Monday, January 5, 2009

Stop the killings in Gaza!

I have just watched the interview by CNN with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. She has justified the invasion of Gaza, saying the regime is against the Hamas and not Palestinians. She has claimed that civilians would not be the target although she has admitted that ordinary people have been killed. No amount of her explanation is going to convince the world. With all the talk of sophisticated intelligence, drone planes, camera fitted balloons and so-called safe targets, innocent people are being killed. Schools, hospitals and homes have been bombed. So what is she talking about? Even with Hamas building tunnels to smuggle arms, the fact is that the simple folks are being hit and not Hamas fighters. Since the Israeli attacks started, more than 400 people have been killed and over 2,000 injured. At last count, over 25% of the deaths have been civilians. This a shocking start to 2009. Killing people has never achieved anything - whether by Hamas and the Israelis. If Gaza has become a more dangerous place, so has the world now. It would trigger more militant reactions against the US and its allies. The winner is this case would be the hawks all over the Muslim world. Again, the ordinary people and moderates would lose out as emotions run high. Stop the killings in Gaza!

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

and how do you propose we stop Hamas from firing rockets across to civilian Israelis? Give them more land? Give them ALL the land.

Dude, there's no win-win in this situation. Hamas will not stop until Israel is totally eliminated.

I like what Barack Obama said, "If someone was sending rockets on my house where my daughters were sleeping at night, I would do everything to stop it, and I would expect Israelis to do the same thing."

I know i would do the same. Wouldn't you?

cordoba1 said...

WCW,

This is a troubling start to 2009 and you can be sure the more radical states like Syria and Iran will not be standing still while the Palestinians are massacred. The troubling phase will start when Iran, Syria or even Hizbollah fire rockets into Israel to divert attentiona way from Gaza.

I do not know whether Malaysians realise what Palestinian Occupation means...although I have not been to Palestine, I was lucky enough to travel to Jordan(which borders Israel and Palestine) on a number of occasions and had some exchange of views with Palestinians living there. Only then I realised that Palestinians are trapped in their own country and there is no freedom of entry and exit as all checkpoints and border crossings are manned by Israelis. Malaysians will have a hard time getting into Palestine as we are the only country in the world that has a "Not Allowed to Visit Israel" stamp in our passports.

The real issue is when will israel stop the Occupation of Palestine and return the lands they stole from the Palestinians in the 1976 war.

Unknown said...

Dear Wong,

You are right.

No amount of explanation by the Israeli foreign minister can justify the killings of ordinary citizens.

No one condone this and certainly I condemn the killing of civilians in the strongest possible term.

The military will classify this as Collateral Damage.

No matter how the military try to avoid the killings of civilians, it is an impossible feat to achieve. As they say, the bombs have no eyes.

But have any one ask and ponder why the Israelis pursue with this drastic military action, knowing that they will be condemned internationally.

Surely they must have strong reasons to take this drastic military action.

Is the reasons to take this drastic military action justified ?

I don't know.

But the fact that they pursue with this drastic military action only shows that they must have considered it carefully and thoroughly.

What can we as ordinary citizens do ? One thing we can do is to pray for peace to prevail in the Middle east. That is all we can do that will be effective.

With God all things are possible.

CWI MALAYSIA said...

LONDON DEMONSTRATION AGAINST THE SLAUGHTER IN GAZA
http://asocialistmalaysia.blogspot.com/2009/01/video-london-demonstration-against.html

Unknown said...

Dear Wong,

To your Reader Ben:

You made a good point.

It is refreshing to read someone who has a similar view point.

Israel always has a policy to use disproportionate force against its enemies as deterent measure. If you kill one of mine, I will kill 10 of yours. Justified or not, that is another matter.

In a sense, Isreal has no choice when surrounded by enemies on all sides, some which has declared to wipe it off the whole map.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Anonymous said...

The conflict between Israel & Palestine is a very complex issue.

Why is Fatah not helping Hamas by fighting back Israel?

Why other Arab countries, except perhaps Iran and Syria, only critisize but no real action taken against Israel?

Because all these parties also hate Hamas.

Can someone translate the following article from Sin Chew, that told you what happened during the demonstration led by UMNO youth last week - Palestinians quarrel with Palestinians! The Palestinian Diplomat scolding the Palestinian demonstrator, not Israel!

http://opinions.sinchew-i.com/node/8280

Anonymous said...

Agreed 100% that there's no justification to civilian killings but here are the facts ...

1) Hamas is the one that cancels the 6 months peaceful truce ... and starts firing the rockets into Israel.

2) It was Israel that withdrew from Gaza Strip in 2005 (it occupied since 1967) with the promise from PLO that no rockets will be fired from there...

Suggest Malaysia sends its Philipines negotiators to the Middle East - I nominate Pak Lah!

Anonymous said...

Why are there no condemnation of the rocket attacks by Hamas? What do you think Ban Ki Moon would say if North Korea fires rockets into South Korea?

Anonymous said...

WCW - instead of writing about Gaza, why don't you write the TRUTH instead not only in yr blog but also in that rag you call a newspaper about OUR country?

malayamuda said...

What about the slaughtering of Tamils in Sri Lanka ?

arent the Sinhalese behaving like Zionists ?

Anonymous said...

There was no such thing as a Palestinian state until the Romans whacked the Israelites for rebelling against Rome. To humiliate the Israelites, the Romans called the place as Palestinian land. So it depends on how far back in history you wanna go. Maybe before the Israelis settled there,another tribe was occupying the land there. Maybe the historians can comment on this, but it is irrelevant now. The reality is there are the Israelis, and there are the Palestinians there now. The problem is to get them to live peacefully side by side.
Mojo

Anonymous said...

What would Malaysians say and do, if one of our neighbours insists on firing rockets into Malaysia? Would Malaysians roll over and play dead? Anyway, the Israel-Palestinian conflict is beyond Malaysia's ability and influence to help, cruel as it may sound.
So let's get back to cleaning up our own house. There are still a lot of poverty, illnesses, education, the homeless, etc in Malaysia that still need attention.
KLite

Anonymous said...

Nothing more barbaric then killig and harming innnocent civilians, children and other public targets. No excuses are acceptable. Israel has been doing this for years. Israelites are simply inhumane and barbaric!

Anonymous said...

The Palestinians now cry when they are getting killed. Why did they allow Hamas to keep on shooting rockets into Israel? Didn't they know the consequence of their action? It was like a chihuahua peeing onto the face of a lion. Sooner or later the lion will bite off the head and ass of the chihuahua. Why didn't UN or the other countries stop the Hamas from shooting the rockets in the first place. Why wasn't there an urgency to push for a peaceful solution before the shooting and bombing started?

Anonymous said...

The Israelis are pretty smart people. I have never been to the middle east, but I hear that Israel will allow you into the West Bank, the Gaza, or even into Israel if you apply for a special pass so that they don't have to stamp on your passport. They are very pragmatic. They like your tourist dollar. And they like to improve on the PR. Can any Malaysian who has been there please tell me if that special entry pass thing is true?
Have$WillTravel

Anonymous said...

The World has been duped by BIG OIL companies. After pushing oil price sky high and reaping billions in profit, they dump the oil contracts and short the market by telling evrybody there is no demand. Meanwhile the BIG OIL companies are buying oil at dirt cheap price and hoarding the oil, and buy long on contracts. Now they are ready to push the price up. So you should expect a lot of trouble in the middle east. Every time shooting starts anywhere in the ME, the oil price goes up. The shooting just started. You should expect "hidden hands" to create tension here and there. Maybe the days of USD200 p.b. are coming soon. Since the shooting started a week ago, the oil price has climbed from USD36 to USD47. If Iran jumps in, it will shoot past USD50. And when the USA fleet goes there, the price will then go past USD60. When USA nd Iran exchange a few coarse words, the price will go past USD70. And all the Arabs and Iranians would love to see that happen. Set off a few bombs in those ME countries, and the price will shoot past USD100.
Dead Duck Year

Anonymous said...

Hello Ben,

If someone was sending rockets on my house where my daughters were sleeping at night, I would do everything to stop it. But WAIT. Why are these people sending rockets to my house? Did my brother in law kill their children? Did my cousin block their children's access to education? Did my uncle cut their family's supply of food and medicine?

Perhaps that was the reason why they send rockets to my house. Oh what the heck, the hell with them. My daughters' blood is more valuable than all of their childrens'. Bring in the bombs, honey! We got some massacring to do!

Sincerely,

Fazil

Anonymous said...

If all the middle east countries collectively make stand against the israelis ie you push us and we will bomb you to kingdom come, it will make the israelis think twice before doing anything stupid. How I wish Sadam is still around. He can teach the israelis a few lessons.

ChengHo said...

Hamas won in the democratic process election which was exported from the US what do you expect when people occupied your land .
Gaza people have the right to defend the occupation.

Anonymous said...

I think the root of the problem is Zionism which is the mastermind of all violence. I think majority of Jewish people condemned these attacks on Palestinian civilians. Major Israeli political figures are staunch followers of Zionism which had never been exposed. Something should be done before it is too late.

shankar~selina said...

Why don't you tell Hamas to stop shooting rockets into Israel? Israel is just defending themselves. According Richard B. Cheney the US did not give the OK for Israel to go to Gaza. So stop blaming the US. The firing of the feeble, home-made al-Qassam rockets by Palestinians is both useless and counter-productive. At this rate it is game over for Hamas..

Anonymous said...

Some things never change. We can demonstrate till the cows come home or the chickens come home to roost but there is nothing to stop Israel from slaughtering Palestnians. So dont waste time with these mutts. Right now, it's the economy, stupid. If Dr Mahathir wants to boycott US goods, let him go ahead. he can stop drinkinng cocacola, that is his business. The people are more worried about putting food and beeer on the table.

Anonymous said...

Why bother? If the Palestinians and Arabs are not fighting with the Israelis, they will be fighting among themselves anyway. They love fighting. It is in their blood and their sense of "manhood".
Look at Iraq. When Saddam was there, Iraqis were killing fellow Iraqis. After Saddam is gone, the Iraqis are still killing Iraqis. The Palestinians are killing Palestinians even when they are fighting the Israelis. And the Turks and the Kurds love to kill each other. The Syrians and the Lebanese kill each other. The Lebanese kill fellow Lebanese. SO Malaysians, don't hold your breath for peace in the middle east. Focus on your economy. There are enough problems at home. PR and NBN are at each other's throat. UMNO factions are at each other. MCA factions are at each other. Criminals are having a field day.
Hill side homes ae crashing down. Don't look so far away for problems to solve.
GETREAL MAN

Whatmeworry said...

Why are we making so much noise when those rich Arabs are ignoring the problem in the Middle East?

The Palestinians have been betrayed by the Arabs too and they are of the same faith!

Anonymous said...

Is the Israeli wrong in responding with overwhelming force?

It is surrounded by people who would not blink an eye in killing them. The overwhelming force is a message to these people. Muck with me and I sent my planes to you.

This is what is stopping the flare up.

Hamas intigated and provoked the violence.And you think it is right?

Be Real.

Anonymous said...

I would say, the blame should be on the head of Hamas, who is using the innocent palestinians as human shields. I would consider these people to be cowards. They are willing to use the innocent life as a refuge against the attack targeted to them.

All wars are not good in nature as lives are lost. But during a war, when one parties drag in the third parties into the war, That party should not be adjust to their behaviour. The innocent are the martyred and the attacker, though is to be blame in some part, shouldn't he totally answering to and amount to the responsibility of the party who has drag in the innocent ones into the war.

asi said...

The real way to stop the suffer of the Palestinian people

This article was originally a response to a petition that calls United States to put pressure on Israel to end the violence in Gaza.

The reality in Gaza is unacceptable!!! No doubt! But if you really care for the Palestinian people, if you want a resolution of the situation, you shouldn’t twist the facts like you do and change your concept. Who do you blame for this catastrophe? To remind you, there is a terror organization called Hamas. He was elected by the Palestinians to the government. The Hamas declares that he doesn’t want peace and his goal is to exterminate Israel (he says it clearly). On the other side there is Israel, which is stronger but is willing to do peace and supports the establishment of Palestinian country at the occupied territories and understands that other compromises should be made as well from her side. Israel has only one demand- stop the terror, for ever! That is exactly what the Hamas (with the support of Iran and other "friends" of the Palestinians) is reluctant to do. The leaders of the Hamas said recently that "even if we will have to die, we wouldn’t stop fighting Israel". Last weeks (as most of the last 7 years) the Hamas was attacking the Israeli civilian population on a daily basis. Israel asked the international help to stop it while explaining that she wouldn’t be able to tolerate it for much longer and she doesn’t want to be dragged into an extensive military action which will cost a lot of human life (where have you been then??). Hamas declined all attempts to stop those attacks. About the siege, it wasn’t from the beginning and it could be easily removed if the Hamas would just reduce his terror activity. Now, hypothetically, lets say that the hamas (and generally the Palestinians) neglects terror, establishment of free, open Palestinian country that communicates with Israel and the rest of the world will be a matter of few months. The end of the conflict and prosperity can be easily achieved, few square meter of land to this or other side is not the issue. Only one condition- stop terror, for ever. No more killing and suffer, people will be able to feed their family, no more 14 years old children with machine guns or explosive belt.
You can't expect that Israel will accept daily terror. The claim that Israel is acting not proportionally- imagine that your child is being bombed every day when he goes to kindergarten, for the last few years. What would be your "proportional" response when you fill that all other means where failed to stop it?! Israel was dragged to that military action that she was unwilling to take.
For me all people are even. I don’t want to see death or suffer of any side. The conflict in the Middle East should come to an end.
The real enemy of the civil population is the terror, not Israel, not US.
Hamas and other fundamentalists are more interested in terror than in the life of their people. They don’t fight for the people; they fight for the fundamentalism and hate. All the horrible things that happen are the consequence of terror; Israel has no interest to strick civil population, the opposite it is against her interests and moral. The hamas is the one that uses schools, hospitals and houses as humen shield for their terror. When you judge the events, please ask your self not only what happen but also why it happen. But, the most important question is "how to stop it?". The answer is to stop terror, make the hamas understand that peace and mutuality between two separate countries are the only solution. Alternatively, make the Palestinians to understand that the terror is not the way and they could get much better life if they would give up this way and try to maintain peace and normalization. They will have to switch the hamas to a more moderate leadership.
If you want to help the people in Gaza you have to stop terror. It is easy to fall into the fails concept of "strong bad" Israel killing the "weak poor" Palestinians, just remember that the Palestinians have the key for the solution, they can have peace and a country of there own, they just have to stop terror Israel. Asking from Israel to tolerate the terror is really not the solution….


Asi Dar

Anonymous said...

for all who condone the acts of israelis 100% in the conflict, do check this url:

http://www.breakingthesilence.org.il/index_e.asp

it might set some perspective as to how truly justified their past+current actions are in this palestinian-israeli situation.

on another note, i also agree that it may be wisest to care about our own house rather than our neighbor's, but we are not in a bloody war consisting of rockets, explosives and white phosphorus, altho our political scene leaves much to be desired i guess whatwith ISA etc.

that aside however, if some m'sians want to help a neighbor, then i'm all for it. what i can't accept is, those who keep voicing out to help people in our own country but it's all talk no action on their own part. where's the fun in that?

since we're actually on m'sian grounds, it's definitely easier to do things than if we were to meddle with foreign affairs. so walk the talk, people. let's start cleaning malaysia up.

shankar~selina said...

Oh you Muslims and non Muslims you must watch this little clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhbHVEGnYD8

Then you will know the Muslims problems around the world...

Anonymous said...

For Hamas, no fighting means no support and fundings from Iran and Syria. Therefore , keep on shooting the rockets ( especially from schools, hospitals, mosques and civilian areas) so as to invite the inevitable disproportionate response from Israel. Moreover, this is the best way to discredit and demonise Israel with the resultant enormous civilian casualties reported and televised daily around the world!