In the course of four days, eight Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip by Israeli forces. This, in comparison to last year’s death toll of over 1,400 during Israel’s Operation Cast Lead, seems to be a miniscule number. But each death is its own event, at least it should be. Sadly, however, when the death is that of a Palestinian one, the event barely bleeps across the radar. But when an Israeli dies as a result of a suicide bombing or Qassam rocket, everyone knows. The victims become real people, with stories and families. Their innocence is exaggerated in the press to the point where the reader might feel they were a family member rather than a stranger. The Palestinians, on the other hand, are treated as numbers, statistics, and worst of all, as responsible for their own misery. What seems to be missing is the fact that the Palestinians – regardless of their miscalculations and internal fighting – are still occupied and oppressed.
Terrorism comes in all different shapes and forms. Expropriating land from its original owners to build illegal structures on the occupied land is a form of terrorism. Bombing residential areas packed with innocent civilians is state-sponsored terrorism at its best. We all are reminded of how many US soldiers died in combat “fighting for freedom” in Afghanistan and Iraq. But who keeps count of the hundreds of thousands of Afghans and Iraqis killed since the US invaded and occupied their countries after September 11?
Safiya Sameena
Vijayawada, A.P.