Many of us tend to think that Palestine is a “Muslim issue”. But it is not. Do you know, for instance, that Bethlehem, the birth-place of Jesus Christ, lies in Palestinian territory? In any case, it shouldn’t matter what religion the Palestinians are.
It is a question of humanity and basic justice. A question of Occupation: 60 years since the Nakba.
If you want to know the real situation in Palestine, check out this documentary by award-winning journalist John Pilger – Palestine is still the issue (2002):
John Pilger returns to the Occupied Teritories of the West Bank and Gaza where he filmed a documentary with the same title, about the same issues, in 1974. He finds the basic problems unchanged: a desperate, destitute people whose homeland is illegally occupied by the world’s fourth biggest military power. He hears extraordinary stories from Palestinians, though most of his interviews are with Israelis whose voices are seldom heard, including the remarkable witness of a man who lost his daughter in a suicide bombing. This film was nominated for a BAFTA, a British Academy Award.
Meanwhile, amidst widespread indifference to the siege of the Gaza Strip, the UN has warned that its food aid to about 860,000 residents will have to be suspended within days if Israel’s blockade continues. Check out Glasgow-based John Hilley’s revealing write-up of Israel’s friendly network even as he demands to know why the major powers are “standing idly-by while a crisis siege in Gaza continues to inflict death and suffering on innocent people”.
| Please help to support this blog if you can. Read the commenting guidlelines for this blog. |
Six days war resulted in Israel territory expansion, winner take all.
It has nothing to do with religion.
The Palestinians screwed themselves by remaining loyal to the corrupt Arafat as long as they did. He failed the Palestinians by failing to create a viable state that stamped out groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad. He kept them around as muscle, and they’ve since devoured the Palestinian Authority and its claim to stand for Palestinian Nationalism that renounces terror.
Gaza is under siege! Of course, many mainstream journalists today have to be cautious that they don’t stray too far away from the “party line” (whether it is their newspaper owners, their political masters, the interests of advertisers, etc). So they are hardly “objective” or “impartial”. Just look at the Malaysian media. For an analysis of media spin, check out: http://www.medialens.org If you are interested in knowing more about Islamic fundamentalism, blowback, CIA etc, have a look at the work of American scholar Chalmers Johnson. Johnson is the author of the prophetic book, Blowback, written before Sept 11: http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/1984/chalmers_johnson_on_the_cia_and_a_blowback_world Would… Read more »
This will be my last post on this thread. Read this , Human rights of Christians in Pali Society http://www.jcpa.org/text/Christian-Persecution-Weiner.pdf
This is John Pilger: John Pilger does not pretend to deliver an objective view of his subject matter. In fact, he scoffs at the whole notion of journalistic impartiality. “Impartiality and objectivity now mean the establishment point of view…” he declared derisively in a 2002 interview with the Progressive. Those journalists who claim to be objective, according to Pilger, only “channel the official truth,” and thereby “simply cipher and transmit lies.” He sees himself, by contrast, as an anti-establishment crusader and has acknowledged that if he were American, he’d be accused of advocacy journalism (Independent, March 23, 1998). One of… Read more »
Have you heard of the Stockholm Syndrome ? ”If there’s a state of one religion, other religions are naturally discriminated against, ” Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah He is a victim of the Stockhol Syndrome. So tell me why only Israel? 57 OIC countries, their minorities are treated equally? You stay in Malaysia.
“In the impoverished Gaza Strip, festivities in the tiny Christian community of 3,000 were decidedly muted. Christians kept a low profile following the killing of a prominent Christian activist in the wake of the Islamic militant group Hamas’ takeover of the area. Hamas has denied involvement.” http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hcRKGqMwVdm40GTKNsNpliik_HaQD8TO4V380
What about Michel Sabbah, Archbishop of Jerusalem?
Does Israel stand a chance with 57 OIC countries stacked against her? The rest of the non OIC countriesto suck up for their petroleum interests. Look at the previous chairs for Human Rights. Were they paragons of Human Rights? The UN is biased. Look at the previous UN Sec Gen and his own involvement with the Oil For Food Scandal, where Kofi Junior was involved. I have no faith in the UN where israel is concerned. Chomsky pleez, that is a nut case. That’s why. Were you a Reuter’s reporter before, you sound like one?
Peace
Look at what happened in Gaza after the Israelis withdrew. Anyway John Pilger and Jonathan Cook are in the same class as Robert Fisk, that is ….. A loser in war is a loser. Why not the Indians claim back Pakistan, after all it it was most recent or for that matter Constantinople by the West. There are many other cases. You get my drift. The Arabs keep this festering, they just do not want puny and only Jewish state on earth amongst them. Anyway, Palis are taught to hate the Jews from young, it is not the occupation. By… Read more »
Oh my… such an angry response just because I had the temerity to mention the “O” word – Occupation. You might be interested to read this report that shows that even inside Israel, Christians “have come to comprise an ever-smaller proportion of Palestinians with Israeli citizenship. In 1948 they were nearly a quarter of that minority (itself 20 per cent of the total Israeli population), and today they are a mere 10 percent. Most are located in Nazareth and nearby villages in the Galilee.” How do you explain that? For the real reasons for the dwindling Christian population in the… Read more »
Anil, Even in the Herald you do this, apart from your occassional Bush bashing. You just cannot resisit it. The opression of Christians in Malaysia you do not see and yet you want to champion the cause of Palestinian Terrorists. There are 57 countries championing the Palestinian Terrorists on this earth. Here you are : What has been the situation for Christians in Israel/Palestine? In the last census conducted by the British mandatory authorities in 1947, there were 28,000 Christians in Jerusalem. The census conducted by Israel in 1967 (after the Six Day War) showed just 11,000 Christians remaining in… Read more »
I respect your right to differ. I hope you recognise there are other views out there as well. Perhaps you should refer to other independent analyses apart from those found in the mainstream media and others produced by interests close to the US/UK establishment, the parties backing Israel. Surely the view of the United Nations should carry a lot of weight. Check out the UN resolutions on the Palestine issue that the US and Israel have vetoed. “But the UN resolution was — the veto of the UN resolution is standard. That goes back decades. The U.S. has virtually alone… Read more »