# 186 – Canadians in Gaza

May 31, 2011

I have commented on a comment…(name removed for copyright purposes – or whatever)

From: Stephen Pohlmann <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, 31 May, 2011 22:23:52
Subject: Letter from Israel – I DARE you

• I dare you to wade through this. I almost BEG you to….

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/africa-mideast/hamas/?video=1

• I was forwarded this by ‘one of you’. I watched each of the segments, which are reports by a Canadian news crew. Initially, I watched them in my Helsinki room, where reception was weak, so the videos were constantly ‘buffeting’, which is most frustrating. But the message of the report came through quite clearly.

• The reporter was trying to be impartial. Usually ending each statement with a question mark. Quite obviously wanting us to make up own minds…

• Do you want me to comment? Or do you NOT want to be ‘guided’ by me, whom some accuse of being a right extremist, which of course I am NOT!

• Well, I SHALL comment. For those of you who want to have your own unbiased opinions, ignore what I have written below. Or perhaps read it later, and compare notes.
• These are people lying to their own people.
• According to many to whom I have spoken, the Koran does NOT say what Hamas claims.

• Hamas’s brothers (other Palestinians) live in the West Bank, under Fatah, and now undoubtedly have hope of a better future. Hamas and their followers made their masochistic choice and now are paying.

• Yet more of their brothers stayed where they were in 1948, after what they call Naqba (disaster/catastrophe), and, in Israel, live GOOD lives, with freedom of movement, with passports, the right to vote. They are government members, judges, lawyers, teachers. They are full members of society. They are Israelis. They may PREFER to be called Palestinians, but, under the circumstances, it is incredible that they are not 10^th class citizens.

I repeat: Hamas and their followers made their masochistic choice and now are paying.

• How DARE Hamas cry about 63 years of horror, when the reality is staring them – and all – in the face.

• The PLO and the basic Palestinian resistance movement were formed in 1964 BEFORE Israel was the ‘occupier’. Their charter, and still today’s Hamas charter goes back the Arab vote in the UN in 1947 – against an Israeli/Jewish state. In 1964, Jordan and Egypt were the occupiers.

• Hamas wants the whole land. They do not respect the Jews’ right to any land or some of the land or to exist. And still so much of the World defends them, has sympathy for their policies, and supports them. Israel has sympathy for their suffering. But do NOT expect us to accept responsibility for their status and their future.

Yes, Netanyahu, and some before him, have missed chances to make political gains. But do you really think that had Netanyahu last week put the onus on Fatah to change Hamas’ mind, it would have made any difference – after seeing these videos?

It WOULD have been politically correct; he would have gained some kudos, but Hamas would quite obviously not have changed.

• ‘I lost my son’, one man says. ‘to an Israeli helicopter rocket’. For this, of course I’m sorry. But let’s not have a war of ‘tragic words’. I am one of the lucky ones. I cowered in my sealed room during the Gulf war, and no bomb hit me and my family. The security fence help prevent my daughters from being victims of suicide bombs, and technology prevented Hamas rockets and Hezbollah missiles from reaching my home.

• The next war will show that their technology has improved.

• And the World is expecting us to walk that mile…..

Stephen

From: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Sent: Wednesday, June 01, 2011 7:17 AM
To: Stephen Pohlmann
Subject: Re: Letter from Israel – I DARE you 2

Sorry, Stephen, the video doesn’t work for me–and in any event, I can’t hear on the computer, even with headphones!

I get the gist of your message, however……………

Who ‘DARES’, wins, eh? I look for solutions, but cannot find them, except a ‘clean bomb’, or a new ‘State of Israel’ in America!

I fantasise, of course – so the situation continues. It is strange that a small strip of land should create such global attention and strife, over such a very long period of history. Nobody has an answer to satisfy all parties, and everybody takes a stand from their own perspective, and sticks to it.

I only know, I couldn’t live in those circumstances all my life, but then, I would have no real cultural, familial or religious baggage to keep me there.

From here, It seems to me that the Palestinians (whatever they are?), are a lost tribe, doomed to live in their own festering hatred for eternity, egged on by a hostile Arab world (and others), for their own political ends, and attitudes, regarding Israel. It is now well entrenched in the DNA.

Even if peace did break out, it would be a very, very, fragile one!

As I live near one of the main terrorist targets  in London, I get a tiny inkling of what it is like, but human nature puts thoughts of that kind to the back of one’s mind most of the time–I suppose that’s how everybody copes.

Keep safe, old bean, and your ‘Morrison Shelter’ well stocked with Vera Lynn records!!!

From: Stephen Pohlmann [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, June 01, 2011 9:13 AM
Subject: RE: Letter from Israel – I DARE you 2

XXXXX, my friend – you do get the point…except we fall into the trap of generalisation.

It frustrates me when some observers say ‘ you’re as bad as each other’. That’s really putting everyone involved into 1 pot.

And to refer to ‘Arabs’, as I often do, is tricky.

The worst, in this case, is to say ‘Palestinians’. What these interviews illustrated is that those in Gaza are being cruelly oppressed by Hamas. Whereas those in the West Bank are beginning to see the light of ‘normality’. And those in Israel…well they are quietly enjoying the fruits of ‘what life would be like’ if there were peace.

Then you have those who are in refugee camps in the neighbouring Arab countries, with very few rights – refugee status. Difficult life.

And finally, you have those in the Palestinian Diaspora. Some have assimilated. Many are distant activists, even major donors to the Hamas cause.

2 main steps:

1. Whether through ‘Facebookism’ or some other ‘God-like’ influence, start changing the Hamas system of education. They need to be prepared for eventual peace and co-habitation.

2. Sooner or later, the blockade has to end, so that they have the means of creating interests in their lives apart from ‘Israel-hate’. They need to find ‘a life’. I am annoyed at the polls in today’s Egypt that ask whether they support peace with Israel. Of COURSE the majority are against it. But the question should be ‘What now?’. What are the priorities of the people in the streets of today’s Egypt? I have a strong feeling that Israel is way down the list.

1. War with Israel is a waste of time, money etc. They KNOW that there is no danger of the Israeli army invading Tahrir Square. They want TVs, jobs, jeans, Facebook, jobs, Starbucks, and vacations in Malaga. They want what the Internet is telling them is just a short ‘democratic’ step away…

 Stephen