happy new year

mmmmmm, i cannot believe that it is over a month since my last post.
here's wishing all my friends and loved ones a fantastic 2009. it has opened with not very promising world events, and sadly things never seem to improve.

my cell phone, email,facebook inbox, have all been inundated with messages to join the fight to save Gaza. i to am appalled and disgusted by the recent turn of events, and Israeli brutality against innocent Palestinians. at the risk of being politically incorrect or worse still labelled a traitor. there are a few points that constantly trouble me around the debacle that is the "Palestinian issue".

firstly a good friend of mine, turned down an invitation to a pool party at my place, because she was so saddened by the happenings in Gaza, she has joined the free Palestine movement and once again become an activist. with all due respect,
does living have to cease because Palestinians are suffering? to begin with, this has been going on for over fifty years, while i understand that international pressure can only help the Palestinians, does that mean life as we know it must end in solidarity.

why then have we not hopped on a flight to Israel,and joined the armed struggle.
Israel helped by the united states have succeeded in displacing millions and are in the middle of a genocidal war. nobody really gives a damn, cause they are just Palestinians, and there are no oil dollars at stake. the united states aids Israel, to the tune of 3.2 billion dollars annually, what do they pay Egypt to keep the Gaza border closed? 2 billion dollars annually, more? or less? Egypt takes the dirty money, and keeps it border closed. whom should we be protesting against?

my point is that the Arab world is just as duplicitous in this crime, that is the Palestinian situation. giving up once pleasures in life, will not help, the situation in Palestine. quite frankly the Palestinians themselves need to catch a wake up.

neither the PLO, nor the existing political players seemed to have a concrete political agenda. the way i see it, the world is pouring in aid to Palestine, why not neutralise Israel and the united states, by firstly becoming a more united people, between hamas, Hezbollah, the Palestinian liberation movements, that stooge Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinians are so divided, they seem not to know which end is up.

Arafat with all due respect made as much money as he could, and aided, the demise of any coherent struggle in the region,...then he did us a favour and died...perhaps not.

further more instead of harping on a separate Palestine, for which no real political program of any meaning has been put forward, call the Israeli bluff.
acknowledge. that Israel does and will always exist. ask for full integration into the state of Israel. for full rights as citizens of Israel. the right of political parties to exist within a democracy. the right to full emancipation as citizens of Israel. the right to health care, education, votes, all the freedoms that exist to citizens of any democratic country. what can either the united states or Israel do then? am i being naive here?

if there is no war, there is no need for 3.2 billion dollars in aid. if there is no war, Israel's only industry the manufacture of arms would close down, therefore, all the flown in Jews, will go back to their countries of origin when jobs dry up. if there is no war, there is no need to occupy territory. is it defeat to play the game under different rules. eventually displaced Palestinians would return home, eventually the playing fields would be levelled, so what if the country is called Israel, that would in time,.. change as well.

is it wishful thinking on my part?
i do believe that the Palestinians to some degree , are to be blamed for this fiasco. it does not mean that we do not support the cause, it does not excuse Israel ot the united states, i am just saying, that the people of Palestine need to get off their asses, stop bitching among themselves, and own their liberation as a united people. giving up on pool parties in south Africa, won't win them freedom. they need to earn their freedom by becoming a more united people. we can do what we can as outsiders, but real change comes from within. how does Israel manage to be such a united front. perhaps we could learn a lesson from their techniques. why do they always appear so polished,

to quote Thomas Paine:
"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and the thanks of man and woman.
Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem to lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value. i love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and who's conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.

Israel can only win the war, if the people of Palestine allow her that right.