Gaza...my heart breaks

My heart has been breaking the last few days. I can hardly listen to the radio or read the newspaper without wanting to 1st-- throw something and 2nd-- to bawl my eyes out for the all the people being killed in Gaza. This morning on the front page of the New York Times was a picture of a little Palestinian girl who had been killed by Israeli bombs and the article went on to say that MOST of the causalities in Gaza are civilians, many of them children. It was extremely gratifying to see an article that actually acknowledged Palestinian's as human beings and didn't justify Israel to the roof, but still...... it isn't enough! There was an article in Al-Jazeera that I thought did a good job shedding light on how the US gets Israel skewed versions of what is happening in the Middle East. I thought this statement was especially poignant, "What if 350 Israelis had been killed and only four Palestinians - would the newspaper have run the stories side by side as if equal in news value?"

I can't believe that the US population isn't more upset about what is happening-- it is our tax dollars that are paying for it! Israel claims that they are being "surgical" as I heard one Israeli General say on the radio, but people in Gaza are so packed together and there is so little room that it would be impossible to be only target military personnel. In the last week 400 Palestinians have been killed and only 4 Israelis! Any loss of life in my opinion is a great tragedy, but to me such an unequal force of power seems downright vindictive and cruel. It would be like the US letting force all its military power on Haiti or Puerto Rico. What Israel is doing isn't self-defence --- it is ethnic cleansing.

I know that most of you aren't as passionate about this as I am but if you have even a little pity for what the people in Gaza are suffering I hope you'll take the time to sign this petition. It is being sponsored by AVAAZ and says:

With a new US President taking office in less than a month, a real opportunity exists to breathe new life into peace efforts. These latest hostilities require not only an immediate ceasefire

but a commitment from Obama and other world leaders that

resolution of the IsraeliPalestinian conflict is at the very top of their agendas. As the whole world is impacted by this ongoing conflict we should demand nothing less. In 2006 we mobilised for a ceasefire in Lebanon. For years we've worked to encourage a just and lasting peace, taking out billboards and ads across Israel and Palestine. Now as we head into 2009, we need to come together again to demand a peaceful and lasting resolution, instead of a further escalation of violence. Follow this link to put your name forward for peace.

The petition, which has been signed by more than 257,00 people (at the time I signed it) will be sent to the US Security Council and to the Obama Administration. It probably isn't likely (since he hasn't made a statement against Israel's actions) that our new president will throw off the influence and money of the Jewish lobby in Congress, but there is always hope. In the meantime, keep the Palestinians in your prayers-- especially the children.