I'm with God and a bag of flour
by Adam | Friday 15 June 2007
This is how I look when I field phone calls from my father.
A resident of a Hamas-dominated neighborhood, identifying himself only as Yousef for fear of reprisal by his neighbors, said Gazans would always back the winner, regardless of ideology."Today everybody is with Hamas because Hamas won the battle. If Fatah had won the battle they'd be with Fatah. We are a hungry people, we are with whoever gives us a bag of flour and a food coupon," said Yousef, 30. "Me, I'm with God and a bag of flour."
Outside Gaza City's Shifa Hospital, taxi driver Nader Susi, 31, sat on the curb, puffing on a cigarette. "I don't know what's coming," he said. "I think I will make even less money now."
This story is special. Almost no one (beyond those engaged in combat), even the residents of Gaza who are trampled under foot, cares who wins between Fatah and Hamas. They may have never cared. They are hungry, they want life to improve.
While Hamas has been using the misdirection of liberating Palestine from the Zionist occupiers, no infrastructure has been built, no water has been provided, no economic stimulus has been set forth.
All elements of humiliation aside, the Israeli occupation of Gaza appears to have been a more successful alternative than the sprawling chaos resulting from the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and this Palestinian experiment with democracy. Moreoover, this isn't something that the Israelis should be proud of. This is something that spells trouble for the entire Middle East and probably the world.
Comments (3)
The opportunity here, if one wishes to classify it as such, is for the free world to wake up and smell the cesspool it has indulged for decades, to see the fruits of its desire for a peace process over achieving any real peace, I could go on.
The only potential good that can come of this developing tragedy is that the free world will see the Palestinian "cause" for what it is - the acquiescence to terrorist thug demands and expectations without demanding anyhting real in return.
That this eventuality was not forseen by most indicates how laughably and willfully blind free societies have been with regard to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, and indeed to many elements of the wider Arab-Israeli conflict. This is the bed we've made for ourselves by believing the delusions that peace was possible without preconditions - specifically without demanding that any cooperation or assistance (humanitarian or otherwise) be contingent upon the explicit recognition of Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state in the Holy Land in peace and security. This above all else must happen before any possible settlement could occur.
And now we will see how the free world responds to this tragedy created by its indifference. The Palestinians are responsible for their own actions and their own violence, but there was a time when the US or Europe, or others could have forced the Palestinians'/Arabs' hand and maybe, just maybe brought about real change.
So while Yousef is "with god and a bag of flour", perhaps he should also consider being with Israel and accepting that "the Zionist entity" is perhaps the best friend he could wish to have. But first, he has to renounce the Palestinian "cause".
Posted by Otter425 | 19 June @ 16:30
Well, that might be a little bit harsh. The aspirations of Palestinian nationalism have been pretty shoddy in its execution, but it is still grounded in a hope to own a land that Palestinian Arabs were never given control of. I don't think a two-state solution (like Communism) is THAT unreasonable in theory. The practice is the problem.
Palestine could have (and should have) happened by now, through the pen and not the sword, but they have not been blessed with a pluralistic society that allows freedoms, discourse, and change very easily. Vast understatements I know, but the cause is not dominated by the majority, such is the case with all the intimidated majorities across the Middle East. But you sent me the Barry Rubin article this week so I hardly need to explain that to you.
The world has been chicken and non-interventional for as long as it hasn't suited their interests to be, but even government officials likely aren't introspective enough to lay the blame within. They see this as a regional problem and it's never going to be in their interest to help until their countries start experiencing the flames of it all. And fortunately, it hasn't been drastic enough yet to make that kind of dent. Hopefully, this will bring some awareness about.
So...it's difficult to tell a society to come along quicker and to try harder, especially when the mistrust of Western powers is pervasive and it is in the interest of these governments to keep their people in the dark.
I am not breaking new ground here. I am just saying that it's not the movement's fault that its leaders strangle out dissent, it's difficult to tell a hungry person to bite the hand that (almost) feeds him, especially as that hand guarantees complete starvation through intimidation and misinformation.
It's sad what's happening, it's not good for any of us; if enough of the awareness builds from this (which it never seems to), maybe something unlikely redemption can come from all of this disaster. This is a revelation, yes, but not one to revel in.
Posted by Adam | 20 June @ 14:18
I feel I should clarify my position on this issue to begin with. My note about the Palestinian "cause" was meant to mean not the aspirations of Palestinians for a nation-state, but for their desire for such a state to replace the modern State of Israel "from the river to the sea" - as their militants and idealogues chant.
A 2-state solution is perfectly reasonable - so long as everyone agrees that both states have a right to exist with their unique national characters (Israel as Jewish, Palestinian as Arab and/or Muslim) in peace and security as coexisting neighbors. The trouble enters when this absolutely necessary caveat is added (that difficulty about recognizing each other's right to exist).
Now, I agree it is unfair for us to ask them to do more, faster, and try harder, sooner - consider the history that led to the pluralistic, free countries and society that exists today. But too few recognize that such things take time. Furthermore, few recognize the need to be free to respond to threats from those populations that are not yet "ready" for democracy - and so demand negotiations, processes, concessions - all designed to bring along the "uncivilized" and encourage them to move quicker and try harder, etc. We can't have both, and must ultimately choose one or the other. The lack of understanding of this fact is primarily responsible for the string of disasters that are the result of decades of well-meaning attempts to get both instant-democracy (just add money!) and peace for our ally (just add money to its enemy!) - Israel.
While I agree with Rubin regarding the present situation in the Arab world (for those curious to see this article, please see: here ) I think that, in light of the recent reports (see here) and long standing observations about Palestinian education one can't help but wonder whether the old statements about a peace-seeking majority among the Palestinians can be true, or if so, for how much longer.
I say this despite the "god and a bag of flour" line, because the central figure in your initial post never considered being with Israel, as I suggested. Israel would offer more of a future than either corrupt, thugish and violently Islamist Hamas or corrupt, thugish, violently Islamist and pan-Arabist Fatah.
One final observation, my pessimism regarding the Palestinians is not rooted in bias, but in fact. Consider the recent observation of Michael Oren in the Wall Street Journal that the Palestinians have been given more foreign aid per-capita than any other group in history (including European countries under the Marshall Plan) - yet nothing has come of it. Consider that after the West imposed it's boycott, Hamas brought in more money from Islamists in the Middle East than Fatah had brought in from Western ATMs - and it produced nothing except more of the same (meet the new boss, same as the old boss). Consider that this has continued for decades against a backdrop of Israeli deomnstration, often through unilateral action or unreciprocated shows of good faith, of a willingness to seek peace.
To be sure the recent violence is clarifying. But in the end, I agree that it is not to be reveled in.
Posted by Otter425 | 20 June @ 16:50