The shame of silence
Last week, the Post reported on protesters who, trying to highlight the plight of the people of Gaza, blocked the checkout counters of M&S in Broadmead with trolleys full of goods the company imports from Israel.
The shoppers were outraged at the inconvenience of having their shopping interrupted by what were called "jobless anarchists".
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Why is it that when anyone protests against Israel, they are assumed to be anti-Semitic, anarchist, leftist or jobless.
If Muslims dare to criticise Israel, it is because they are Muslim – ironic, then, that literally as Israel was bombing Gaza, Muslims around the world were fasting to celebrate the day when Moses led the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt – Islamists or terrorist sympathisers.
Is it possible that decent people, of all religions and backgrounds, employed or unemployed, could be critical of Israel because it has killed more than 1,000 impoverished, innocent people?
I condemn Israeli actions not because I am anti-Semitic, an anarchist, leftist, jobless, Islamist or a terrorist sympathiser, but because I am a human being.
I have also spoken out against Mugabe, Saddam, Osama and their like, against the rich defrauding the poor, homelessness, intolerance, the exploitation of the vulnerable, etc, and I have done so repeatedly and consistently. I have not just expressed my sympathy for those suffering, I have condemned the oppressors too.
So I have earned the right to question why it is that too few people in authority and those who should know better are unwilling to condemn Israel for its actions.
Stephen Hawking said: "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance... it is the illusion of knowledge."
Thanks to Hasbara (pro-Israel) media lobbying organisations like BICOM, ignorance is widespread. A survey of BBC news coverage found that 90 per cent of viewers were unaware that Palestinians are living under occupation.
For too many people, ignorance is an excuse. Those that remained silent during this time should be ashamed.
As the images flashed on your screens, how many times did you change the channel? How many times did you say "they bring it on themselves"?
As the journalists are now allowed back into Gaza and the truth is beginning to be revealed, how many times will you say "if I had known it was that bad, I would have done something"?
With Holocaust Memorial Day around the corner on January 27, it is clear too many people are still too willing to say "I never knew".
With a fragile ceasefire in place, Gaza will fall away from the media spotlight. Israel has occupied even more Palestinian land and the economic blockade of Gaza remains. The suffering of the Palestinians will go on.
In its wake, this conflict has sown the seeds for misguided acts of revenge, adding to the suffering of innocents around the world. I will stand up and condemn each one.











7 Comments
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by Mariam, bristol
Wednesday, January 21 2009, 9:31PM
“Bristol should be proud to have a citizen like Mr Siddique, who is not afraid of speaking the truth ¿ especially in the face all these ignorant people, who obviously cannot even comprehend the fantastic columns that he writes, and instead ask dumb questions like Sally ¿why are you reporting twice this week?¿ didn¿t you notice last weeks article was not online? It¿s online only now, despite being published last week. But you¿re obviously too blinded by your own ignorance to notice anything other than your own sheer hate of an innocent people, and your thirst for their genocide.
Farooqs¿ comments, the truth and simple hard facts cannot penetrate the thick armour of ignorance that people like sally, steven and mattemulsion wear. As I have said in previous comments it is not worth entering a dialogue with such people- it¿s akin to talking to george dubya.
The facts speak for themselves, the pictures speak for themselves, if they don¿t there are plenty of people like Mr Siddique ready to unravel the truth and present it in a manner that most people can comprehend and then go and investigate themselves further. Then there are the ignorant haters readily identifiable by their stupid comments who do not even deserve to be dignified with a response, who if they don¿t understand something- it should be removed from the public forum- right steven?”
by Ruqayyah, Bristol
Wednesday, January 21 2009, 8:27PM
“*Brown, the arab world and the muslim world*
all you have to di is look at the pictures and israel's brutality stares you in the face! FREE FREE PALESTINE!”
by Ruqayyah, Bristol
Wednesday, January 21 2009, 11:50AM
“i am truly and honestly shocked at these comments! speak out AGAINST hamas and terrorism? zionists are the terrorist, nothing is more anti-semitic than zionists.l they go against their own torah, that says that jews should never have their own state, they should be ruled under other faiths, this is a punishment for them. Why should Farooq speak out against terrorism? he is speaking out for the humans here, the right, he is speaking out against the wrong. Hamas IS A DEMOCRATIC party elected by the PALESTINIANS! they are trying to defent their nation?...exactly what israel claims to be doing. so it's okay for israel to "defend" themselves but as soon as hamas resists they;re terrorists all of a sudden? the real terrorists are the ZIONISTS! remind me, who has broken UN resolutions? Who has violated the international humanitarian law? who has committed several war crimes by violating these laws AND the geneva convention? the answer : ISRAEL! but why doesn't anyone draw attention to this? it's israel that has violated the fourth geneva convention by destroying civilian properties (their homes) over 6000 homes have been brought to rubble. the fourth geneva convention prohibits the destruction of civilian properties. israeli's have also killed more than 400 innocent children, with that number still rising. they've broken a law by doing so. you tell me how can a unborn child be of threat? how can a 4-year old girl playing be a threat? they killed this 4 year old girl and then fed her to dogs. they (israeli's) shot a palestinian pregnant mother! yea, 13 israeli's have died, 4 of them by other israeli's! 13israeli's to over 1000 palestinians...you tell me whose the terroist? oh and what israel is doing is a genocide, according to the international legal definition of a genocide, it's a genocide! israel is violating the UN by bombing their schools, burning their aid. what do you expect the palestinians to do? let them sit back and let illegal settlers bomb them, illegally take of their land? violate their human rights? violate the UN? kill their parents, families, homes, their belongings? all you have to do is read the story of Dr. Abdul Aish a palestinian specialist doctor that works in israel, who is respected by israeli doctors. the idf killed his 4 daughters, his 4 innocent daughters. was he a terrorist? was he hamas?
anyway, i need to get back to my lesson but i think people should research, look up the facts, the statistics and then come judge. and yeah, farooq should keep reporting this tragedy, this systematic genocide over and over again because people need to know, ignorance needs to be wiped away, people can't just turn a blind eye to the truth, to the injustices of humanity. and yea, the silence is shameful and deafening, of Obama, blair, brown the arab world, the christian world but more importantly OF HUMANS, of the human world!”
by Stuart, S Wales
Wednesday, January 21 2009, 2:04AM
“A great article which could have gone a lot further. The overbearingly pro-Israeli bias of the media has been as shocking as usual. No mention of the fact that Israeil never honoured the 6-month ceasefire, never mind shattering it in November. No mention that Hamas is the democratically elected party but was given no time to govern Palestine by order of the US. No mention that Hamas signed up to the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative which implicity recognises Israel's right to security and peace. No mention of the rich gas resources off the coast of the Gaza Strip. No mention that the main Israeli opposition, Likud, states in its charter that there will never be a Palestine. Will the EU and US punish Israeli's if they elect the extremist Likud party? The mainstream media lies by omission.”
by mattemulsion, oldland common
Tuesday, January 20 2009, 8:32PM
“The same old rant, no mention of Hamas as usual”