http://indymedia.org.il
End terrorism now!!
author: Fight
Last night right when I finished making dinner my phone rang with my grandmother on the line wondering where my sister and her husband were, where were our cousins who live in Jerusalem -- had I heard from any of them. There was another bombing. I calmed her that they were fine and far from the area but kept thinking of them.
I turned on the TV and waited for my food to cool so I could throw it back in the fridge. No chance of eating now.
I was supposed to work on peace activist videos, but couldn't get up to do it -- not because I'm lazy (like other nights) but because I didn't feel like it... I felt like giving these people my whole attention and hope that they will recover.
I dazed through all the coverage, the shows after, and the midnight update. My hurt turned to anger directed at the livingroom masses that believe peace will come, just like that, one day. They sing 'peace will come to us yet' in Hebrew and Arabic, and eat hummus, but take no personal actions that might lead to peace. People are either blinded to our side or to the Palestinians' -- as if there are clear boundaries in this place, culture, economy. Uff, I thought, I am angry again... I am letting the violence win.
So at around 2am I turned my camera on, and worked through til the morning news, thinking, this is why I'm here -- to do something... I can't count on anyone else and if there is a time when peace seems more important it's when kids are exploding on buses, and as I expected, the next day the 'other sides'' children will suffer closures and curfews keeping them from medical treatment, nevermind school, and regular non-occupied life.
I can respect that we see things differently, and any demonstration I can tolerate, but what makes me upset is a direct call to violence on Israel's part. Whether this is a call for a military or a militant is the same and the results on both sides is the same: more and more suffering.
If something has proven this to me it's America's diplomacy and security problems today... a country with more ongoing military activity than any before it, protecting only it's own interests, as you say, using us and others as a bargaining chip is now facing repercusions of its actions. The UN is facing it's failure to do it's job - stopping rouge states, it only protection previously was that it's main purpose was peacekeeping. Peacekeeping, not fighting. Problem is that in some cases it's maintaining occupations instead of doing it's job. We all loose our way sometimes, but all this just prooves that non-violence is the way, not defeating our enemy or going along with the next best partner.
Israel would do much better if it realized it was in the Middle East and created an independent economy and society, far from American imperialism and terror directed at it -- should we bomb the US? Hell no, we should work on building local organizations promoting independence and peace.