I’ll be honest, I really wasn’t planning on writing anything on the current Gaza incursion. In fact, even this here isn’t what I’d call ‘writing’.
It isn’t because I don’t want to, but because at this point, I really don’t see how my reactionary comments are going to change anything.
I’ve posted entries on Middle Eastern violence and Arab Gulf wars and invasions before, venting and ranting and letting the world know my feelings in general, but it’s getting a bit too redundant now and I don’t see how it’s doing any good.
Writing and raving til I run out of words will not stop air strikes and missiles from pounding Gaza and her people.
Today I bumped into a friend who had missed his morning classes. He asked me what he’d missed, since we had the same class. I looked at him quizzically, and asked him what he was doing, playing truant so early in the semester. He said he’d been in his room all morning.
Sleeping?
No, trying to contact my family.
Oh.
I had forgotten he was from Palestine. Hearing it from him made the latest Israeli attacks that more real, that much closer.
It’s true that I’m tired, fed up and worn out with this ongoing conflict, but it doesn’t mean I’ve given up either. I can’t, even if I wanted to.
Presently, thousands around the world are marching through streets, showing support and solidarity with the Gazans through protests and rallies against the Israeli offence. Their voices echo in England, Scotland, the US, Canada, Ireland, Germany, Greece, Italy, China, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Indonesia, Australia and even here at home where demonstrations is a thorny issue. It’s a heartening sight to see such unity (although burning flags and effigies, I just don’t agree with), but as Awin put it, Gaza does not need global reproach on its behalf right now, it needs global action.
Personally, despite the fact that these protests are doing its job in sending the message to governments everywhere, the reality is this: governments and the UN will call for Israel to stop, but the Zionist regime aren’t going to bat an eyelid. Petitions, memorandums, demos, condemnations..all these reactions are nothing new. The world made themselves heard very loudly when the US threatened to invade Iraq in 2003. Save for sealing Bush as the most unpopular president in American history, it didn’t change the fact that Iraq was still attacked and subsequently occupied anyway, with Iraqi lives still being lost today.
I am done with signing petitions and thinking oh wow, I’ve now done my part for world peace, it feels pretty good and now I’m going to go off prancing to the next person and telling anyone who’d listen how involved I am with ‘the cause’. It sounds sickeningly self-righteous to me. The oppressed and the violated do not exist for me or you to feel validated. This though, is another story.
I’m not saying rallying is futile, but right now I just need to find other avenues to channel my own form of contribution, no matter how small, as long as it’s tangible.
Maybe I can start here.
Enough said here.
