About a week after New Year’s Eve, amid Israeli warfare in Gaza, I wrote a post on Palestinian blogger Sameh Akram Habeeb, whose life was in immediate peril as he remained at home to report on the Israeli advances.

Needless to say, we were all severely shocked by the [...]]]>

About a week after New Year’s Eve, amid Israeli warfare in Gaza, I wrote a post on Palestinian blogger Sameh Akram Habeeb, whose life was in immediate peril as he remained at home to report on the Israeli advances.

Palestinian blogger Sameh Akram Habeeb (photo from Gaza today)

Needless to say, we were all severely shocked by the atrocities the Palestinians were forced to endure, even though most fled their homes to take shelter. Unlike Sameh Akram Habeeb, who provided us with the latest developments – a true and passionate journalist at heart.

Good news

I must admit that I’d almost forgot all about him, until two of my overseas readers, Tom Charles and Dana, reminded me of my blog post the other day, that is, bringing happy tidings of Mr. Habeeb’s whereabouts and further endeavours:

Tom Charles:

Sameh is alive and well and spoke at the UK House of Commons, see his blog http://www.gazatoday.blogspot.com

Dana:

[…] Thank God- Sameh is alive, launched The Palestinian Telegraph and is out doing what he does best, advocating for the Palestinian people who have NO voice. He is a brave man.

Peace, Dana

The Palestinian Telegraph, huh? I wouldn’t be a journalist if that didn’t spark my curiosity, so I set out to find out more about it. Turned out its name is The Palestine Telegraph, embellished with the pay off “We change our world”, an advanced blog cum online newspaper, with an impressive level of reporting, considering the (fairly recent – and humble) starting point (post continued after screendump).

Screendump from The Palestine Telegraph, Monday 27 April 2009.

Truth be told, I’m left in awe, overwhelmed with an intense desire to congratulate Sameh Akram Habeeb, whose life and whereabouts were most uncertain, only a couple of months ago.

International acknowledgement

Not only that: During its short life, The Palestine Telegraph has been source to international news, cited by renowned news outlets, such as BBC News, to mention but one.

Undoubtedly, the world needs an independent source from within the Gaza strip and the Palestinian territories on the whole, which makes The Palestine Telegraph’s entrance on the news scene all the more welcome. And to think it’s all done with a humble piece of blog software (WordPress, by the looks of it, but I wouldn’t bet) – while yesterday’s press crumbles all around. I have to say they’ve succeeded far better than we ever did with Nordic iNorden, though, even if the latter has been severely abated over the last months, both in form and content (then again, who would want to read about Scandinavian affairs?).

Please give your support to these good people, by spreading the link, blogging about them – or even by contributing to “The Pal Telegraph” yourself. Visit The Palestine Telegraph today.

From today’s reading:

• Hamas-Faith talks resumed
• Top Hamas leader reelected
• Non Violence in Palestine: Timing and Intentions
• Israeli soldiers storm a wedding, abduct groom
• Swine flu in Israel

There’s even a story on Norwegian lawyers setting out to accuse Israeli leaders of war crimes, which of course holds particular interest to Norwegians, such as I. As for Norwegian-Israeli relations in an overall perspective, please read Norway: Maybe a little too pro Israel?

Top photo: Screendump from “Gaza Today” from Palestinian blogger Sameh Akram Habeeb (23).

German soldiers during the 1943 Warsaw ghetto uprising or Israeli troops in Gaza City streets, 2009? Of course the uniforms and the b/w image give them away, but apart from that, wherein lies the difference?

You have to admit that the Third Reich had every right to defend itself from Jewish resistance terrorist attacks. [...]]]>

German soldiers during the 1943 Warsaw ghetto uprising or Israeli troops in Gaza City streets, 2009? Of course the uniforms and the b/w image give them away, but apart from that, wherein lies the difference?

You have to admit that the Third Reich had every right to defend itself from Jewish resistance terrorist attacks. Surely, incarceration in KZ Gaza a ghetto is no reason for them to act aggressively against Germany?

Then again, the Jewish resistance’s charter (if they had any) clearly stated that annihilation of the Third Reich was an ultimate goal. There’s every proof you need!

Well, who wouldn’t want to annihilate a nation set out to oust or exterminate an entire people – and then some? At the very least you can understand the underlying mechanisms driving a discouraged, starving and impoverished people to desperate measures.

Come on… If you kept an entire ethnic group in ghettos and concentration camps, like the Israeli do (and like the Germans once did to them) wouldn’t you expect some sort of retaliation – or, at least attempts at breaking loose?

The Israeli government isn’t stupid, you know. They have to see the apparent similarities, and have to understand the Palestinian reaction to their own treatment (of them).

So… Do they expect the Palestinians to respond any different from the WW2 Jewish resistance? Of course not! Is it simply that, unlike wartime Germany, Israel is supported by America, and hence finds itself untouchable, free to act as it pleases, even if it means a Holocaust 2.0?

Yes, the ongoing pandemonium very much resembles Nazi Germany’s Endlösung. Let’s include that term in the discussions, shall we? Along with KZ Gaza. Both expressions very well known to the Jewish community, I would imagine.

You have to hand it to the Israelis, though, who, unlike the Nazis, express regret over killing innocent people.

It may perhaps look a little better in the eyes of some:

“Hey, they don’t mean to be the way they are!”

Edit: Let me just recommend an article by The Independent’s Robert Fisk today: Why do they hate the West so much, we will ask.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMNrs56AtxI

Top photo: German soldiers during the 1943 Warsaw uprising (from Wikipedia)

Note: I migt stop reporting either if I die or I flee my home. Shells rain down beside my house now. Pray for me…Pray for Me….

Such are the last words of Palestinian blogger Sameh Akram Habeeb (23) yesterday, blogging from [...]]]>

Note: I migt stop reporting either if I die or I flee my home. Shells rain down beside my house now. Pray for me…Pray for Me….

Such are the last words of Palestinian blogger Sameh Akram Habeeb (23) yesterday, blogging from the very heart of Gaza City. We haven’t heard from him since, and I can’t help wondering whether or not he’s still alive or if he fled his home amid the raining shells, but I can tell you this much:

Blogs – from both sides of the ongoing calamities – provide very up close and personal accounts of the havoc which struck Gaza almost a fortnight ago.

In Gaza is yet another, also silent since yesterday, and I wonder… If the blogger is still alive. I wonder what awaits the inhabitants of history’s largest concentration camp – which in effect the entire Gaza strip is. How could Jews, of all the people in the world, construct such an abomination in their very midst?

I’m at a loss for words, even if I already knew that the Israeli government’s cruelty knew no limits.

Update: It would appear both of the above mentioned blogs were updated Tuesday night, but I’m still keeping my fingers crossed.

Here we go again, then, with Israeli forces invading Palestine territories on the Gaza strip Saturday night – Live, as it were– following a week’s devastating air raids. Business as usual, really, while the international society keeps protesting, as if it’s any use at all. If Israeli territories territories were under Arab control, however, [...]]]>

Here we go again, then, with Israeli forces invading Palestine territories on the Gaza strip Saturday night – Live, as it were– following a week’s devastating air raids. Business as usual, really, while the international society keeps protesting, as if it’s any use at all. If Israeli territories territories were under Arab control, however, there’s every reason to suspect a different outcome.

Just give it a thought, if you please: Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that Israel was Iraq, in the hands of a president named Saddam Hussein, renowned for cruelties against Kurds – or Palestinians, for that matter – and the destabilisation of an entire region. How would you estimate the chances of a, say, American intervention?

Highly likely, no?

Unfortunately, however, Israel’s name is not Iraq, the president’s name is Shimon Peres and their Kurds are Palestinians. Too bad for them.

All about religion?

Of course, the picture isn’t quite that black and white. There are shades of grey – as well as other factors, too, but most people would agree that the issue of a two-state solution in what up until around 1950 was known as Palestine, isn’t very likely to materialise in our lifetime. I put it to you that future generation won’t see it happen either. The conflict is much too deep-rooted for that.

For one, there’s the matter that I’ve tried to point out for years on end: The Temple Mount, to which both Muslims, Jews and Christian – even Mandaeans – have a claim. So long as religion is a factor – which, unfortunately, it is – neither (Jewish or Muslim) party is likely to give up their claim to Jerusalem.

Also, the conflict isn’t quite as obvious as one would think, or, as The Washington Post’s Anthony Shadid puts it:

From Egypt to Saudi Arabia, longtime leaders of the Arab world, the attacks illustrated a yawning divide between the policies of rulers and the sentiments of those they rule. Although the Palestinian cause is cherished on the street, the region’s leaders are viewed as paying only lip service to it.

In other words, this isn’t just a matter of the Arab versus the Western world (keep in mind that there are Christian Palestinians, too).

Spiralling conflict

Up until the declaration of Israel as an independent state in 1948, Muslims, Jews and Christians co-existed quite amicably on Palestinian territory, which, no more than 60 years later seems an inconceivable scenario. Unfortunately 60 years is ample time to form permanent antagonism on both sides.

Two to three generations of Palestinian and Israeli children have grown up to fear and hate aggressors on the other side, and have every reason to. Palestinian children losing their siblings, parents and other relatives in Israeli air raids are likely to retaliate when they grow up. So are Israeli children struck by Hamas artillery.

This conflict is perpetual.

I’m afraid the international society’s call for a ceasefire is futile. As I see it, only an international intervention will do. Israel should be put under UN (the body which once facilitated the creation of the Israeli state) administration. Which, unfortunately, isn’t about to happen.

Unless Obama… I wouldn’t hold my breath.

No international intervention, then. Well, in that case, there’s really very little to be done. Or, as already mentioned: Business as usual.

Speaking of business: Without the presence of wars I’m afraid the American economy would be in a far worse state than it already is.

Top photo: Israeli tanks on manoeuvres. Photographer: Flickr/Chatsworth Larry

Israeli Kadima leader and acting PM Tzipi Livni is very likely to become Israel’s next prime minister on a permanent basis. It’s been decades since Israel’s last female prime minister, Golda Meir, but what are the chances of Livni bringing about stability to the Middle East region? Let’s consult my friend Wikipedia:

Born in [...]]]>

Israeli Kadima leader and acting PM Tzipi Livni is very likely to become Israel’s next prime minister on a permanent basis. It’s been decades since Israel’s last female prime minister, Golda Meir, but what are the chances of Livni bringing about stability to the Middle East region? Let’s consult my friend Wikipedia:

Born in Tel Aviv,^[9] Livni is the daughter of Eitan Livni (born in Poland) and Sara Rosenberg, both prominent former Irgun members.^[10] Tzipi Livni served as a lieutenant in the Israel Defense Forces and worked for the Mossad for nearly two years during the early 1980s, resigning in August 1983 to marry and finish her law studies. It was rumored that she was a terrorist hunter for the Mossad,^[11] but recent findings suggest that Livni was a low level agent. She was hired to live in a Paris apartment to maintain the appearance of a regular residential property.^[12] A graduate of Bar Ilan University‘s Faculty of Law, she has 10 years experience as a practicing lawyer specializing in public and commercial law.^[13] Livni resides in Tel Aviv. She is married to accountant Naftali Spitzer and has two children, Omri and Yuval. According to her childhood friend Mirla Gal, Livni is a vegetarian.^[14] Livni speaks Hebrew, English, and French.

The Mossad background is hardly reassuring, is it, but wait, there’s more:

In Sharon’s Cabinet, Livni was an avid supporter of the prime minister’s disengagement plan and was generally considered to be among the key dovish or moderate members of the Likud party. She often mediated between various elements inside the party, and gained recognition for her efforts to achieve peace, particularly her successful efforts to have the pullout from the Gaza Strip ratified by the Knesset. On 12 November 2005, she spoke at the official yearly commemoration of Yitzhak Rabin‘s assassination.^[17]

The emphasises are mine. Could there be hope after all? Let’s see if she’s elected first, shall we?