name: Yuram Abdullah Weiler

Shabbat Shalom!

02 January, 2009

The traditional Saturday greeting among Jews of all varieties from secular to religious, “Shabbat Shalom” literally means “A Sabbath of peace.”  However, on Saturday, 27 December 2008, there was no Sabbath of peace in Gaza, as US-financed Israeli F-16 warplanes[1] unloaded their lethal cargos of US manufactured GB-39 bunker buster bombs[2] on innocent Palestinians.

 

Majid, a Palestinian friend of mine whose family fled to Syria during the Nakbah, was visibly upset and shaken.  “Why don’t the Israelis just finish them off,” he asked rhetorically referring to the citizens of Gaza, adding,  “After starving them for two years, a quick death would be more merciful!”  I think that’s Israel’s plan.

 

According to reports, the Ministry of Culture and Gaza University were among the targets[3] of the bloody Israeli bombings that began Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, at 11:25 am local time.  I read the news updates in disgust and disbelief; first 150 dead, then 200, and later 300 dead with preparations for an Israeli ground assault underway.  News sources are now reporting over 400 dead and 2000 injured with no end sight.[4] 

 

Gaza hospitals have been unable to cope with the onslaught of wounded due to the lack of medical supplies resulting from the continuous Israeli blockades of border crossings.[5]  Israel has rejected a proposal for a 48-hour ceasefire to allow for humanitarian aid.[6]

 

As usual, the U.S. is not pushing for a ceasefire.  Deputy Press Secretary Gordon Johndroe indicated that the White House has called for a truce, but added in typical meaningless doublespeak, “We don't just want a ceasefire for the sake of a ceasefire.”[7]

 

From 19 June 2008, Hamas tried to maintain an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire despite a continuing Israeli blockade on Gaza and raids that had claimed over 10 Palestinian lives a week.  Israel first violated the ceasefire on 27 June by killing senior Hamas official Shihab al-Natsheh, and then escalated its violations on 5 November by killing 6 more Palestinians and dispatching tanks and bulldozers into Gaza.[8]

 

Tzipi Livni justified the slaughter in Gaza as a defensive response to Hamas rocket attacks, as if a barrage of ICBMs had struck the Zionist regime.  I became nauseous as she insisted that Israelis have “the right to live in peace and quiet like any other citizens in the world,"[9] a right Israel denies Palestinians in the Occupied Territories.

 

Defense Minister Ehud Barack emphasized that the Zionist state is in an “all out war against Hamas and its proxies in Gaza,”[10] which appears to include the citizens themselves.

 

Zionist mouthpiece Mark Regev warned, “The Hamas war machine is still formidable and lethal,”[11] as if Gazan defenses could possibly be any match for the U.S.-funded Israeli Wehrmacht.

 

Benjamin Netanyahu says, “One side is to blame…that’s Hamas.  The other side represents the rest of humanity,”[12] effectively dehumanizing all of us who stand in support of Gazans in this struggle.

 

The White House maintains that the Israeli air strikes are the fault of Hamas, adding with eloquence characteristic of Bush, “these people are nothing but thugs.”[13]

 

Regrettably, President-elect Barack Obama has remained silent, despite past expressions of empathy for Palestinians.[14]

 

Turkey and Syria have condemned the Israeli attacks on Gazans as a “holocaust,” and are calling for an immediate end to the blood bath.[15]

 

Hezbollah declared "What is happening in the Gaza Strip is an ‘Israeli' war crime and an act of genocide committed by the enemy government."[16]

 

“Shabbat Shalom,” suggests an exclusive tribal wish of peace and well being reserved for clan members only, exposing the racism inherent in Zionism.  For those outside the clans protected domain, it may be Shabbat but there is no Shalom.

 

For on the same day that Jews were exchanging greetings of “Shabbat Shalom,” Israeli Occupation Forces were launching a genocidal blitzkrieg against Gazans whose only “crime” is trying to survive under an ongoing Zionist siege.

 

Yuram Abdullah Weiler

 

2 January 2009

 

End Notes

Posted by yuram 11:01 | General , Palestine , Middle East , United States | Comment(3) | Permalink