Hamas members in Gaza: Should Arabs be unified in expressing their
their unalloyed support for the militants, who are willing to go to any
their to strike at Israelis?
'Unequivocal
Respect' for Palestine's Freedom Fighters (Le Quotidien d'Oran, Algeria)
"Failing
to effectively support them, the least we can do is express our unequivocal respect.
... Palestinians are alone as usual. ... When we hear very 'democratic' Western
TV channels discussing the notion of 'a military operation in Gaza' - it is of
the utmost importance that we deconstruct this discourse. What would people say
in these leading centers of civilization, if a historian was to qualify the
fascist assault on the Warsaw ghetto as a 'military operation?'"
A militant stands outside the tent of Hamas military chief Ahmed Jaabari, who was slain hours before in an Israeli air strike. Should more people be siding with the Palestinian fighters, who are outnumbered and outgunned by Israel?
Should all Arabs and people of good will set aside any misgivings they may have about Hamas, and embrace their fight against Israel and the West? In a column we posted in November, 2012, for Algeria's Le Quotidien d’Oran, columnist K. Selim writes that the odds are so stacked against the Palestinians, and they have had so little real help from their erstwhile Arab supporters, that the least they deserve is the moral and verbal support of the Arab and wider world.
In any a lopsided battle, the weakest only have their will
and their readiness to sacrifice. Failing to effectively support them, the
least we can do is express our unequivocal respect. They are Palestinians
fighting in Gaza - that’s all. To keep chopping them into categories is of
little meaning or interest. Palestinians need our support whether we are
communist or liberal, or secular or Islamist. They don't care about such vain digressions
or rhetorical counter- bidding. There will always be time later to engage in
stormy and uncertain metaphysical controversies.
Israeli media and their friends in the West - still the most
numerous, despite the fact that free thinking individuals are speaking out -
are engaged in what they call the hasbara
- the propaganda war. That is why we should feel no confusion: there are
Palestinians - oppressed people fighting for their rights; they are not
Islamists, jihadists, communists, Baathists, all of the above and more.
There are no reasons to doubt the legitimacy of their struggle, even if some
use it as a springboard for evil propaganda or as a way of showing off. These
Palestinian children dying in Gaza are not victims struck down in the crossfire
or collateral damage - they are the targets. And those bombarding from the
heavens with American technology don't pose these questions to themselves: They
are liquidating Palestinians, not Islamists.
Posted by Worldmeets.US
The "civilized" have no cause to lecture us and
have no standing to teach anything to anyone. There is no point trying to please
them, as they pigeonhole everyone. They are the ones who finance Israeli
weapons and then condemn Iran as arrogant for arming Palestinians in Gaza.
Indecency, you say? The Shiite threat, you mention? What an obscene joke. When
we hear very “democratic” Western TV channels discussing the notion of “a
military operation in Gaza” - it is of the utmost importance that we
deconstruct this discourse. What would people say in these leading centers of civilization,
if a historian was to qualify the fascist assault on the Warsaw ghetto as a "military
operation?" ... "This is butchery" people would say, "a
fight so uneven that it is beyond absurdity."
But what of Gaza? Are there no casualties in Gaza then! Only
some trivial accidents that make headlines, you might reply. A stadium has been
bombed? Well, isn't it true that sport in Palestine inevitably produces
terrorists? Israel's "great army" bombed a building where reporters
were staying? Of course - it must ultimately be the fault of Arabs and the
Islamists!!
It is clear that we don't belong to the same world and don't
speak the same language. Al-Jazeera, the erstwhile forward-thinking revolutionary
channel ensures at least a modicum of coverage, and yet there is still no call
in the air for a Salafist-Wahhabi holy war! Indeed
no, as Saudi Arabia is calling for “restraint”! And the Imam of Doha has run out
of Fatwas to issue. Palestinians are alone as usual
and Ramallah officials are in a mood. After several wars, Palestinian
Ambassador to Europe Leila Shahid wonders whether the
path chosen by the Palestinian Authority is the right one. Better late than
never. For now, for want of helping them, let us offer our respect to those who
struggle and fight. With the words of Mahmoud Darwish,
let us hope that those in the resistance refuse to bend or break:
Besiege your siege … you have no choice!
If one of your arms comes off ... pick it up.
And beat your enemy with it ... you have no other choice!
