Ash Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Matthew 6.1-6, 16-21
Looking good. It’s what we all do, and we are so good at it that we sometimes come to believe that we really are those good-looking people.
When I close my eyes and picture the “hypocrites” giving their alms as the music of a trumpet fanfare fills the streets, I hear the Israeli government in December, claiming that their attack on Gaza was a matter of self-protection, a response to Hamas’ rocket attacks in violation of the ceasefire. In January I watched Israeli spokespersons portray Israel as the innocent victim of Palestinian terrorists firing rockets at Sderot and other towns in southern Israel.
What they said is, in fact, true. But it is only part of the story—the part that makes Israel look good. Violation of the ceasefire did not begin with Hamas’ rockets. It would be impossible to trace it back and figure out who violated the ceasefire first, but Israel had already been violating the ceasefire—actually, ever since it began. Israel had not kept its part of the agreement.
When Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005, and removed the illegal settlements, it seemed a time full of hope—an opportunity for Gazans to govern themselves, live in freedom, and begin the economic development so desperately needed for survival.
However, Israel’s occupation of Gaza did not end with the pullout. Israel continued to control Gaza’s borders, and thus all trade and commerce, preventing needed supplies from entering Gaza—essentials like food, fuel and medicine, as well as supplies for building and manufacturing were denied entry. In June, 2007, things got even worse when Israel imposed a blockade (which the United States supports)—making Gaza totally dependent on Israel for food, fuel, electricity, cooking gas, medical supplies, building materials, etc. Things got so bad that even before Israel’s December 27 attack, the people of Gaza were living at a subsistence level, children were malnourished and most sick people were unable to receive treatment in Gaza; nor were they permitted to leave Gaza to seek treatment in Egypt, Israel or anywhere else. Even before December 27, 80% of the people of Gaza were living below the poverty line, subsisting on less than $3 per person per day. 80% of Gazans would literally have starved if they did not have food from international assistance agencies.
In November, UN General Secretary Ban Ki Moon issued a statement: “The Secretary-General is concerned that food and other life saving assistance is being denied to hundreds of thousands of people, and emphasizes that measures which increase the hardship and suffering of the civilian population of the Gaza Strip as a whole are unacceptable and should cease immediately.”
Every once in a while, Israel would lift the siege of Gaza and let a few supplies trickle through the checkpoints, keeping people at a level of mere survival. Before the embargo, 500-600 truckloads a day would enter the Gaza strip. When Israel “opened” the borders, they increased the number of trucks from about 70 to about 90.
We in the West are more aware of what Israel says than what it does. We hear Israel say they are lifting the embargo, but we do not know that they still do not let in enough goods to feed the people and care for the sick, let alone enough goods to reopen the closed factories and rebuild the country. Israel denounces Hamas because it will not recognize the state of Israel, but few Americans know that Hamas has agreed to a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders; they expressed this to former President Carter on his last visit to Syria.
There is no justification for Hamas rockets being fired at Israeli towns, but these rockets (which seldom hit their targets) are being fired as a way of resisting the occupation of their land by Israeli troops. To learn more, read Sabeel’s report on Gaza in its entirety. Sabeel is a Palestinian Christian liberation theology movement located in East Jerusalem.
O Lord our God, you teach us how to live in harmony with our neighbors and our world. Help us today, as we go out into the world with the ashes on our foreheads, to follow where you lead us. Amen.
Matthew 6.1-6, 16-21
Looking good. It’s what we all do, and we are so good at it that we sometimes come to believe that we really are those good-looking people.
When I close my eyes and picture the “hypocrites” giving their alms as the music of a trumpet fanfare fills the streets, I hear the Israeli government in December, claiming that their attack on Gaza was a matter of self-protection, a response to Hamas’ rocket attacks in violation of the ceasefire. In January I watched Israeli spokespersons portray Israel as the innocent victim of Palestinian terrorists firing rockets at Sderot and other towns in southern Israel.
What they said is, in fact, true. But it is only part of the story—the part that makes Israel look good. Violation of the ceasefire did not begin with Hamas’ rockets. It would be impossible to trace it back and figure out who violated the ceasefire first, but Israel had already been violating the ceasefire—actually, ever since it began. Israel had not kept its part of the agreement.
When Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005, and removed the illegal settlements, it seemed a time full of hope—an opportunity for Gazans to govern themselves, live in freedom, and begin the economic development so desperately needed for survival.
However, Israel’s occupation of Gaza did not end with the pullout. Israel continued to control Gaza’s borders, and thus all trade and commerce, preventing needed supplies from entering Gaza—essentials like food, fuel and medicine, as well as supplies for building and manufacturing were denied entry. In June, 2007, things got even worse when Israel imposed a blockade (which the United States supports)—making Gaza totally dependent on Israel for food, fuel, electricity, cooking gas, medical supplies, building materials, etc. Things got so bad that even before Israel’s December 27 attack, the people of Gaza were living at a subsistence level, children were malnourished and most sick people were unable to receive treatment in Gaza; nor were they permitted to leave Gaza to seek treatment in Egypt, Israel or anywhere else. Even before December 27, 80% of the people of Gaza were living below the poverty line, subsisting on less than $3 per person per day. 80% of Gazans would literally have starved if they did not have food from international assistance agencies.
In November, UN General Secretary Ban Ki Moon issued a statement: “The Secretary-General is concerned that food and other life saving assistance is being denied to hundreds of thousands of people, and emphasizes that measures which increase the hardship and suffering of the civilian population of the Gaza Strip as a whole are unacceptable and should cease immediately.”
Every once in a while, Israel would lift the siege of Gaza and let a few supplies trickle through the checkpoints, keeping people at a level of mere survival. Before the embargo, 500-600 truckloads a day would enter the Gaza strip. When Israel “opened” the borders, they increased the number of trucks from about 70 to about 90.
We in the West are more aware of what Israel says than what it does. We hear Israel say they are lifting the embargo, but we do not know that they still do not let in enough goods to feed the people and care for the sick, let alone enough goods to reopen the closed factories and rebuild the country. Israel denounces Hamas because it will not recognize the state of Israel, but few Americans know that Hamas has agreed to a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders; they expressed this to former President Carter on his last visit to Syria.
There is no justification for Hamas rockets being fired at Israeli towns, but these rockets (which seldom hit their targets) are being fired as a way of resisting the occupation of their land by Israeli troops. To learn more, read Sabeel’s report on Gaza in its entirety. Sabeel is a Palestinian Christian liberation theology movement located in East Jerusalem.
O Lord our God, you teach us how to live in harmony with our neighbors and our world. Help us today, as we go out into the world with the ashes on our foreheads, to follow where you lead us. Amen.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment