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Discuss this article (20 Comments)A dog is worth more than a Palestinian child
by Mishal Kanoo on Wednesday, 31 December 2008
Does the title shock you? Good! Because it should. It is a sad statement on the lives of the poor Palestinians in Gaza whose lives have been shattered since 1948. This huge prison that is Gaza, had been so-called liberated in 2005. Yet would you like to live there?
The state that the people there live in has been described as the biggest open spaced prison with good reason. They are not allowed freedom of movement to and from the territory.
They have no proper access to continued electricity or running water. And they are run by different militias all who are trying to prove a point that is useless — they all want to be the top dog in the junkyard.
In 2007, an NFL star, Michael Vick of the Atlanta Falcons, was highlighted on every paper in the US for actively participating in a dog fighting ring. The outcry was not because the star betted on the dogs, but about the sport itself.
In the sport, the animals tear into each other and eventually kill one another. This was a situation that the US public could not tolerate. Yet when bombs blow to smithereens the bodies of children living in Gaza, no one is taken to task about his role in this carnage. So is that dog’s life worth more than the Palestinian child’s?
The Israelis are the masters of deception by their own admittance — “By way of deception we do war.” They always seem to find a way to blame the victim for their barbarity. They know fully well that they are transgressors but because the truth hurts, they find ways of placing the blame on others.
In this latest act of savagery, the Israeli government headed by the now disgraced caretaker Prime Minister Olmert said that it is Hamas’ fault and that they have no issues with the people of Gaza. Please let me state quite clearly that I am not excusing Hamas’ acts of the past 3 years nor do I side with the regime of Mr Abbas.
However, if you put people in an open air prison, take away all the amenities of life such as electricity, water and medicine then kidnap and, in some cases kill, legally elected officials from the Palestinian state under whatever guise best fits the moment, what do you expect the people to do? Sit back and take it?
The Israelis don’t so why should the Palestinians? The Government of Israel has made it quite clear that they will continue with the carnage until they are satisfied. So more of the same.
A while ago, I saw a wonderful interview with Mr. Norm Finkelstein, a person worth reading more about and is famous for his book, “The Holocaust Industry”, where he said that Israel took a beating in the 2006 invasion of Lebanon when Hizbullah politically trounced it.
Now Israel cannot be seen as the weak party because that would empower others to strike it…oh so the argument went. However as Israel is still licking its wounds from Lebanon, it needs to make a point that it is the dominant factor. What better way than killing the defenseless?
When dogs get abused, the civilized world comes to a standstill and the criminal is severely punished. When a child in Gaza is killed, the world talks for a while because no one wants to look as though they are doing nothing but in reality, they are doing nothing.
Indeed, a dog is worth more than a Palestinian child.
The views above are solely that of the author, Mishal Kanoo, and are not to be reprinted without his permission.
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READERS' COMMENTS
Disclaimer: The views expressed here by our readers are not necessarily shared by ArabianBusiness.com or its employees.
RE: Palestine
Posted by Palestinian, Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Saturday 10 January 2009 at 11:50 UAE time
To my brother Nasser,
I'm totally in agreement with you, I do blame my Palestinian leaders for not being united enough to support our rights, I blame them for many wrong decisions affected the progress of our rebellion, but also we need to remember that it’s not only about Palestine, its people about leaders, it’s also about IRAQ, about LEBANON, about SYRIA, SUDAN, SOMAL where we still have occupied lands and we all Arabs need to fight for it till freedom!
We Arabs failed in Iraq, in the recent war in Lebanon while Hizbullah proved to us that it is possible!, we are not able to get our occupied land in Jawlan Heights, Shabaa. I agree we should not point fingers and blame each other, we should unit (regardless to the ruling regimes) and take responsibility toward our common issue.
Moreover, we need to remember that Jerusalem is not about Palestinians only! Responsibility rely on every Muslim brothers to free the Aqsa Mousque and every Christian Brother to free the holy city from the Zionist invasion (not Jewish, because Jews also have right in this holy city), Palestinians should not be left alone to fight in Jerusalem against the Zionists and should be supported by every person who believes in justice!
Posted by Palestinian, Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Saturday 10 January 2009 at 11:50 UAE time
To my brother Nasser,
I'm totally in agreement with you, I do blame my Palestinian leaders for not being united enough to support our rights, I blame them for many wrong decisions affected the progress of our rebellion, but also we need to remember that it’s not only about Palestine, its people about leaders, it’s also about IRAQ, about LEBANON, about SYRIA, SUDAN, SOMAL where we still have occupied lands and we all Arabs need to fight for it till freedom!
We Arabs failed in Iraq, in the recent war in Lebanon while Hizbullah proved to us that it is possible!, we are not able to get our occupied land in Jawlan Heights, Shabaa. I agree we should not point fingers and blame each other, we should unit (regardless to the ruling regimes) and take responsibility toward our common issue.
Moreover, we need to remember that Jerusalem is not about Palestinians only! Responsibility rely on every Muslim brothers to free the Aqsa Mousque and every Christian Brother to free the holy city from the Zionist invasion (not Jewish, because Jews also have right in this holy city), Palestinians should not be left alone to fight in Jerusalem against the Zionists and should be supported by every person who believes in justice!
Sad...but true
Posted by Altamash Javed, Dubai, U.A.E on Wednesday 7 January 2009 at 19:09 UAE time
I agree that the West does care more about less important things such as dog fights than innocent people being killed in Gaza. But it is one thing for us to all comment on what is happening and actually do something about it. It is simple, militarily Israel is stronger and on top of that it gets backed up by the US. So, if the Arab world becomes militarily stronger, does this end all of this? Truly unite all the Arab states and Muslim countries to end this, and it will, because right now we are not all together.
Posted by Altamash Javed, Dubai, U.A.E on Wednesday 7 January 2009 at 19:09 UAE time
I agree that the West does care more about less important things such as dog fights than innocent people being killed in Gaza. But it is one thing for us to all comment on what is happening and actually do something about it. It is simple, militarily Israel is stronger and on top of that it gets backed up by the US. So, if the Arab world becomes militarily stronger, does this end all of this? Truly unite all the Arab states and Muslim countries to end this, and it will, because right now we are not all together.
Palestine
Posted by Nasser, Abu Dhabi, uae on Wednesday 7 January 2009 at 16:14 UAE time
I feel more or less, Palestinians are to blame..looking at the history. (Not supporting Israel at all here). because everytime something bad happened in Palestine, I see my Palestinian friends blaming other arabs for their problem. I don't see a united Palestine stand at all from the Palestinian People. I have even questioned some of them, who said they cannot do anything as they got limitations especially the ones from Jordan.
Honestly speaking I feel Palestinian People have got to raise up all over the world and help their brothers in Palestine instead of blaming the Egyptians, Syrians and other arabs etc.
Posted by Nasser, Abu Dhabi, uae on Wednesday 7 January 2009 at 16:14 UAE time
I feel more or less, Palestinians are to blame..looking at the history. (Not supporting Israel at all here). because everytime something bad happened in Palestine, I see my Palestinian friends blaming other arabs for their problem. I don't see a united Palestine stand at all from the Palestinian People. I have even questioned some of them, who said they cannot do anything as they got limitations especially the ones from Jordan.
Honestly speaking I feel Palestinian People have got to raise up all over the world and help their brothers in Palestine instead of blaming the Egyptians, Syrians and other arabs etc.
meaningful actions
Posted by paul, dubai, UAE on Wednesday 7 January 2009 at 13:22 UAE time
It seems to me that despite a lot of anger, the Arab world is doing very little to put pressure on the US, without which Israel cannot act. Cancelling New Year celebrations is about as far as it goes. US ships and military still rely heavily on various gulf states to continue to operate in the region. The US still relies heavily on gulf oil. Unless either of these are under threat, the US will not care at all for the plight of the Palestinians.
The gulf states are some of the US's strongest allies in the region, which seems contradictory considering that the US's relationship with Israel will always trump anything else.
Posted by paul, dubai, UAE on Wednesday 7 January 2009 at 13:22 UAE time
It seems to me that despite a lot of anger, the Arab world is doing very little to put pressure on the US, without which Israel cannot act. Cancelling New Year celebrations is about as far as it goes. US ships and military still rely heavily on various gulf states to continue to operate in the region. The US still relies heavily on gulf oil. Unless either of these are under threat, the US will not care at all for the plight of the Palestinians.
The gulf states are some of the US's strongest allies in the region, which seems contradictory considering that the US's relationship with Israel will always trump anything else.
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