Safety Is A State Of Mind.

I am most fortunate. I live in Australia. But that does not make me or any other Australian immune to war. I live in Darwin. (Many people won't remember that Darwin was more heavily bombed, and suffered more casualties than Pearl Harbor). So long ago, and so fleeting. For much of the time I can be complacent about what happens in the rest of the world. But there is one place that consistently tugs at my thoughts, at my conscience and tugs at my heart. The Gaza. The terror. The horror. The injustice. Not that there can ever be justice in war. I feel completely dis empowered - what can I do? I am no one. I have no influence.

I was watching a movie the other night "Bruce ALMIGHTY". Bruce the reporter's chance to report live, the power goes off and he loses links to what news he should cover, he must present something newsworthy . . . "Fighting continues between Israel and Palestine . . .' I laughed, it was a safe bet, a sure thing, but for that reason it wasn't funny and I should not have laughed. It was like predicting the weather in Darwin during the dry season. Clear sky, no cloud, min and max temperatures always a safe bet, always a sure thing.

Watching CNN news Sunday, January 4th '09. Seeing the streaming of video of the Israeli incursion into Gaza. How can the world watch and not intervene.? No oil in Gaza . . . is it that simple? No one ever cares what happens to Arabs . . . is that it? They're Muslims, Muslims are terrorists . . . is it the stereotyping, racial and religious bias and hatred? Jews, the victims of the holocaust . . . is it the historical guilt of that?

The UN gather to make a statement . . . only the US opposes the view taken by the rest of the UN members . . . what message does this send to the world? The UN, are they also dis empowered to do anything to stop this? Who does have the power? All the Arab nations, why do they not intervene . . . fear of US retaliation (there's that word)? The United States are still holding the hand of Israel and handing over their wallet to them for arms. How does the rest of the world, and the taxpayers of the United States allow this? How do they justify it? Are they even aware of how many millions of taxpayer dollars go towards financing Israels war against Palestine?

And then it occurred to me. In the past almost everything I had seen on the news, current affairs shows etc, with the exception of some very interesting articles and some You Tube movies found over the net), had been so biased in reporting this conflict, biased in favor of Israel.

BUT CNN reporting was seemingly devoid of this today, and lately, and the rest of the world . . . demonstrating against Israels incursion and poor reasoning for their incursion (those Hamas missiles cause less death and injury than what a school yard of children could do with slingshots). Slowly opinions have been changing. For so long it seemed the Jewish owned and dominated Western world press has been able to influence the Western world and severely temper the reports of journalists and gain the sympathy 'victim' vote. How did they do that? Look back over the years at how certain words were used in reporting on this conflict. There was an Israeli media machine that controlled the linguistics of reporting. Words used to describe Palestinians = terrorist, suicide bomber, attacker, perpetrator, militant, suspect, muslims, arabs . . . . .
Israelis = defend, victim, retaliate, army, military, jews, holocaust . . . . I think you have the idea now. The power of words. Words and phrases . . . holocaust, ethnic cleansing, weapons of war, bulldozers(could it be that these are weapons of war? think about it, resettlement/relocating/disempowering/suppress/impoverish . . . Words and phrases, like the word PROPOGANDA. And what does a ceasefire mean? Does it mean the same for Palestine as it does for Israel? Of course it does not. It means continued occupation, control, fear, poverty and so much more pain for Palestinians. The ceasefire brings 'normality' back, but not a desired normality, not the desirable normality that it brings to Israel. But many Palestinians prefer that over what they have today, it's why many resent Hamas for firing into Israel. I don't condone what Hamas have done, I understand it. I don't condone what Israel has done as 'retaliation' (lol at this word in this context) and I do NOT understand it. The pursuit of a purely jewish state in the region . . . could it be that simple?

The US defending Israels 'right to defend' - apparently Palestine does not have that right . . . Israel making the most of the timing of US politics - Bush heading out Obama not yet in.
Israel attempts to shift the blame onto Hamas for firing missiles when in fact they welcomed the opportunity to 'retaliate'(ahhh that word again). The more pain and suffering Israel inflicts on Palestinians the more strength will be gained by Hamas. If not Hamas, a new regime to replace them, but they will be angry, they will be hurting badly and that hurt will anger them and their anger will be aimed at Israel. And Israelis must know that. It must put fear for the future into them. Israel and the United States are losing the grip they had on world sympathy. And not before time.

For me there, right there, is the hope for Palestinians. The shift in reporting, the shift in sympathy. The western world can access news via the web, uncensored, biased and unbiased, they can deliberate and decide for themselves and not be dependant on western media.

The other hope for Palestinians are people like Laila El-Haddad. What a brave woman. It was the interview of Laila and her father that compelled me to begin this blog. I took the title of this post from her blog. http://a-mother-from-gaza.blogspot.com/2008/12/gaza-city-under-heavy-bombardment.html. I hope there is nothing in my post that will offend or upset her and those like her.