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Junaid Jahangir

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Human Lives Are More Important Than Holy Books

Posted: 12/11/2012 12:22 pm
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The UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs indicated that of the 158 Palestinians killed in the November Israeli assault on Gaza, an overwhelming 103 were civilians. At least 30 were children and 13 were women.

Undeterred by false anti-Semitism charges, many queer activists and their allies in the Abrahamic faiths, like others, stood firm against Israeli aggression.

While, many leaders dawdled on the issue, top Israeli officials were clear. Israel's deputy foreign minister stated that most people hit in Gaza deserved it as they were armed terrorists. Israeli leaders used language similar to that of Israel's deputy defence minister in 2008, who indicated that Palestinians would bring upon themselves a bigger "shoah" -- holocaust.

The Israeli Minister of the Interior stated that the goal of the operation was to send Gaza back to the Middle Ages. Likewise, Ariel Sharon's son, an activist for the opposition Kadima party, stated that even if images from Gaza turned out unpleasant, Gaza should be flattened just as the Americans hit Nagasaki after Hiroshima.

The images from Gaza were indeed heart rending. The religious leaders and queer activists I know of in Edmonton could not remain silent.

Reverend Dr. Nancy Steeves of Southminster Steinhauer United stated that justice requires that we stand by those whose land and water are being taken, whose movements are being restricted, whose livelihoods are being destroyed and who are being kept poor.

Likewise, her partner Dr. Dawn Waring questioned if, instead of passively praying for justice, we could summon the courage to speak truth to power, stand with the oppressed and rally for justice.

Dr. Sherry Ann Chapman, who like Waring has served as an ecumenical accompanier in Israel and Palestine, compiled a list of informational and action based resources and urged people not to become immune to human suffering.

Human rights activist Rob Wells wrote that such atrocities needed to be exposed for the world to see. He also questioned why the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto uprising was termed as an act of resistance whereas, the 2012 Gaza uprising branded as terrorism, indicating that without justice there could not be peace.

Unitarian Chaplain Reverend Audrey Brooks questioned how Israel could inflict the horror of the Holocaust on the Palestinians. She added that Israel portrayed the people of Gaza as terrorists worthy of elimination.

Her words seemed to echo those of U.S.-based Orthodox Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz that some Jews use scriptural language to brand Palestinians as the "Amalek" who need to be destroyed.

Within the Jewish community, Paula Kirman stated that the inhumane and illegal treatment of Palestinians by the Israeli government and military went against the Judaic values of reason, compassion and justice. Paralleling Israeli journalist Gideon Levy, she added that while committing massacre, Israel claimed moral righteousness.

The Christian and Jewish voices in Edmonton were complemented by Muslim voices in the U.S. Queer Muslim activist, Faisal Alam stated that he stood against the Israeli aggression in the occupied territories as his tax money directly funds U.S. military aid to Israel.

Likewise, Professor Omid Safi wrote that the American media is fixated on equating Gaza with Hamas as if the land was not populated by human beings. He added that Israel has bombed schools, homes, hospitals, and mosques, killing an overwhelming number of civilians.

BLOG CONTINUES AFTER SLIDESHOW

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  • Gaza City Launches Rockets at Israel

    During the last hour of hostilities, militants launch rockets from Gaza City as an Israeli bomb explodes on the horizon on November 21, 2012 on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. An official ceasfire started at 9pm local time between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement after a week of conflict resulting in the deaths of 150 Palestinians and five Israelis and many hundreds injured (Christopher Furlong, Getty Images)

  • Palestinians Celebrate

    Palestinian firefighters celebrate the beginning of the truce with Israel in Gaza City on November 21, 2012. Palestinians in Gaza took to the streets to celebrate the start of a truce deal with Israel that was announced in Egypt on the eighth day of violence in and around Gaza. (Marco Longari, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Soldiers Victoy Sign

    An Israeli soldier gives the victory sign as mechanised infantry check their equipment in a forward staging area on Nov. 21, 2012 on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. Despite widespread rumours of a ceasefire militants in the Gaza Strip continue to fire rockets and Israel continues it's bombardment. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in Israel to support and encourage a peace deal being brokered by Egypt. (Christopher Furlong, Getty Images)

  • Hamas Leader Khaled Meshaal

    Hamas Leader Khaled Meshaal gives a press conference at the Intercontinental Hotel on Nov. 21, 2012 in Cairo, hours after Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr announced that a truce had been agreed between Israel and Hamas to end a week of bloodshed in and around Gaza. (Gianluigi Guercia, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement to the press at his Jerusalem office on November 21, 2012. Israel and Hamas agreed on a truce that will take effect this evening in a bid to end a week of bloodshed in and around Gaza that has killed more than 150 people, Egypt and the United States said. (Gali Tibbon, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Border Patrol

    Israeli infantry soldiers patrol next to the border on Nov. 21, 2012 on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. Despite widespread rumours of a ceasefire militants in the Gaza Strip continue to fire rockets and Israel continues it's bombardment. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in Israel to support and encourage a peace deal being brokered by Egypt. (Christopher Furlong, Getty Images)

  • US & Egypt Announce CeaseFire

    In this image made from Egyptian State Television, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, left, and Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr, right, give a joint news conference announcing a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2012. (Egyptian State Television / AP)

  • Protest Smoke Grenade

    A smoke grenade is thrown by Israeli security forces during a protest against the Israeli military operations in Gaza Strip near the West Bank town of Nablus, on Nov. 21, 2012. (Nasser Ishtayeh, AP)

  • Produce Market in Gaza City

    A Palestinian man drives past a produce market in Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2012. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has arrived in Cairo in her diplomatic push to forge a truce between Israel and Gaza rulers of Hamas. Her visit comes hours after a bomb exploded on an Israeli bus in Tel Aviv, wounding several. Clinton is looking to piece together a deal to end Israel's weeklong offensive in the Gaza Strip. (Bernat Armangue, AP)

  • Israeli Soldiers Pray

    Israeli soldiers pray next to an artillery gun on Nov. 21, 2012 on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. Despite widespread rumours of a ceasefire militants in the Gaza Strip continue to fire rockets and Israel continues it's bombardment. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in Israel to support and encourage a peace deal being brokered by Egypt. (Uriel Sinai, Getty Images)

  • Soldiers Take Cover

    Israeli soldiers take cover during a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip on Nov. 21, 2012 near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. Despite widespread rumours of a ceasefire militants in the Gaza Strip continue to fire rockets and Israel continues it's bombardment. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in Israel to support and encourage a peace deal being brokered by Egypt. (Uriel Sinai, Getty Images)

  • Protesters Chased By Soldiers

    Palestinian protesters are chased by Isareli border guards during clashes in the West Bank city of Nablus on November 21, 2012, as they protest against the ongoing Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip. A new wave of Israeli raids on Gaza killed 11 people, including a child who died when the tower housing AFP's office was struck for the second time in 24 hours. (Jaafar Ashitiyeh, AFP / Getty Images)

  • A Palestinian Holds Stones

    A Palestinian youth holds stones during clashes with Israeli forces near an Israeli army watch tower at the main entrance of the West Bank city of Bethlehem, as they protest against the ongoing Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip on Nov. 21, 2012. Israeli air strikes shook the Gaza Strip and Palestinian rockets struck across the border as Clinton held talks in Jerusalem in the early hours of Wednesday, seeking a truce that can hold back Israel's ground troops. (Musa Al-Shaer, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Palestinian stone throwers run for cover during clashes with Israeli security forces in the West Bank city of Nablus, on November 20, 2012. The West Bank has witnessed almost daily demonstrations in support of Gaza Palestinians who have faced a week of Israeli air strikes against militants firing rockets at the Jewish state.

  • Israel House Bombed

    Sapir Hachmon and her boyfriend Ron Vachnish react as they enter her room after it was hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip on Nov. 20, 2012 in Beersheba, Israel. Hamas militants and Israel are continuing talks aimed at a ceasefire as the death toll in Gaza reaches over 100 with three Israelis also having been killed by rockets fired by Palestinian militants. (Photo by Uriel Sinai, Getty Images)

  • Israeli Soldier Evacuates Girl From Site Hit By Rocket

    An Israeli soldier evacuates a young girl from a site hit by a rocket launched by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip in the southern Israeli city of Beer Sheva on November 20, 2012. Israeli leaders discussed an Egyptian plan for a truce with Gaza's ruling Hamas, reports said, before a mission by the UN chief to Jerusalem and as the toll from Israeli raids on Gaza rose over 100. (Danny Sasson, AFP / Getty Images)

  • UN Supplies in Palestine

    Palestinians wait for aid at a UN supplies center after it was damaged in an Israeli airstrike directed at the nearby Hamas police headquarters at the Jabalya refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip on Nov. 20, 2012. Israel halted a threatened Gaza ground offensive to give Egyptian-led truce talks a chance as top diplomats flew in to boost efforts to end nearly a week of cross-border violence. (Mohammed Abed, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Israeli Drone in Sky

    The white spirals of a patrolling Israeli drone are seen from the seafront in Gaza City on Nov. 20, 2012. UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged all sides to the Gaza conflict to immediately cease their fire, warning at a news conference in Cairo that an escalation will endanger the whole region. (Marco Longari, AFP / Getty Images)

  • House Bombed in Israel

    A bomb disposal officer at a house after it was hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip on Nov. 20, 2012 in Beersheba, Israel. Hamas militants and Israel are continuing talks aimed at a ceasefire as the death toll in Gaza reaches over 100 with three Israelis also having been killed by rockets fired by Palestinian militants. (Photo by Uriel Sinai, Getty Images)

  • Israeli Soldiers Check Their Guns

    Israeli soldiers check their guns at an Israeli army deployment area near the Israel-Gaza Strip border on Nov. 20, 2012, as talks aimed at securing a deal between the Jewish state and Gaza's Islamist Hamas rulers continue. Israel halted a threatened Gaza ground offensive to give Egyptian-led truce talks a chance, as top diplomats flew in to boost efforts to end nearly a week of cross-border violence. (Menahem Kahana, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Israelis Take Cover During Air Raid Sirens Sound

    Israeli civilians and security forces take cover as air raid sirens sound around Jerusalem on November 20, 2012. A rocket struck just south of Jerusalem as UN chief Ban Ki-moon was to arrive for talks on ending the Gaza crisis, AFP correspondents said. (Ahmad Gharabli, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Kids Play During Lull In Rocket Fire

    During a lull in militant rocket fire young boys play on the roof of a bomb shelter and blow soap bubbles on November 20, 2012 in Ashkelon, Israel. Hamas militants and Israel are continuing talks aimed at a ceasefire as the death toll in Gaza reaches over 100 with three Israelis also having been killed by rockets fired by Palestinian militants. (Photo by Christopher Furlong, Getty Images)

  • Israeli Air Force Leaflet Dropped In Gaza City

    A Palestinian man holds up a leaflet dropped by Israeli air force in the Tufah neighbourhood of Gaza City on November 20, 2012, urging residents of certain districts of the city to evacuate their homes "immediately" amid fears the military was poised to launch a ground operation. (Marco Longari, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Israeli Security Forces Examine Palestinian Rocket Site

    Israeli security forces surround the place where a rocket fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip landed in an olive grove in West Bank near Jerusalem on Nov. 20, 2012. The rocket from Gaza struck an olive grove in West Bank near Jerusalem, shortly before UN chief Ban Ki-moon arrived for talks on ending the Gaza crisis. The attack was claimed by the armed wing of Gaza's ruling Hamas movement, in the second such attempt to target Jerusalem in four days. (Hazem Bader, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Israeli Soldiers Pray

    Israeli soldiers read from a holy book as they pray in a staging area near the Israel Gaza Border, southern Israel, on Nov. 20, 2012. Israeli aircraft on Tuesday battered the headquarters of the bank Gaza’s Hamas leaders set up to sidestep international sanctions on their rule, as fitful efforts to negotiate an end to a week-old convulsion of violence moved to the highest reaches of diplomacy. (Ariel Schalit, AP)

  • Israeli Strike Left Rubble Behind In Gaza City

    Palestinian children stand in the rubble left after an Israeli strike on a house in Gaza City, on Nov. 20, 2012. Efforts to end a week-old convulsion of Israeli-Palestinian violence drew in the world’s top diplomats on Tuesday, with President Barack Obama dispatching his secretary of state to the region on an emergency mission and the U.N. chief appealing from Cairo for an immediate cease-fire. (Hatem Moussa, AP)

  • House Hit By Rocket

    An Israeli woman reacts at her house hit by a rocket fired by militants from Gaza Strip, in the southern city of Beersheba, Israel, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012. Efforts to end a week-old convulsion of Israeli-Palestinian violence drew in the world's top diplomats on Tuesday, with President Barack Obama dispatching his secretary of state to the region on an emergency mission and the U.N. chief appealing from Cairo for an immediate cease-fire. (Tsafrir Abayov, AP)

  • National Islamic Bank Destroyed in Gaza City

    A Palestinian boy walks outside the National Islamic Bank, destroyed overnight in an Israeli strike, in Gaza City, on Nov. 20, 2012. Early Tuesday, Israeli aircraft targeted another Hamas symbol of power, battering the headquarters of the bank senior Hamas officials set up to sidestep international sanctions on the militant group's rule. After Hamas violently overran Gaza in June 2007, foreign lenders stopped doing business with the militant-led Gaza government, afraid of running afoul of international terror financing laws. (Hatem Moussa, AP)

  • Smoke rises following an Israeli attack on smuggling tunnels on the border between Egypt and Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Monday, Nov. 19, 2012. (Eyad Baba, AP)

  • Palestinians carry injured people out of a media center in Gaza City that was hit by an Israeli strike for the second time in two days Monday, Nov. 19, 2012. Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad says the strike on the building killed one of its top militant leaders. (Bernat Armangue, AP)

  • Israeli soldiers prepare weapons in a deployment area on November 19, 2012 on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. The death toll has risen to at least 85 killed in the air strikes, according to hospital officials, on day six since the launch of operation 'Pillar of Defence. (Lior Mizrahi, Getty Images)

  • Israeli artillery shells attack a target in the Gaza Strip on November 19, 2012 on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. According to reports November 19, 2012, at least 90 Palestinians have been killed and more than 700 wounded during the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip. (Christopher Furlong, Getty Images)

  • An Israeli officer holds a Torah scroll as he reads from a holy book while others gather in a staging area near the Israel Gaza Strip Border, southern Israel, Monday, Nov. 19, 2012. The Palestinian civilian death toll mounts as Israel ferociously pursues Gaza Strip militants who are menacing nearly half of Israel's population with rocket fire. (Ariel Schalit, AP)

  • Photographer injured

    Reuters news agency photographer Ammar Awad (R) receives treatment for an injury inflicted by a rock, during the coverage of the clashes between Palestinian protestors and Israeli security at the Qalandia checkpoint, in the occupied West Bank on November 19, 2012. UN chief Ban Ki-moon will meet Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas as part of a growing push for a Gaza war ceasefire, his spokesman said. (Ahmad Gharabli, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Gaza Conflict

    Palestinian youth hurl stones towards Israeli soldiers at the Qalandia checkpoint, in the Israeli occupied West Bank, on November 19, 2012. European Union foreign ministers called for an "immediate" halt to hostilities between Gaza and Israel as a new strike in a sixth day of violence pushed the toll in Gaza to over 100. (Ahmed Gharabli, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Israeli soldiers

    An Israeli soldier aims his rifle towards strone throwers demonstrating against the Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip at the Qalandia checkpoint, in the Israeli occupied West Bank,on November 19, 2012. Israeli air strikes killed 22 Palestinians, hiking the Gaza death toll to 99 as global efforts to broker a truce to end the worst violence in four years gathered pace. AFP PHOTO/AHMAD GHARABLI (Photo credit should read AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/Getty Images)

  • Israeli Border Police

    Israeli border policemen stand guard during a protest against Israel's military action on the Gaza Strip in Birzeit, Monday, Nov. 19, 2012. Israeli aircraft struck crowded areas in the Gaza Strip and killed a senior militant with a missile strike on a media center Monday, driving up the Palestinian death toll to 96, as Israel broadened its targets in the 6-day-old offensive meant to quell Hamas rocket fire on Israel. (Nasser Shiyoukhi, AP)

  • Israeli Security Forces

    Fireworks are thrown at Israeli security forces during clashes against Israel's military operation in the Gaza Strip, in Qalandia checkpoint, near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Monday, Nov 19, 2012. Israeli aircraft struck crowded areas in the Gaza Strip and killed a senior militant with a missile strike on a media center Monday, driving up the Palestinian death toll to 96, as Israel broadened its targets in the 6-day-old offensive meant to quell Hamas rocket fire on Israel. (Majdi Mohammed, AP)

  • Israel Launching Missle

    Israeli soldiers lie on the ground as an Iron Dome missile is launched near the city of Ashdod, Israel, Monday Nov 19. 2012. Israeli aircraft struck crowded areas in the Gaza Strip and killed a senior militant with a missile strike on a media center Monday, driving up the Palestinian death toll to 96, as Israel broadened its targets in the 6-day-old offensive meant to quell Hamas rocket fire on Israel. (Moti Milrod, AP)

  • Atara checkpoint

    Birzeit University students cover their faces during clashes with Israeli soldiers at the Atara checkpoint close to the university as they protest against Israel's military action on the Gaza Strip, on November 19, 2012. Israeli air strikes across the Gaza Strip killed 13 people, raising the Palestinian death toll to 90 as Israel's relentless air campaign entered its sixth day. (Abbas Momani, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Israeli Bomb Shlelter

    Israelis take cover in a large concrete pipe used as a bomb shelter during a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip on Nov.19, 2012 in Nitzan, Israel. According to reports Nov. 19, 2012, at least 90 Palestinians have been killed and more than 700 wounded during the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip. (Photo by Uriel Sinai, Getty Images)

  • Gaza City tower hosting media

    Palestinians look on as smoke billows following an Israeli air strike on the Gaza City tower housing Palestinian and international media, on November 19, 2012. Israeli air strikes killed 21 Palestinians hiking the Gaza death toll to 98 as global efforts to broker a truce to end the worst violence in four years gathered pace. (Mohammed Abed, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Gaza Strip

    Israelis take cover in a stairway during a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip on November 19, 2012 in Ashkelon, Israel. According to reports November 19, 2012, at least 90 Palestinians have been killed and more than 700 wounded during the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip. (Photo by Uriel Sinai, Getty Images)

  • Gaza Strip

    Palestinians run as tear gas is fired by Israeli security during a protest against Israel's military action on the Gaza Strip, on November 19, 2012. Israeli air strikes killed 22 Palestinians, hiking the Gaza death toll to 99 as global efforts to broker a truce to end the worst violence in four years gathered pace. (Jaafar Ashtiyeh, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Palestinian Woman Mourns

    A Palestinian woman mourns after an Israeli air strike destroyed her house in the town of Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on November 19, 2012. Israeli air strikes killed 13 Palestinians on November 19, hiking the Gaza death toll to 91 as global efforts to broker a truce to end the worst violence in four years gathered pace. (Mohammed Abed, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Israeli Border Guards

    Israeli border guards take position during clashes with Palestinian protestors in the centre of the divided West Bank city of Hebron, near the Israeli Beit Hadassa settlement, on November 19, 2012. Israeli air strikes killed 21 people in Gaza on Monday, raising the overall death toll to 98 on the sixth day of the relentless bombing campaign. (Hazem Bader, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Israeli Soldiers

    Israeli soldiers sleep next to their tanks in a deployment area on Nov.19, 2012 on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. The death toll has risen to at least 85 killed in the air strikes, according to hospital officials, on day six since the launch of operation 'Pillar of Defence.' (Photo by Uriel Sinai, Getty Images)

  • Protest

    Supporters of Pakistan's outlawed Islamic hardline group Jamaat ud Dawa (JD) stand on Israeli and US flags as they shout anti-Israel slogans during a protest in Karachi on Nov.19, 2012. Israeli air strikes killed 13 Palestinians on Nov. 19, hiking the Gaza death toll to 91 as global efforts to broker a truce to end the worst violence in four years gathered pace. (Asif Hassan, AFP / Getty Images)

  • Israeli soldiers gather next to their armoured personnel carriers (APC) stationed on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, on November 17, 2012, in Israel. (Photo by Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images)

  • Israeli children wave their national flag as they greet soldiers stood by a car, on a road leading to the Israel-Gaza border near the southern Israeli town of Ofakim on November 17, 2012 in Israel. (Photo by Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images)

  • A rocket is launched from Gaza as seen from near Sderot on November 17, 2012 in Israel. At least 39 Palestinians and three Isreali's have died since conflict began four days ago. (Photo by Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images)


While, many Jews, Christians and Muslims consistently speak out against Israeli injustices, some remain silent. Queer activist Darnell Moore mentioned his erstwhile silence out of fear of being smeared with anti-Semitism. After all, even Archbishop Tutu has been labelled as an anti-Semite and a "black Nazi pig."

About 70 per cent of Israelis opposed the cease-fire deal. Likewise, Hamas claimed victory at the expense of the lives of innocent women and children. However, the Israel-Palestine issue is not a Muslim-Jewish issue.

Time and again, Jews and Muslims, notwithstanding the narrative of bigots in their respective faiths, have reached out to each other. The Edmonton Muslim and Jewish communities have forged alliances against anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.

The Calgary Jewish community has honoured Muslims who rescued Jews during the Holocaust. In a New York train, a Muslim came to the rescue of a Jewish male, who later stated that someone often painted in the media as an enemy of Israel and Jews came to help when nobody did anything.

Likewise, a pair of Muslim cab drivers in New York rescued a Jewish bagel shop from closure by vowing to keep it kosher. In Bronx, a local mosque welcomed Jewish congregants when they could no longer afford the rent of their Orthodox synagogue.

A Parisian Imam from a Muslim delegation to the Yad Vashem holocaust memorial mentioned that he would have saved Jews during the Holocaust as human lives are more important than holy books.

Likewise, Rabbi Yanklowitz referenced the Orthodox Union and the Anti Defamation League, who have voiced concerns on bigotry that denigrates Islam and paints all Muslims as anti-American crusaders.

He also referenced the Jewish Philosopher Martin Buber who had stated that human beings are temporary residents and that none had an absolute claim to land ownership.

Rabbi Yanklowitz has also stated that non-Jews must speak up against anti-Semitism just as heterosexuals must speak up against homophobia.

Perhaps, this is why Rabbi Brant Rosen has clearly voiced that Israel's oppressive actions do not have much to do with security fears and that he would be betraying the teachings of his great faith by not standing with the Palestinians.

Likewise, Reverend Steeves has vehemently stated that act by act we can name injustice when we see it and that the Gospels are not neutral but teach one to stand with the oppressed.

In short, while world powers may continue to dawdle against Israeli aggression, including the expansion of the latest 3,000 illegal settlements, the brave children of Abraham, united by the great teachings of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, continue to assert their voice for justice.

 
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The UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs indicated that of the 158 Palestinians killed in the November Israeli assault on Gaza, an overwhelming 103 were civilians. At least 30 wer...
The UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs indicated that of the 158 Palestinians killed in the November Israeli assault on Gaza, an overwhelming 103 were civilians. At least 30 wer...
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billybigbopper
10 Fans
03:39 PM on 12/19/2012
I wonder which holy book Junaid would favor over the other? Which one would he choose to live by over another?

The consistent cry of Islam: " drive Israel into the sea"

Hate leads to hate but love covers a multitude of sins. Forgive from the heart or be denied forgivenss for your own transgressions.

There will not be any peace in the middle east or anywhere else. Only peace in the heart and mind is available today.
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Liz Wilson 2
“a small group can change the world
321 Fans
06:57 AM on 12/13/2012
I can agree whole heartedly with the general sentiment expressed in this article, as it limits the discussion to Israeli and Palestinian and to those who historically supported Israel's right to defend itself.

I think it is important for Israel's leadership to understand that "we" no longer can be counted on to support every action by Israel as legitimate self-defense could be essential to the goal of peaceful co-existance. However in order to create peace there must be a balanced equation. Where is the evidence that a parrallel situation exists from the international supporters of Hamas?

Jahungir, by citing the terrible comments by Sharon's son, the Minister of the Interior, and the Defense Minister without at leaast acknowledging that Israel is surrounded and numerically dwarfed by the number of Arabs and Middle Eastern countries (silently or covertly supported by China and Russia ) who are devoted to the total destruction of Israel and the Jewish people.

I think that Israel as intentionally blown opportunities to establish peace and I think that the hard-line muslim extremeists have done the same. Each side plays with the lives of civilians on both sides of the divide whose only desire is to leave without fear.

Israel pokes all of us by expanding settlement into the Arab areas and Hamas continues to poke at Israel by constantly lobbing projectiles into Israel.

If the entire national community would stand together and tell both Hamas and Israel enough is enough something might be accomplished.
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billybigbopper
10 Fans
03:41 PM on 12/19/2012
yes but can the two ever agree?
My prediction is : NO
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Liz Wilson 2
“a small group can change the world
321 Fans
04:49 PM on 12/19/2012
I understand that the reason Moses and the Israelite wandered the desert for 40 years was because the people that left Egypt knew how to be slaves and they needed to learn how to be a free people again. 
Perhaps the same idea would work. A total occupation of both camps for a period of 40 years. Two more generations, but two generations not born into a violent oppressive environment. Perhaps the third generation would be able to find the place in the middle and the occupiers could go home
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Stephen Golden
21 Fans
03:26 AM on 12/13/2012
When a fellow begins by quoating the UN, you must realize he has no real ideas. (or thought) The main employees of the UN are the useless relatives of people of influence from around the World.
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Liz Wilson 2
“a small group can change the world
321 Fans
06:18 AM on 12/13/2012
this comment leads me to wonder whether you read the article or merely reacted to the mention of the UN.
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Stephen Golden
21 Fans
09:11 AM on 12/13/2012
Well, that is the beauty of this forum. I did read the comment, To me, nothing was offered of any substance. If you were to examine the UN and how it works, there is not much constructive there, and money which might do good, like feed hungry people, gets swallowed up in perks for an entrenced core of so called employees. Among other things they pay for a parliament of parliaments, which has as its main task going to conferences and saying how good it is, and complaining about only having a few millions in it's accounts.
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billybigbopper
10 Fans
03:42 PM on 12/19/2012
good one
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Stephen Golden
21 Fans
05:18 PM on 12/19/2012
Thanks
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colpy
194 Fans
04:35 AM on 12/12/2012
Might I suggest that the queer activists visit Israel, march in the Gay Pride Parade, see how they are openly accepted without reservation in the military.........

Then might I suggest they try and live openly in Gaza.

I really do hope they survive that, but I doubt it.
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Liz Wilson 2
“a small group can change the world
321 Fans
06:21 AM on 12/13/2012
I am confused as to the repeated mention of queer. Is the sexual orientation of the person quoted of importance in this article moreso than what they said?

Does it matter whether or not a person can live openly in Gaza as a gay when at times its just impossible to live openly in Gaza?
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colpy
194 Fans
07:40 AM on 12/13/2012
I thought that fav you gave me must have been a typo. :)

Yes, the sexual orientation of the person involved is important, as the treatment of gays and lesbians is a wonderful depiction of the choices in the ME.

In this corner, you have the society of Israel, modern secular democracy, tolerant, free, in which every citizen has the right to make their own choices.

In this corner you have the Arab and Persian societies, medieval tyrannies, in which women are second-class citizens, there is neither tolerance or freedom, and in which gays hang.

It is a war.

Pick a side.

BTW, considering Islam rising, picking that side is something like suicide.

Especially if you are queer.

Israel is the frontier of sanity and modern secular democracy
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Haroldpom
241 Fans
04:40 PM on 12/11/2012
Negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians can’t go anywhere good. Both Arab and Jew know it. President Obama poses as the honest broker, but he too knows that talk of a lasting resolution of differences is 100-proof moonshine.

The Palestinians won’t settle for anything less than all Israelis dead, or shipped off to somewhere far away. The Israelis, unreasonable as they may seem in the salons of the West, are determined not to settle for anything less than survival.

The fashionable opinion in the salons of the West is that the dispute is all about land, territories and borders, considerations that could be negotiated by civilized men of good will. If the Israelis give a little, the Palestinians give a little, then all can be reconciled: “If your friends like my friends, and my friends like your friends, then we’ll all be friends together, and won’t that be fine?”

But the dispute is not about land. It’s about Israeli survival. The Palestinians and their radical Islamic allies insist they have one goal in mind, the destruction of the lonely outpost of civilization in a region of mindless violence, where trying to keep your head has a very specific meaning.
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agsterino
Less stuff . . . more meaning
183 Fans
04:04 AM on 12/13/2012
The Palestinians are treated in a way you would not call equitable in any way. At the borders, checkpoints, water shut offs, power shut offs, keeping them "contained". Why would Palestine not want to get rid of an encroaching warlord that is trying to push them out from their homeland?

Israel's methods of total annihilation of Palestine are just on a longer timeline.
Israel is by far the most aggressive to flattening and encroaching on Palestine .
And the are supported by the folks with the biblical belief that the end of the world ( revelations) needs Israel to regain a holy piece of historic importance, then. ... Rapture?
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Haroldpom
241 Fans
07:20 AM on 12/13/2012
Part 1

Security barriers are not erected, roadblocks are not put in place, travel restrictions are not enforced as a racist response to Palestinian ethnicity but as a rationale response to Palestinian enmity. The blockade of Gaza is a consequence, not a cause, of Hamas’s violence; the West Bank security barrier is the result of, not the reason for, Palestinian terrorism.

If not for the massive carnage at Sbarro pizzeria, at Dizengoff Center, at the Passover Seder in the Park Hotel, there would have been no IDF operation in Jenin in 2002. Without the indiscriminate bombardment of Israeli civilians, there would have been no Cast Lead operation in Gaza in 2009. If pregnant women and ambulances were not used to smuggle explosives into Israeli cities, there would be no need for checkpoints and roadblocks. If Palestinian gunmen would not open fire from vehicles on Israeli families passing by, there would be no need to restrict the movement of Palestinians on certain roads. If Palestinians did not ambush Israeli cars traveling though Palestinian towns, there would be no need to construct special roads for Israelis to bypass those towns.
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Haroldpom
241 Fans
07:22 AM on 12/13/2012
Part 2

Of course, the standard Judeophobic response to this will be... “occupation,” that all-purpose, all-weather, one-size-fits-all excuse for every racist Palestinian atrocity perpetrated against the Jews.

According to this morally base and factually baseless contention, all Palestinian violence is an expression of understandable rage and frustration due to years of repressive “occupation” of Palestinian lands.

This claim is as egregious as it is asinine. It must be rejected with the moral opprobrium and the intellectual disdain it so richly deserves.

The call for the destruction of the Jewish state was made long before Israel held a square inch of what is now designated as “occupied Palestinian land.” (In fact, the original 1964 Palestinian National Covenant explicitly disavows any sovereign claim to the “West Bank” and Gaza as the Palestinian homeland.) The founding documents of the PLO, Fatah and Hamas are all committed to the destruction of the Jewish state, irrespective of time and regardless of frontiers. This too was the sentiment reiterated by Mahmoud Abbas in his recent UN appearance.

So clearly “Occupation” is not the origin of Palestinian ill-will towards Israel. Quite the reverse. The Israeli presence in Judea, Samaria and Gaza is a direct outcome of Arab ill-will towards Israel, when in 1967 their massive military offensive to destroy Israel failed catastrophically.

It was not Jewish territorial avarice that brought Israel to “the territories” but Arab Judeocidal aggression.
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Liz Wilson 2
“a small group can change the world
321 Fans
06:26 AM on 12/13/2012
I think it is the governments that what the fighting to continue. I suspect that if you got a room full of moderate Jewish and Palestinian mothers, fathers, grandparents, teenagers , and children together they would be able to fashion a workable agreement to co-exist. The moderates need to create the buffer between their extremists.
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Simple E Anonymous
4 Fans
03:28 PM on 12/11/2012
You might want to check your sources more closely. That "shoah" comment was from early 2008, not late 2012.
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arie pulica
1 Fans
03:04 PM on 12/11/2012
The Palestinians have one and only one intention in this conflict and this is the destruction of the state of Israel Starting in kindergarten in all form of education and ending in statements of their leaders And not only statements .When ever they need for political reasons they attack Israel by rockets and other miens hiding behind children and other bystanders . Israeli army has to defend the country by all miens and so whit all the precautions thy are taking some get hurt .In the other hend the Palestinians send their rockets whit the clear intention to hurt children . I do not see connection to any book
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agsterino
Less stuff . . . more meaning
183 Fans
04:14 AM on 12/13/2012
You might want to listen to a news channel that is not bought or controlled in any way by someone with a faith based agenda. Since their are not too many channels controlled by Muslims. ... Ahem ... You get my point? Even Jon Stewart knows about the BS bias and is not so quick to point a finger at only one side.( the daily show being one of the most accurate non bias ways to find out who is telling truth versus truthiness.
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Mike Veracity
11 Fans
01:34 PM on 12/11/2012
The "No God but Allah" screamers and the "Chosen People" need a good dose of humanitarianism and humanism. People who accept world views, just because their society or families raised them with such world views, need to start using their god-given rationality instead of age-old superstitions. Until love and rationality replaces hatred and superstition people walk with their own internal devils.
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YankeeCanuck
dog
1037 Fans
07:53 PM on 12/11/2012
It's a land grab, nothing more. REligion and "security" are the excuses.
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agsterino
Less stuff . . . more meaning
183 Fans
04:15 AM on 12/13/2012
One is grabbing, one is trying to retain.
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billybigbopper
10 Fans
03:53 PM on 12/19/2012
humanitarianism and humanism is the problem

yes love will fix it and swords and spears will be hammered into instruments for reaping...but I know love will be imposed from above because no one will do it on their own for fear of missing something
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