As the death toll from the Israeli war on Gaza climbs, bloggers from around the Arab world share their thoughts on Palestine, Arab nationalism and why the children of Gaza don't deserve to die.
We kick off this round up with a post by Neurotic Iraqi Wife, who is currently in Abu Dhabi and who shares this conversation she had with her husband who is in Iraq:
I asked him about the sentiments there of whats going on in Gaza. “The Iraqis here can care less” He said. Although I did see on the news some protests were held there due to the Israeli offensive, I doubt that the average Iraqi is moved by all this. They have their own problems to deal with.
At a gathering of relatives and friends, Neurotica shares the following conversation:
As we sat down chitchatting, a few mobile phones beeped simultaneously. “Please donate to Gaza at such and such banks” One of the ladies read the message out loud. She then threw her phone in dismay at the table. “Why should I care about Gaza” She said “While my own country is suffering. What did the Palestinians do for us Iraqis when my people were getting killed by the hundreds” She continued. “Let them go to hell”
She also states her feelings on the Palestinian issue and Arab nationalism, saying:
To be honest the Palestinian cause was never something of a priority to me or my family. Ever since I was a child I knew of their war, of their suffering, but it was Iraq that I yearned for and not Palestine. Afterall it is Iraq that I was born in. Its Iraqi blood that I have running through my veins. And umm I dont believe in the so called “Arab Nationalism” shit. Anyone who says THEY are, are to me nothing but a bunch of hypocrites and liars.
From Saudi Arabia, blogger Raed posts a video on YouTube entitled: Why the children of Gaza don't deserve to be killed?
In the following video he interviews young men from all walks of life in Saudi Arabia who give us 18 reasons why the children of Gaza should be allowed to live:
Meanwhile, Jordanian Ali Dahmash reflects:
It seems cutting Palestinian kids into bits and pieces, making them orphanages, homeless, school less, with no healthcare, no education, no future and no hope was not enough. So Israel decided to use White Phosphorus bombs on civilians. It seems Palestinian children are some kind of Aliens who dropped from the sky and when they are dead or have lost legs and arms, have the capability to grow their limbs back and stay alive. Therefore, Israeli army leaders thought, what the heck, let's burn them alive!
And finally in Syria, News from Syria lists the casualties from the Gaza war and compares them with that of the Lebanon-Israel war of 2006:
952 Palestinians killed (one-third children, at least half civilians), 4200 injured – in 18 days.
13 Israelis killed (3 civilians, most of the soldiers killed by their own side).
And that is in 18 days.Compare that with the war on Lebanon in 2006:
1191 Lebanese and Palestinians killed, 4409 injured.
162 Israelis killed.
That was in 33 days.
The blogger adds:
So, in half the time Israel has killed almost the same number of Arabs. But it has brought the Israeli casualty figure close to zero.
Now part of that is down to two things: Gaza is the most populated place on earth – Arab casualty figures will be higher here than in Lebanon. And Hizbollah rockets are more powerful than Hamas ones – so Israeli casualty figures will be lower near Gaza than near the Lebanese border.
But what it also shows is that Israel has – as it promised – been concentrating on avoiding civilian casualties. Israeli civilians. But the cost has been high for Gaza – huge numbers of Palestinians have died as Israel uses massive air power to kill without getting their hands dirty.
And that makes war cheap for Israel.