The New Holocaust

By Sumayyah Meehan, MMNS Middle East Correspondent

A Syrian woman holds a candle in old Damascus December 30, 2008 during a protest against the Israeli attacks on Gaza. REUTERS/Khaled al-Hariri

All the World could do was stand by and watch as Israel launched a surprise attack this past week against Gaza. The Israeli army launched air raid after air raid, not differentiating between civilian or military target, although the official claim by the Israelis is that they were only targeting Hamas military installations.

The relentless onslaught of missiles goes on, and the body count of martyred Palestinians continues to rise at an unconscionable rate as blood soaks the streets. And the world is still standing and watching.

The precision air attacks against Gaza came a week after a six-month ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas expired. The Israelis claim they were only responding to a series of attacks initiated by Hamas who supposedly launched more than 50 Kazam missiles into Israel. While Hamas claims that it was Israel who started it first. Leaders from all over the world have condemned the aggression against innocent civilians, however paying lip service to a crime of humanity will do nothing to end the bloodshed. So far, the Gazans stand alone, left to fend for themselves and run for their lives. It is unfathomable that the UN is unwilling to intervene and even more unsettling that all of Palestine’s rich Arab ‘brothers’ are only watching the atrocities unfold without lifting a finger to help.

Hundreds of innocent men, women and children have been killed in cold-blood. The first wave of Israeli attacks came mid-morning when schools, offices and commercial outlets were full of human targets. The Israeli aim to ‘shock and awe’ Gazans was a resounding success, as piles of dead bodies lay in the streets, slumped over in vehicles and were strewn across courtyards as the scent of death and destruction filled the air. The only thing the walking wounded could do was grab anyone who had survived and race them to the nearest hospital where both the staff and medicine were in short supply.

The onslaught shows no end in sight with minimal damage on the Israeli side and colossal damage on the Gazan side. The fight is assuredly ‘fixed’ and the Israelis are sure to win with their U.S. made Apache helicopters, tanks, missiles and weapons. Despite the misinformation presented in the news media, nothing about the Israeli actions are retaliatory. The actions of the Israeli government mirror those of Adolf Hitler. The only difference is in the weapons used to commit genocide against the Gazans, and by extension all Palestinians. One would think that the Israelis would be sensitive to the plight of a weaker society given that their own history is mired in a similar narration. The Israelis have insisted that the entire world pay homage to the victims of the Holocaust and show respect to the fallen. However, they don’t pay the same courtesy to their neighbors. Instead they use their might to pen up the Palestinians as a farmer might pen up his sheep awaiting the slaughter while denying them the bare basics of life such as food and water.

It is noteworthy that Israel’s closest ally, the US, is always harping about freedom and democracy in the Middle East. President George Bush was even recently quoted as saying that the Middle East is a freer region thanks to his Presidency. However, Palestine’s democracy and freedom to Israel are apparently contingent upon their own ability to control the region. No regard is paid to the fact that Hamas was elected in a free and fair election. Now Hamas is undeniably being exterminated by the Israelis, brick by brick and soul by soul. And any civilians that dare get in Israel’s way, only Allah can save them.

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