The Elephant in the Room‏

thanks to my girl Tandoorie for the pictures

A couple of days ago one of my old friend Asam sent me an e-mail that I think everyone should read if you don't know what is going on in Gaza here is the time to learn.... If you live in Toronto like we do and took a trip downtown today you would have witnessed a protest that had a lot people who believe in change this is the story behind the protest and why something needs to happen soon. If learning about what is going on is all you can do than that is o.k but share what you have learned and get others informed this is something that we should not take lightly.
Peace Tricia

Gaza is the most densely populated area in the world. When Israel urges Gazans to 'get away' from Hamas so as not to be accidentally killed, one wonders where they are supposed to go. Gaza has been occupied by Israel since 1967. Its borders, coastline and airspace are all under Israeli jurisdiction. Nothing gets in or comes out of Gaza without Israel's permission (except the homemade rockets). Israel is bound by the Fourth Geneva Convention and other statutes of International Law that determine how an occupying force must treat the native population. Bombing the shit out of them, of course, is not one of the statutes.

750,000 Gazans are refugees; over 50% of Gazans are children. Gaza now has one of the highest rates of poverty in the world, and unemployment hovers around 70%. These facts, the most pertinent of which is the occupation of Gaza, are easily pushed under the rug as we read the latest glowing op-eds supporting Israel's 'retaliations' in the Gaza strip. The big fat pink elephant is the occupation, without which there would be no violence and no need for retaliation. It is an elephant that will not go away no matter how much we deny it or refuse to know about it. It is an elephant that can only be gotten rid of through the extermination of 1.5 million Gazans - a seemingly hyperbolic claim that seems closer and closer to becoming reality with each passing day.

You cannot occupy an entire population and expect it not to fight back. And unless you are completely racist towards Arabs, you cannot maintain Palestinians love killings Jews more than they love their own children.

Please keep this in mind as you watch the horror unfolding in the middle east. It is only just beginning.

In peace and sol,

Asam