Who Speaks For Palestine?

Advocacies, Family and Friends 26 comments

I weep for Palestine. And I thank Paul Vincent Cannon for this heartfelt piece. As a Filipino, and as a Christian, I used to sympathize with Israel before. But the horrific scenes of mass slaughter and mass starvation are simply too much. Now I see Israel in a very different, strangely dark light. The world is seeing through all the cover-ups and abuses in Gaza. Despite the fact that Israel – and the US – continue to dominate traditional western media, social media and other non-traditional media forms are able to spread the truth, and have portrayed poignantly – and with great sympathy – the sad fate of our beleaguered Palestinian brothers. And it’s not just the supporters of Palestine who are showing us pictures of devastation and despair, it is the ordinary IDF soldiers who proudly and arrogantly display the destruction and havoc they have exacted on Gaza. In the name of humanity, let us stop this senseless killing of innocent civilians in Gaza.

Here is Paul Vincent Cannon’s poem for Palestine…

Who Speaks For Palestine? – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

Cover photo courtesy of Middle East Monitor. Other photos courtesy of Al Jazeera, CNN, The Guardian, The Times, The New York Times and the Economist.

26 comments

    1. Thanks for this, GP. It is good to have a healthy discussion about this, the better for different sides to see perspectives from the opposite side. And it certainly is better to write things down, as I have seen the futility of 2 protagonists trying to out-scream each other in different fora. The fog of war will always have an impact on the best laid-out plans around. Hamas’ decision to proceed with a violent attack may have been wrong, but they also have valid grievances that have been swept under the rug for so many years now. Israel’s objective is to eliminate Hamas, but it is clearly waging war not against Hamas, but against the Palestinian people. My take, GP, is that the collateral damage is just undeniably high, a big percentage of which are innocent women and children, that the IDF is losing its moral ascendancy in fighting this war. You cannot right a wrong with another wrong. The IDF are not the benevolent warriors they would like to present themselves to be. And the world is seeing through all the deception Israel is coming up with. Take it from me, a Christian, who has been a diehard supporter of Israel since the 7-day War. It is only now that I have turned my back against Israel. Here’s a message from a foreign friend: ‘We expect Islam to be the biggest religion in a few years. The Palestine crisis ironically will have this effect just like 9-11. Many of my friends in____ are now following this closely and are understanding the issues better and are siding with the oppressed Palestinians.’ Cheers, GP. I hope we can discuss this in a civil manner, and still remain as friends. it is better to be able to talk about it, and let’s learn from each other’s perspectives.

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      1. I remain civil, screaming at each other solves nothing. As Confucius said, “He who only listens to himself, learns nothing.”
        No one has run a politically correct war and won, as proven by Vietnam, Korea and Afghanistan. Israel is surrounded by Moslem states and knows they either fight to win or lose their country. If Hamas had valid complaints to begin with, they had other avenues, such as the UN and World Court to go to before starting a war. I can’t imagine what they were thinking.
        We have both spoken our peace, I would prefer it end here if possible.

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        1. My peace to you, GP. I had hoped that by discussing – and listening – we could hear both sides’ anguish, and understand. I would have wanted to keep listening, to be able to see and remove the extremist ideas from both sides. Wars may be politically correct for one side, but is rejected as expansionist in nature by the other. Please assure our Israeli friends that at this day and age, there is absolutely no danger of losing their country. Moslems are not the enemy. It is extremism – from both sides. The world has accepted Israel’s small space in this world. And that includes the Arab world. Hamas certainly did wrong in Oct 7, but imagine the frustration from their end, having seen the Israelis ignore their pleas in UN and the World Court for so many decades. Even now, Israel has failed to comply with the ICJ’s order in the Gaza genocide case.
          GP, in my years in the military service, I too have witnessed the horrors, the hurts and the tears brought about by decades of fighting and finger-pointing. And all these have only served to fuel that vicious cycle of tragedies that protagonists inflict on each other. Our people have suffered more than enough.
          It is better to be able to discuss these problems over coffee as opposed to letting the guns do the talking. With each discussion, some concerns are resolved, and more goodwill is developed. Creative ideas are presented and later tested, and win-win solutions found. I pray for peace. For in war, nobody wins; and in peace, everyone wins!
          Once again, GP, you have my utmost respect and admiration. Peace be with you.

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      1. Thanks for the comment, Dawn. Like I said to GP, it is always good to be able to discuss matters in a civil manner, and I’m glad for the opportunity to talk about this contentious issue. And I have to disagree with you on certain points. On the matter of who is to blame for the attack, it is true that Hamas attacked in Oct 7. But one has to look at the atrocities, the curtailment of certain liberties, the discrimination, the illegal usurpation of land, etc that has been going on for decades in the occupied territories. These are contentious issues that have been swept under the rug, that have somehow caused a tipping point in the Palestinian territories. GP talked about the world court, unfortunately the court has not been listening to the laments, the complaints of the Palestinians hence the ultimate decision to attack. I too do not condone the violence instigated by Hamas in Oct 7. But they certainly have reasons for feeling unjustly treated. And Israel knew about this.
        And even as I condemn the deaths during the attack of Oct 7, the attack does not give the Israelis an excuse to butcher 30,000 mostly innocent women and children, and the destruction of their homes, their means of livelihood, their dignity. You cannot right a wrong with another wrong. That is not the way of a truly professional soldier. I’ve said this before, and I will say it again: I am a Christian, I am a retired soldier. I have had my share of pains and problems while in active military service. And I was once a fierce defender of Israel. But the way the IDF is waging war now is immoral and simply unjustified. Israel loves to use the victim card, but clearly they are not.
        It is alright to hunt down the Hamas and let them answer for the Oct 7 incident. But to let 30000 Palestinian non-combatants die while another 60T are injured for Hamas actions is unacceptable and immoral. The human shield issue is nothing but a convenient excuse to continue to ‘mow the lawn’.
        Here in the Philippines, we also had our Moslem secessionist problem for a while. And there remain some bits of it. But what I learned was that the more atrocities and innocent deaths we inflicted, the more of our brother moslems joined the extremist groups. The same was also true in other arenas, in Vietnam, in Ireland, in Afghanistan, etc. How do we cut the vicious cycle of violence? By showing empathy, by showing patience. By not being vicious victors, but by being benevolent warriors who show they care about humanity.
        And take it from me, the world is seeing through the lies coming from Israel spokespersons. And more and more people are taking the Palestinians’ side. No amount of Jewish influence on traditional press can erase the tiktoks, the videos of the viciousness of the Israeli soldiers.
        Stop the killing. Talk. And don’t talk from a position of strength. That is the way of the bully. As the superior force, Israel should not talk from a position of power, but rather talk with humility from a position of empathy. Stop the lies about going after the Hamas when more than 60% killed are non-combatant women and children. Stop the mass starvation. Stop the genocide.

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  6. We all need to tell our governments that the Right Wing extremist Israeli government have to stop punishing all civilians for the sins of HAMAS. This is a nothing short of ethnic cleansing and America needs to put far more pressure on Israel to stop.

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    1. Agree with you 100%. This is immoral, this is inhuman, this has to stop. Israel has become the very monsters they loathed in WW2. They are today’s Nazis, and netanyahu today’s Hitler.

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