Very Bad Math

Following the news on Gaza has been disturbing. The Gazan death toll has been rising steadily but while there have been some reports of rocket attacks, reports of Israeli deaths have been lacking. The one report I could find regarding the Israeli deaths reported 12 deaths as of a week ago. One would imagine that the Israelis were suffering under heavy attack to justify the killing of so many in Gaza.
ًًً
This was passed to me by a friend and is from Al Jazeera's English edition:


"At least 300 children are among the more than 1,000 Palestinians who have died since Israel began to bombard the Gaza Strip on December 27.
Al Jazeera has obtained the names of 210 of the young victims, 44 of whom were under five years old. (The names are given and then the gender and the age.)

27/12/2008
Ibtihal Kechko Girl age 10
Ahmed Riad Mohammed Al-Sinwar Boy age 3
Ahmed Al-Homs Boy age 18
Ahmed Rasmi Abu Jazar Boy age 16
Ahmed Sameeh Al-Halabi Boy age 18
Tamer Hassan Al-Akhrass Boy age 5
Hassan Ali Al-Akhrass Boy age 3
Haneen Wael Mohammed Daban Girl age 15
Khaled Sami Al-Astal Boy age 15
Talaat Mokhless Bassal Boy age 18
Aaed Imad Kheera Boy age 14
Abdullah Al-Rayess Boy age 17
Odai Hakeem Al-Mansi Boy age 4
Allam Nehrou Idriss Boy age 18
Ali Marwan Abu Rabih Boy age 18
Anan Saber Atiyah Boy age 13
Camelia Al-Bardini Girl age 10
Lama Talal Hamdan Girl age 10
Mohammed Jaber Howeij Boy age 17
Nimr Mustafa Amoom Boy age 10

29/12/2008
Ismail Talal Hamdan Boy age 10
Ahmed Ziad Al-Absi Boy age 14
Ahmed Youssef Khello Boy age 18
Ikram Anwar Baaloosha Girl age 14
Tahrier Anwar Baaloosha Girl age 17
Jihad Saleh Ghobn Boy age 10
Jawaher Anwar Baaloosha Girl age 8
Dina Anwar Baaloosha Girl age 7
Samar Anwar Baaloosha Girl age 6
Shady Youssef Ghobn Boy age 12
Sudqi Ziad Al-Absi Boy age 3
Imad Nabeel Abou Khater Boy age 16
Lina Anwar Baaloosha Girl age 7
Mohammed Basseel Madi Boy age 17
Mohammed Jalal Abou Tair Boy age 18
Mohammed Ziad Al-Absi Boy age 14
Mahmoud Nabeel Ghabayen Boy age 15
Moaz Yasser Abou Tair Boy age 6
Wissam Akram Eid Girl age 14

30/12/2008
Haya Talal Hamdan Girl age 8

31/12/2008
Ahmed Kanouh Boy age 10
Ameen Al-Zarbatlee Boy age 10
Mohammed Nafez Mohaissen Boy age 10
Mustafa Abou Ghanimah Boy age 16
Yehya Awnee Mohaissen Boy age 10
Ossman Bin Zaid Nizar Rayyan Boy age 3
Assaad Nizar Rayyan Boy age 2
Moaz-Uldeen Allah Al-Nasla Boy age 5
Aya Nizar Rayyan Girl age 12
Halima Nizar Rayyan Girl age 5
Reem Nizar Rayyan Boy age 4
Aicha Nizar Rayyan Girl age 3
Abdul Rahman Nizar Rayyan Boy age 6
Abdul Qader Nizar Rayyan Boy age 12
Oyoon Jihad Al-Nasla Girl age 16
Mahmoud Mustafa Ashour Boy age 13
Maryam Nizar Rayyan Girl age 5

01/01/2009
Hamada Ibrahim Mousabbah Boy age 10
Zeinab Nizar Rayyan Girl age 12
Sujud Mahmoud Al-Derdesawi Girl age 10
Abdul Sattar Waleed Al-Astal Boy age 12
Abed Rabbo Iyyad Abed Rabbo Al-Astal Boy age 10
Ghassan Nizar Rayyan Boy age 15
Christine Wadih El-Turk Boy age 6
Mohammed Mousabbah Boy age 14
Mohammed Iyad Abed Rabbo Al-Astal Boy age 13
Mahmoud Samsoom Boy age 16
Ahmed Tobail Boy age 16
Ahmed Sameeh Al-Kafarneh Boy age 17
Hassan Hejjo Boy age 14
Rajeh Ziadeh Boy age 18
Shareef Abdul Mota Armeelat Boy age 15
Mohammed Moussa Al-Silawi Boy age 10
Mahmoud Majed Mahmoud Abou Nahel Boy age 16
Mohannad Al-Tatnaneeh Boy age 18
Hani Mohammed Al-Silawi Boy age 10

01/01/2009
Ahmed Al-Meshharawi Boy age 16
Ahmed Khodair Sobaih Boy age 17
Ahmed Sameeh Al-Kafarneh Boy age 18
Asraa Kossai Al-Habash Girl age 10
Assad Khaled Al-Meshharawi Boy age 17
Asmaa Ibrahim Afana Girl age 12
Ismail Abdullah Abou Sneima Boy age 4
Akram Ziad Al-Nemr Boy age 18
Aya Ziad Al-Nemr Girl age 8
Ahmed Mohammed Al-Adham Boy age 1
Akram Ziad Al-Nemr Boy age 13
Hamza Zuhair Tantish Boy age 12
Khalil Mohammed Mokdad Boy age 18
Ruba Mohammed Fadl Abou-Rass Girl age 13
Ziad Mohammed Salma Abou Sneima Boy age 9
Shaza Al-Abed Al-Habash Girl age 16
Abed Ziad Al-Nemr Boy age 12
Attia Rushdi Al-Khawli Boy age 16
Luay Yahya Abou Haleema Boy age 17
Mohammed Akram Abou Harbeed Boy age 18
Mohammed Abed Berbekh Boy age 18
Mohammed Faraj Hassouna Boy age 16
Mahmoud Khalil Al-Mashharawi Boy age 12
Mahmoud Zahir Tantish Boy age 17
Mahmoud Sami Assliya Boy age 3
Moussa Youssef Berbekh Boy age 16
Wi'am Jamal Al-Kafarneh Girl age 2
Wadih Ayman Omar Boy age 4
Youssef Abed Berbekh Boy age 10

05/01/2009
Ibrahim Rouhee Akl Boy age 17
Ibrahim Abdullah Merjan Boy age 13
Ahmed Attiyah Al-Semouni Boy age 4
Aya Youssef Al-Defdah Girl age 13
Aya Al-Sersawi Girl age 5
Ahmed Amer Abou Eisha Boy age 5
Ameen Attiyah Al-Semouni Boy age 4
Hazem Alewa Boy age 8
Khalil Mohammed Helless Boy age 12
Diana Mosbah Saad Girl age 17
Raya Al-Sersawi Girl age 5
Rahma Mohammed Al-Semouni Girl age 18
Ramadan Ali Felfel Boy age 14
Rahaf Ahmed Saeed Al-Azaar Girl age 4
Shahad Mohammed Hijjih Girl age 3
Arafat Mohammed Abdul Dayem Boy age 10
Omar Mahmoud Al-Baradei Boy age 12
Ghaydaa Amer Abou Eisha Girl age 6
Fathiyya Ayman Al-Dabari Girl age 4
Faraj Ammar Al-Helou Boy age 2
Moumen Alewah Boy age 9
Moumen Mahmoud Talal Alaw Boy age 10
Mohammed Amer Abu Eisha Boy age 8
Mahmoud Mohammed Abu Kamar Boy age 15
Marwan Hein Kodeih Girl age 6
Montasser Alewah Boy age 12
Naji Nidal Al-Hamlawi Boy age 16
Nada Redwan Mardi Girl age 5
Hanadi Bassem Khaleefa Girl age 13

06/01/2009
Ibrahim Ahmed Maarouf Boy age 14
Ahmed Shaher Khodeir Boy age 14
Ismail Adnan Hweilah Boy age 15
Aseel Moeen Deeb Boy age 17
Adam Mamoun Al-Kurdee Boy age 3
Alaa Iyad Al-Daya Girl age 8
Areej Mohammed Al-Daya Girl age 3 months
Amani Mohammed Al-Daya Girl age 4
Baraa Ramez Al-Daya Girl age 2
Bilal Hamza Obaid Boy age 15
Thaer Shaker Karmout Boy age 17
Hozaifa Jihad Al-Kahloot Boy age 17
Khitam Iyad Al-Daya Girl age 9
Rafik Abdul Basset Al-Khodari Boy age 15
Raneen Abdullah saleh Girl age 12
Zakariya Yahya Al-Taweel Boy age 5
Sahar Hatem Dawood Girl age 10
Salsabeel Ramez Al-Daya Girl age 6 months
Sharafuldeen Iyad Al-Daya Boy age 7
Doha Mohammed Al-Daya Girl age 5
Ahed Iyad Kodas Boy age 15
Abdullah Mohammed Abdullah Boy age 10
Issam Sameer Deeb Boy age 12
Alaa Ismail Ismail Boy age 18
Ali Iyad Al-Daya Boy age 10
Imad Abu Askar Boy age 18
Filasteen Al-Daya Girl age 5
Kamar Mohammed Al-Daya Boy age 3
Lina Abdul Menem Hassan Girl age 10
Unidentified Boy age 9
Unidentified Boy age 15
Mohammed Iyad Al-Daya Boy age 6
Mohammed Bassem Shakoura Boy age 10
Mohammed Bassem Eid Boy age 18
Mohammed Deeb Boy age 17
Mohammed Eid Boy age 18
Mustafa Moeen Deeb Boy age 12
Noor Moeen Deeb Boy age 2
Youssef Saad Al-Kahloot Boy age 17
Youssef Mohammed Al-Daya Boy age 1

07/01/2009
Ibrahim Kamal Awaja Boy age 9
Ahmed Jaber Howeij Boy age 7
Ahmed Fawzi Labad Boy age 18
Ayman Al-Bayed Boy age 16
Amal Khaled Abed Rabbo Girl age 3
Toufic Khaled Al-Khahloot Boy age 10
Habeeb Khaled Al-Khahloot Boy age 12
Houssam Raed Sobeh Boy age 12
Hassan Rateb Semaan Boy age 18
Hassan Ata Hassan Azzam Boy age 2
Redwan Mohammed Ashoor Boy age 10
Suad Khaled Abed Rabbo Girl age 6
Samar Khaled Abed Rabbo Girl age 2
Abdul Rahman Mohammmed Ashoor Boy age 12
Fareed Ata Hassan Azzam Boy age 13
Mohammed Khaled Al-Kahloot Boy age 15
Mohammed Samir Hijji Boy age 16
Mohammed Fareed Al-Maasawabi Boy age 16
Mohammed Moeen Deeb Boy age 17
Mohammed Nasseem Salama Saba Boy age 16
Mahmoud Hameed Boy age 17
Hamam Issa Boy age 1

08/01/2009
Anas Arif Abou Baraka Boy age 7
Ibrahim Akram Abou Dakkka Boy age 12
Ibrahim Moeen Jiha Boy age 15
Baraa Iyad Shalha Girl age 6
Basma Yasser Al-Jeblawi Girl age 5
Shahd Saad Abou Haleema Girl age 15
Azmi Diab Boy age 16
Mohammed Akram Abou Dakka Boy age 14
Mohammed Hikmat Abou Haleema Boy age 17
Ibrahim Moeen Jiha Boy age 15
Matar Saad Abou Haleema Boy age 17

09/01/2009
Ahmed Ibrahim Abou Kleik Boy age 17
Ismail Ayman Yasseen Boy age 18
Alaa Ahmed Jaber Girl age 11
Baha-Uldeen Fayez Salha Girl age 5
Rana Fayez Salha Girl age 12
Rola Fayez Salha Girl age 13
Diyaa-Uldeen Fayez Salah Boy age 14
Ghanima Sultan Halawa Girl age 11
Fatima Raed Jadullah Girl age 10
Mohammed Atef Abou Al-Hussna Boy age 15

It took me a few hours to get all of these names into a format for the blog.
These names are only some of the children who have died in Gaza through no fault of their own. At least do take the time to read them and recognise their lives.




copyright 2009 Maryanne Stroud Gabbani

Why I Watch the BBC

The last few weeks have not been kind to me either on a computer front or the internet. My hard drive in my laptop began making sounds more appropriate to an angry dog, not a comforting event. I could barely work with email, much less my usual news sources, most of which are on the net. I use Google News a lot when I want to get a variety of viewpoints on a particular issue, but my daily news usually comes from Reuters or the BBC. My opinion of the North American news is not the best and I find that Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert do a fairly good job on the political issues there.

When something happens like the recent Israeli demolition of Gaza, the North American news is not the place that I look to for information, since my experience is that it will not be reasonable coverage. I've been bombarded with invitations to join Facebook groups in support of the Palestinians who have been first imprisoned in Gaza and now are being slaughtered there. I've read notes on line talking about demonstrations in support of the Gazans in Egypt, although to be honest the demonstrations I've seen have been extremely orderly and low key. On one hand, one would imagine that the obvious thing to do would be to open the borders at Gaza to let people out of the conflict but with that tiresome ability to see shades of grey that comes with aging, I can also see the incredible problems that Egypt would face were it to do so. This isn't simply being caught between a rock and a hard place, but being surrounded by them. I'm not going to suggest that I have answers. I don't. It breaks my heart to hear of the suffering of the Palestinians and I have to admit to little sympathy for the Israeli's who feel that the death of a few of their people justifies the destruction of so many others.

A friend sent me this Youtube video and I feel that it makes some very good points that people need to be aware of. And that's why I watch the BBC.

copyright 2009 Maryanne Stroud Gabbani

Some Things You Just Can't Ignore

I don’t like politicians. I’m not at all sure that they do anything at all to benefit the rest of us, while I’m quite sure that they make sure that they and their cronies do benefit from their actions. I don’t follow the news of the G8 or other summits because I don’t believe it. I don’t believe that the governments of any countries are really going to help us keep our world in order, but on the other hand, we seem to be rather stuck with them all.

My kids arrived home from Syria seriously pissed off that a war in Lebanon and Palestine disrupted their vacations. With their reports of Syria, I would love to visit there as soon as I could feel that I’d be safe enough. This may sound pretty trivial but I daresay that there are a lot of Syrians feeling just as disgruntled and distressed, as there are Lebanese. (Given their shaky situation, Palestinians don’t get much in the way of vacations.) This isn’t so odd because vacations are part of normal life, and normal life of any variety has been violently abused. Vacationers in Lebanon are now refugees in Syria and Cyprus. And over what? Three soldiers who were kidnapped…three soldiers in an army that proudly proclaims itself to be at war with the Arab nations around it. I’m sorry, but why should Israeli soldiers be free from the same fear of imprisonment that many men in Palestine and southern Lebanon have suffered for years?

I’m not discounting the value of anyone’s life, but when was the last time that a country was allowed to carry out major bombing raids on a neighbouring sovereign state to destroy that country’s hard built infrastructure once again after a previous 20 year war during which most of it was destroyed by the same people? If a group of criminals or a political group was to kidnap personnel from the Mexican-American border, would the Americans be allowed to bomb Mexico in general into oblivion? What would have happened if the Quebec separatists had taken some Americans hostage…why is not all that important, since I can’t imagine why they would want to, though I’m sure that a reason could come up. Would the American Air Force have launched attacks on Toronto? I don’t think so.

Other than Israel, I can’t think of a single nation that has been permitted the freedom to bomb and invade its neighbours in the way that this nation has done for the past fifty or so years. Maybe there has been someone who has been given a blind eye while it reduced its neighbours to rubble, but I can’t think of one. There is a certain unfairness in the situation, an unfairness that Israel’s critics have been commenting on for years. Everyone EXCEPT Israel has been expected to conform to UN resolutions. Israel’s policies concerning its Palestinian citizens (?) such as those that encourage the sale of Palestinian properties by the shutting off of water and power and then forbidding the purchase of new property by Palestinians would be labeled “ethnic cleansing” somewhere else. As a mother who spent a fair bit of time trying to teach my children the importance of basic ethics, I find the situation astounding.

Palestine was recognized as a sovereign state a few years ago, but when Hamas was elected to the government, everyone decided that the election was a bad idea. I thought that democracy was supposed to be A Good Thing, but I guess it depends on who wins. What happened after Hamas won the Palestinian elections was that although they were the duly elected government of a recognized nation, all funds traveling to Palestine for the government were frozen by the banks. Aid was frozen, everything was frozen. Why? Because Hamas had been labeled as a “terrorist” group. But they were elected to run Palestine, so the Palestinians found themselves cut off from all services from their own government which couldn’t pay the bills, while the rest of the world just assumed that somehow things would be alright? Somehow, this doesn’t make any sense to me.

So after the elections that put Hamas in power in Palestine, they never really had a chance to do anything legitimate with the funds for the government frozen by the international banking community. This is a marvelous way of controlling who can play the government game. Simply label anyone you don’t like as a “terrorist” and let the banks do the rest. No one in the world can survive without the banks, can they? In this case, one of the aspects of the war on terror was to keep Hamas from showing that they might actually be able to run Palestine.

I don’t claim to have any solutions to this situation. For many years I got the old US party line about the “poor Israelis”….and then I met quite a few of them in Cyprus while I spent summers on the sail boat with the kids in Limassol. Word would go through the marina the second an Israeli boat came in with everyone locking up outboard motors and securing any property left on deck or on the dock. I was shocked to see that within fifteen minutes of the arrival of the boat from the Haifa Sailing School, the bathrooms were stripped of toilet paper and filthy. They thought nothing of “borrowing” someone’s bicycle without asking, or of trying to break into the soft drink machine or ice cream freezer. I’d never seen anything like it. The marina was a small community of a number of nationalities who all lived together very harmoniously and respected each other's property and rights, so this departure was fairly amazing. I’m less inclined to feel that these people are so downtrodden because of the extraordinary arrogance that I’ve witnessed personally in Cyprus and through events that have unfolded in the Middle East. But in the end, the fact remains that there are decent people everywhere in the world and somehow they must find a way to establish decency as a way of life.

I know that we are stuck with governments that somehow we must try to influence to do good, but I’m not so optimistic about our success there. On the other hand, as parents we have children that we can teach to see right and wrong and to speak out about it. We have our own voices and minds. We can switch off the television and Google the news for half an hour and see how China, India, Portugal, the UK are viewing events in the world. We can seek the information and speak, speak, speak. I suspect that each of us must simply try to do the right thing and try to get others around us to do the same. Good lord, if enough people actually try living good lives, it could turn into a movement. What would the neighbours say then?