(reads 'Salam' which is peace in Arabic, inside an Israeli flag).
I have to admit: the image irked me a bit at first. Felt like there was an obvious contradiction between 'Peace' and the state of Israel which has been avoiding getting anywhere near it.
It struck me as being the same kind of irony as the "Happy Ramadan, motherfuckers" that US soldiers were writing on missiles before dropping them on Baghdad not so long ago.
Then I wondered who tagged it on that wall in Tel-Aviv. An Israeli Arab? A Jewish peace activist? What on earth did they have in mind? How old are they? Have they fought? Served in the army, spent time in prison?
Then I remembered that nationalities, countries, passports, and in most cases religion are just a random variable. We are born into a land or into a language and we're most of the time stuck with it for the rest of our lives.
I guess this yearning to peace in one's home - any home - is so basic, so necessary, so universal, that it no longer matters in which colour or language it is written...
It doesn't matter if it's carved in stone or written on a sheet of paper or on a wall, in israeli-flag-blue or in crimson red.
As long as it isn't written on the rubbles of a house in Gaza.
And that it is not written in blood.
And if that's the case then, well, then whomever wrote it has got the heart at the right place.
I have to admit: the image irked me a bit at first. Felt like there was an obvious contradiction between 'Peace' and the state of Israel which has been avoiding getting anywhere near it.
It struck me as being the same kind of irony as the "Happy Ramadan, motherfuckers" that US soldiers were writing on missiles before dropping them on Baghdad not so long ago.
Then I wondered who tagged it on that wall in Tel-Aviv. An Israeli Arab? A Jewish peace activist? What on earth did they have in mind? How old are they? Have they fought? Served in the army, spent time in prison?
Then I remembered that nationalities, countries, passports, and in most cases religion are just a random variable. We are born into a land or into a language and we're most of the time stuck with it for the rest of our lives.
I guess this yearning to peace in one's home - any home - is so basic, so necessary, so universal, that it no longer matters in which colour or language it is written...
It doesn't matter if it's carved in stone or written on a sheet of paper or on a wall, in israeli-flag-blue or in crimson red.
As long as it isn't written on the rubbles of a house in Gaza.
And that it is not written in blood.
And if that's the case then, well, then whomever wrote it has got the heart at the right place.
8 comments:
Well at least we have one thing in common: the image irked ME too. Like I said on Sandmonkey's blog, the image is a product of a Tel Aviv bubblehead, published on a blog run by a Tel Aviv bubblehead. I think the whole thing is a fake anyway: the "artist" told Lisa about it and she put it on her bubblehead blog.
I noticed that you put a comment on Ms. Bubblehead's blog, and she responded in typically fawning fashion. She also publishes comments from other Arabs who endorse the idea that Israeli soldiers are wanton murderers. Eh, Ms. Lisa Bubblehead is entitled to her opinion but you should be aware that she represents no one but her own miserable bubblehead self and a few other masochistic shits.
Wow, you really like the word 'bubblehead' :)
Okay, assuming she is one. I actually have no way to assess whether her or you represent the 'majority', loosely defined.
And part of me wants to believe that, yes, there is a segment, a segment that i hope substantial, of the israeli society that is aware that a negotiated agreement is better, and has more chances to last, than a systematic murder of Palestinians. Thankfully, the majority of the israelis i met believe that, too.
You may argue that the Israelis i met are the ones who travel abroad and have a more 'open' perspective, and you'll have a very strong point. But then again, it's all about hope. And this graffiti gives me some, and i'm willing to hold on to that.
Thanks for stopping by, Sophia :)
"And part of me wants to believe that, yes, there is a segment, a segment that i hope substantial, of the israeli society that is aware that a negotiated agreement is better, "
The majority.
"and has more chances to last, than a systematic murder of Palestinians. "
That's not going on. From 1995 to 2003 the systematic murder of ISRAELIS went on, and the "Palestinians" proved that they haven't got the sanity or decency to be trusted. Just like the rest of the Arab world. Look at Iraq.
Hmmm. This is actually starting to look like an interesting discussion.
Murder of israelis? EXCUSE ME?
Now let's not get into a useless rethoric of 'no one is touching you people' or even the famous 'you brought it upon yourself'.
Let's talk statistics. Numbers.
How many Palestinians in the Palestinian Territories have been assassinated since June 06? More than 360. 7 just today.
How many Israelis were killed in Israel?
None.
Also i'm not sure i get your reference to Iraq at the end... say whaaaaaaaaaaaat?
Last things first.
(1) Bubblehead is a reference to the Hebrew word "ha-buah", or "the bubble" to describe a certain kind of removed & distant Tel Aviv leftie. Like Lisa.
(2) The reference to Iraq was a reference to the abandon & ease with which Arabs kill Arabs.
(3) You can argue statistics, I'll argue using logic. As Disraeli said, "Lies, damned lies, and statistics."
Today, according to the Australian, the Israelis killed women in a mosque in Gaza...horrible! Immoral! Murderers!
Well, the women were acting as human shields to enable gunmen to get away.
"ISRAELI troops shot and killed two Palestinian women acting as human shields between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian gunmen hiding in a Gaza mosque today, witnesses said, before the gunmen escaped.
The dramatic events came on the third day of an Israeli assault on the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, the largest operation it has conducted in the Gaza Strip in months, designed to put a stop to militants firing homemade rockets into Israel.
About 60 gunmen holed themselves up in the al-Nasir mosque yesterday. Today, about 50 veiled women, answering an appeal on local radio, marched on the mosque, acting as a cover against the Israeli troops to allow the gunmen to flee.
Television footage showed Israeli forces opening fire and two of the women were killed. At least 10 were wounded.
The Israeli army said it had fired at armed Palestinians and said it was investigating whether it had also shot the women. A spokeswoman said the army had footage showing armed men mingling among the women, which the army described as human shields.
Footage filmed by Reuters shows no men mingling among the crowds of women when the first shots were fired.
In the ensuing melee, the gunmen fled the shrine and Hamas, the Islamist militant group that heads the Palestinian Government, said they also escaped from Beit Hanoun, which is almost entirely surrounded by Israeli troops."
Emphasis added.
LINK:http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20698726-1702,00.html
The men who cowered behind women should be killed immediately, on the spot. As for the women, well, too bad, I don't think Islam has a place for women in heaven, except as arm candy for warlords, along with the pearl-like boys.
Sophia...you sound like the very same people who say that teh Holocaust statistics were a lie.
Learn from your history and open your heart.
You are angry at an enemy that is more within yourself than anywhere else.
You have been taught that arabs and by the look of your islamophobic views, that muslims too, are nothing but evil animals.
I, a muslim, was taught that jews were my cousins in faith.
Were you ever told that?
The way you deny statistics backed by everyoen from amnesty, red cross, human rights watch, your own israeli and jewish organisations for human rights, must tell you that you have left teh path of humanity and are walking teh path of the very same nazis that dehumanized an entire people and killed and hated without mercy.
It makes me very sad to see this, but my hope lies in the fact that I believe inside you somewhere, you too want peace, and that perhaps it is circumstance and the trauma you live in, in a region that is filled with killing and unrest, that has made you think the way you do.
Open your heart.
Shaykhspearea.. you're being too kind.
Sophia: i don't blame you for not understanding what those ladies did. Their act holds more love than you will ever experience.
Risking your life for someone else whom you know is innocent, just because you know that he has a mother too and you wouldn't want this to happen to your own children.
I have goosebumps as i type.
And you know what? even if not innocent (which i surely don't believe but i'll give you that for the sake of the discussion). Everyone knows that the israeli army was going to kill them in the worse way possible, with no trial or other waste of time..
what would you do if you were them?
OR let's cast aside the whole moral concern. Assuming they did cover up for criminals. This is indeed a crime and it is punishable under the law.
But it is surely NOT punishable by DEATH. Re-read the law. Then when you're done reading it, give the book to an israeli soldier. After you teach him to read, of course.
Those women should be given a medal of honour.
And i do hope they'll be in heaven. And i hope you will be too, Sophia, so that you know i was right :)
I just really want to commend Mohamed and Shaykhspeara Sha'ira for their responses to Sophia's bigoted and disturbing comments. The both of you are very articulate and, as a Palestinian, I am incredibly touched by your warm remarks. Juxtaposed with those of Sophia, you obviously think in a nuanced manner and I truly hope that more people in our world, especially in Israel, will adopt your mentality.
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