Nov 19 2012

Tragedy in Gaza

Written by Kate Hudson

The recent article in the Jerusalem Post, by Gilad Sharon, son of Ariel Sharon, is shocking in the extreme. Under the heading ‘A decisive conclusion is necessary’ – a title which has a deeply unpleasant historical ring – he pours forth the most hate-ridden and murderous invective:

“We need to flatten entire neighborhoods in Gaza. Flatten all of Gaza. The Americans didn’t stop with Hiroshima – the Japanese weren’t surrendering fast enough, so they hit Nagasaki, too.

There should be no electricity in Gaza, no gasoline or moving vehicles, nothing. Then they’d really call for a ceasefire.

Were this to happen, the images from Gaza might be unpleasant – but victory would be swift, and the lives of our soldiers and civilians spared.”

The tenor is so extreme that I can almost believe that he means the Hiroshima reference to be applied literally.

From a state with a significant nuclear arsenal, quite possibly larger than Britain’s, this is not something that can be taken lightly. Israel has never formally admitted to the existence of its nuclear arsenal and no inspections of Israel’s facilities have ever been allowed. This is a situation that exists unchallenged and in parallel to the war drums beating over the possibility that Iran might be thinking of developing nuclear weapons.

And Israel appears recently to have brought to nothing the UN attempts to make progress on a WMD-free zone in the Middle East by refusing to cooperate.

This is from a country that is killing innocent civilians including babies and children, has used chemical weapons – white phosphorous - on Gaza during Operation Cast Lead almost four years ago, and has deprived people of their land and livelihoods.

Tragically, Gilad Sharon’s attitude is not just the perspective of a lone individual. One of Israel's Deputy Prime Ministers, Eli Yishai has said: “We must blow Gaza back to the Middle Ages destroying all the infrastructure including roads & water”

Our hearts bleed for the people of Gaza. History shows that brutality and oppression cannot ultimately defeat the human spirit. I – and countless millions of people around the world – am here to say this will never happen to the people of Gaza.

Join us on Saturday 24th November: 12 noon at Downing Street; march to rally and protest at the Israeli Embassy, Kensington.

End Israel’s War on Gaza: End the Siege Now

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7 comments

  • Comment Link Joyce Wednesday, 21 November 2012 12:09 posted by Joyce

    Thank you Kate, the Palestinians and especially right now the people of Gaza desperately need support and a voice. I am sickened that after 60 years of injustice, Israeli governments ignoring UN resolutions the western media still refuses to tell the full story.

  • Comment Link Patrick Wednesday, 21 November 2012 09:20 posted by Patrick

    Perhaps Mr Sharon would not have written in these terms - and, it has to be remembered this is not, and never has been, Israeli government policy - if the publicly declared official policy of Hamas and the Palestinian state were not the anihilation of Israel and its people.

    Who can doubt what their intentions would be, should they ever get their hands on a nuclear weapon. We can be thankful that those terrible means of destruction remain exclusively, in the Middle East, in the hands of a government which prefers peace to waging war on its neighbours.

  • Comment Link Richard Irish Tuesday, 20 November 2012 17:30 posted by Richard Irish

    I would urge people to read 'Secret Affairs' by Mark Curtis which outlines the the role of Britain & the US throughout the Middle East including Palestine & Israel.

  • Comment Link George E Moss Tuesday, 20 November 2012 16:02 posted by George E Moss

    Why are the 'Children of Israel' armed to the teeth? Why so diametrically opposed to spiritual ideal? Why do they reject 'Thou shalt not kill' and the laws given to Moses? Have they adopted the ideology of Genghis Khan as replacement for that of Jesus? What of 'love'? I fail to understand.

  • Comment Link Patrick Tuesday, 20 November 2012 15:13 posted by Patrick

    CND should take care not to appear to be in support of Hamas, an organisation that deliberately foments discord and violence in order to sustain a power base.

    Beware of people who need conflict in order to maintain themselves in power and wealth - they will never make any genuine effort to bring peace to their people.

  • Comment Link campbell Tuesday, 20 November 2012 11:44 posted by campbell

    religion and male testosterone is the root cause, education is the answer but not one body dare insist. islam and christianity all have the same cultural origins you will combine with racist islamists proseletising their culture hiding behind their faith. we are a secular country if we accept refugees, they must abide by our cultural and legal mores, this is a continuous progression, we must bnever allow our social hard fought for advances to be destroyed in the name of toleration.

  • Comment Link Peter M Le Mare Monday, 19 November 2012 17:26 posted by Peter M Le Mare

    Thanks for this Kate. I fear greatly that this will get mixed up with the Syrian Confklict and the seemingly false claims that Iran has a nuclear weapons programme. It may be the beginning of the 3rd World War, the war to end all wars for it will end the world.

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