCH WORSE situation then you, Englishman. Stop trying to victimise yourself, if the British army didnt invade iraq, although they had no nuclear weapons and if britain help innocent peoplein gaza and stopped murdering more civilians then muslims wouldnt try to harm property or police (which i imagine were a small amount of muslims but in a desperate attempt Englishman has tried to make seem like a terrible act - its not worse than what the savage israelis have to the innocent gazans)
Yes there are a small amount of people who have harmed the name of islam being a peaceful religion(al qaeda and osama bin laden being the main people) but the overwhelming majority of muslims are peaceful. And it does not give uusa britain and israel the excuse to muder innocent civilians every day!
And by the way Englishman you still conveniently avoid most of points that have brought up on my comments below, including the one about you being angry when mr siddique gives his opinion which is true and you say nothing about the bias pro israeli media. You know israel is at fault but unfortunately for you your feeble attempts attempts at trying to make hamas and israel seem as bad as each other are failing miserably. And by the way stop trying to victimise israel as well as yourself, you live in luxury compared to the gazans.
There you are again trying to bring small issues and conflicts that you have maipulated to try to make muslims look like they are not peaceful. Let me repeat this to you the millionth and last time:
YOU DO NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ISLAM, SO STOP TRYING TO FIND FEEBLE WAYS TO SHOW THAT IT IS. I AM ARABIC. I AM A MUSLIM. I UNDERSTAND THE QUR'AN AND I CAN ITS HOLY TEXT CLEARLY AND I AM TELLING YOU THAT EVERY VERSE PARAGRAPH CHAPTER ETC. IS FAIR AND SHOWS THAT ISLAM IS A PEACEFUL RELIGION. So dont try and go and find yet another load of crap to show muslims and islam as not peaceful.”