Richard Sudan,
July 28th 2014, London
I’ve been sitting here for days unable to write anything about the suffering being felt by the people of Palestine. Palestinians are being massacred, many of them children, while an obedient western media act largely as apologists for the terrorist state of Israel. It feels cheap and meaningless to try to explain what’s happening with words.
Though it feels pointless, I’m reminded that everyone who has a voice needs to use it, especially when hearing people continually justify the barbaric murder of innocent people not understanding the reality of the situation. And the reality of the situation is clear for anyone who cares to study it. But by flicking between Sky and the BBC though, you’d hear a different story.
The images that have been circulating on social media over the last few weeks since ‘Operation Protective Edge’ began, reveal the story that the rest of the media is too cowardly to speak about in any real, meaningful and truthful context. Over a thousand Palestinians have been murdered since the beginning of Israel’s latest assault on Gaza in the most horrific and unimaginable circumstances: in hospitals, schools, mosques, playgrounds, cafes, beaches…
The thousands of people who have marched in London over the last few days in the name of a free Palestine, reflect that fact as did the marches in the run up to the illegal invasion and destruction of Iraq in 2003, that our government does not speak for us, nor does it represent us. The current unelected government is not acting on behalf of the people. Our government supports Israel and the United States’ aggression towards Palestine because we don’t demand any better from those we elect. This is not democracy.
The sheer numbers of Brits who hit the streets has been ignored by the media in the same way the truth of what is happening in Palestine and the Gaza strip is being side-lined. By most accounts 100,000 people marched through central London on the Saturday 19th July, demanding an end to murder of innocent civilians in Gaza. The media outlets which reported this demonstration billed the number as 15,000. I was at this demonstration and it looked more like 100,000 as some have suggested and possibly more. The Saturday after there were 45,000 marching, with media still only reporting 15,000.
I’m not Palestinian. I’ve never set foot in the holy land. But I am human, and that’s all that is needed to have a stance and make your voice heard. But when speaking to others about what is happening it is important to simply remind people that the so called Israeli-Palestinian conflict is really about human rights, international law and dignity. So often it is all too easy to get caught up in the talking points and fluff that the media churns out. Neutrality, silence and inaction on issues such as these always supports the side of the oppressor. There’s no excuse for ignorance any more.
I’m sick of editors arguing that balance is needed when talking about how the apartheid state of Israel treats Palestinians. How and why should one present a massacre of innocent Palestinians as somehow balanced when it isn’t? This isn’t a conflict; it’s systematic ethnic cleansing done over many years of illegal occupation.
The propaganda and mythology surrounding Israel and the continual justification for its heinous war crimes is something that we’ve all become used to. And that’s part of the problem. The reality has become a kind of normalised insanity. It no longer shocks me to see the blatant disregard for anything resembling truth when listening to what the anchors at various new outlets as the evening news bulletins roll in. Nor are we shocked to hear ‘110 killed in 14 hours’ in the same way we would if it was Israelis.
We look back on history and wonder how bad things happen. It’s because when they happen in real time ordinary people stand by. Its clear that the Zionist agenda in the holy land will never acknowledge the human rights of the Palestinians, or see them as equal human beings, worthy of the same rights as anyone else never mind any quest for statehood, the right of return or the implementation of any international law.
In the meantime, hundreds and hundreds of Palestinians are dead, and more will die. When will we wake up and demand an end to the occupation of Palestine and get rid of so-called leaders who support oppression and occupation? Until we do that, other actions will not have the impact we need to change things.
Richard sudan is a writer and performance poet. He has written for the Guardian and Independent in addition to other publications. In today’s world he believes passionately in using the power of the spoken and written word to effect positive change.
