Quote:
Originally Posted by Saaf_laandon_mo
Damien, whether you're pro Israeli or not is not really an issue for me. My issue is that you feel that the cause of the blockade and Israel's reaction (which admitedly you feel is extreme) is in retaliation to Hamas's firing rockets.
The opression that Israel has imposed on the palestinians, is not something that has just happened since Hamas took power in Gaza. It is not something that has simply started in the last 10 years. You have to remember that a 30 year old Hamas freedom fighter would have spent his entire life under occupation and oppression of some sort or another. He would have not been able to travel freely, he would have been subjected to checkpoints, he would have seen members of his family not allowed or able to find work. He will have most likely been living off aid. Everything he does would be under the watchful eye of Israeli soldiers. They and their government would be controlling his life.
In contrast he would have seen Israeli families build house on his land, and prosper. While he is grwoing up he would have seen fellow palestinians being murdered, he would have attended or seen funerals of children shot down by Israeli soldiers. He might even know of someone who's sister or daughtr was raped, or who's brother or son was shot down by an Israeli soldier simply because he is a Palestinian.
Palestinians in their 30s will have spent their entire live under occupation. They would not have spent one day in their lives feeling they are free. I am not saying other nations in the area haven't contributed but the biggest culpable party in the oppression of palestinians, in the death of palestinians and the destruction of Palestinian land is Israel.
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It would be wrong to portray just the Palestinians as being oppressed since the same is true of the Israelis.
No doubt, we could all find links showing oppression of the Palestinians by the Israelis and find similar links for the oppression of Israel by the Palestinians.
Repeatedly going back over the events of the past trying to portray one side as being better than the other is pointless since they are just as bad as each other.
All the links show is that, at some time, both sides have been oppressed, both sides have used similar military tactics and both sides have committed atrocious acts against children, civilians and military personnel.
We need to stop digging up the past and focusing on the war between Palestinians and Israelis and start thinking about the future and focusing on the peace between Palestinians and Israelis.
We need to take the violence, aggression, bitterness, hatred and blame culture out of the Palestinian-Israeli relationships and using negotiation and goodwill, start to build a fairer, more peaceful region that allows both Palestinians and Israelis to live in peace, trust and security.That won't be an easy task.
However, while the fighting continues that is never going to happen and more people on both sides are going to be unnecessarily killed. Sadly, tonight's television reports will no doubt confirm the truth of this statement.