Although I was studying in Northern Ireland as a graduate student in Peace and Conflict studies, I largely observed these things. Not because I did not sympathize with the messages or the people, but because I wanted to take the observer standpoint. I was a foreign student living in society undergoing their own peace process. I was an American student in a foreign country at a time that my country was at war in Iraq and Afghanistan and undergoing a historic election. I was trying to listen and learn and think critically about the onslaught of information that I was taking in from the streets, my books, the lecture halls, the workshops and seminars, the news, and the people who were my friends and those I was in close relationship with.
It was a year of wrestling with Big Questions on all fronts. Identity and war. Nationalism. Terrorism. Aid and development. Colonialism and Imperialism. Statebuilding. The environment. Globalization, global governance, global institutions. Peace processes. The role of education. Northern Ireland. The Balkans. Iraq. Cambodia. Rwanda. Congo. Israel and Palestine and of course, Gaza.
Through all of it, I struggled to understand. Struggled to listen. Struggled to reserve judgment and understand the human story in all sides. Struggled to see justice. Sometimes struggled to hope.
The rest of this blog deals with a time towards the end of my year in Derry when I let go of the desire to be an observer and a learner and allowed myself to grieve in my heart and with my body and to let the grief spill over into this blog and its writing. I did not publish it at the time because I was not physically or emotionally able to follow up on the bibliography the way that I wanted to. But one year after the tragedy of Gaza, I return to that moment and offer this up to whoever will read it as a story that needs to be told and heard.
Written in Summer 2009 but edited and updated in parts:
I saw a play tonight called Seven Jewish Children at the Derry Playhouse. The play lasted 10 minutes in which 7 different characters (who you quickly figure out are Jewish) give brief monologues about what to “tell her,” a daughter or granddaughter. The play was powerful and moving. I could explain the play but if you have 10 minutes, it is worth watching one of the versions on YouTube. (I’ve selected this one done in Chicago because of the relatively good sound quality. Each rendition of this play is done differently, which was intentional on the part of the playwright Caryl Churchill who wanted it to be adopted all around the world, which it was.
After the play, a panel sat on stage and conducted a discussion. One woman was with Amnesty International. Two men were actors in the play. One was a medical doctor who recently went on a medical mission to Gaza. The dialogue was powerful and poignant, particularly when parallels were drawn into the context here in Northern Ireland, and even Derry specifically. Reflections on how the oppressed can become oppressors.
But the play is on the back of my mind right now. I just picked up Amnesty International’s report on “Operation Cast Lead,” the Israeli offensive into the Gaza strip for 22 days starting December 27, 2008 and ending January18, 2009. I had to put it down several times. I sat in silence for a few moments after reading through it and I had to write. I only have 56 of the 106 pages of the report. But it is enough…I have to write.
Before I give my own summary of this report in a made-up interview style, I must make several things abundantly clear. First of all, this will be difficult to read. Secondly, this is a human tragedy that cannot be justified regardless of your politics, religion, or beliefs about Israel or Palestine. Thirdly, I am not “against Israel.” To be frank, it’s not even relevant in regards to what happened earlier this year in Gaza, and I refuse to engage in a dialogue that forces me to stand in a FOR or AGAINST corner, as if either of these categories truly exist with justification.
Therefore, whenever I refer to “Israel” in this blog, it is to refer to the leaders within the borders of the nation-state of Israel who are responsible for making the decision to launch this attack on Gaza and those in Israel who support that decision. (And as a matter of critical inquiry, how do we expect to have constructive conversation when we resort to reductionist phrases such as “I am FOR or AGAINST [insert a nation here]?” What does one mean? Are you FOR all of their international policies? Some of them? What about their domestic ones? Are you FOR their military? The existence of their military or supportive of the decisions of the military? Are you FOR all of their people? Some of them? Are you FOR their culture? Which ones? The mainstream? The minority groups? Are you FOR their religion? Which one? What are you really FOR or AGAINST? Sure it is semantics, but what do we really mean when we make these statements?)
However, as many of you will know, I have been to Israel and hope to return some day. I went with a friend of mine who is Israeli and was welcomed into Israeli homes by wonderful Israeli people. Although this is a different conversation, in general, I do not support the use of violence by any State or any militant. I am writing this, because I feel compelled to. I am angry. I am outraged. I am grieved. I feel compelled to write this to help me process what I just read but also because there are a handful of people who read this who care about the world and its peoples as well. And as an American, I feel compelled to write this given the United States’ role in Israel and Palestine and also the fact that we supply Israel with lots of weapons (click HERE and here and HERE) . In this, we the American people need to recognize our country’s role in this conflict.
That was a pretty emotionally charged introduction, Sam. Who are these people and what happened to them during those 22 days?
There are about 1.5 million Palestinians living in Gaza, which is a piece of land that runs against the Mediterranean Sea. They are blockaded in and not allowed in or out and will be shot no questions asked by the Israeli army if they come within half a mile of the walled border. During those 22 days, 1,400 Palestinians were killed. 300 of them were children. Hundreds of them were unarmed civilians. Thousands more were injured.
How did they die?
Air strikes. Tank shelling. Close-range shootings. White phosphorus. Mortars. Flechettes. Bleeding to death or dying from lack of medical attention or the direct denial of medical attention. As human shields. They were killed or maimed in their homes, in their gardens, on their roofs, in their schools, and even from within a UN compound. Sometimes while they slept.
I think I saw tanks and missiles on TV. But what is white phosphorus? Or flechettes?
A document signed by Colonel Dr. Gil Hirschorn states:
“When the white phosphorus comes in contact with living tissue it causes its damage by ‘eating’ away at it. Characteristics of a phosphorus wound are: chemical burns accompanied by extreme pain, damage to tissue…the phosphorus may seep into the body and damage internal organs.”(Amnesty Report, 2009, p.36)
Flechettes are 3.5 cm-long steel darts. Between 5,000 and 8,000 of these darts are packed into shells which are generally fired from tanks. They explode and scatter. Israel bought these weapons from the USA after the 1973 war and have thousands of these shells in warehouses. They are not regarded as reliable or effective and gunners have a difficult time in aiming this properly.
People were hit with white phosphorous and flechettes?
Yes. Israelis forces air-bursted white phosphorous artillery shells over residential areas of Gaza. Sabah Abu Halima, mother of 10 says that on the afternoon of January 4, 2009, she and her family were at home in the Sayafa area. She told Amnesty,
“Everything caught fire. My husband and four children burned alive in front of my eyes; my baby girl, Shahed, my only girl, melted in my arms. How can a mother have to see her children burn alive? I couldn’t save them. I couldn’t help them. I was on fire. Now I am still burning all over, I am in pain day and night; I am suffering terribly.” (picture included with her wounds in the report.)
Israel denied using white phosphorous for 10 days after the first reported case (which had never been seen before in Gaza. Medical doctors did not know what they were dealing with). Israel maintains that they used the chemicals in accordance with International Law which states that white phosphorous can be used as an obscurant or smokescreen in open areas where combatants are caught under fire in the open. Using white phosphorus in densely populated areas where these conditions are not met is a violation of international law.
Click HERE to see a CNN report one year on at a victim of white phosphorous burns. The doctor in this film has a one-year wait-list for plastic surgery due to these burns.
But Israel was being attacked, weren’t they?
Yes. Palestinian militants fired hundreds of missiles into Southern Israel and killed 13 Israelis at that time and 518 were injured. Given that the Israeli government’s one strand of legitimation (according to the Israeli government and others who believe security is still solely dependent on violence, especially pre-emptive violence…) is the Palestinian terrorism campaign, Palestinian terrorist themselves cannot really claim to be providing protection for their community or really furthering the plight of their community in any way. But I have not ever experienced or witnessed violence in this way, so I can only sympathize with any human marred by violence and recognize that I may be seen to be pronouncing statements from a moral high ground. What is more relevant is the work of those who are looking towards nonviolent solutions to this particular conflict. They are not given press by a violence-hungry media. See “Additional Information” below for several groups who are nonviolently protesting violence and human right’s abuses.
Click HERE for CNN’s look at One Year On in Sderot—Israeli town in Southern Israel. Operation Cast Lead was considered a total success by two individuals in this report.
Where did you get all this information? Is this one-sided propaganda or what?
Read for yourself. There are already numerous links throughout this blog. Below are other resources. Someone very close to me once told me, “you better get your facts straight before you try to make a point.” I took that to heart. This is not hidden information, though it is often not reported as such, particularly in the United States. The Israeli government and army denies the validity of these reports (click HERE for their response to the Amnesty International Report) but it is documented throughout this conflict that Israel has provided false information, changed their story, dropped charges which they claimed as facts, and has been unable to provide counter evidence to any of the internationally recognized legitimate reports from numerous media outlets and by well-established human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Israeli soldiers involved in Operation Cast Lead have also come forth with information to verify these reports.
What do you want me to do with this information though? It’s sad, but does it really matter to my life?
That is not for me to answer. To tackle the second question first, it could matter to your life and it does whether or not you realize it. As previously state, the United States is Israel’s strongest ally. We sell them lots of weapons. We fund them in lots of other ways. We support them politically, militarily, and economically. Figure out a way to reach out to others on this matter, including with your vote if you so choose (though it is unlikely given the history of the US relation with Israel that either Democrats or Republicans will put significant pressure on Israel to address this in a meaningful way).
For me, a part of my response was this blog, though I am fully aware that this blog will not result in direct material changes in Gaza. I wrestle often with these questions. What do I do? What do we do? I don’t know. But I do know that every time we insist passively that "the world is too big and complex" we are absolving ourselves from the ability to think, act, and dialogue with others.
The world does not need more individuals in pulpits. I’m not convinced we need more well-intentioned do-gooders on crusades to purge themselves of their guilt with well-meaning but misplaced and potentially invasive actions either. However, we could sure use a bit more compassion, moral judgment, and right-living. Shall we explore meaningful dialogue, reflection, justice, and true compassion? In the case of Gaza, can we acknowledge this tragedy and call for recognition from the Israeli government of its actions last January? Can we support an international structure and rule of law for war crimes? Can we call for more to be done about weapons supply? Settlements in the Occupied Territories?
What do you think?
Additional Information available online at:
Amnesty International: Operation Cast Lead Report
UN Report on Emergency Operations in Gaza
Courage to Refuse. Over 500 Israeli Soldiers who refuse to serve in the military. “We shall not continue to fight beyond the 1967 borders in order to dominate, expel, starve and humiliate an entire people. We hereby declare that we shall continue serving in the Israel Defense Forces in any mission that serves Israel’s defense. The missions of occupation and oppression do not serve this purpose – and we shall take no part in them.”)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cMs0nai4JQ: Israeli Soldiers Refusing to Serve in the Military at a protest
Gaza, One Year On. “One year later and 20,000 people are still displaced, living with relatives, or in makeshift shacks. Many of them have almost resigned themselves to living in temporary accommodations permanently... According to a report issued by the UN Conference on Trade and Development, the damage to the civilian infrastructure after the war equals four times the size of the Gaza economy.”
Human Rights Watch Report: Rockets from Gaza
Human Rights Watch Report: Gaza Civilian Deaths
Human Rights Watch: White Flag Deaths in Operation Cast Lead
Rabbis for Human Rights
www.guardian.co.uk/world/gaza (Video about civilian deaths due to Israeli drones)
www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2010/jan/04/gaza-palestinian-territories (situation today)
www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,581231,00.html
www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2009/mar/23/israel-gaza-human-shields (Palestinian Used as a Human Shield)
*Some of this information was also discussed by Robert Fisk in a lecture I attended on various situations in the Middle East that I attended at the University of Ulster in 2009.
