Words on Gaza

What is a massacre?

Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary defines it as: "the act or an instance of killing a number of usually helpless or unresisting human beings under circumstances of atrocity or cruelty"
I firmly believe that what is happening today and has been happening for the past 3 weeks between Gaza and Israel fully qualifies as a massacre...

With more than a 1000 killed and about 5,000 wounded in the most atrocious ways, I cannot but stop and think: Where is this going? Why are all these children suffering? Why do we hear everyday about people who lost their entire family in a blink of an eye? What would happen to a 9 year old who just lost 12 members of his family and is alone on the streets under shelling and bombing? Till when will humanity suffer from its own cruelty? Are we any more civilized today than we were a millennium ago? It seems to me that we are acting just like cavemen following our most basic instincts blindly(but with more advanced techniques for doing so...) Is this violence necessary? Will this violence do any good? Can it serve any purpose but vengeance? Till when will we stay silent while thousands are losing their lives?

I am no political analyst no more am I interested in knowing whose fault these massacres are, for it does not really matter. Violence breads nothing but more violence. Each bomb by Israel is a motivation for Palestinian teenagers to join the ranks of Hamas and other groups that fight Israel, to become "freedom fighters". When a child loses his family and loved ones, his basic instincts drive him to seek revenge, he will easily be brainwashed into Terrorism. On the other hand, each time Hamas throws their little pathetic rockets on Israel they prove to the idiots in the world(including the presidents of most "civilized" countries) that the Israeli "Defense" Forces should be supported. They cause Israelis and the majority of the Western World to believe that their form of terrorism is justified. Yes, the acts of Israel are classified as terrorist acts, Israel is systematically using terror as a means of coercion. Contrary to popular belief terrorism takes many forms and is not just crazy people running down streets screaming :"allah akbar" and killing themselves and civilians.

Many fellow Arabs use the fact that the Israeli response is disproportionate to the Hamas to prove their point. With all due respect I find that very stupid, ofcourse the response is gonna be disproportionate what else do you expect? should Israel call up Russia get some Katyoshas and fire em up at Gaza? When a mosquito bites you you crush it, you don't respond by biting the mosquito back... The fact is you are both wrong, you both are using all what you can to inflict harm on each other, without any regard to civilian lives. I truly believe that if Hamas had fighter jets they would have used them against Israel too. The fact that you are weak means nothing, it doesn't make your killing of civilians any more justified. Is an AIDS patient justified in intentionally spreading he HIV virus? I think not...

I hope that it is clear that I blame neither sides solely for the war but I am disgusted by the acts of both sides.

The way Israel is fighting makes it seem like they are intent on killing as much civilians as they can. Bombing universities, schools, mosques, hospitals and even UN centers and completely disregarding human rights and international laws and organizations. The IDF are acting like vicious murderers(not very surprising though) thirsty for the blood of Palestinian Civilians. They are feasting on their hunts. A basic search on the web would give you endless photos of Israeli atrocities. And yet the US is proud of its relationship with such a vicious nation and calls its actions justified.(maybe just as justified as the war on Iraq to get rid of weapons of mass destruction? or all the Human Rights Violations in Guantanamo Bay?)

Palestinians firmly believe that they have to do what they do to protect themselves from the Israeli harm. They believe that their rockets might stop Israel from attacking them, or give them back the land they believe is occupied by Israelis. The truth is those rockets are acts of violence against fellow human beings which would cause them to respond in accord with the most basic instinct: survival. No matter what your believes are, killing everybody who doesn't agree with you is not the way to achieve your goals. And throwing pathetic rockets that just wake up the monster from its sleep definitely doesn't...

If we take a look back in history, every oppressed group of people rises someday with nothing but vengeance in mind. Hitler came from an oppressed Germany after World War 1, to me its very ironic that Hitler's victims are now oppressing another group which will ultimately lead to the rise of another Hitler, and God save us from the atrocities that Hitler II will bring...

The only form of stable peace, is fair peace!

Some people call for the two-state solution. From my point of view that could only bring temporary peace, for it would not put an end to the hatred and brainwash happening on both sides. The only stable solution is one in which Muslims, Jews, Christians and people of all faiths, live in one nation side-by-side respecting each others religious freedom and learning to tolerate each other. Most people call this naive, for it is very hard to achieve, but I find that any temporary solution that doesn't fix the roots of the problem is the naive path....

In conclusion, I pray for peace to enter every house in Palestine, Israel and my beloved Lebanon, I pray for the day when Jewish and Muslim teenagers joke about the stupidity of their ancestors, laugh together, fall in love with each other and work for a better future together....