Friday, Sep 3rd, 2010

Gaza Is A New Genocide: An Israeli, and granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, explains how she fought the lies

The myths in Israel legitimate the destruction of the Palestinian people, but there will never be peace until the occupation is over.

By Enbal on Saturday, January 3rd, 2009 - 802 words.

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gaza_swimming_pool-by-latuffLet me take you on a trip into Gaza, but this time from a different and unusual point of view. I’m a 26 year-old Israeli woman. I grew up in Israel and I can tell you that since day one all you learn and understand is that there is an enemy that wants to take your country and kill you.

You will learn in an Israeli history class that we were always outnumbered, that all of the battles were in the sanctity of the Holy Land. You will learn that the Jewish people have suffered throughout history. You will have no choice but to believe that the only way is to fight for your life, no matter what.

You will have heroes like Joseph Trumpeldor. His reputed last words were, “Never mind, it is good to die for our country”, and you will believe that it is good to die for your country.

But not everyone imbibes it all. As I became a young woman I was increasingly opposed to what my parents told me. I started to investigate and learn the facts, and to watch alternative media channels, which were not biased. And then when I was in high school I learned that the same Joseph Trumpeldor’s real last words was swearwords in Yiddish and from there — one by one all the myths about history started to fall apart.

Then I learned about the Sabra and Shatila massacre. And from here I finally saw the truth. I started to participate in the weekly demonstrations of Bil’in– a small village located 12 kilometers (7 mi) west of the city of Ramallah. And I saw the real ugly face of occupation. I, even as an Israeli, got attacked from “my” soldiers with tear gas grenades along with (illegal) rubber-coated steel bullets and stun grenades, all in a non-violent demonstration.

I saw a helpless child suffocated by a tear gas grenade which landed in his living room. I saw a young man been arrested just for calling out protest songs. I saw the madness in the soldiers eyes as they started to chase us into the village.

You see, to prevent the big bubble popping no one will never teach you about Sabra and Shatila, no one will teach you about Ariel Sharon’s crimes, no one will teach you about the fact that in Israel in 2009 there are roads that Palestinians aren’t allowed on even though it’s the direct road to their village. Or that the West Bank and every other Palestinian territory is surrounded with walls and every few meters there is a watch-tower with Israeli soldiers.

No one will teach you that. You will have to learn it yourself, or forever be in the dark.
***

I can assure you that there is no other solution other than ending the occupation of Palestine — now. People need to break the bloody circle by seeing that they’ve been brainwashed their whole life to believe that “war is the only way they know”, and that the Islam calls them to kill all Jews – it is just false.

There are Muslims who kill in the name of Islam, but they are abusing the faith, like Yigal Amir did when he murdered Yitzhak Rabin – apparently in the name of God. And like Baruch Goldstein did when he murdered 29 Muslims, also “in the name of God”. So does this mean Jews kill in the name of God? Of course not. These people are not the majority, there is a fanatical minority on both sides.

The majority in Palestine are just men, women and children who are literally dying to live. As I write this lines, 437 people have died in Gaza, in 8 days! Whether people will admit to the truth or not, the Israeli government is committing war crimes in Gaza. And even though the Israeli Supreme Court has ordered to allow access for international journalists in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli government continues to deny journalists entry to Gaza. Don’t you ask yourself why? If Israel is really fighting only the terrorists, then what is there to hide?

Young Israeli children are signing on bombs before the IDF use them to bombing Gaza. It is such an appalling display of contempt for human life. Is this how we want our children to be? Cold-blooded murderers?

As a granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, I grew up with the horror stories about what happened to the Jews in the Holocaust — the real stories. So how could it be justified to do it to another nation? We have got to put a stop to it. It’s a whole new modern genocide. Are you willing to be part of it? Are you willing to just sit there with crossed hands and do nothing? Well I can’t — my conscience doesn’t allow me to do that.

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60 Comments

  1. Muntasir says:

    If only there were more people like you in this world, people willing to discover the truth for themselves and cast aside ignorance.

    • Ish says:

      Time was, there were more left-wing activists. They defended GULAG and thought Cuban dictatorship was wonderful. There are no left-wing activists among those who actually lived through these wonderful experiments and survived. I was in Naples recently, and saw hammer & sickle red banners, all talking to their new constituency — not "proletariat" anymore, but single mothers and illegal immigrants. All banners mentioned Palestinians.

      What is proposed in this article? The usual left-wing drivel not supported by any facts. Does the author believe that Israel can make reasonable peace with Hamas? Does she really think that there is an equal number of islamic and non-islamic terrorists (the stats for 2000-2007 that are readily available)? No, she is just mindlessly defending the perceived "underdogs" who can do no wrong when when firing rockets at civilians "out of dispair" and committing suicide bombings — I guess "because they have no other weapons." She is not the first "granddaughter of Holocaust survivers" to hold these views.

      • Xs Andree says:

        If Hamas fires a rocket at Israeli civilians, it's terrorism. If Israel forcibly starves and denies Palestinian civilians, it's called "security". The world is not such a frightening place, most Palestinians want peace, most Israeli's want peace. Most Americans want peace. The only people who don't want peace are the ones with the weapons. Once we have peace, they will have no power, and no justification to use them. Who has the weapons in Palestine? Hamas. Who has the weapons in Israel? The IDF. Who has the weapons in the US? These are the people doing and supporting and pushing for more blood on every side, because it keeps them in power.

        There is no left, there is no right, it's all a shell game. What matters are the people working every day to provide for themselves, their families and their communities for a better life.

        Ish, your argument falls apart in the face of the facts. Only the US and Israel governments stand in the way of a two state solution, the rest of the world is behind it, even Iran. The Israeli's say that Palestine has to stop attacking them, but during every cease fire Israel has squeezed the civilian population tighter than you'd ever be willing to endure. Israel has broken the cease fire this time, and the time before it. Slaying six Palestinians the last time before any rockets were fired, and kidnapping two Palestinians before, which resulted in the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier.

        If Israel is afforded the right to retribution, why aren't the Palestinians? Your justifications fall apart. The answer is, there is only a right to self defense by force when all peaceable options have been exhausted.

        Israel has not even exhausted the first…and why should they? They have american taxpayers funding thier right to "self-defense" as they plow under Palestinian homes and subdue the population with conditions that are becoming harder to discern from the Warsaw Ghetto of WWII. Didn't we as Americans swear "Never Again"? The US and Israeli press and governments have lied, decieved and remained silent on issues that would have them all brought up on charges of severee war crimes. There is not one law for the US and it's client states and another for everyone else. If that is the case, then America is no more, and is not worth defending.

  2. mattkennard says:

    Nice article Enbal. I think you showed real character to fight these myths and seek the truth, against the wishes of your upbringing and family, that takes real strength. Hopefully one day justice will be done, although its hard to be optimistic as the latest chapter of barbarity unfolds…

  3. Monstris says:

    Great stuff…a friend tells me he will renounce his Israeli citizenship this week as he feels it's the only thing he can really do….

    Have you read Occupied Minds by Arthur Neslen?

  4. SaEd Mansour says:

    The history of Jews that they carry as a victim of others as you said put a thought and a way of life that is apparent in their wars. I as a humanist and as an individual believe in peace. But the Israeli-Jewish community is brought up on these thoughts, and they live them, by the rules of nature I'd see it impossible to change people's mind day and night, and apparently the only way to change their minds is by tough experiences and breakthroughs. It seems that thoughts change during wars. I'd wish it wasn't true, but it's the way it's apparent from history. Thought it wouldn't run on all parts of the nation something which is also natural. But eventually the Israeli thought would change through wars like Lebanon 2006 which changed the rules of the games. Philosophically only a defeat and a drastic failure caused by their thoughts would change it. If they are right though, nature/people in the world would support them and go on with them. But as a Palestinian holding an Israeli citizenship I saw it all, and I believe in the Palestinian cause. It's inevitable. If Israel wouldn't put high terms that Palestinians see as a humiliation they will never live in peace. People like you with such an identity usually can affect not their community but the Palestinians so they would believe in peace.

  5. Enbal_Gross says:

    Saed- i've changed . if you have the will to see the truth- you will see it. the problem is as i wrote in the artical- that you will grow up in israel to believe that you are right and notthing alse matters.
    israeli just need to be open to see the facts and not the myths.

  6. SaEd says:

    I tried once discussing such things with Jewish-Israelis. They keep holding justifications. Like if you say over a thousand civilians were killed in Lebanon they'd say because they shoot rockets from there. My question is, if facts don't change thought. What does? Is it war? Is it the inevitable clash that both sides tend to?

  7. Enbal_Gross says:

    when soneone will tell you over and over again the same thing- you eill start to believe it.for the last 60 years Israeli government made israelis to really believe in this war. most israelis really DO believe that there is no other way,they can't help it- that is what they know- since ever.
    there is a saying in Arabic (i don't remember the Arabic words so forgive me for the poor translation)
    " what a baby suck (breast fed) from his mom – will disappear only in the grave "

  8. Elias.Z says:

    Excellent article, Enbal ! I really enjoyed it
    and I agree with Muntasir, the world needs more people like you

  9. M. B. says:

    Thank you for speaking up Enbal.

  10. Nadia says:

    Excellent article Enbal, and hope that more people read your article and seeing the reality of the Holocaust that are doing with the Palestinians in Gaza …

    Enbal, I'm from Colombia and I understand it what you say about how the media are changing the reality of the events of violence .. and that the Israeli government does not represent the majority of honest and good people of Israel .. and you are an example…

    This genocide of the twenty-first century is good denounce it .. no more deaths of innocent people .. Colombia is a country distant, but I sympathize with the Palestinians and Israelis who want to stop so much blood …..

    Stop the holocaust of Israel, No more deaths of innocent !!!..

  11. onthehushhush says:

    Something you won't get from any other news source…the incursion started around 1730gmt….
    A television station (English-speaking) ran pictures of the march in. Twenty minutes later, that station received a phone call from an Israeli government office telling them to stop running those pictures until they are given the go-ahead from said Israeli government office…and thinly veiling a threat to stop allowing their correspondent to broadcast from the Gaza border.

  12. FarahA says:

    I just wanted to say that i really enjoyed ur article, and i actually meant to give u a thumbs up. sorry

  13. mommy says:

    Hope for u'r safety and wellbeing dear. I believe in this cruel world the good guys sometimes threatened by the bad guys, But if u consistent with u'r good idea, The God Himself will help u.
    I believe that even if somebody raised in a wrong environment he can still get out of it, only if he use his head

  14. Rola says:

    Excellent article, you got my thump up !____If only we can get over the thoughts/ideas/beliefs we were born with, the world would have been much better and wars would have been prevented.____I wish we can find people like you who always seek the truth not just live with facts that their parents taught !____We have to make use of Internet and always look for the truth and try to understand the opposite side, we should be a better generation.____God bless you Enbal.

  15. zakaria says:

    it's pleasure to know that there will always be people like you,who dare to think and look for the truth at a time where the lies seem to be for ever written in the Great book of History.

  16. Zoozi says:

    Enbal you're my hero !

  17. Hansi says:

    Thank you Enbal. Your article is eye-opening.

  18. Rashid says:

    Salaam/Shalome,____What they missed to tell in your school is what really matters, the truth. It’s the fact that we were the nation that we took the Jews-in-our land and homes after the entire world after and during WW1 had miss treated you and ended-up with the unfortunate Holocaust in WW2. Ironically and regrettably is similar to what is being done in Gaza today..!____In Palestine, there were and still are kind and peaceful people whom are welling to give anything to easy the pain of others, this is smoothing we learned from our great-grand-fathers such as Salah aldin who helped and freed the murderers during the crusaders offensive in Palestine. In Palestine there is a nation that will never die, they may get sick but never die. In Palestine there is a nation that love and care for Jews

  19. Omri says:

    Hmmm… don't you think "genocide" is a bit a of big word? a word that should not be tossed around aimlessly for "wow" effect? when Israel puts palestinians on trains and gases them – then maybe you will have a case.

    Do you have any better ideas of how to achieve this "peace"? I mean REAL concrete ideas, ones that don't simply assume that Hamas is really just a bunch of nice guys deep down. How do you stop them shooting, if you assume that they want to shoot?

  20. Enbal says:

    In 19 days 1013 Palestinians killed by Israel including 322 children & 100 women, 4560 injured.
    this is GENOCIDE Whether you will like it ot not.
    with all due respect – jews don't have a trademark on this word….

  21. Ssally says:

    For the first time I read an article wriiten by an isreali that makes sense !! good stuff I am glad that you found the truth about what is really going on and i thank you for your courage!

  22. Omri Preiss says:

    "In 19 days 1013 Palestinians killed by Israel including 322 children & 100 women, 4560 injured. "
    With all due respect – even if these numbers are true (i'm convinced they're not, but let's assume they are)
    they only shows that there is no genocide – and your use of the word shows me that you need to open up a dictionary and look up what the word means.
    I am also a grandson to holocaust survivors and if find this "jews don't have a trademark on this word" very offensive.
    As if jews ever claimed a "trademark". It's nothing to do with jews or with the holocaust – it's to do with fact and fiction. "Genocide" could only be used if the IDF wanted to kill Palestinian civilians for the sake of killing them. If they wanted to do that, you would be talking of 100,000 Palestinian deaths by now – and then – it would be genocide. So long as the IDF makes all these attempts not to harm civilians (and the numbers you gave show that – compare them to any NATO operation) then it isn't even close to genocide.
    To be honest, and in all due respect – you disgust me. Your approach won't bring peace, only more killings, and in that you are not any different from the Kahanists.

    • MattKennard says:

      ok well omri why don't you open up a dictionary and tell us, in your last article you used dictionary.com as your reference. the idf DO purposely bomb civilians, did you see the school they had sent people for refuge that they then shelled?

      "so long as the idf make all these attempts not to harm civilians" — what is your evidence apart from propaganda? is a third of the dead children not evidence that they don't give a shit?

      to be honest omri, i think enbal is a serious, courageous and intelligent person who has an open-mind and a real sense of what the legacy of the holocaust should be. you are much more disgusting. your apologetics for mass killing will do nothing. you're a propaganda organ.

      • Omri says:

        hahaha "apart from propaganda".. well you'd do well do ask yourself the same question – how do you know they bomb civilians purposefully? how do you know there wasn't fire from these locations? You don't know anything about where I get my information, although you seem to think that it's from Israeli media – and you seem to think Israeli media is "propaganda" which only goes to show you don't know anything about it. I happen to know the care that is taken because I know how idf intelligence operates.

        Again, you use NO LOGIC in your view of the situation – you twist the plain facts just to have them fit your convenient political views. How woul dyou answer to any of the following points: What is the Israeli interest in harming civilians? Clearly, the only thing that can stop Israel's operation is international pressure, and the main trigger to that is harm to civilians (as we have seen with the two Qana incidents in 96 and 06. So why would Israel, from a pure point of self interest, want to harm civilians? Secondly – look at the numbers: around 1000 palestinians dead – you have NO WAY of knowing how many of them are civilains or how many are children – let's assume they are ALL civilians just for your sake. In Iraq, in one month 7300 civilians were killed, in the invasion of Afghanistan 6000, in the American "Battle of Felluja" in 2004, 6,000 in the Hama massacre in Syria in 1982 20,000 were killed, in black september 20,000 were killed – all these are civilains in more or less one month of fighitng. In 1967 Israel killed 15,000 Egyptian soldiers in 3 days of fighting, in Georgia last summer around 5,000 people were killed in 8 days. Gaza is a much, much more difficult environment to operate in that Iraq, Afaghnistan or Georgia, and yet we see the IDF harming far far fewer civilians than NATO does. If the IDF wanted to kill civilians, why don't thy just kill 20,000 or more? The US and EU back them, the UN they can ignore, what's stopping them? I'm not saying I support everything the IDF or Israeli government have done, and I'm not saying I have any way of knowing what is really going on – I'm just countering your misinformation.

        I find it really very funny that you call me "an organ of propaganda" – because it seems to me you have no clue what this supposed propaganda is. Not only do your views utterly fail any real test of common sense, they are based entirely on the unverified claims of sources who have no real way of knowing, and you do not for one second demand from yourself the scrutiny that you apply to the Israeli side. But I do understand that your current views are much more comfortable, because they give you a sense of purpose. Well, so be it…

      • Omri says:

        As far as evidence goes, there is ample video footage of the way Israeli forces, as well as Hamas operate. What is propaganda is the unfounded claims that "one third are children" who said so? who could possibly know that? can anyone independent verify that? (and don't tell me that CNN and BBC reporters could have – there is actually a CNN guy in Gaza right now, and he is in some basement not wanting to go out). Isn't it funny how in any other conflict in the world we can only say "hundreds were killed" or "estimated 6000" – and in Gaza (or Lebanon), in absolute and total chaos they say "1135 people" – and I don't know why anyone actually broadcasts those numbers, as we have seen them fall so sharply as soon as anyone actually tries to confirm them.
        What is going on is the use of false reports and numbers to apply diplomatic pressure on Israel to stop. the majority of NGOs in Gaza are run by locals, and I think if i were them, with that as the only way of stopping Israel, and the world media taking me seriously I would make up numbers too.
        "did you see the school they had sent people for refuge that they then shelled" – There have been several incidents you could be referring to, however vaguely. Some of the reports are completely unverified. Again you show unshakable faith in that "zionist conspiracy theory" – why do you think they hit that school on purpose? there have been many verified instances of militant rocket fire from these schools, and soldiers and tank drivers have no way of knowing how many civilians re hiding at where they are being shot at from. Also – mistakes do happen, and they happen a lot – it could well be that (any) school was shelled by accident. we saw that two tanks shells can kill 40 unsheltered people – if israel wanted to kill the hundreds in the school, why didn't they just kill all of them?
        I have friends and family in the army right now, and I have seen and heard enough to know that there is care taken not to harm civilians. Questions will be asked later of whether it was enough care. These claims of "genocide" have their root in the arab perception that the entire presence of "zionism" in palestine is " a crime" and therefore any palestinian death is part of an ongoing "genocide" over the last 100 years, regardless the circumstances. It is disgraceful for educated westerners (and Israelis) to go along with that. I think it is not only insulting to the Israeli soldiers and civilians who risk their lives not to harm Palestinians (which no other country does), it is also insulting to the Palestinians who die and suffer, by making their tragedy cheap political capital, and insulting to all victims and survivors of genocides worldwide, by tarnishing and cheapening what they have suffered.
        Yours truly – propaganda organ.

    • Rueger1 says:

      Three million-plus Palestinians, were forcefully dispersed from their homeland, since 1948
      almost 2million have been killed. The World Bank and the World Health Organization have warned of the dire consequences of epidemics from the discontinuation of vaccinations, lack of garbage collection and contaminated water. it's a slow but sure process. Why reporters are not allowed in Gaza? Why IDF attacked Cynthia Ann McKinney boat?
      The military invasion of the Gaza Strip by Israeli Forces bears a direct relation to the control and ownership of strategic offshore gas reserves. Discovered in 2000, there are extensive gas reserves off the Gaza coastline. It should be noted that 60 percent of the gas reserves along the Gaza-Israel coastline belong to Palestine.

      The BG Group drilled two wells in 2000: Gaza Marine-1 and Gaza Marine-2. Reserves are estimated by British Gas to be of the order of 1.4 trillion cubic feet, valued at approximately 4 billion dollars. These are the figures made public by British Gas. The size of Palestine's gas reserves could be much larger.

  23. Omri Preiss says:

    sory about the typos – it's a shitty keyboard…

  24. Lou Knee says:

    The current Gaza conflict started because Israel tired of being the target of daily Hamas rocket attacks.Strangely there was little fuss whilst Hamas was rocketing Israel but lots of fuss when Israel decided that enough is enough.If Hamas uses its civilian population as human shields then people will die. Hamas is to blame for the bloodshed and has staged some real heartwrenching photos to get sympathy from the intellectually challenged.I found a site which explains it well and have included the link here http://www.boycottisrael.org.uk

  25. Esra says:

    Congratulations on discovering the truth.

  26. Firdous says:

    Firstly, I respect Enbal for writing such a moving article and for speaking out and establishing the truth.
    As for you Omri, these numbers aren't true?? yeah, they're probably not true, the figures are probably higher! I guess we will never know since the Israeli government continues to deny journalists entry to Gaza. Only one reason for this…to hide the truth maybe?
    Lets face it. Since the occupation or shall we say since 1948 or even prior, innocent Palestinians have been murdered and made to leave their homes and become refugees in their own state!
    "when Israel puts palestinians on trains and gases them – then maybe you will have a case." Ok so now you think it is not enough that phosphorous is being dropped from the sky, that isn't harmful enough?
    it's not an issue of Jews v Muslims and that's what YOUR making it out as. No-one is saying the Palestinians are worse off than the holocaust. You can't compare because both actions are unjust, unlawful and war crimes to say the least!!

  27. Firdous says:

    continued…
    This is a humanitarian cause where innocent people are being deprived of their basic human rights, rights which are being violated by the |sraeli Government who feel the need to ethnically cleanse the state! Who feel the need to brainwash their civilians towards the cult of Zionism! I agree with Enbal, terrorism has no religion and the terrorists here are the Zionists.
    Hamas were democratically elected by the Palestinians and so are entitled to an army, simple as!! They have a right to arm that army and a right to defend themselves and defend their people!
    This is the first time in the history of Palestine where the Palestinians have stood up for themselves, they havent looked elsewhere for help. They are fighting against the 8th heavily armed country in the world. Yes they are firing rockets back into Southern Israel but how do the weapons compare?
    The two- state solution? Politically sounds good, in realtiy it is impossible! And who has made this impossible? Not the Palestinian people, it is the Zionist state who have made this impossible!!

    • omri says:

      "No-one is saying the Palestinians are worse off than the holocaust" hmm in fact lots of people are saying that!! Khalid Masha'al says exactly that! Ahmadinajad is saying exactly that, the Palestinain solidarity campaign (biggest Pale' group in the UK) says exactly that – and that's jsut the tip of the iceberg. What you are saying is that the destruction of Israel (genocide) by Hamas is a legitimate aim – well why are you complaining about this Gaza thing? if genocide and terrorism are legitimate, you have no ground to complain.
      PS
      "phosphorous is being dropped from the sky, that isn't harmful enough? "
      The use of white phosphorus should be looked into at the end of the war, and if anyone has knowingly used it illegally (it has legal uses) – they should go on trial and do years in prison. Simple as. Of course in your world view that wouldn't matter.

      • Firdous says:

        Well i'm not saying that Palestinians are worst off than the Jews in the holocaust. But lets face it, the casualties are adding up and the way in which it is being compared to the holocaust is the way the Israeli forces are being made to ethnically cleanse the state!!
        destruction of Israel??? don't you mean destruction of Gaza….What do you actually see when you read a newspaper or listen to the news? Murder is wrong full stop!
        Do you see borders of no escape in the South of Israel? Do you see people confined in houses with no resources whatsoever?! I believe that if Israel are occupying Gaza and causing such devastation then Hamas has a right to defend. Peace cannot be attained through violence but this is obviously not the case in the middle east! What should Hamas do? sit back and watch whats left of Palestine being ripped apart?!
        !

        • Firdous says:

          Continued…
          The past three weeks consists of numerous war crimes and violations of international law…lets face it though Israel will never be held responsible. Oh in my world view that wouldn't matter? What is my world view? That I don't believe in a system of elites, zionists, inequality…and that I am a Humanist i believe in a democracy, that everyone is entitled to their basic Human Rights and that i see the world in a much clearer world than yourself and how nasty Israel really is!

  28. Enbal says:

    omri….
    you aer just evil.
    how can you say it's not true??? look at the pics- they are fake too?!
    atlist they don't go around telling the world that all teh ppl was killed by mistake like IDF does.
    the IDF and government instruct the media to tell the world that almost all the soldiers how died – died by mistake from IDF fire – that is BS!!! they just don't want the world to know that Hamas really have power after all this time!
    so how's telling lies?!

    • omri says:

      The pictures are terrible, but ""genocide"" is more than a picture of a dead child – and i think that is what you fail to grasp. The media does plenty of things that the government and IDF dislike – and i think your view of that is totally ridiculous, and outrageously naive. If anything – Israel wants the world to know that Hamas is powerful, because thenit has a good case for fighting it – but the speculation is absurd. When soldiers were killed in Lebanon or when dozens of soldiers are injured in Gaza, the IDF has had no problem in saying that they were killed by Hizbalah, or hit by Hamas – and everything is open to investigation after investigation. You ever heard of the "300 bus line"??? I rest my case.
      Tell me, as an Israeli, what Israeli interest is there in killing Palestinian civilians??

      • Zachary Goelman says:

        I side with Omri on this. I appreciate Enbal's emotional vexation at the conflict, but find myself in the school teacher's role when it comes to her language. "Genocide" does not simply mean "a lot of murder." It doesn't mean "a lot of indiscriminate murder"; it doesn't mean "murdering lots of people to terrorize a population." Genocide is a clear attempt to completely murder an entire race (genus). Couple with the notion of wholesale elimination is usually the notion that the target race is a threat in any form (near, far, friend, foe) as long as member of that group draw breath.

        This definition is why we don't use genocide to describe the Syrian destruction of Hama, or the Iraqi gassing of Halabja, or the Russian bombardment of Grozny, or many other campaigns that may have killed more, or less, than the 1,300 Palestinians who perished in the 21-day operation Cast Lead.

        Enbal, you can call it a war crime, a slaughter, a massacre, an atrocity, or any of several other superlatives. But genocide has a specific meaning, and Operation Cast Lead falls short of that definition just like Operation Defensive Shield (Homat Magen).

        If you want to make a broad point, that the definition of genocide can be expanded to include "the elimination of a national, political, or religious identity of people" then you could argue that the Zionist movement aims to erase Palestinians – not exclusively through murder or deportation, although these tools have been used effectively – by coercing them into renouncing their national aspirations and accepting their fate as "Arabs" without any national home, indistinguishable from Lebanese, Jordanians, Syrians, etc.

        But even by this definition, you could only say that Israel has waged "incremental genocide," and

        has not (yet) succeeded.

        I applaud you for taking your stance on the issue, and implore you to join the ranks of the women at Machsom Watch.

        • William says:

          Would ethnic cleansing be the more appropriate terminology of the overall policy that Israel has taken towards Palestinians since the 1948 massacre at Deir Yassin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deir_yassin_massacre... How is ethnic cleansing and genocide so radically different when it comes to terrorizing, killing and maiming to achieve an objective, the objective being to occupy a piece of land and "cleansing" targetted inhabitants and any opposittion to an illegal occupation.
          Truly the Palestinians national identity has faced genocide and ethnic cleansing for the past 60 years.

        • junaid says:

          two wrongs dont make a right.may you be guided to the straight part.the path of love and life not of hate and killling

  29. Lina says:

    does anyone remember that Sabra and Shatila were carried out by Lebaneese forces? so there is no guilt of Israel in it.

    just on the same topic – why people forget that Jordan murdered most palestinians in the world?

    i think it's a bit hypocritical to blame Israel for everything. i think that it's about time someone explain to me how come thousands of strong men don't build anything (houses, children playgrounds….), but happy to murder? what kind of future is there for young children who have no freedom of speech, no toys to play with and not tought peace?

    to be honest i feel sorry for them too.

  30. Ahmed says:

    Hats off to you, Enbal !! I appreciate your research and study !! That was indeed a nice and informative article !! I wish all the people of Israel understood history, the way you did !!

    And Omri, get real !! Accept the facts !! Thats the least you can do to show your solidarity/concern for the innocent people of Palestine !!
    I guess you are forgetting the 18 month siege the cruel Israeli army has been enforcing on the people of Palestine !! They are living without proper, good, clean food, clothing, water supplies, electricity … just to name a few !! Please make a note that their houses have already been destroyed by Israeli shelling and that many/most of them are already living on the streets !! Dont they have the right to live a normal good life ?? Dont they have the right to guard their state ?? Well, they sure do !! And thats what they are doing !!

  31. Ahmed says:

    If the Israeli Army wants peace, why dont they lift the siege and go away from the Palestinian land ?? Remember there was never an Israel State in the first place. Read authentic history books and then open your mouth. I totally agree with both the statements by Enbal "You are just EVIL" !! and "jews don't have a trademark on this word…. "
    For sure this is a GENOCIDE !! And I dont care whether you like it ot not !!
    The UN schools being their targets, not once but on several instances !! You call that a mistake ?? They target the Red Cross warehouse full of relief food for the deprived, and then again you call it a mistake ?? You are nothing but a bloody Hypocrite!!

    I wish you too go through the same pain and agony that the innocent people of Palestine are going through !! Or may be people like you might only realise when they lose their beloved ones, all at once or they see them crippled for life and then die in front of their own eyes !! Then may be people like you will know what PAIN and AGONY the Palestinians are going through !!

  32. Ahmed says:

    A mother begging for milk and food for her hungry innocent children, all of them living on the street being bombarded by Israeli army, navy and the air force, in a chilly weather, without proper clothing and shelter !! … May be this is the definition you give to the word "Terrorist" … You HYPOCRITE !!

    Firdous, your below comments summarized it all !!
    Quote
    "This is a humanitarian cause where innocent people are being deprived of their basic human rights, rights which are being violated by the |sraeli Government who feel the need to ethnically cleanse the state! Who feel the need to brainwash their civilians towards the cult of Zionism! I agree with Enbal, terrorism has no religion and the terrorists here are the Zionists.
    Hamas were democratically elected by the Palestinians and so are entitled to an army, simple as!! They have a right to arm that army and a right to defend themselves and defend their people!"
    Unquote.

  33. Ahmed says:

    Enbal, Firdous and others … here is a very informative website !! Please copy paste the link below, go through and comment …

    http://www.nkusa.org/activities/Speeches/20081227...

  34. Oren says:

    Anyone who thinks Israel "targets" civilians is just trying to support their views. If Israel targeted civiilians they're wouldn't be any left in Gaza, because Israel could easily wipe them out.

    A reasonable argument is whether Israel takes enough care in avoiding civilian deaths, and that is a matter of opinion. History seems to suggest that they have kept casualties very low under the circumstances of trying to fight an enemy that makes war under the cover of civilians.

  35. Just me says:

    Thanx Enbal for this article .It's expected that who call you a "traitor" will follow you to here, don't care, they will remember your words with heartbreak.Israel in the rest of the world's eyes isn't like before Gaza massacre.
    I hope what Muntasir said "If only there were more people like you in this world"

    A not native English speaker

  36. SomeIntegrity says:

    U r right. The task is to liberate the ordinary Palestinians from the failed Palestinian, Arab and Iranian leaders.

  37. Alec Weis says:

    Author is an intellectual slug who should realize the corollaries to her arguments are as preposterous as what she asserts.

  38. Enbal_Gross says:

    thanks Alec. you are very cultured…
    and you are assuming that i don't know what i'm talking about because you know me? or maybe because you just know it all and can make such a decisive conclusions….
    have a great day :)

  39. Alec Weis says:

    Cultured has nothing to do with my comment. You are a lazy thinker.

  40. dogseye says:

    g,day. Its only the journalist and unfiltered internet news that is slowing the genocide.

  41. Rueger1 says:

    I pray every day for mercy for the Palestinian People. For 60 years now they've been slaughtered
    in the name of God, because the zionists made the Jewish people to think that they have
    a real estate deal with God. The Palestinians have their homes destroyed, their lands
    stolen, they have no water to drink(on the other side of the walls Jewish are playing
    in swimming pools) their children cannot go to school, their women are being killed. Only
    God in His Mighty can stop this massacre. It,s ungodly what's happening in Gaza.
    And I also pray that more people like you, will stand up. King Solomon wrote in the book of
    Proverbs 31:9 "Open your mouth, judge righteously, And defend the rights of the afflicted and needy."

  42. omri says:

    well… that's just entirely flase isn't it?? "2 million have been killed"???? hmmmm yes, and you must be the white rabbit……… If we base a discussion on claims we invent we might as well not talk.
    Reported were allowed into Gaza embedded with troops and subject to Israeli military censorship because Gaza was a war zone, and the Israeli army was fighting there. The same was done by the US and UK in Iraq, Afghnistan, and the Falklands. The BBC try to present Israel as Zimbabwe and then quickly change the subject when it is pointed out that it operates just like the UK.
    That aid ship was rammed, after having been warned by the Israeli navy because it was trying to breach a military blockade – again because Gaza was a war zone. Also there was no proof that the ship was not carrying weapons. If they wanted to get aid to Gaza that should ave sailed to Israel, had the goods checked for weapons, and then proceeded.
    It's sad to see that you are one of these retards (excuse me – it's true) who believe that all wars are waged by corrupt capitalists and only for the money. You think having a million citizens being shot at with rockets and running for bomb shelters is not a good enough reason??? O no, sure it's the gas… and you're the white rabbit…
    I don't know if any of the gas information you have is true. At the moment, there is no Palestine, and there won't be till the Palestinians leadership get their shit together. Sounds like a great project to cooperate n in the future…

  43. Maria says:

    Israel / Jews vs Islamo Arab fascist genocide campaign since the1920s
    http://israelvsgenocide.wordpress.com

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