What I saw was like a form of collective punishment,
leaving behind a trail of grieving mothers, angry
fathers and traumatized children.
When I traveled to Gaza last week, everywhere I went, a
photo haunted me. I saw it in a brochure called "Gaza will
not die" that Hamas gives out to visitors at the border
crossing. A poster-sized version was posted outside a
makeshift memorial at the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. And
now that I am back home, the image comes to me when I look
at children playing in the park, when I glance at the school
across the street, when I go to sleep at night.
It is a photo of a young Palestinian girl who is
literally buried alive in the rubble from a bomb blast, with
just her head protruding from the ruins. Her eyes are
closed, her mouth partially open, as if she were in a deep
sleep. Dried blood covers her lips, her cheeks, her hair.
Someone with a glove is reaching down to touch her forehead,
showing one final gesture of kindness in the midst of such
inhumanity.
| What was this little girl's name, I
wonder. How old was she? Was she sleeping when the bomb
hit her home? Did she die a quick death or a slow,
agonizing one? |
 |
Where are her parents, her siblings? How are they
faring?
Of the 1,330 Palestinians killed by the Israeli military
during the 22-day invasion of Gaza, 437 were children. Let
me repeat that: 437 children -- each as beautiful and
precious as our own.
As a Jew, an American and a mother, I felt compelled to
witness, firsthand, what my people and my taxdollars had
done during this invasion. Visiting Gaza filled me with
unbearable sadness. Unlike the primitive weapons of Hamas,
the Israelis had so many sophisticated ways to murder, maim
and destroy-unmanned drones, F-16s dropping "smart bombs"
that miss, Apache helicopters launching missiles, tanks
firing from the ground, ships shelling Gaza from the sea. So
many horrific weapons stamped with Made in the USA. While
Hamas' attacks on Israeli villages are deplorable, Israel's
disproportionate response is unconscionable, with 1,330
Palestinians dead vs. 13 Israelis.
If the invasion was designed to destroy Hamas, it failed
miserably. Not only is Hamas still in control, but it
retains much popular support. If the invasion was designed
as a form of collective punishment, it succeeded, leaving
behind a trail of grieving mothers, angry fathers and
traumatized children.
To get a sense of the devastation, check out a slide show
circulating on the internet called Gaza: Massacre of
Children (www.aztlan.net/gaza/gaza_massacre_of_children.php).
It should be required viewing for all who supported this
invasion of Gaza. Babies charred like shish-kebabs. Limbs
chopped off. Features melted from white phosphorus. Faces
crying out in pain, gripped by fear, overcome by grief.
Anyone who can view the slides and still repeat the
mantra that "Israel has the right to self-defense" or "Hamas
brought this upon its own people," or worse yet, "the
Israeli military didn't go far enough," does a horrible
disservice not only to the Palestinian people, but to
humanity.
Compassion, the greatest virtue in all major religions,
is the basic human emotion prompted by the suffering of
others, and it triggers a desire to alleviate that
suffering. True compassion is not circumscribed by one's
faith or the nationality of those suffering. It crosses
borders; it speaks a universal language; it shares a common
spirituality. Those who have suffered themselves, such as
Holocaust victims, are supposed to have the deepest well of
compassion.
The Israeli election was in full swing while was I
visiting Gaza. As I looked out on the ruins of schools,
playgrounds, homes, mosques and clinics, I recalled the
words of Benjamin Netanyahu, "No matter how strong the blows
that Hamas received from Israel, it's not enough." As I
talked to distraught mothers whose children were on life
support in a bombed hospital, I thought of the "moderate"
woman in the race, Tzipi Livni, who vowed that she would not
negotiate with Hamas, insisted that "terror must be fought
with force and lots of force" and warned that "if by ending
the operation we have yet to achieve deterrence, we will
continue until they get the message."
"The message," I can report, has been received. It is a
message that Israel is run by war criminals, that the lives
of Palestinians mean nothing to them. Even more chilling is
the pro-war message sent by the Israeli people with their
votes for Netanyahu, Livni and anti-Arab racist Avigdor
Lieberman.
How tragic that nation born out of the unspeakable
horrors of the Holocaust has become a nation that supports
the slaughter of Palestinians.
Here in the U.S., Congress ignored the suffering of the
Palestinians and pledged its unwavering support for the
Israeli state. All but five members out of 535 voted for a
resolution justifying the invasion, falsely holding Hamas
solely responsible for breaking the ceasefire and praising
Israel for facilitating humanitarian aid to Gaza at a time
when food supplies were rotting at the closed borders.
One glimmer of hope we found among people in Gaza was the
Obama administration. Many were upset that Obama did not
speak out during the invasion and that peace envoy George
Mitchell, on his first trip to the Middle East, did not
visit Gaza or even Syria. But they felt that Mitchell was a
good choice and Obama, if given the space by the American
people, could play a positive role.
Who can provide that space for Obama? Who can respond to
the call for justice from the Palestinian people? Who can
counter AIPAC, the powerful lobby that supports Israeli
aggression?
| An organized, mobilized, coordinated
grassroots movement is the critical counterforce, and
within that movement, those who have a particularly
powerful voice are American |
 |
Jews. We have the beginnings of a such a counterforce
within the American Jewish community. Across the United
States, Jews joined marches, sit-ins, die-ins, even chained
themselves to Israeli consulates in protest. Jewish groups
like J Street and Brit Tzedek v'Shalom lobby for a
diplomatic solution. Tikkun organizes for a Jewish spiritual
renewal grounded in social justice. The Middle East
Children's Alliance and Madre send humanitarian aid to
Palestine. Women in Black hold compelling weekly vigils.
American Jews for a Just Peace plants olive trees on the
West Bank. Jewish Voice for Peace promotes divestment from
corporations that profit from occupation. Jews Against the
Occupation calls for an end to U.S. aid to Israel.
We need greater coordination among these groups and
within the broader movement. And we need more people and
more sustained involvement, especially Jewish Americans. In
loving memory of our ancestors and for the future of our-and
Palestinian-children, more American Jews should speak out
and reach out. As Sholom Schwartzbard, a member of Jews
Against the Occupation, explained at a New York City
protest, "We know from our own history what being sealed
behind barbed wire and checkpoints is like, and we know that
‘Never Again' means not anyone, not anywhere -- or it means
nothing at all."
On March 7, I will return to Gaza with a large
international delegation, bringing aid but more importantly,
pressuring the Israeli, U.S. and Egyptian governments to
open the borders and lift the siege. Many members of the
delegation are Jews. We will travel in the spirit of
tikkun olam, repairing the world, but with a heavy sense
of responsibility, shame and yes, compassion. We will never
be able to bring back to life the little girl buried in the
rubble. But we can-and will--hold her in our hearts as we
bring a message from America and a growing number of
American Jews: To Gaza, With Love.
For information about joining the trip to Gaza, contact
gaza.codepink@gmail.com.
Source
"... when the girl-child that was buried alive is asked for
what crime she had been slain, ...
on that Day every human being will come to know what he has
done."
~ The Qur'an, Sura 81~
|
USA
