Turmoil in Palestine

I would just like to take a slight detour from my usual topics of religion, sectarianism, unity and peace, because I really think the latest turmoil in Gaza must be talked about on this blog.

As some of you may have heard, the Israeli military has launched a major onslaught in Gaza today. Different media outlets are reporting different variables, including the amount of casualties and the targets in these attacks.

Western news outlets such as CNN and Fox were not on the ball in this latest tragedy. In fact, for the past year or so, we in the West have not been hearing about the situation in Palestine at all, despite all of the imprisonment, starvation, poverty, killings, and bulldozing of homes. Today, Western media has only directed some attention on this latest massacre, and it has not shared many of the facts.

Media groups such as Reuters are now only admitting the death of between 150 and 200, and through misleading titles and subtitles, it is being made to sound as if most of these victims are armed Hamas members.

In fact, Arabic and Mideast News outlets have been giving ALL of their attention to Gaza. The news is breaking, and television programs and daily media routines have been interrupted to broadcast the situation in Palestine. They are reporting an estimated 1,000 dead. Even if this is exaggerated, this casualty figure is more than 5 times more than what the West is reporting. Chances are it is not exaggerated, since Mideast Media is more entrenched in what is going on in the Middle East than, say, CNN or Fox.

They are also reporting that the vast majority of the dead are in fact civilians. Pictures, videos, and posts have been released, describing the absolute horror of this tragedy, whose victims included many young children. The areas hit were in fact not Hamas compounds, but rather public and residential areas.

And after all this, what is the West saying? Nations such as the United States have not condemned the violence. Instead, they have called on the Palestinians to stop firing rockets into Israel. Palestinians, who have no form of any army, and whose rockets manage to kill barely 5 people a year, are starving and have no way of defending themselves against one of the strongest armies in the world. The Qassam rockets are comparable to fireworks - they hold barely any firepower and are largely inaccurate and incomparable to ANY of even the most simple Israeli long or short ranged weapon. This is truly David (a) vs Goliath.

Anyways, as always I have prayed for peace in the Middle East. I do believe an Israel can exist peacefully in the Middle East, but things must be different. The situation cannot remain the same - 5 million Palestinians are displaced, 10,000 are in Israeli dungeons, and thousands are being killed annually.

I ask all of my readers to pray for PEACE, and I pray to God that He gives patience to those Palestinians who have lost loved ones. I pray that organizations, such as the Islamic Relief, which in just two days has raised over 1 hundred thousand dollars for Gazans, are able to aid the Palestinian people. I pray that the reach and healthy of the Arab and Muslim nations reach out their hands to Palestine, and I pray that Israel ceases its hunger for blood and conflict.

Do not forget Palestine in you du'a.