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.

Paradigm Shift

Paradigm Shift: a fundamental change in approach or assumptions

I've always loved Israel. In tenth grade I did my country report on Israel. Some of my most favorite books are about Israel (ie. Exodus by Leon Uris). In college I took Hebrew for a semester. I seriously considered converting to Judaism for a year, just so I could go on the free Birthright trip. I cried when the BYU Jerusalem center closed, right before I was able to go. In Jordan it took great restraint to stop me from swimming across the Dead Sea (we couldn't go because they were bombing Lebanon at the time). My first "date" with Jon was to go talk to an orthodox rabbi. In fact, in my conditions I gave Jon when he asked if I would marry him (yes I gave him conditions) I made him promise to take me to Israel. It seems like ever since I can remember I've had a love affair with Israel.

But I think that love affair has ended.

Last month Jon and I went to go see a video called Occupation 101 hosted by a local peace organization. The guest speaker was one of Jon's environmental engineering professors who had just gotten back from a year long sabbatical in Palestine. In addition, several of Jon's classmates who are from Palestine were in attendance. The movie was AMAZING. It completely blew me away. I really had no idea what daily life is like for Palestinians, and how awful they are treated by Israel. The most amazing part was to hear Jon's classmates talk about their experiences. About how hard life has been for them, about friends who have been killed by Israeli settlers, and about how they try to survive from day to day. They said that the movie only brushed the surface of the violence and injustices that Palestinians suffer. It broke my heart, and really opened my eyes to why both sides are so angry.

I had learned from spending a few months in Jordan that the news in the US is COMPLETELY pro-Israeli. The only time that Palestinians are ever mentioned in the US media is when they are throwing rocks (think about all the Newsweek articles you've seen). It was SO upsetting to come back to the US after living in the Middle East and finding a complete disregard for the Palestinian plight. I realized that most Americans have NO CLUE about how Israel is treating the Palestinians. They think that the Palestinians are the ones causing the problems, and that they are the reason peace is impossible in the Middle East. But I think that if Americans really knew the truth behind what Israel is doing we'd be ashamed and angry.

I'm not going to delve into a history lesson right now because that would take too much time. But if you really want to understand the history behind the conflict I'd recommend reading "A Peace to End All Peace", by David Fromkin, if you can make it through it. If you want an easier and more graphic way to understand here are the first few minuets of Occupation 101. I'll warn you that the film is VERY biased and dramatic, but the historical information is correct.




There were two parts of the film that really stood out to me and really changed my feelings about Israel. The first was understanding what Israeli settlers really are. I'd heard on the news about the Israeli settlers being moved from the Gaza and about the troubles they seemed to get into with Palestinians, but I never understood what they really were doing. Israeli settlers bulldoze down Palestinian's homes (sometimes with them still in them) and destroy their cities, so that they can build new Jewish settlements in place of them (this story just happened last week). The settlements are often guarded and surrounded by barbed wire and have special roads that only Israelis can drive on. Also, every settler is required to have a gun and there are no consequences if they "accidentally" shoot someone. Jon's classmates said that some settlers like to shoot at Palestinian school kids when they walk to school. The whole idea behind settlements is to make life so miserable for the Palestinians that they will go away. Settlers believe that they are doing God's work in reclaiming for the Jews EVERY TOWN mentioned in the bible. The Palestinians are in the way, and so they are killed or forced to leave their homes. I can't imagine what it must be like to be a mother living in a place like that. Well, actually maybe I can a little bit because of this clip from the film.



The other part of the film that stood out to me was the AMAZING amount of foreign aid that Israel gets from the US. Israel receives 1/3rd of ALL the foreign aid that the US gives out! And what do they do with it? Kill Palestinians. That really makes my heartache, to think that my tax dollars are bulldozing down houses and supporting people who shoot school kids. The reason Israel can do what it is doing is because the US pays for it. Also, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is the third biggest lobby in the US legislature. Basically NO president or candidate could be elected if they spoke out against Israel. The string are embedded deep. I think this clip explains it better than I can.



The problem with speaking out about Israel in the US is that it is immediately classified as Anti-Semitic. Criticism of Israel's actions, no matter how violent or cruel, are seen as an attack on Judaism. But I don't think that is necessarily true. Just like most Arabs don't hate Americans, just their politics. Most Palestinians (according to Jon's classmate) don't hate Jews, they just hate the actions of Israel and the Zionist mentality. Most Palestinians would be willing to share the land and let the Jews have a homeland. It would TOTALLY be possible for the Jews to have a homeland without killing Palestinians and forcing them out of their homes. I don't think that is what God had in mind.

I know this is a bit of a rant, but today I heard on the news that Jerusalem just got a new major who is planning on extending Jewish settlements into the Arab parts of Jerusalem. AGGG! I don't see how they can even talk about peace, when every day they keep destroying more lives.

I know that being critical of Israel is especially hard from an LDS viewpoint, but I'm going to write more on that later. I want to make it clear that I AM NOT being anti-Semitic or criticizing the Jewish religion. I have a deep respect for Judaism and have many Jewish friends. But it just breaks my heart to know what is happening to children of God, and to know that I am indirectly helping it. I feel compelled to speak out about this because no one else is. I hope that this post will have opened your eyes to what is going on in Israel and that you will listen to the news with a more critical ears. I'd like to think that if Americans had the blinders lifted off their eyes for just a few seconds their hearts would be softened and they would demand that things change. All I can really do is keep praying.

One last note-- this may come as a shock to Americans, but if you want a REALLY good source of news you should read Al-Jazeera. I think it even beats the BBC for consistently telling both sides of the story.