Collateral Murder

This video, recently leaked, epitomizes everything I hate about war. Everything that makes me sick. Yes, the soldiers believe (somewhat inexplicably) that they're firing on the enemy, but they aren't. They're children and reporters and the unknown faces of human beings with lives and joys and the courage to rescue the wounded.  And maybe that's the whole point.  That there isn't an enemy.  Only children and reporters and . . . you get the point.  But when we label them, it makes them so much easier to kill (and laugh while doing it).

May God have mercy on us all.  



From the website [shooting took place in 2007]:

5th April 2010 10:44 EST WikiLeaks has released a classified US military video depicting the indiscriminate slaying of over a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad -- including two Reuters news staff.

Reuters has been trying to obtain the video through the Freedom of Information Act, without success since the time of the attack. The video, shot from an Apache helicopter gun-sight, clearly shows the unprovoked slaying of a wounded Reuters employee and his rescuers. Two young children involved in the rescue were also seriously wounded.

The military did not reveal how the Reuters staff were killed, and stated that they did not know how the children were injured.

After demands by Reuters, the incident was investigated and the U.S. military concluded that the actions of the soldiers were in accordance with the law of armed conflict and its own "Rules of Engagement".

480 Palestinians Dead in Gaza

About twenty minutes ago, CNN reported that more than 480 Palestinians have lost their lives in the attacks on Gaza. On the other hand, 4 Israelis are dead.

And yet, Netanyahu claims that Israel is putting its own soldiers at risk in its attempt to protect Palestinian civilians. He says that it is Hamas that doesn't care about the casualty count.

I find the evidence rather strongly to the contrary.

[That is not to say that Hamas does care about the casualty count. They may not either. But I find it highly ironic, with the numbers as they are, for Israel to claim that they have the moral high ground.]

Gaza is in pain

It's the Sunday after Christmas. Carols are still reverberating through our churches and our homes. The Christmas story is fresh in our minds, and we've all been told that the angels sang news of great joy: peace on earth and good will towards men. But in Gaza, as they suffer air-raid after air-raid, I'm sure the message rings a little hollow.

Jewish Peace News writes, "Reports indicate that Israeli air strikes today alone [Dec. 27] have killed 205 People in Gaza and have left over 400 more hurt. These strikes come after several weeks of a tight blockade which left many of Gaza's 1.5-million inhabitants without sufficient food, water, fuel or medicine." They urge Americans to take action and write to their congressmen, their senators, and President-Elect Obama.

Kohleun Seo reflects on watching the news from her home in Arizona:

In the words of Naomi Shihab Nye, "This is not a game. This was never a game."

What can I say as an outsider, watching from afar, caught in a different time zone, peering through news reports? Does anyone hear the bombs, the screams? According to BBC News, today was the most violence-filled day in the history of the Gaza Strip. You would think that would be hard to accomplish. I really don't know what to say right now as I take it all in, sitting on my sofa late at night. Inside I want to scream with each Palestinian woman, man, and child.

Will this day, this year be remembered as another 1948, another 1967? Will next year be different?

And Tabula Gaza has no words.

Brothers and sisters, it's Christmas. A new year is about to start. It isn't enough to want change, or vote for change, we need to be change. Please join me in praying for the fathers and mothers and daughters and sons and husbands and wives and grandmothers, grandfathers, uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters, friends, lovers, cousins, teachers, mentors, great-grandparents . . . in short, the flesh and blood human beings who are losing their lives and their loved ones right now, today. Don't close your eyes. Don't go back to your carol singing as though no babies are crying behind a wall in Bethlehem or under fire in Gaza. Pray on your knees for justice. For peace. And yes, do write that letter to your congressman.

Iraqi Civilian Deaths

Along the lines of language, and the power of words on peace and war, here are just a few lines from one of Naomi Shihab Nye's poems:

But I cannot pretend
a scrap of investment in the language
that allows human beings to kill one another
systematically, abstractly, distantly.
The language wrapped around 37,000,
or whatever the number today,
dead and beautiful bodies thrown into holes
without any tiny, reasonable goodbye.
-Naomi Shihab Nye
("Why I Could Not Accept Your Invitation," You and Yours).

The actual body-count now, for documented Iraqi civilian deaths from violence, is between 82,249 and 89,760. As of 16 February 2008.

Peace, Surfboards, and Gaza

Here's a link to an article from the New York Times. It's a bit outdated (from this summer) but it's an interesting look at a Jewish surfer's unique attempt to reach out to Palestinians in Gaza.

JERUSALEM, Aug. 21 — The noted American surfer, Dr. Dorian Paskowitz, has high hopes for Gaza, and like the waves, he will not let anything stop him trying to see them through.

On Tuesday, Dr. Paskowitz, 86, a retired Jewish physician from Hawaii popularly known as Doc, personally delivered 15 new surfboards to Palestinian surfing enthusiasts there.

Later the article mentions:

One of the Palestinian surfers, Muhammad Jayab, described himself in the article Dr. Paskowitz had read as sympathetic to Hamas. That did not put Doc off. “To be able to go to your enemies and give them something that makes them happy is a most fulfilling adventure,” he said.

The article is bitter-sweet, however. Keep reading and it recounts how two Palestinian children, aged 10 and 12, were shot to death by the Israeli army.

Palestinian vs. Israeli Deaths

If you're interested in information regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, B'Tselem's website is a great place to look. They have multiple pages devoted to statistics about fatalities, homes demolished by the Israeli government, deportation of Palestinians, restriction of movement, and the separation barrier.

B'Tselem is the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, and was established in 1989 by a group of prominent (Israeli) academics, attorneys, journalists, and Knesset members. It endeavors to document and educate the Israeli public and policymakers about human rights violations in the Occupied Territories, ensure that Israel complies with its obligations under international law, and help protect the human rights of Palestinians.

"B'Tselem" in Hebrew literally means "in the image of," and is also used as a synonym for human dignity. The word is taken from Genesis 1:27, "And God created humans in God's image. In the image of God did God create them." According to B'Tselem, it is in this spirit that the first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that "all human beings are born equal in dignity and rights."

Here are some statistics from their website regarding death tolls (the data is from 9 Sept. 2000-31 Oct. 2007):

• 4,345 Palestinians killed by Israelis.
• 863 were minors.
• 2,043 were not partaking in hostilities of any kind. (I find it very disturbing that one of the best trained militaries in the world should have a nearly 50% collateral damage rating . . .)

• 1,029 Israelis killed by Palestinians.
• 119 were minors.
  
• 704 were civilians.

Dead Cows vs. Dead Youth

Check out the link below. It's a pretty powerful juxtaposition.
tabula gaza: Types of our Dead