OPINION | HUNDREDS KILLED IN ISRAELI'S BLOODY AGGRESSION ON PALESTINIANS

By: Sylvester Raraza
Email: sylvesterraraza@gmail.com
Twitter: @Sylvester_tut



(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

The Apartheid State of Israel left the Palestinian territory in absolute shambles. Hundreds killed - among them children, in Israeli's bloody aggression on Palestinians. The world witnessed injured civilians, destroyed buildings and ruin.

The most disheartening aspect of this Israeli war on Palestinians is how civilians are impacted by it. Thousands of civilians fled their homes, frightened for their lives and some did not even get the chance to flee - they were just left for dead.

 [Ali Jadallah/Anadolu]




But let me start at the beginning. It started in the  community of Sheikh Jarrah, in East Jerusalem, where Palestinians were being evicted out of their homes by Israelis. Coupled with that, was the attack against Palestinians by the Israeli police force at the al-Aqsa Mosque, during one of the most holiest days in the Muslim community, Ramadan.

Millitant and nationalist group, Hamas, responded by firing rockets into Israel, but the sophisticated Israeli Defence Force's (IDF)  fighter aircraft sprung into action with air strikes bombing Gaza. Israeli's bombing spree did not end there, the IDF's war planes struck a 12-story media building that housed the Associated Press and Aljazeera. The IDF justified its bombardment of the media building by claiming that Hamas millitary assets operated from it, but it has not produced the evidence to back those claims up. Israel's actions must be viewed as an attack on press freedom, and it must be condemned for the air strike on the al-Jalaa tower.

al-Jalaa tower was destroyed. 
[Picture: Ashraf Abu Amrah/Reuters]

Of course, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin  Netanyahu trying to save the little credibility he has left in the eyes of Israelis, and deflect attention away from his bribery and fraud charges - not to mention his repeated failed bid to form a coalition government. Netanyahu was quoted as saying that even more bombings would be carried out by the IDF.

The international community called for de-escalation as the conflict spiraled out of control. The UN security council failed in its bid to calm the situation in the middle east down, and U.S President Joe Biden said his administration supported Israel's right to defend itself. This is ironic because Joe Biden was a critic of Apartheid South Africa, but today he supports Apartheid Israel.

The oppression of Palestinians will never end for as long as superpowers like the U.S and E.U member states continue to support Israel. Clearly, the world has not learnt valuable lessons from South Africa's Apartheid era. History will judge harshly those who support the continued ill-treatment of Palestinians by the Israeli regime.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, echoed his government's support for the Palestinians. During a working visit to France, Ramaphosa told France24 that the manner in which Palestinians have been treated by Israel reminded him of the treatment of black South Africans during Apartheid rule.

While there were some casualties from the Israeli side, the devastation was evident in Gaza that Palestine suffered greatly in this latest conflict. Israel is always ready to cause harm on Palestinians, it is as if it is always waiting for Palestinians to "get out of line."

These recent attacks were not the first time Israel showed blatant disregard for Palestinian human rights, since 2008 the IDF has launched three major attacks that damaged the Gaza Strip's infrastructure and people's livelihoods.

Let us not forget that this is a decades old conflict, and this month's violence is not the last. Israel's continued illegal occupation of Palestinian territories will forever be a cause for disruption and conflict. The world must find a long lasting solution, like it did for South Africa during the transition from White-minority rule to a constitutional democracy.

The cease fire that has been declared by the Israelis and Palestinians will be short lived, it is not a long lasting solution. Decisions that are often taken under pressure do not last long, and that will be manifested by the next spate of violence.

Israel and Palestine are in a cold war, there is suspicion of each other on both sides, there is a sense of 'we do not trust them' on both sides and it will forever be the case if no negotiated settlement is reached. The question that remains is, 'when will the next round of violence and destruction be'? We wait and see.
















 

Comments

  1. Malwandendzimande28 May 2021 at 02:01

    A very insightful depth and informative perspective. I love it.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NOT ENOUGH BLOOD AT THE BLOOD SERVICE

Image
by Sylvester Raraza Email: sylvesterraraza@gmail.com Twitter: @Sylvester_tut It should be of grave concern that in a population of about Sixty million (60 million) people, South Africa has low levels of blood donors. According to the South African National Blood Service (SANBS), “less than 1% of South Africans are active blood donors.” These are astoundingly low active blood donor figures, for an organization that was established in the early 2000s. South Africa is a low blood donor country, and this was worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic  and subsequent lockdown regulations (people’s movements were restricted). Fortunately,  there are now eased regulations under the ‘Disaster Management Act’, and these allow for  the free movement of South Africans, and it makes easy for blood donors to visit donor  centres. Blood donor centre | Picture: Jarryd Subroyen The South African National Blood Services (SANBS) made changes to the Covid-19 donor  deferral measures, allowing for people who have
Read more

MAMELODI TAXI DRIVER TURNED SABC RADIO SENSATION

Image
By Sylvester Raraza Twitter: @Sylvester_tut Email: sylvesterraraza@gmail.com David Mashabela at a panel discussion | Image: David Mashabela via Instagram His is a story of a typical black child: he grew up in a township northeast of Pretoria in Apartheid South Africa, single parent home and living hand to mouth. David Mashabela remembers his childhood days in the 1980s. He is Pedi by birth – Bapedi are a Southern African ethnic group that speak Sepedi, but despite being brought up in a Bapedi household, his early learning years began at a Setswana-speaking Primary School in Mamelodi. So, he never got the chance to learn in his mother tongue because the only available school and the closest to his home, at the time, taught in Setswana. PW Botha (Prime Minister of South Africa from 1978 to 1984 and State President between 1984 to 1989), declared a countrywide state of emergency because of internal resistance to Apartheid and international pressure. David has vivid memories of seeing
Read more

SHINING A LIGHT ON AGRICULTURAL WRITERS SOUTH AFRICA

Image
By Sylvester Raraza Email: SylvesterRaraza@gmail.com Twitter: @Sylvester_tut The Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) in partnership with Agricultural Writers South Africa, hosted a workshop at TUT’s Department of Journalism – Soshanguve North Campus. Agricultural Writers South Africa is a non-profit organization (npo) that promotes the public image and standards of agriculture journalism in South Africa. The NPO was established in 1977 and it is a member and associate of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ). Liza Bolmann, Chairperson Agricultural Writers SA Agricultural Writers South Africa, as an organization, represents agriculture journalists who work for agriculture magazines, newspapers, radio and television. It also allows qualified members to extend membership to people who are agriculture journalism friendly, meaning, people who want to grow the sphere of agriculture journalism, people who invest in the growth of activities that are associat
Read more