Nadine Abdullah, MD

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

We North Americans are cushioned with ignorance and naivete. I am shocked, appalled, and dismayed at the dichotomy of reporting the events in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. I too, can easily be swayed to believe in Israel’s right to forcefully defend itself against “terrorist” acts of violence, namely the despicable suicide bombings that have swept the impoverished land. I too can easily succumb to the amoral justification of Israel’s halt to the “peace-process.” I too can easily become a victim of our self-perpetuated propaganda. It is much easier to side with the majority opinion that we see displayed in our widely broadcast media. It appeases our conscience to simply agree with the ever so convincing opinions served to us, rather than fulfill our moral obligation to probe and to register the horrifying evidence that has been painstakingly uncovered by legitimate international organizations.

One need only read the dozens of official documents humbly presented by the United Nations (UN), and Amnesty International (AI), to be disgusted by the state of bloody aggression and violation of human rights that have been imposed upon the Palestinian people by the State of Israel in the last eighteen months, not to mention since the 1967 war.

In addition to the Israeli victims of Palestinian suicide bombers, the UN and AI Press Releases report the following since the beginning of the latest uprising which began eighteen months ago: Israeli bombing of refugee camps, schools, medical and rehabilitation facilities have left 4,500 refugees homeless, more than 500 houses demolished in the Gaza Strip alone, 843 Palestinians killed by the middle of January 2002, among them 29 schoolchildren, and thousands injured, among them 800 children; at least six medical personnel, including two doctors, killed, including those who died as a result of direct attacks on ambulances; and as many as five ambulances hit by Israeli gunfire. More than 100 Israeli army checkpoints barring access to villages and towns throughout the West Bank and Gaza have denied freedom of movement, damaging the education of the children, and impoverishing adults whose unemployment has now reached 50% in many areas. Ambulances are routinely denied access to wounded civilians and the ill requiring transport to medical facilities for treatment, including dialysis. Women in labor have been unable to deliver their babies in a safe environment under medical supervision. More recently, teenagers were assembled en mass, handcuffed, blind-folded, and forced to sit for days at gun-point without food, water, or toilet facilities. All this, before Prime Minister Sharon declared war on the Palestinian people. What now?

Is it possible that the aggression from both sides is disproportionate to the desires of the people? Absolutely. We know that the overwhelming majority of Israelis and Palestinians want peace, and for the first time in history, they cooperated to reach a common goal, beginning honorably with the late Prime Minister Rabin, and Arafat in 1993.

"We, whose eyes have seen the bloody toll this Occupation exacts from both sides. We, who sensed how the commands issued to us in the Territories destroy all the values we had absorbed while growing up in this country...We shall not continue to fight beyond the 1967 borders in order to dominate, expel, starve and humiliate an entire people." This, from a declaration issued by 53 officers of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). By March, more than 300 reservists and serving soldiers had signed the declaration, with over 2,000 Israeli supporters. Three of the signatories have been sentenced to terms in military prisons.

Unfortunately, Ariel Sharon has clearly denounced the peace process from its birth, and irrevocably put an end to it when he took his position as Israeli Prime Minister. He has violated the 1993 Oslo peace accords, leaving President Arafat little control of the Occupied Territories land and citizens, scattered and disjointed amongst the illegal Jewish settlements. Of course he has no control over militants, how can he? And now, we hear repeatedly from both the Israeli and US governments, that Arafat, as their hostage, must condemn the suicide bombings, and control his citizens, before the Israeli army will stop their war. It is a farce without logic. The individual acts of violence that have evolved over the last eighteen months amidst the overwhelming Israeli military actions cannot be turned into a war against the collective population .

The last seven months have unleashed a catch-phrase – “terror.” It is however, not a new phenomenon; it has co-existed with mankind since his creation. The worst terror that exists today, is that of our harsh silence into which we have quietly fallen . It is time to break this silence, and end the daily suffering, branding and massacre of the demoralized, hopeless Palestinian people within the Occupied Territories, and the targeting of innocent Israeli civilians by the youth brainwashed by their self-serving elders. To uproot history and choose sides will drive one into a circular state of confusion. There is no beginning to this insanity, except with the unlawful occupation of Palestinian territory. There is no end to this insanity, except with the end to this occupation. Period. But it is not enough.

The international community must intervene and stop the Israeli aggression; but to rely solely on external influence is a grave error. We, the Arabs and Jews living both within Israel and Palestine, and abroad, need to erase the hatred for each other that has been so deeply engrained into our souls, or there can be no peace, as the numbers of frustrated, hopeless, and helpless young Israelis and Palestinians living in fear will surmount beyond control, and we will see the most devastating bloodshed in history. As we sit back and watch the personal war between our leaders, we are opening the doors to more religious extremists to instigate a battle that serves not Israel and Palestine and the future of their youth, but a battleground to recapitulate the hatred between historical enemy and enemy.