The world is watching

Courtyard, Mosquée de Paris. Photo by Jordana Shalhoub.

To the Israelis and to Hamas:

Where is the humanity?

Do you think
that we don't see
the trail of death and destruction
your sophisticated weaponry
and your makeshift rockets leave in their wake?

Do you believe
no one will listen to the truth
from the foreign doctors who staff
the only remaining hospital
tending the wounded, dying and dead?

Do you imagine
no one will notice
the lack of water, electricity, food and shelter
for a civilian population surrounded
and trapped like rats, with no place to go?

Do you expect
no one will report
that even ambulance attendants
turn up wounded or worse,
risking their lives trying to save others?

When you close your eyes at night
is your sleep untroubled?
Or do the images of dying children
haunt your dreams and jolt you awake,
your heart pounding in protest?

Do you believe
there is any victory to be gained?
Kill all the fighters
and another generation will follow,
schooled by extremists in a rage for revenge.

A humanitarian disaster
unfolding right before our eyes
yet politicians dither and posture,
casting blame like squabbling children,
with little regard for the human costs.

In Gaza, there is plenty of blame to go around. An Israeli incursion that killed several alleged militants within Gaza first broke the cease-fire. Hamas retaliated by firing rockets targeting Israeli civilians. Because of extremists on both sides, Israeli and Palestinian civilians now are living in terror, as missles rain down on their heads. Many Israelis have had to seek refuge in their basements or in public shelters, due to the unpredictability of Hamas rockets. Since the Israeli incursion, thousands of Palestinians have been forced to flee their homes, even though there is no safe place for them to run.

Israel is responsible for using disproportionate force, with no concern for innocent civilians in Gaza. While 4 Israelis have died, 566 Palestinians have been killed, with more than 3,000 suffering serious injuries. Israel has violated the Geneva Convention by cutting off basic services, including water and electricity and preventing supplies and aid from entering Gaza. The Israeli army has destroyed much of Gaza's infrastructure, as well as buildings not linked to Hamas, including the Palestinian President's office, the Palestinian Parliament, mosques, markets, clinics, schools, businesses and homes. Further, the Israeli army has fired on and killed ambulance drivers ferrying wounded civilians to Gaza's only operational hospital. The Israelis also killed a civilian in the West Bank, as he participated in a peaceful anti-war protest.

Shame on Western leaders for their deafening silence and failure to act. Shame on the United States and its spineless representative for preventing the UN Security Council from negotiating a cease-fire or any kind of settlement. Shame on George W. Bush for supplying weapons to the Israelis, therefore complicit in atrocities being committed on a daily basis in Gaza.

Scroll down the page for a more serene post today.