Arab Lives Matter E-Book

Gabrielle von Bernstorff-Nahat

• Herausgeber: BoD - Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Seitenzahl: 33

Beschreibung

The tragic massacres of October 7th 2023 have unleashed the brutal war in Gaza and now Lebanon. Bombs are falling on all sides.There is no beating around the bush, the Palestinians in Gaza and the Westbank and now the Lebanese are bearing the brunt of this war, which is a genocide. In the International Community and Mainstream Media there unfortunately is a glaring double standard when protraying the Palestinian or Lebanese people in relation to socalled Western Cultures. But Palestinians and Lebanese human beings are like you and I, they want to live and they want to live in freedom, equality and peace. It is this double standard which has led me to write this meditation 'Arab Lives Matter'. It should be everybody's mantra in the face of the genocide we are all witnessing on our handy and TV screens every day and night. Arab Lives Matter does not exclude other lives, it is not a cry to arms, rather it is an emphatic mediation reminding us all of the beautiful people and cultures that are facing the very real threat of destruction in front of all our eyes. The Middle East needs peace, not bombs. It needs strong civil societies, not war. May a lasting, inclusive and solidarical peace return to Gaza, the Westbank, Lebanon and Israel as well as the entire region sooner rather than later.

Leseprobe

Gabrielle von Bernstorff-Nahat is a writer, artist and architect. Her family on her mother’s side is from Damascus and Bagdad. Her family fled to UK in 1958 from Bagdad. Her parents married in Switzerland in 1961. Gabrielle was born in Zürich and has lived in Switzerland, the United States and Germany. She currently lives in Switzerland. Gabrielle has published numerous books among them Engelskinder: Gaza und Israel and Angel Wings for Gaza and Israel.

Table of Contents

Preamble

Arab Lives Matter

Preamble

The tragic massacres of October 7th, 2023 have unleashed a storm of a war in Gaza, the Westbank and now in Lebanon as I am writing. This war is a genocide on Gaza, the Palestinians and it is spreading to Lebanon and its citizens. Yes, bombs are falling on both sides, and I wish they were silent. The truth is, that Gaza, the Westbank and Lebanon are carrying the main burden. Gaza is all but destroyed, 75% of Gaza is uninhabitable. The images of Gaza make it undistinguishable from Grosny or Aleppo after the war. Israel is unfortunately following a scorched earth policy. 42’000 dead Palestinians, probably the numbers are at least three times as high if we assume, that the thousands missing are somewhere underneath the mountains of rubble. 2’000 dead in Lebanon to date October 9th, 2024. Netanyahu has just messaged the Lebanese people to either fight Hezbollah or face the same fate as Gaza. What a choice with 1.5 million Lebanese and Syrians fleeing the country and more internally displaced people.

I am no friend of extremes. I neither support paramilitary Hezbollah or Hamas, nor the paramilitary settlers in Israel. I wish for peace, security and a life of self-determination for Palestinians and Israelis alike. I hope someday there will be a One or Two-State Solution to this conflict. I believe this is the only way to peace. War certainly is not, and I agree with those who say that an idea cannot be bombed out of this world. Only peace and equality between Israelis and Palestinians will pacify the Middle East. This lies at the heart of the unrest.

Those who worry about the Messianism in Iran I can only warn of The Messianism in Israel and America and elsewhere as well. Messianism is a global problem and cannot be addressed by guns. The answer certainly is not to play into their hands and call about an Armageddon, regional or worldwide war. At the same time the International Community needs to consider carefully how to interact with the Middle East. For decades they have propped up Dictators like Assad or the Shah in Iran, when there would have been moderate alternatives like Mossadegh in Iran. The answer lies neither with dictators nor with bombing the Middle East ‘into shape’. Bombs will not achieve stability or piece. Look at Iraq, which was bombed under the false claims of weapons of mass-destruction. None were found and although I do not miss Saddam Hussein, the country today is a shadow of a country.

The Middle East is in large parts a shadow of its former self and a shadow of its potential. Its history is rich, it is one of the cradles of civilisation, the birthplace and home of the three major world religions and cultures. Its people are beautiful and diverse.

Unfortunately, there is a glaring double standard when it comes to viewing ‘Arabs’ inside the International Community. This goes back to colonial times, and it is beyond the scope of this book to retrace a history of this prejudice. Certain is, that the Western Media and populism contribute much towards these unfounded prejudices. This is not a white-wash, it is merely the assertion, that every culture has its very serious problems, the Middle East no more than other cultures. To those who point towards fundamentalism, let me assure you, the evangelical America is just as scary. The rise and spread of fundamentalism in the Middle East