July 30, 2006
Speech by Samah Sabawi at a protest at the Human Rights' monument in Ottawa
Saturday, July 29, 2006
There is an inscription here on this monument of the first words of the
United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the inscription reads"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights."
How appropriate it is that we are standing here tonight, demanding the
rights of Palestinians and Lebanese civilians to have what they're entitled
to under these declarations: security, equality, freedom and dignity.
I have to apologize if I am a little emotional today. I spoke to my uncle
this morning. He told me how the Israeli army tanks rolled into his
neighborhood in Gaza and closed it off for three days. He told me how
terrified he and his children were as they huddled through the long nights
under the bed and listened to the sounds of gunfire piercing the stillness
of the night - never knowing if the next bullet was meant for them.
He told me that "the worst thing that can happen to you as a father is not
being able to hide the terror in your eyes from your children." He asked me
if I knew how terrible it is for children to not find refuge in their
parent's eyes. He said in a broken voice "I just couldn't hide how
terrified I was, it was humiliating and they saw that and they too were
absolutely terrified."
This is the reality of the war that is launched against civilians. There
are no shelters in Gaza, no bunkers and no army to fight back the mighty
Israeli Forces. This is because Gaza is not an independent state at war
with another. Gaza is a heavily populated city under military occupation
and has been so for 38 years.
How quickly the media here forgets that it wasn't the capture of the Israeli
soldier that "triggered the crisis". The crisis didn't start because Hamas
won the elections, nor did it start with the Palestinian intifadas both
first and second or with the suicide bombings. The crisis has been on going
as a result of Israel's long decades of tyranny, oppression and injustice
against the Palestinians.
This violence the media talks about is rooted in Israel's inability to
accept that Palestine was never a land without a people. This occupation is
the violence. This crisis will end when the occupation ends and when Israel
recognizes Palestine's right to exist as a sovereign viable independent
state. Unfortunately, this will never happen until Canada and the
International Community start to talk about and to implement international
law.
Thirty people were killed by the end of the three day Israeli foreces'
operation in my family's neighborhood. Many were civilians including women
and very young children. Many homes were shelled and riddled with bullets
and the surrounding farms were mostly destroyed.
The targeting of the electric power plant in Gaza and of Gaza's
infrastructure, the kidnap and imprisonment of members of the Palestinian
government and the absolute sheer impunity with which Israel can at will
roll its tanks in and out of refugee camps leaving a trail of destruction
behind are all familiar trademarks.
In Lebanon too we are seeing the same familiar patterns. Israel relies
heavily on its method of collective punishment - punishing whole civilian
populations for what Israel perceives is a crime of a few. Holding 1.4
million Palestinians in Gaza hostages in Israel's language is justifiable
for the release of one Israeli captured solider. Destroying the beautiful
Lebanon - homes, buildings, bridges, airport and power plant is seen as
justifiable in that brutal language.
What is even more frightening, is Israel's use of cluster bombs in Lebanon
and the reported use of new unusual weapons in Gaza.
Human Rights Watch believes that the use of cluster munitions in populated
areas may violate the prohibition on indiscriminate attacks contained in
international humanitarian law. Because of their high failure rate, cluster
munitions leave large numbers of hazardous, explosive duds that injure and
kill civilians even after the attack is over.
In Gaza, the Palestinian ministry of health has concerns of its own. The
Ministry revealed last Monday that the Israeli army is using a new type of
explosive in its offensive on the Gaza Strip. These explosives contain
toxics and radioactive materials which burn and tear the victim's body from
the inside and leave long term deformations.
The ministry called upon the international community and the humanitarian
organizations to send an international medical team to examine the victims
and confirm the truth about these banned weapons that Israel appears to be
using. So far, no one has headed that call.
Meanwhile, we stand here and many others around the world and we wonder how
can it ever be justified that a war launched against a civilian population
can be deemed "measured"? What kind of hate, racism and prejudice can drive
anyone to accept that children - thousands of children - are acceptable
sacrifices, and for what are we sacrificing them?
Since Sept 2000, 753 Palestinian children were killed by Israeli gunfire.
So far in Lebanon, 200 children were also killed by Israeli fire and
thousands more in Lebanon and Palestine are injured. Yet the international
community continues to ignore the right of Palestinian children to security
- this is a fundamental universal human right. These are real lives lost.
We need to find a just lasting solution.
We need to ask questions but we don't because we know the answer in advance.
Who will tell Cynthia Hess-von Kruedener in Kingston the truth about why
her husband was killed in his clearly marked UN post in Lebanon? Who will
tell her he was killed by a green light from our own Canada as well as the
US and Britain, a light that gives Israel the power to act with impunity and
to continue to fire indiscriminately knowing it is literally getting away
with murder.
Ms. Hess-Von Kruedener asked "Why were they firing on the base?" the answer
is simple: it is because they can.
Jan Egeland, the UN humanitarian chief estimated that "nearly 600 Lebanese
civilians have been killed in the fighting, a third of them children". Mr.
Egeland's comment on the war is one worth pondering; he said "There is
something fundamentally wrong with a war where there are more dead children
then armed men. It has to stop."
You know, I am a proud Canadian. I want to be able to continue traveling
through the world with my head held high. I ask you Mr. Harper to not
diminish my pride. I ask the RCMP officers, the media and everyone else who
is here tonight to take this message to anyone who would listen: All we ask
for is for Canada to respect the principles that are engraved on this
monument and in the heart of many Canadians. Human rights for all! Justice
and equality for all! Dignity and security for all!
Stop this war!
******
Samah Sabawi, origianlly from Gaza is a writer and activist now living in Ottawa
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