COMMUNITY


was hurt, however, and no- one was caught!


On refl ection (and after I had caught my breath), the ridicu- lous nature of


the whole un-


necessary affair struck home. On the one side, not much more than a Sunday afternoon stroll became the subject of violence. On the other, unnec- essary armed interference in a harmless exercise could have caused death. And who won? The TV crew got


the dra-


matic footage they wanted, which I guess was presented to them on a plate by the Is- raeli Army, and the protesters got the publicity they wanted. So what did the Israelis get for their trouble?


Some say that


plicated to understand what is going on here, but


think


it’s too com- I


the basics are easy to grasp. Land theft is land theft, illegal military occupation is just as it says, and inhumanity is not only illegal but also immoral. The solutions are also quite easy to grasp. An end to the military occupation of the Pal- estinian territories, a return to the pre-occupation tionally


interna-


and a just peace are not only


accepted borders basic


ments of


tional law, but also in the overwhelm-


require- interna-


ing long term interests of both parties to the confl ict. And what can we do to help? We who have the privilege of living in a democratic country can exercise our right to make our voices heard in this matter, and we can use our purchas- ing power by avoiding any purchases, which encourage the wrongdoers. ‘In the months before the Gaza War they were coming in at a rate of 60 a day’, said our host, Nomika Zion. The Israeli housewife and peace campaigner had invited ecu- menical accompaniers to visit her at her home in Sderot, the town in Israel which has suf- fered most from the rockets fi red by Palestinians in Gaza. She was referring to ‘qassam’ rockets being fi red at her town from Gaza, only two kilome- tres away. Over the years since the fi rst rockets were fi red in 2001,


around 30 Israelis have been killed, mainly in and around Sderot, and many more in- jured. The reason for this es- calation, she explained, was an invasion of Gaza by the Israeli Military back in Novem- ber 2008, which resulted in the deaths of 10 Gazans and broke a pre-existing cease- fi re. After the Israeli invasion the rocket fi re resumed with a vengeance. Nomika told me: ‘Both sides are victims, caught up in an endless round of violence. We don’t talk of peace any more in Israel. Politicians use the word, but they don’t mean it. We seem to believe we have to fi ght, and it’s senseless.’ It becomes very clear that on both sides of the Israeli sepa- ration barrier there are remark- able and courageous people working for the benefi t of all of us and who deserve our en- couragement and prayers.


39


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