A few hours with a news reader and a less objective person would believe Israel is at fault for more crises than George W Bush. Now a UN building is burning in Gaza and the Israeli's are being blamed again.
Another counter attack, another terrorist killed, and another building in Gaza leveled or damaged. But not just any building, this is a United Nations building. Apparently banned white phosphorus was used too, on the United Nations school! But then one scrolls down a bit in the story to find that “shrapnel from nearby fighting, fell on the school..” Moving further down the article, you will find that the IDF did, indeed, fire upon the school because anti-tank missiles were being fired from the UN compound.
No, that is not right either. Moving around my cherished Google Reader, I could find at least 3 different versions of the one incident, all of them skewed toward the UN and Hamas, of course, just in varying degrees. White Phosphorus is only mentioned in CNN’s article, because “staffers” in the compound identified them as such. Oh, and to remind us they are illegal and that Israel had used them before. Such stilted and biased reporting is the norm to be sure, but in this case perhaps the media should try a little objectivity to hasten a cease fire agreement.
But the World needs a victim-downtrodden with no resources. The Global community needs to have a special needs child. Palestinians have been the abused and unwashed mass for the latter part of the last century. Oil rich countries poured money into the land, no, that’s not quite right, it was never really theirs, but never visited. Nor, did they ever invite refugees from the Strip or West Bank to live or start over in one of the many Arab countries that wrote checks to keep the “Palestinians” at arm’s length. But what is a Palestinian?
To try and define the borders of Palestine, you would need a very open mind. In trying to find a historical claim for the people of Gaza, there were more than 10 different maps and references through the ages. By most accounts, the term Palestine was around long before the times of Christ. In one view of or another, there is definite historical reference for the term, prior to say, the collation of the Bible.
With a legitimate, historical name, the Palestinians set out to rid the land between the Jordan river and the Sea, of Jews, and the UN’s choice to partition what was then being call “The Mandate”, after the War was their chance to act. Administered by Britain as of 1920, their mandate ended in 1948. During that period, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem was a pretty powerful figure, and as an Islamist was known to collude with Nazi Germany against the Jews in Europe and Middle East. As an aside, this Mufti Hussein, would be Great Uncle to Yasser Arafat, and the namesake of Saddam Hussein. Within days of the UN’s proclamation of 1948, the newly formed State of Israel was at war. They would be continue to be on a war footing until present times. Wars in 1956, 1967, 1973, 1982 and the Intifadas of 1987 and 2000, which continues to today, have been launched against Israel.
In each conflict, Israel either gained land or took land back that had been taken from them. The West Bank, nor Gaza were in Israel’s pre-1967 borders, but by the spoils of war they were part of Israel until the Palestinian Authority was declared in the 1990’s. Since then, there has been nothing but trouble.
Money poured into Gaza, but for some reason, they still relied on Israel to provide utilities and basic infrastructure. The UN moved in and an airport was built. The PA was given a seat at the UN, and basically it was then up to to the PA to grow an economy, create jobs, and increase exports. The Authority has never gotten past the rock throwing and old hatreds.
Since the inception of the PA, Israel has had to swivel back and forth between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. A wave of suicide bombings launched and approved by Nobel Laureate Yasser Arafat in 2000 through 2002, put Israel on alert status and they have been there ever since. They bulldozed Arafat’s Ramallah compound , but didn’t kill him. Then another rocket campaign from Gaza would turn the Magan David’s attention to the West.
And that is how it stand today. A country or an authority that refuses to grow up and shed the victim moniker deserves the UN, and certainly, the UN deserves them. When Israel retaliates for rockets, it has to be reported that they were provoked, not just that they shut off the water. (What happened to that Desalinization plant that was built in Gaza?) The media has responsibility to remind their readers and viewers that this is not just Palestinian victim hood being exploited by evil Jews. Aid agencies and NGO’s must screen and vet their employees before they give them access to money and policy. Most off all, it must be remembered that there two countries here, two cultures, and two peoples, not just victims and bullies. And as of this edit, any reference to White Phosphorus use today in Gaza, has so far proven to be just innuendo, media manipulation, and the usual claims of War Crimes from the usual people.
