You May Roll Your Eyes Part II

Since I last blogged about the Israel/Palestinian conflict the death toll for Palestinians has risen considerably. The last report I heard put Palestinian deaths at over 1000 people while Israeli deaths remain at 13 (only 3 of those being civilian). Today I was watching Al Jazeera TV as I do most mornings, and I was again confronted with the conflict. As some may know, Al Jazeera does not water down their reporting like our news at home. They say it and show it like it is. Like many people I'm sure, and like I've done in the past, I thought of turning the channel to something a little less invasive, something more...mindless. However, just before I was about to tune out a group of three pundits came on to argue their views. The Israeli pundit was calling Hamas a genocidal organization bent on destroying Israel. The Israeli argued that it was the Palestinians that broke the ceasefire by launching a rocket into Israel. Then the Palestinian pundit came on arguing that the Israelis broke the ceasefire by continuing their blockade of shipments coming into Gaza and that the Hamas rocket was merely a response to this. It is significant to take note that whenever Secretary Rice speaks on the issue her main point is that Hamas must stop firing rockets. There is no mention of Israel calling off it's blockade. To me however, the most interesting points came from a man that has been called the most knowledgeable European 'specialist' on the Middle East (and whom I had previously not heard of). Mr. Patrick Seal laughed at the accusation of Hamas being genocidal. He argued that it was Israel's goal to in fact radicalize Hamas and Palestine in general even further. The reason for this, he argued, was because if Hamas and other Palestinians became more radical and fanatical then in Israel's view they won't have to negotiate with Palestine. They can instead invade with aggression and impunity with the argument that they are fighting radical, fundamentalist, terrorist Islamists that are hell bent on destroying Israel. Seal argued that this is part of Israel's goal to enable them to occupy the whole of Palestinian lands, that they in fact believe belongs to them. Seal continued by stating that in more recent times Hamas has become more liberal in their ideology and has sought peace deals, but Israel has turned around and provoked Hamas with such acts as the blockade.
Just some food for thought that I found as an interesting analysis and a counterbalance to mainstream western media.
I came across another interesting view in one of today's Ugandan newspapers Daily Monitor. The Monitor argued that the war on Gaza may not be about Israel's security, but rather about the large gas reserves off the coast of Gaza. The paper sights Global Research as saying that there is a direct relation between the gas reserves off the coast of Gaza and Israel's recent invasion. According the paper's sources, British Gas made a 25 year deal in1999 with the Palestinian Authority for exploration rights to the area. In 2007 the Israeli Cabinet approved a proposal to buy gas from the PA. However, the article states that Israel later decided to bypass the PA and Hamas, and deal directly with British Gas. Reportedly their plan was to build an underwater pipeline to the Israeli port of Ashkelon. However, the Israeli deal with BG fell through and BG has since apparently pulled out of the area, closing their office in Israel in January 2008. This of course leaves the fate of the gas field up in the air.
Again, interesting speculation as it provides yet another viewpoint to consider in the ongoing devastation that is the Israel/Palestine conflict.

On a side note, in a previous edition Daily Monitor wondered why some conflicts such as Israel/Palestine seem to attract a media frenzy and bring people marching in the streets, when other conflicts such as that in DR Congo that have killed several million people in the last few years are barely a blip on the radar screen. I suppose there was media attention paid to Darfur, but where are they now? Darfur has disappeared from the eye of the media while people continue to needlessly die. The same can be said for NGOs (Aid organizations) that rush to high profile disasters to attract funds, then when the media spotlight goes, so do they. People in northern Uganda that have spent decades living with fear and violence from the Lord's Resistance Army have commented about this. But now I'm going on a tangent so I'll stop.

I hope everyone out there is doing fine,
till next time....