Dr.
Bouthaina Shaaban
Akiva Eldar wrote an article entitled “Israel's compassion in Haiti can't hide
our ugly face in Gaza” (Haaretz, 18/01/2010) in which he
explains the contradiction in the public relations campaign conducted by
Israel’s rulers in rescuing and treating the victims of the earthquake in Haiti
and the their utter indifference in relation to the suffering of the people of
Gaza whose children, women and elderly die on a daily basis because of the lack
of medicine and the destruction of hospitals and because Israeli authorities
prevent food and medicine from entering Gaza.
Larry Derfner wrote in Jerusalem Post (20/01/2010) about
the aid which
Catherine Philip wrote an analysis (Sunday Times,
21/01/2010) explaining that the Israeli government took advantage of the
disaster in Haiti to conduct a public relations campaign to cover up the
disgraceful Israeli crimes described in the Goldstone report on the Israeli war
on Gaza. She concludes that the
earthquake was a natural disaster, while the collapse of the health system in
The life of the unarmed Palestinian civilians in
Helping the victims of disasters has become now an occasion for
launching public relations campaigns or achieving hidden political and military
objectives. People still fall victim to
earthquakes, disasters, occupation, oppression and terrorism. They also fall victim to campaigns which use
their tragedy to achieve other purposes which have nothing to do with the value,
importance, sanctity and dignity of human life.
After the Swedish journalist Donald Bostrom wrote about the
Israeli army killing Palestinian youth in order to harvest their organs, there
were other media reports about Israelis stealing Ukrainian children in order to
harvest their organs. Once again there
are documented reports from
The
We should also note the lack of Arab initiative, not only in
terms of aid and rescue, but also in terms of standing up to the attempts of
our enemies to bury the suffering of the Palestinian people and hide it from
the eyes of the media and public opinion.
They use the
The discrepancy in the Israeli official position towards the
victims of the disaster in Haiti, on the one hand, and the victims of the
blockade on Gaza and the war on Palestine for the past sixty years, on the
other, should be highlighted and explained, particularly that Israel hastens to
the assistance of any disaster-hit country – from Rwanda to Haiti – to cover up
the great disaster which it caused and still causing to people who used to live safely and
peacefully on their land.
The suffering of the people of
So far, no language has been able to describe this conflict and
convey its nature to the minds and hearts of people all over the world. Dealing with the most sacred of human rights,
the right to live a free and dignified life, is being
used as a commodity in public relations campaigns and subject to
distortion. If this is evidence of
anything, it is evidence of the declining level of the feeling of
responsibility and the distortion which has characterized political processes
in recent years. There is no doubt that
what the world needs today is courage and a real concern for human safety and
dignity everywhere. Using earthquakes
and rescue efforts as an opportunity to cover up war crimes, killing and
oppression is unprecedented in international politics which is characterized
today by creating a world in the media completely detached from reality.
Hence, the tragedy becomes greater and the suffering longer
because of the difficulty of conveying the real picture of what is happening to
people all over the world. Even allowing
concerned people to see what is happening becomes subject to bargaining as a
result of the meticulous calculations of the political objectives of what is
being done. Thus American officials as
well as, the media speak about the duties of the Palestinians and the Israelis
towards the peace process forgetful of the fact that the Palestinians are
prisoners of a racist occupation and subject to collective punishment and
genocide, while others are involved in propaganda campaigns to prevent the
achievement of justice and the realization of the legitimate aspirations of
innocent people who simply want to live in freedom and dignity. Next time you
hear or read “both sides” or hear an obligation related to “Palestinians and
Israelis” by Western officials beware of the deliberate confusion planned
between the killer “Israelis” and the victims “Palestinians”.
What each and every one of us can do is to stand for human
integrity and dismiss all the propaganda designed and marketed by the enemies
of justice and sacred human rights.
Prof.
Bouthaina Shaaban is Political and Media Advisor at the Syrian Presidency, and former Minister of Expatriates. She is also
a writer and professor at