!!!

They just hate these trees!!!!

2007-07-25T14:05:00.001-07:00

Shame of Ertas 20.5.07

2007-05-10T10:02:00.000-07:00

In your life you either meet a soldier or an israeli soldier !

Israeli soldiers beating peace activists (forign and isralei) in Hebron!

2007-03-19T13:45:00.000-07:00

When an American loved Palestine!

Rachel Corrie, a human rights activist, was killed when an Israeli military bulldozer driver deliberately ran over her
That driver !

she thought he would change his mind

she thought he had a heart!

On March 16, 2003, Rachel Corrie and seven other Internaitonal Solidarity Movement (ISM) activists were protesting Israeli house demolitions. Rachel stood in the bulldoze'rs path, but the Israeli Defence Forces driver did not stop. After crushing her, he then put the dozer into reverse, without lifting its blade, and dug the blade over and into her body again.
Three activists ran to her and began administering first-responder medical treatment . . . She said, "My back is broken!" but nothing else.

Rachel Corrie, who was in a closed military zone and interfering with IDF operational activities, was killed by accident. The driver never saw her
that was the COLD Israeli reaction!!!!
No charges were filed against this young IDF driver.

I love Italy

2007-03-10T13:32:00.001-08:00

That was in a soccer mach between the israeli team and the Italian

2007-03-08T12:14:00.000-08:00

Our message to the world...ACTION

To whom it may concern, we are working on a campaign as arabic bloggers, and i'm interested in taking it to all people who read this blog.

Our campaign is for protecting the Aqsa mosque in the city of Jerusalem, from the Israeli occupation which is destroying and attacking this holly place on a daily basis. take alook at my previous posts

So we are starting to send this email to all the political and media figures and associations and institutions which can support us in stoping these aggressions

pliz read it and participate by sending this message to the addresses bellow, if you think this is a just cause!!

To the United Nations, Amnesty International and Red Crescent

To the Kings, Princes, Presidents, Leaders of the World, and all final authorities in the international issues

To all Human Rights World Organizations, Societies and Institutions

To all journalists and media professionals

To various Islamic and religious Organizations and to the clerics who always search for truth

To every Official in every part of the globe

To the whole world, we address this letter in which we demand our right to protect one of the most important religious and historical symbols, Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is being demolished and destroyed by the Israeli occupation forces without any intervention by the side of the authorities responsible for protecting the political and religious rights. The Palestinians are trying to defend Al-Aqsa alone and are exposed to gun shots, torture and killing because they are trying to practice their religious rights of performing their prayers in the mosque, and because they are trying to defend the most important place of worship in their country, history and religion.

Israel abuses all religions on daily basis and violates the sanctity of the religious shrines by digging around Al-Aqsa Mosque near to its bases. It also does not respect freedom of expression and practice of religious ceremonies by denying Palestinians and Muslims the access to Al-Aqsa mosque for prayers. These actions contradict the human rights laws and they stand against religion and principles of humanity and justice. They also contravene with Article 53 of 1977 Geneva Protocol I additional to the Geneva Convention of1949 which bans any acts of hostility directed against historic monuments, works of art or places of worship which constitute the cultural or spiritual heritage of people, noting that Al-Aqsa Mosque is a sacred place for Muslims and one of the religious symbols and historical monuments that means a lot not only to Muslims and Palestinians but to the Arab Homeland, the World and Humanity.

In addition to all of the above, the Israeli aggressions against Al-Aqsa Mosque are considered as a war crime according to 1998 Statute of the International Criminal Court.
Thus, Israel violates all laws, charters, rights and conventions and commits war crimes before the eyes of everybody without reaction from any official or international organization to prevent such aggression, oppression and offence to religion, law, freedom and the whole world.

In this context, we demand every person in position of responsibility, every international organization, every satellite channel, every media professional, all those to whom this letter is addressed and all those who read it to immediately demand halting violations, destruction, demolition and digging of the scared sanctities in Al-Aqsa Mosque, and ensure access to it for worshippers to practice their right of worship and stop injustice done to the Palestinian people by the occupation forces that continue to torture and kill the Palestinian citizens.

An appeal to all Arab Leaders, We the Arab bloggers, would like to inform you that your complete silence toward the Zionist destructive acts in Al-Aqsa Mosque is another evident on your irresponsibility, your lack of fervency and the absence of affiliation and honor values. Thus the nation, in all its great stubborn members and believers, will never forgive your silence and feebleness. And, from now on, the history will never show any mercy toward whomever squander the Muslim and Arab rights. Your people, at their moment of anger, will sue you before you being sued by God.
We will never keep silent toward our rights. From here, we announce our campaign which will never stop until we achieve justice and equity in this world. Thus we the Arab Bloggers, will carry the Arab and Muslim voice. And we will adopt our causes by ourselves, inviting all the others to support us, and support the basic human right in guarding and protecting the religious, humanitarian and historical heritage without any negligence or weakness or falsification of truth. Let us take part in offering a better life for all where violence toward any one at any place or time is forbidden.

We will continue demanding all the addressees of these rights that we will never waive and we will be waiting for a conceptual and practical reply from all of you.

We thank you in advance for all what you will be doing in order to achieve justice, and we will present special thanks in our blogs to all those who take a step in response to our letter.

Please reply to: bloggersvoice@yahoo.com

Best Regards

Arab Bloggers

2007-02-13T13:48:00.000-08:00

FOR AMERICA TO KNOW!!

Since 1949 the U.S. has given Israel a total of $83.205 billion. The interest costs borne by U.S. tax payers on behalf of Israel are $49.937 billion, thus making the total amount of aid given to Israel since 1949 $133.132 billion. This may mean that U.S. government has given more federal aid to the average Israeli citizen in a given year than it has given to the average American citizen!!!
I am angry when I see Israeli settlers from Hebron destroy improvements made to Shuhada Street with my tax money. Also, it angers me that my government is giving over $10 billion to a country that is more prosperous than most of the other countries in the world and uses much of its money for strengthening its military and the oppression of the Palestinian people.

by Tom Malthaner

2007-02-13T10:12:00.000-08:00

How can we spread this story?
How can we fight for justice in this world?
If you don't believe in God you can participate...
It's not only about religion and muslims...it's not even about Palestinians..
It's about any human being who believes in human rights

It's our right as human beings to have our holy beloved places save and away from this ugly occupation don't you think?

It's our right as human beings to protect our historical precious sites!

It's our right to protect our houses that we built yesterday....and those our grandfathers built thousands of years ago...

They are taking this right from us!

Anyone who want to take this story and write more about it i can help....

LET'S SHOW THEIR UGLY FACE !!!!

2006-12-22T09:55:00.001-08:00

Dig dig

Whats is your favourite holly place??

Name it?

Imagine that someday they tell you that another group of people are digging around and under this place!

HOW WOULD YOU FEEL????

The israeli government is covering and lying by pretending that it's not doing anything illegal under the ground in Al-Aqsa mosque area in Jerusalem while the truth is that they are building hoorible tunnels and aiming to open ahuge museum there !!!!!!!!!

It's history...real history that gives things its spirituality and Holiness. That's why every one can see our mosque (Al-Aqsa mosque) in Jerusalem....while you have to dig under the groung to creat your story.....your fake history !

To get the whole story visite this page !

2006-11-21T11:57:00.000-08:00

Fox news!!!
Ok i know that there is jews around the world who support PaleStinians and fight against the zionism
But to see that on Fox news ...thats a strange development !

2006-11-03T13:22:00.000-08:00

Our love story

Peace is so close....i have a deep believe in peace nowadays....i feel like Israel has what to offer more and more, i feel that it is clear and worthy what they want to give!!!
Thank you Israel for your peacful spirit...you really made me believe in peace!!!
Why? because we live in pieces right now, and we have human beings in pieces right now in Beithanoon and we trully believe that changing these litters will take us to the dreamy peacfull future with you our beloved country ....Israel.

Don't you just love their peace?

2006-10-25T08:42:00.000-07:00

long time
I was reading some of my old posts and reading the comments i got from you ppl and i think that im proud of this blog, and i hope to write more and more....
What i miss the most is my arguments with the israeli gentelmen who used to comment on my posts espeacially at the war time hehehe....they took the best of me .I wonder where are they now? was it enough for them to stand for their fake country at that time? do they really think that they were doing the right thing!
mmm and more importantly: what do they have in mind now...?
with all the problems facing their goverment, president and lately priminister and with all the facts that were revealed after the war about how war generals lead this country and how powerless its political leaders are.
What is it they want to prove now? ...what logic do they follow? I think that to live with their mistakes and inhuman deeds they have to refresh their excuses and to believe again in it...God be with them while doing that and God be with us while having to live under their occupation day by day!!!

2006-09-27T13:55:00.000-07:00

.....I thought ramadan already came months ago:

Sorry for not sending you a post to say HAPPY RAMADAN .....But after thinking:

the idea of not eating more than one meal per day is something we already do in Palestine so i thought that the only way i can feel ramadan and its spirituality is to do something else, dunno to waite to see what the people are going to do:

Every day on my way to college i see empty streets, i wonder where are they? the huge crowds in Rmallah who usually stop me from walking-running- to the next taxi!!!

In birzeit the avergae students are fasting, but many muslims are not, and most of those are doing it in public.....it's not a problem for me except for the times when it's just away to say i don't care and i don't respect your believes...

Going back home is more than a normal quit journy, after along tiring day full with classes and after minimizing the time for each class its getting a little bit easier, but stil i can't go to work in PYALARA because they limited the hours in ramadan, so i had more free time to walk in Ramallah every day at least trying to kill more time before its 5:30....Anyway since the beggining of ramadan i was searching for that thing that we call ( spirit of rmadan)...looking in streets, faces, shops, posters, everything......didn't find anything...all i found is people more confused, angrey, and of course hungrey...

Maybe i was waitting for a miracle... a big amount of happiness to fall above all the people's heads and i forgut that im one of those people and i was'nt that happy in ramadan as will....

Yes it's getting more and more different...ramadan is getting away from our hearts and affecting our stomaks more.......i shouldn't look at the sky for the answer, it's more than simple: it's not politics or economy that can make it better....it's TV.......just kidding:)

That's my question to you all: how can we feel the spirit of ramadan again?

2006-08-30T09:26:00.000-07:00

!!!

What happens if an insect falls in a cup of coffee ?!

The British: will throw the cup into the street and leave the coffee shop for good. ..

The American: will get the insect out and drink the coffee. ....

The Chinese: will eat the insect and drink the coffee.....

The Israeli will: (1) Sell the coffee to the American and the insect to the Chinese. (2) Cry on all media channels that he feels insecure. (3) Accuse the Palestinians, Hizb Allah, Syria and Iran of usinggerm-weapons.(4) Keep on crying about anti-semitism and violations of human rights. (5) Ask the Palestinian President to stop planting insects in the cups of coffee. (6) Re-occupy the West Bank, Gaza Strip. (7) Demolish houses, confiscate lands, cut water and electrity from Palestinian houses and randomly shoot Palestinians. (8) Ask the United States for urgent military support and a loan of one million dollars in order to buy a new cup of coffee. (9) Ask the United Nations to punish the coffee-shop owner by making him offer free coffee to him till the end of the century. (10) Last but not least, accuse the whole world to be standing still, not even sympathizing with the Israeli Nation!!!

2006-08-29T12:27:00.000-07:00

life script

Hadeel Kurd-Jerusalem

People over there are waiting for hours

A mother is praying, the child is saying:
Let us pass it’s time to school.
Even if they are bored or tired
Sick, annoyed or bothered,
They have to wait for hours
In our country
Nothing is expected
Especially those moments when you are OFFENDED

I ask God to bless every single Palestinian who is mad of waiting at checkpoints.
However, this kind of torture will never stop our life from continuing because this kind of challenge makes us more and more insistent to defend our case, may God help us.

2006-08-21T07:27:00.000-07:00

WHY?.... as articulated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child'. Today massive numbers of Palestinian children are being arrested and detained by Israeli forces. In the first quarter of 2006 alone, some 350 children were arrested compared to around 700 child arrests in the whole of 2005. 8,000 Palestinian prisoners are currently detained by Israeli authorities, in prisons which major human rights organizations throughout the world.

According to a 2006 report from Amnesty International, many Palestinian prisoners 'face medical negligence, routine beatings, position torture and strip searches by Israeli prison authorities'. According to recent figures the Palestinian prison population includes 400 children and 100 women detainees...

2006-08-14T10:39:00.000-07:00

Facts about my second favourite life fact...the israeli separtaion wall !!!

Wall measures…..
The wall is 8m high, twice the height of the former Berlin wall. Palestinian sources anticipate that it may reach 650km long, more than four times the length of the Berlin wall. On a daily basis 500 bulldozers can be seen working on it – and it is possibly Israel’s largest project to date. The total estimated cost of the wall is more than $1billion

Wall in the international court….
On 9 July 2004, at the request of the United Nations, the International Court of Justice in The Hague issued an Advisory Opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s construction of a wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The Court made clear that the construction of the Wall and the settlements were illegal

The Wall is identified by the UN as "the most alarming development in 2003 in the West Bank"

Wall and the green line ………………..
In the summer of 2002, Sharon’s government provoked further controversy when it started building the wall east of the Green Line, near the village of Salim, west of Jenin (the original 1967 armistice line). This means that more Palestinian land is being encroached and more Palestinian people living within the vicinity of the wall will be displaced.

Among the most affected are villages enclosed in what has been proclaimed by Israel as a closed "military area" located between the Barrier and the "Green Line", which demarcated the separation of Israeli and Palestinian territories

Living in between two Walls!!!
The villages of Rummana, Taba and Yanin have been put into a canton and separated from the West Bank and from Israel by two separate walls.

Wall and water resources…
A World Bank report of May 2003 states that the wall will hurt Palestinians immensely. The report claims when the fence is completed.” The report confirms that the wall will strip Palestinians living beside it of access to water resources

Wall and the Palestinian residents
To date, some 300,000 people are currently affected by the land confiscation, tree uprooting and inaccessibility to lands and water due to the caging off of their communities, throughout the northern West Bank, Jerusalem and Bethlehem, with concrete walls and electric fences… It is estimated that as many as 90,000 more could be forced out of their homes in case the construction continues as originally planned
Palestinians above the age of 12 will have to hold a permit to cross it.

Wall and the agriculture….
It separates farmers from their land, it divides families, and cuts businessmen off from their premises. Shepherds have been forced to sell their flocks owing to loss of pasture.
An estimated 100,000 olive trees and 50,000 fruit have been removed already along the first 112km (70 miles) of the wall according to Palestinian environment groups.

That's the piece of the wall that is near my house and that's only a sample of what many Palestinian artists had drawn in the wall as an away to say NO...........

2006-08-11T11:11:00.000-07:00

Why do i love chickpoints??!!!

It's always an excuse why i'am late!

Chance to meet plenty of new people...

Chance to meet israeli civilians,,,,most of them in my age are soldiers serving in the melitary service,,,,

Chance to feel important when more than 3 machines are chiking my body cells, burce, books.

A good reminder that my land is still under occupation.

A good reminder of my brothers and sisters who are caged in the Israeli jails,,,

A reminder that all the humans passing through the chickpoint daily mean nothing ,,,absolutly nothing to the israeli people or goverment...

A way to feel that you are living in an abnormal situation in a world that calls itself CIVILIZED !!

A good introduction for the new big JAIL surrounding me and my people; the WALL that's few meters away from my house

so seriously how can anybody hate it.....it's wonderfull!!!

2006-08-08T13:57:00.000-07:00

Love it love it love it............it say it ALL:

Galloway Lebanon

2006-08-07T13:13:00.000-07:00

A brief deffinition for the word terrorist in Palestine.....you want it COOL here it is:

old song but it say it all

2006-08-05T11:38:00.000-07:00

The Empire Of Evil

Believe it or not this picture above is the underground tunnel which israel has been digging for years to creat what they clame to be their holly temple!!

So in real life this new build (temple) is a way of destroying the Aqsa mosque that you see below since it was built under the mosque directly!!!!which is a historical holly mosque for all muslims around the world..

So muslims that's what i want you all to be aware of...

And FOR all of us i don't think it is acceptable to mess with people's holly sites and mosques ...

we should all stand against their attacks and this is a very dangerous deep one...

I don't know what the consquenses are going to be but after that pliz don't blame us for what might happen!!!!!

after all i see.......im really:

sick of their sick ways to prove their fake rights only by creating their own by force....

2006-08-04T13:34:00.000-07:00

After what is happening in Lebanon i was about to send you all a post saying that im stopping the whole posting thing!

I felt like what can be touching ...important ..to write about anymore!!!

and then suddenly i got these PICTURES in my email

I want you all to look at them and try to guess where are these pictures taken from????

you can give any answer it may look like a night club ....but it's not

think...and give me some answers:

2006-08-01T13:18:00.000-07:00

A normal wish in a strange situation !!!

by: Ruba Mimi

a young palestinian journalist

God bless u ! as a palestinian living through those circumstances ! i dont think that any Palestinian believes that he'll c an end to his suffering at the hands of Israel! but we hope so! about myself i became feelingless !am used to this suffering ! I stoped getting shocked when i hear that a neighbour of mine has been killed by an Israeli army ,,, feelingless about the innocents being killed everyday ! i understand now the cost of our life as Palestinians according to Israelis ,, it costs a bulleit !

Maybe i do have some saddness about the rockets that fall on Haifa, akka, tabria, and safad! But not sad because of the ppl who were killed there!! as am used to c this disteny ,, ppl killing each others daily !but saddness because These old Palestinian cities where every thing there talks about the history of my land, am 18 years now and I didn’t ever had the chance to see these citie more than twice and am afraid that the falling rockets changes the beauty I read about in every Palestinian novel in these cities!

On the other hand am so sorry about Qana's destiney !it is the second time that a masacre happens there ! Now i wish that i live in a more dangerous place ! Like south Lebanon or Gaza ! I am not acting emotional or kidding ! i mean it ! I wish I was killed by a soldier when i was 24 hours old ! i wish i hade the same fate that many children had in the latest masacre in Qana ! if i was killed ,, I wont be waiting my turn ! or wondering if i'll be a prisioner in the Israelis prisons after finishing studying political science ! or after particiapting in a peacefull demonstration with my palestinian University ! I dunno wuts going on with me ! but am in a strange mode!am loosing my spirituality maybe? I am absorbing hateness! My hateness is growing side by side with my love !

with the little amount of love that left in my heart !

Ruba

2006-07-31T08:57:00.000-07:00

Now.......that's typical!!!!!
Look at what i got from this Israeli gentelman as a comment on my Qana blog:
(mazeartist said...
Be careful, will you? Don't just throw insults at Israel. If Israel wanted to, it could easily expel anyone who criticizes it, but as a democracy it allows a Jerusalem resident like you to write these things.)

Iwonder where he got this spirit from :( expelling people out of their homes)!!!!!

2006-07-31T07:18:00.000-07:00

!!!هي فعلا.......دواير

منلف بدواير...والدنيا تلف بينا
ودايما ننتهي لمطرح ما ابتدينا

طيور الفجر تايهة بعتمة المدينة بتدووور

ما نكتبش الرسايل مننتظرش رد
لا حد فيهم سمعنا ولا منسمع حد

طيور الفجر تايهة بعتمة المدينة بتدور

ساكنين بعالم يعشق الخطر
فيه الطيور تهرب من الشجر
وتهرب النجوم من القدر
وتهرب الوجوه من الصور

منلف بدواير ندور عالامان ونلاقينا رجعنا تاني لنفس المكان
ندور ندور ندور

نحلم ونحلم بالحياة المفرحة واتاري احلامنا بلا اجنحة بلا اجنحة

ندور ندور ندور بيتنا حزين مكسور
ساعات نشوف بالعتمة ساعات نتوه بالنور
ساعات عيوننا بالاسى تفرح ....ساعات في ساعة الفرح منوحة

2006-07-30T08:15:00.000-07:00

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I thought that ten years were more than enough to make them feel sorry for their mistakes...or at least make them act smarter not to repeat it again..........

But no here it is Israel kills Lebaness inside their shelters the bombs were strong enough to kill them under ground...

No words......just bad feelings... hatred... and anger thats all i can say

AND OH YEA WE SHOULD START CALL THEM A NEW NAME THEY CAN'T BE HUMANS

And pliz tell me what is it you saw in these children's eyes that made you send them death again.....

let's hold the candles for the children of Lebanon

2006-07-28T13:47:00.000-07:00

Feeling better today!!!

I love life i think we all do when we feel good. I even feel stronger. We have this arabic proverb that says: "its better to sleep feeling that someone was unfair to you than being this one for someone else" heheh or in another way:"it is better to be a victim than to be an oppressor".

This fact alone can give me alot of strengh even in the hardest situations..

When people ask for your justification and you know that you are the victim it feels frustrating but our power as Palestinians simply comes from the fact that we are the owners of the stolen land ...stolen rights....and stolen smiles which were lost when their soldiers entered our schools and frightened our children ...entered our homes at night taking fathers away from their families...entered our mosques kiddnaping our holly moments and disrespecting our believes.

I love life because i know that i will never leave my mother "Palestine" even if they want me to. I will never oppress any of them because i only meet their soldiers ..And i will never steal anything from anyone because i know exactly how it feels..

And it even feels better to remember that justice and occupation will never come together speacially when the the world super power is supporting the injustice side ...

We need a change in the roles of this game ..we need another super power in this sad world ...so go China go hhhh...

2006-07-25T10:46:00.000-07:00

typical...!

Is it really normal just to feel sad defeated and surrounded by all challenges? .....the whole world might be one of them and your smallest life detail is the other one..

Is it really the way we create this kind of balance!! stil its strange if you are not really full with happiness usaually..They say to smile in the most difficult situations is a sign of strengh..to live a normal life in an ubnormal situation is another sign. I hope they are right since this is what we go through daily.

My heart goes to my brothers in Lebanon..all these innocent souls...my heart also cry on Palestinians on Gaza. Do i have another space there for someone or some other cause !!! i dont think that i can handle watching the news every day. Another sad new could be enough to make me feel that there is really no hope for a pure revolution in this world a revolution that ends the frustration and makes our hearts not -eager for wealth and power- the main motive for any human being.

let me feel hope again ...call for a revolution:

no occupation any more

no killing any more

no super powers in the world

hehe maybe it could mean no Bush...no oil...no israel....but what can we lose!!!!

2006-07-22T13:16:00.000-07:00

Thats nothing of what is happening daily in Lebanon

GOD PLESS YOU LEBANON

2006-07-22T08:56:00.000-07:00

Can't stop respecting you...!!!

Ye thats what she thinks........with all my respect dont you think that it is not your life ...not your desicision....not your business.....but no miss Raise believes that SHE HAS THE POWER

ok that was my first angrey reaction when i heard that miss Raise had descided to call what is happeing now on Lebanon...all the death and disasters as "hard labour for a new middle east"

and i believe that supporting Israel with more laizer weapons at this stage is part of building this middle east since empowering israel to be the head of this area is the number one innocent goal that they both (USA/Israel) agree on.

one word to you and your friend Bush.....dont bush it you are already acting like the goveners of this world dont let others see that be smart and work under the table at least that make us feel that our pain counts.......

no respect

2006-07-21T09:13:00.000-07:00

And by the way do you know what is that????

oh yes it is the LEBANESS CHILD WHO RECIVED THAT ROCKET ............

2006-07-21T09:04:00.000-07:00

I promissed to try to give a message which is showing the truth about whats happening here. I love children and i will never hate a child but i cant stop my self from blaming and hating these adults who gave their children this idea WRITTING POST CAREDS ON ROCKETS THAT ARE ABOUT TO KILL THEIR PEERS IN LEBANON.

i couldnt believe my eyes when i recieved this email days ago CAN YOU?

2006-07-16T10:48:00.000-07:00

That is one of the photos that you don't usually see in the western media and it could be a normal seen in Gaza even before the israeli melitary operation........

to see more of these photos pliz visist this site:

rafah.virtualactivism.net/news/todaymain.htm

Who are we

Palestinians are normal human beings with dreams and fears not believing in that is one of the israeli habbits which caused the neglection of many human rights in the Palestinian territories by the israeli army and occupation.

As part of the developing countries Palestine is facing many difficulties in its way to acheive the best human conditions and the one and main difficulty is the israeli occupation that is demolishing all the Palestinians attempts to build their land and to develope it. But still hope is the strongest weapons they use to survive and even to excist.

2006-07-15T10:24:00.000-07:00

Here is what one of the israeli journalists say to analyse the recent events:

Who started?
By Gideon Levy

"We left Gaza and they are firing Qassams" - there is no more precise a formulation of the prevailing view about the current round of the conflict. "They started," will be the routine response to anyone who tries to argue, for example, that a few hours before the first Qassam fell on the school in Ashkelon, causing no damage, Israel sowed destruction at the Islamic University in Gaza. Israel is causing electricity blackouts, laying sieges, bombing and shelling, assassinating and imprisoning, killing and wounding civilians, including children and babies, in horrifying numbers, but "they started." They are also "breaking the rules" laid down by Israel: We are allowed to bomb anything we want and they are not allowed to launch Qassams. When they fire a Qassam at Ashkelon, that's an "escalation of the conflict," and when we bomb a university and a school, it's perfectly alright. Why? Because they started. That's why the majority thinks that all the justice is on our side. Like in a schoolyard fight, the argument about who started is Israel's winning moral argument to justify every injustice.
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So, who really did start? And have we "left Gaza?" Israel left Gaza only partially, and in a distorted manner. The disengagement plan, which was labeled with fancy titles like "partition" and "an end to the occupation," did result in the dismantling of settlements and the Israel Defense Forces' departure from Gaza, but it did almost nothing to change the living conditions for the residents of the Strip. Gaza is still a prison and its inhabitants are still doomed to live in poverty and oppression. Israel closes them off from the sea, the air and land, except for a limited safety valve at the Rafah crossing. They cannot visit their relatives in the West Bank or look for work in Israel, upon which the Gazan economy has been dependent for some 40 years. Sometimes goods can be transported, sometimes not. Gaza has no chance of escaping its poverty under these conditions. Nobody will invest in it, nobody can develop it, nobody can feel free in it.

Israel left the cage, threw away the keys and left the residents to their bitter fate. Now, less than a year after the disengagement, it is going back, with violence and force. What could otherwise have been expected? That Israel would unilaterally withdraw, brutally and outrageously ignoring the Palestinians and their needs, and that they would silently bear their bitter fate and would not continue to fight for their liberty, livelihood and dignity? We promised a safe passage to the West Bank and didn't keep the promise. We promised to free prisoners and didn't keep the promise. We supported democratic elections and then boycotted the legally elected leadership, confiscating funds that belong to it, and declaring war on it. We could have withdrawn from Gaza through negotiations and coordination, while strengthening the existing Palestinian leadership, but we refused to do so. And now, we complain about "a lack of leadership?" We did everything we could to undermine their society and leadership, making sure as much as possible that the disengagement would not be a new chapter in our relationship with the neighboring nation, and now we are amazed by the violence and hatred that we sowed with our own hands. What would have happened if the Palestinians had not fired Qassams?

Would Israel have lifted the economic siege that it imposed on Gaza? Would it open the border to Palestinian laborers? Free prisoners? Meet with the elected leadership and conduct negotiations? Encourage investment in Gaza? Nonsense. If the Gazans were sitting quietly, as Israel expects them to do, their case would disappear from the agenda - here and around the world. Israel would continue with the convergence, which is solely meant to serve its goals, ignoring their needs. Nobody would have given any thought to the fate of the people of Gaza if they did not behave violently. That is a very bitter truth, but the first 20 years of the occupation passed quietly and we did not lift a finger to end it. Instead, under cover of the quiet, we built the enormous, criminal settlement enterprise. With our own hands, we are now once again pushing the Palestinians into using the petty arms they have; and in response, we employ nearly the entire enormous arsenal at our disposal, and continue to complain that "they started." We started.

We started with the occupation, and we are duty-bound to end it, a real and complete ending. We started with the violence. There is no violence worse than the violence of the occupier, using force on an entire nation, so the question about who fired first is therefore an evasion meant to distort the picture. After Oslo, too, there were those who claimed that "we left the territories," in a similar mixture of blindness and lies. Gaza is in serious trouble, ruled by death, horror and daily difficulties, far from the eyes and hearts of Israelis. We are only shown the Qassams. We only see the Qassams. The West Bank is still under the boot of occupation, the settlements are flourishing, and every limply extended hand for an agreement, including that of Ismail Haniyeh, is immediately rejected. And after all this, if someone still has second thoughts, the winning answer is promptly delivered: "They started." They started and justice is on our side, while the fact is that they did not start and justice is not with us.