The Inherent Absurdity of Our So-Called ''War on Terror''

by Bill Dienst , M.D.

So now I've been stuck here in East Jerusalem for 3 days, trying to establish the right connections. I want to spend time with the Medical Relief Committees in the West Bank. But now it's Friday, the Muslim Holy Day, and we are into the final week of Ramadan. I have only seven days left here in Israel and Palestine before I return to the US.

I am feeling some sort of urgency now, because I want to see the rest of the story. Unfortunately, there is no point in me wandering off by myself into the West Bank today; perhaps tomorrow, if God wills it. Today, there is a massive migration in the opposite direction; Busloads of devout Muslims from the West Bank are filing into this Holy Old City. There are also armed Israeli soldiers by the hundreds everywhere, some on horseback, presumably to "maintain order."

The Muslim pilgrims are here today to pray at the Haram Al Sharif and The Dome of the Rock. They will do their final shopping for their final feast at the end of Ramadan, which will occur in just a few days. It is called Eid Al Fitir. They will have large family gatherings, and bestow gifts that they can afford upon their children; just like we do back home at Christmastime. With the new moon, their 29 days of fasting will come to an end, and the West Bank will regain some sort of normalcy . . . if you can call it that.

Picture (above): Destroyed Rafah home, Nov 16, 2003

Other than the atrocities that I have witnessed from the Israeli side in Gaza, such as the destruction of the large house in Rafah on November 16th, which has left 40 homeless, I have yet to witness much militancy from the Palestinian side. The news has reported that 2 Israelis were shot dead near Bethlehem the other day, and there has been the usual heavy handed retaliation by the Israeli Occupation Forces (the IOF). Other than that, it has been relatively quiet on the Palestinian side. I am wondering if this relative calm, is about to end with the end of Ramadan as well.

Meanwhile, I have made contact with a group in West Jerusalem, called "The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions" (ICAHD). They want to use some of my pictures in their appeal to the Israeli High Court of Justice. They are trying to stop house demolitions in the Occupied Territories. They tell me that this campaign will take months, if not years. I am happy to offer them my photos, and whatever other small assistance that I can. But part of me wonders if it will make any difference at all. Still, all of us on all sides, that are working for peace and justice, we must not give up; we simply have to keep trying.

My heart is filled with melancholy, thinking back to the friends that have I met in Gaza, and the extreme hardships that they are facing every day. I am wondering if their pain will ever stop. I feel overwhelmed by the inherent absurdity of it all. I watch the BBC and see Bush and Blair avoid tens of thousands of London protesters out in the streets, as they self righteously proclaim the justness of their unprovoked war in Iraq, and their "War on Terror."

Picture (above): While walking down bombed out alley ways in Rafah, we hear tanks and finally spot one and quickly take pictures before they spot us.

Picture (above): Beyond the tank turret, notice the

huge wall separating Gaza from Egypt.

I watch Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, "the Butcher of Beirut" with Italian leader Silvio Berlusconi in Rome. They are morning the eighteen Italian soldiers that were killed last week in Nassariyyah, Iraq. They say that these recent deaths will not deter their cause. They morn the dead in Turkey at the synagogue in Istanbul. None of these leaders seem to show any concern for over ten thousand Iraqis who have now died since March as a direct result of this stupid war. They couldn't care less about the thousands that they have killed and maimed in Palestine either. And our Western media plays along, remaining largely indifferent as well.

Picture (above): Angry grafitti demonstrating sentiments about tanks in Khan Younis, Gaza.

What hypocrites we all are! Can't we see that we are going down a dead end road that is leading us no-where? How many more lives will be ruined on all sides before we vote these scoundrels out of office? When will we all stop this self righteous insanity, and start earnestly working for peace?

Picture (above and below): On October 9, 2003, 160 homes were destroyed by the Israeli military

rendering over 2,000 people homeless. The Sharon government justified this wide-spread destruction to search for suspected tunnels used for smuggling arms from Egypt.

I turn to the Arabic News channel Al Jazeera. Their reports are constantly belittled by the likes of Fox News Channel and CNN back in America, but it is obvious to me that their reports on the Middle East have much more depth and detail than those we receive in the United States. We should get over our Cowboy Arrogance, and pay more attention.

Unfortunately, my Arabic still isn't very good. I see lots of images on the TV screen. They show highly equipped Western soldiers breaking into homes. They show them beating and abusing poorly equipped Arabs in urban jungles here in the Middle East. I need to study these images for a while. It is hard to tell whether they are coming from Baghdad, or from Gaza. It is all starting to look the same.