Fighting intensifies

Today I read an article on Al-Jazeera’s English website, Gaza offensive, timelining the events of the Israeli blitz on Gaza(ns). It did a good job outlining the events thus far so I hope you’ll take a look at it.

I’d like to post some of the key points that caught my eye

• Israel revokes the Jerusalem residency rights of a Hamas minister and three MPs

• Twenty-two Palestinian civilians and armed groups are killed in Gaza as Israel thrusts deeper into the north, re-occupying areas evacuated 10 months ago

• The UN Security Council debates a draft resolution demanding an immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces, and the release of detained Palestinian officials but the United States describes it as "unbalanced

I’ll let these 3 speak for themselves, there’s really no grey area here.

The Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh, spoke out again against Israel’s Gaza offensive stating that their actions were a “desperate effort to undermine the Palestinian government under the pretext of a search for the missing soldier". The shelling has intensified and people are being wounded and killed everywhere. There are plenty of women and children that are currently crowding up the beds in all of Gaza’s medical facilities and with Israel sanctioning the flow of medical supplies into the territory, there are sure to be more casualties to come. They’ll pin this on the Hamas government, saying that it was responsible for the death of its people. And with the US backing them all the way (financially and politically) things will get a lot worse, before they get better. Even the screaming and shouting of Palestinian are being muffled by the return of the howling sonic booms created by the Israeli fighter jets. It’s funny how a government that has a fully equipped ground infantry, tanks, helicopters, bulldozers, nuclear arms, and a separating wall can feel threatened by another group of people that have homemade guns and slings to throw rocks and pebbles with.

In Al-Farahin just east of Khan Yunis, the Israeli army moved in with tanks, bulldozers and a set of F-16s, firing at anything that moved, and a few that didn’t. Homes, greenhouses, and crops were destroyed. Around 15 people killed. Oh, and no Gilad Shalit. Let’s raise the next town. And raise they did; other towns were not safe from the barrage. Gaza city, Beit Lahya and Jenin all suffered casualties these last couple of days.

Palestinian carrying a young boy killed by Israeli artillery, Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip July 6, 2006. (MaanImages/Mohamed al-Zanon)

What bothers me the most is that for 2 weeks Israel has been shelling the life out of Gaza, but every major news network, save the CBC, is doing a less than ample job covering the events. It’s a known fact that Canada’s media coverage is partial towards the Zionist dream, but this is ridiculous. When the IDF pulled out of Gaza, and I used that term very lightly, I saw the same 30 seconds of video footage of crying settlers shown repeatedly every hour of the day for several weeks. I hardly ever see substantial footage of Gaza and usually it’s in a 1 minute ‘News Around the World’ segment. Why don't I ever see Mr. Olmert or Mr. Peres, both of whom speak perfect English, come out and say a few words. They don’t even have to defend their positions, I’d just like people to know that these people are educated and well versed in every aspect of life. Every time I see an Arab or a Muslim on tv it’s some crazy person yelling their heads off and looking like they’re possessed, emptying a round of bullets into the air. Where are those clean shaven lawyers and camera friendly faces that I hear speaking about justice and human rights? I guess the networks deem these people, ‘not what the public wants to see’. Well wake up, no news is good news, it’s never what we want to see.