I have, may it please the court, a few words to say.
In the first place, I deny everything but what I have all along admitted, the design on my part to free the slaves. I intended certainly to have made a clean thing of that matter, as I did last winter, when I went into Missouri and there took slaves without the snapping of a gun on either side, moved them through the country, and finally left them in Canada. I designed to have done the same thing again, on a larger scale. That was all I intended. I never did intend murder, or treason, or the destruction of property, or to excite or incite slaves to rebellion, or to make insurrection.
I have another objection; and that is, it is unjust that I should suffer such a penalty. Had I interfered in the manner which I admit, and which I admit has been fairly proved (for I admire the truthfulness and candor of the greater portion of the witnesses who have testified in this case), had I so interfered in behalf of the rich, the powerful, the intelligent, the so-called great, or in behalf of any of their friends, either father, mother, brother, sister, wife, or children, or any of that class, and suffered and sacrificed what I have in this interference, it would have been all right; and every man in this court would have deemed it an act worthy of reward rather than punishment.
This court acknowledges, as I suppose, the validity of the law of God. I see a book kissed here which I suppose to be the Bible, or at least the New Testament. That teaches me that “all things whatsoever I would that men should do to me, I should do even so to them” [Matthew 7:12]. It teaches me, further, to “remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them” [Hebrews 13:3]. I endeavored to act up to that instruction. I say, I am yet too young to understand that God is any respecter of persons. I believe that to have interfered as I have done as I have always freely admitted I have done in behalf of His despised poor, was not wrong, but right. Now, if it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle my blood further with the blood of my children and with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments, I submit; so let it be done!
Let me say one word further.
I feel entirely satisfied with the treatment I have received on my trial. Considering all the circumstances, it has been more generous than I expected. But I feel no consciousness of guilt. I have stated from the first [day] what was my intention and what was not. I never had any design against the life of any person, nor any disposition to commit treason, or excite slaves to rebel, or make any general insurrection. I never encouraged any man to do so, but always discouraged any idea of that kind.
Let me say, also, a word in regard to the statements made by some of those connected with me. I hear it has been stated by some of them that I have induced them to join me. But the contrary is true. I do not say this to injure them, but as regretting their weakness. There is not one of them but joined me of his own accord, and the greater part of them at their own expense. A number of them I never saw, and never had a word of conversation with, till the day they came to me; and that was for the purpose I have stated.
”Other black leaders of the time—Martin Delany, Henry Highland Garnet, Harriet Tubman—also knew and respected Brown. “Tubman thought Brown was the greatest white man who ever lived”,[238] and she said later he did more for American blacks than Lincoln did.[239]
Black businesses across the North closed on the day of his execution.[240] Church bells tolled across the North.[12] In response to the death sentence, Ralph Waldo Emerson remarked that “[John Brown] will make the gallows glorious like the Cross.”[241] In 1863, Julia Ward Howe wrote the popular hymn the Battle Hymn of the Republic to the tune of John Brown’s body, which included a line “As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free”, comparing Brown’s sacrifice to that of Jesus Christ.[12]
According to W. E. B. Du Bois in his 1909 biography, John Brown. Brown’s raid stood as “a great white light – an unwavering, unflickering brightness, blinding by its all-seeing brilliance, making the whole world simply a light and a darkness – a right and a wrong.”[242]
According to his friend and financier, the rich abolitionist Gerrit Smith, “If I were asked to point out the man in all this world I think most truly a Christian, I would point to John Brown.”
MENSEN DRINKEN BRAK WATER!!!!!” en wat daaronder staat.
Geachte Directie
Geacht Management,
Zoals u zich wellicht kunt herinneren, heb ik u in de loop
der Tijden een aantal keren bestookt met mailbrieven met de
eis, geen producten uit Israel meer te verkopen!
Mijn laatste mail aan u dateert van 23 april 2023!
Zie noot 1
Meestal ging dat om [tenminste, dat heb ik bij een bezoek
aan uw filiaal in Amsterdam Zuid-Oost geconstateerd] om mango’s
en/of avocado’s, die in de aanbieding waren [2]
Nu dacht ik eerlijk gezegd, dat u uw Leven gebeterd had, omdat ik
na mijn Brandmail van 23 april jongstleden [3], althans in uw
filiaal Amsterdam Zuid-Oost, geen avocado’s uit Israel meer
gezien had.
”YES!”, dacht ik
Eindelijk is de boodschap bij VOMAR aangekomen [hopelijk ben
ik namelijk niet de enige, die u hierover heeft aangeschreven] en
beseft de VOMAR, dat zij met de verkoop van producten uit Bezettings
en Apartheidsstaat Israel [4] moreel medeverantwoordelijk is
voor diens wandaden en bloed aan haar handen heeft.
Wie schetst mijn Woede en Verbazing toen ik gisteren [dd woensdag
1 november 2023] bij een bezoek aan weer uw filiaal Amsterdam
Zuid-Oost constateerde, dat u het heeft bestaan om in uw aanbiedingen
folder van 29 october tot 4 november [5] avocado’s in de aanbieding had
[en op dit moment van schrijven dus nog heeft] : twee pakken voor 4 euro en WEER afkomstig uit Israel!!
Ik had al een pakje gepakt [avocado’s zijn voor mij een delicatesse] en
toen ik zag, dat zij uit Israel kwamen, vol walging weer teruggezet.
Ik zeg het u eerlijk:
Als het geen voedsel was geweest maar een ander product, had ik het
op de grond gesmeten!!
Want dat u geen gehoor gegeven hebt aan mijn eis/oproep [en waarschijnlijk ook van anderen] om uw verkoop van Israelische
producten te staken [6] is Een Ding.
Dat u het Lef hebt om juist op dit dramatische Moment
van de Geschiedenis door te gaan, met droge ogen, Israelische
producten te verkopen, is ronduit schokkend
WAAROM JUIST NU?
Moet ik het u nog uitleggen?
Dat ga ik wel doen, al is het meer dan weerzinwekkend, dat het nog nodig is, sinds het feit, dat Israel een bezettings en apartheidsstaat is, die zich in
de loop der jaren heeft schuldig gemaakt aan onderdrukking, foltering,
administratieve detentie en apartheid [7] al genoeg zou moeten zijn.
Blijkbaar niet voor u!
MISDADIGE ISRAELISCHE INVALLEN IN GAZA
Sinds de verwerpelijke en bloedige 7 october aanval van
Palestijnse verzetsbeweging Hamas [8] heeft Bezettingsstaat Israel als reactie Gaza gebombardeerd [wat trouwens nog steeds doorgaat], waarbij
waarbij
niet alleen Witte fosfor is gebruikt [kijk maar goed wat
Human Rights Watch daarover meldt, noot 9] maar ook geen enkel onderscheid is gemaakt tussen combatanten [militairen
en strijders] en non combatanten [burgers] [10], wat tot duizenden burgerslachtoffers
geleid heeft
Meer dan 7000, volgens de Israelische mensenrechtenorganisatie
Btselem! [11]
En dat was een Btselem bericht van 27 october! [12]
Ondertussen zijn er veel meer doden bijgekomen, vooral ook
in vluchtelingenkamp Jabalia! [13]
Helaas zijn wij met deze Praktijken bij Israelische militaire
invallen in Gaza bekend [14]
Willekeurige militaire aanvallen, een groot aantal burgerdoden [15]
UITHONGERING BURGERBEVOLKING
MENSEN DRINKEN BRAK WATER!!!!!
Maar wat dit alles hier nog monsterachtiger maakt is, dat het hier niet
bij blijft!
Want wat Israel ook heeft gedaan als reactie op de7 october Hamas aanval is een totale Blokkade van Gaza instellen, wat betekent, dat de
burgerbevolking geen gas, water, brandstof en medicijnen ontvangt! [16]
Moet ik uitleggen, dat dit monsterachtig is.
Moet ik uitleggen, dat dit kwaadaardig is?
Moet ik uitleggen, dat dit als ”collectieve straf” internationaalrechtelijk
verboden is? [17]
Dat uithongering van een burgerbevolking een oorlogsmisdaad is?
[18]
Weet u, dat Gazanen wegens gebrek aan water BRAK WATER drinken
[19], wat natuurijk levensgevaarlijk is?
EPILOOG
Meer hoef ik er niet aan toe te voegen.
U verkoopt nog steeds, ondanks talloze opropoen,
dat niet te doen [20] producten uit een Staat, die sinds 1967 de
Palestijnse gebieden bezet, onderdrukt, zich schuldig maakt
aan foltering, administratieve detentie, landdiefstal via illegale
nederzettingen, apartheid.
En nu wordt de burgerbevolking in Gaza uitgehongerd, van toegang tot water, electriciteit, medicijnen en voedsel afgesneden, mensen
drinken brak water [21] en u hebt het Lef, nog steeds Israelische
producten te verkopen.
Walgelijk vind ik het en ik maak het overal bekend, daarop
kunt u rekenen, digitaal en anderszins.
Stop er dus direct mee, als u niet medeplichtig wilt
zijn aan het faciliteren van Bezettings en Uithongeringsstaat Israel.
Reacties uitgeschakeld voor Astrid Essed stelt VOMAR opnieuw aan de kaak over de gecontinueerde verkoop van avocado’s uit Israel/VOMAR, hoe lang blijft u Bezettings en Uithongeringsstaat Israel nog steunen?
The 7 october 2023 surprise attack of Hamas on the South of Israel
with thousands of rockets codenamed ”Al-Aqsa Flood”, suprised me,
like doubtless many others, but I was not completely taken aback.
It was a bloody attack in which a great number of Israeli civilians
were killed [according to Israeli autorities at least 1200] or abducted and
at least 260 people were killed by the Hamas attack on a
Festival near kibbutz Re”im.
Of course this deserves strong condemnation, since targetting
civilians is not only inhumane, but prohibited by International
Humanitarian Law, declaring clear distinction between combatants
[soldiers and fighters, who are legitimate targets] and non-combatants [civilians,
who must be protected]
So I understand the common [especially Western] sympathy with the Israeli
victims, because I share the feeling.
But there my understanding stops.
Because the almost hysterical ”we stand with Israel” reactions, especially from
the Western World [USA,EU], completely with Israeli flags hanging from their
official buildings [luckily not in Scotland!] is not only hypocrite.
It is disgusting!
Disgusting, because it implies support to Israel as a State and that is, to say
it mildly, controversial.
Because the bloody 7 october Hamas attack and subsequent abduction-operation divert the attention of the important fact, that since 1967 Israel
is the occupying power in the West Bank, Eastern Jerusalem and Gaza [still
occupied according to International Law since Israel controls the Gaza borders, airspace and territorial waters]
Not only Israel refuses to withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories
despite UN Security Resolution 242 [1967], there is a decennialong brutal
oppression, Israel is guilty of torture of prisoners, administrative detention,
bloody military attacks in Gaza and the West Bank, with as macabre result thousands and thousands civilian victims, the building [since end of the sixties]
of illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian territory [land theft!], extrajudicial
execution, apartheid, etc, etc
En despite this brutal occupation the EU never took any sanction against
the State of Israel, which made them complicit in the Israeli occupation
and oppression.
According to International Law every people has the right to rise up against
an occupation, which includes armed resistance.
So Hamas, as any other Palestinian organisation, is in his right
in this regard, but of course according International Humanitarian Law
Hamas must refrain from attacks on civilians.
By the way, I wonder whether the EU will also condemn Israel, which right
now launches a bloody attack in Gaza by bombing
Gaza for already two weeks, with more than 4000 deaths, as denying the Gazan population water, medicines,
fuel and food supplies, in the same strong terms as it condemned Hamas.
Astrid Essed
Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Reacties uitgeschakeld voor Mail/Letter to the Editor to The Standard [newspaper from Gambia]/Hamas attack on Israel/The Right to rise up against the Israeli occupation
The 7 october 2023 surprise attack of Hamas on the South of Israel
with thousands of rockets codenamed ”Al-Aqsa Flood”, suprised me,
like doubtless many others, but I was not completely taken aback.
It was a bloody attack in which a great number of Israeli civilians
were killed [according to Israeli autorities at least 1200] or abducted and
at least 260 people were killed by the Hamas attack on a
Festival near kibbutz Re”im.
Of course this deserves strong condemnation, since targetting
civilians is not only inhumane, but prohibited by International
Humanitarian Law, declaring clear distinction between combatants
[soldiers and fighters, who are legitimate targets] and non-combatants [civilians,
who must be protected]
So I understand the common [especially Western] sympathy with the Israeli
victims, because I share the feeling.
But there my understanding stops.
Because the almost hysterical ”we stand with Israel” reactions, especially from
the Western World [USA,EU], completely with Israeli flags hanging from their
official buildings [luckily not in Scotland!] is not only hypocrite.
It is disgusting!
Disgusting, because it implies support to Israel as a State and that is, to say
it mildly, controversial.
Because the bloody 7 october Hamas attack and subsequent abduction-operation divert the attention of the important fact, that since 1967 Israel
is the occupying power in the West Bank, Eastern Jerusalem and Gaza [still
occupied according to International Law since Israel controls the Gaza borders, airspace and territorial waters]
Not only Israel refuses to withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories
despite UN Security Resolution 242 [1967], there is a decennialong brutal
oppression, Israel is guilty of torture of prisoners, administrative detention,
bloody military attacks in Gaza and the West Bank, with as macabre result thousands and thousands civilian victims, the building [since end of the sixties]
of illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian territory [land theft!], extrajudicial
execution, apartheid, etc, etc
En despite this brutal occupation the EU never took any sanction against
the State of Israel, which made them complicit in the Israeli occupation
and oppression.
According to International Law every people has the right to rise up against
an occupation, which includes armed resistance.
So Hamas, as any other Palestinian organisation, is in his right
in this regard, but of course according International Humanitarian Law
Hamas must refrain from attacks on civilians.
By the way, I wonder whether the EU will also condemn Israel, which right
now launches a bloody attack in Gaza by bombing
Gaza for already two weeks, with more than 4000 deaths, as denying the Gazan population water, medicines,
fuel and food supplies, in the same strong terms as it condemned Hamas.
Astrid Essed
Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Reacties uitgeschakeld voor Mail/Letter to the Editor to The Express Tribune [newspaper from Pakistan]/Hamas attack on Israel/The Right to rise up against the Israeli occupation
The 7 october 2023 surprise attack of Hamas on the South of Israel
with thousands of rockets codenamed ”Al-Aqsa Flood”, suprised me,
like doubtless many others, but I was not completely taken aback.
It was a bloody attack in which a great number of Israeli civilians
were killed [according to Israeli autorities at least 1200] or abducted and
at least 260 people were killed by the Hamas attack on a
Festival near kibbutz Re”im.
Of course this deserves strong condemnation, since targetting
civilians is not only inhumane, but prohibited by International
Humanitarian Law, declaring clear distinction between combatants
[soldiers and fighters, who are legitimate targets] and non-combatants [civilians,
who must be protected]
So I understand the common [especially Western] sympathy with the Israeli
victims, because I share the feeling.
But there my understanding stops.
Because the almost hysterical ”we stand with Israel” reactions, especially from
the Western World [USA,EU], completely with Israeli flags hanging from their
official buildings [luckily not in Scotland!] is not only hypocrite.
It is disgusting!
Disgusting, because it implies support to Israel as a State and that is, to say
it mildly, controversial.
Because the bloody 7 october Hamas attack and subsequent abduction-operation divert the attention of the important fact, that since 1967 Israel
is the occupying power in the West Bank, Eastern Jerusalem and Gaza [still
occupied according to International Law since Israel controls the Gaza borders, airspace and territorial waters]
Not only Israel refuses to withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories
despite UN Security Resolution 242 [1967], there is a decennialong brutal
oppression, Israel is guilty of torture of prisoners, administrative detention,
bloody military attacks in Gaza and the West Bank, with as macabre result thousands and thousands civilian victims, the building [since end of the sixties]
of illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian territory [land theft!], extrajudicial
execution, apartheid, etc, etc
En despite this brutal occupation the EU never took any sanction against
the State of Israel, which made them complicit in the Israeli occupation
and oppression.
According to International Law every people has the right to rise up against
an occupation, which includes armed resistance.
So Hamas, as any other Palestinian organisation, is in his right
in this regard, but of course according International Humanitarian Law
Hamas must refrain from attacks on civilians.
By the way, I wonder whether the EU will also condemn Israel, which right
now launches a bloody attack in Gaza by bombing
Gaza for already two weeks, with more than 4000 deaths, as denying the Gazan population water, medicines,
fuel and food supplies, in the same strong terms as it condemned Hamas.
Astrid Essed
Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Reacties uitgeschakeld voor Mail/Letter to the Editor to The Irish Independent/Hamas attack on Israel/The Right to rise up against the Israeli occupation
The 7 october 2023 surprise attack of Hamas on the South of Israel
with thousands of rockets codenamed ”Al-Aqsa Flood”, suprised me,
like doubtless many others, but I was not completely taken aback.
It was a bloody attack in which a great number of Israeli civilians
were killed [according to Israeli autorities at least 1200] or abducted and
at least 260 people were killed by the Hamas attack on a
Festival near kibbutz Re”im.
Of course this deserves strong condemnation, since targetting
civilians is not only inhumane, but prohibited by International
Humanitarian Law, declaring clear distinction between combatants
[soldiers and fighters, who are legitimate targets] and non-combatants [civilians,
who must be protected]
So I understand the common [especially Western] sympathy with the Israeli
victims, because I share the feeling.
But there my understanding stops.
Because the almost hysterical ”we stand with Israel” reactions, especially from
the Western World [USA,EU], completely with Israeli flags hanging from their
official buildings [luckily not in Scotland!] is not only hypocrite.
It is disgusting!
Disgusting, because it implies support to Israel as a State and that is, to say
it mildly, controversial.
Because the bloody 7 october Hamas attack and subsequent abduction-operation divert the attention of the important fact, that since 1967 Israel
is the occupying power in the West Bank, Eastern Jerusalem and Gaza [still
occupied according to International Law since Israel controls the Gaza borders, airspace and territorial waters]
Not only Israel refuses to withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories
despite UN Security Resolution 242 [1967], there is a decennialong brutal
oppression, Israel is guilty of torture of prisoners, administrative detention,
bloody military attacks in Gaza and the West Bank, with as macabre result thousands and thousands civilian victims, the building [since end of the sixties]
of illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian territory [land theft!], extrajudicial
execution, apartheid, etc, etc
En despite this brutal occupation the EU never took any sanction against
the State of Israel, which made them complicit in the Israeli occupation
and oppression.
According to International Law every people has the right to rise up against
an occupation, which includes armed resistance.
So Hamas, as any other Palestinian organisation, is in his right
in this regard, but of course according International Humanitarian Law
Hamas must refrain from attacks on civilians.
By the way, I wonder whether the EU will also condemn Israel, which right
now launches a bloody attack in Gaza by bombing
Gaza for already two weeks, with more than 4000 deaths, as denying the Gazan population water, medicines,
fuel and food supplies, in the same strong terms as it condemned Hamas.
Astrid Essed
Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Reacties uitgeschakeld voor Mail/Letter to the Editor to Al Ahram Weekly [Egyptian newspaper]/Hamas attack on Israel/The Right to rise up against the Israeli occupation
The 7 october 2023 surprise attack of Hamas on the South of Israel
with thousands of rockets codenamed ”Al-Aqsa Flood”, suprised me,
like doubtless many others, but I was not completely taken aback.
It was a bloody attack in which a great number of Israeli civilians
were killed [according to Israeli autorities at least 1200] or abducted and
at least 260 people were killed by the Hamas attack on a
Festival near kibbutz Re”im.
Of course this deserves strong condemnation, since targetting
civilians is not only inhumane, but prohibited by International
Humanitarian Law, declaring clear distinction between combatants
[soldiers and fighters, who are legitimate targets] and non-combatants [civilians,
who must be protected]
So I understand the common [especially Western] sympathy with the Israeli
victims, because I share the feeling.
But there my understanding stops.
Because the almost hysterical ”we stand with Israel” reactions, especially from
the Western World [USA,EU], completely with Israeli flags hanging from their
official buildings [luckily not in Scotland!] is not only hypocrite.
It is disgusting!
Disgusting, because it implies support to Israel as a State and that is, to say
it mildly, controversial.
Because the bloody 7 october Hamas attack and subsequent abduction-operation divert the attention of the important fact, that since 1967 Israel
is the occupying power in the West Bank, Eastern Jerusalem and Gaza [still
occupied according to International Law since Israel controls the Gaza borders, airspace and territorial waters]
Not only Israel refuses to withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories
despite UN Security Resolution 242 [1967], there is a decennialong brutal
oppression, Israel is guilty of torture of prisoners, administrative detention,
bloody military attacks in Gaza and the West Bank, with as macabre result thousands and thousands civilian victims, the building [since end of the sixties]
of illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian territory [land theft!], extrajudicial
execution, apartheid, etc, etc
En despite this brutal occupation the EU never took any sanction against
the State of Israel, which made them complicit in the Israeli occupation
and oppression.
According to International Law every people has the right to rise up against
an occupation, which includes armed resistance.
So Hamas, as any other Palestinian organisation, is in his right
in this regard, but of course according International Humanitarian Law
Hamas must refrain from attacks on civilians.
By the way, I wonder whether the EU will also condemn Israel, which right
now launches a bloody attack in Gaza by bombing
Gaza for already two weeks, with more than 4000 deaths, as denying the Gazan population water, medicines,
fuel and food supplies, in the same strong terms as it condemned Hamas.
Astrid Essed
Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Reacties uitgeschakeld voor Mail/Letter to the Editor to The Star [Malaysian newspaper]/Hamas attack on Israel/The Right to rise up against the Israeli occupation
Hamas Attack On Israel, The Right To Rise Up Against The Israeli Occupation
The 7 October 2023 surprise attack of Hamas on the South of Israel with thousands of rockets codenamed ”Al-Aqsa Flood”, surprised me, like doubtless many others, but I was not completely taken aback.
It was a bloody attack in which a great number of Israeli civilians were killed [according to Israeli authorities at least 1200] or abducted and at least 260 people were killed by the Hamas attack on a Festival near Kibbutz Re”im.
Of course, this deserves strong condemnation since targeting civilians is not only inhumane but prohibited by International Humanitarian Law, declaring a clear distinction between combatants [soldiers and fighters, who are legitimate targets] and non-combatants [civilians, who must be protected]
So I understand the common [especially Western] sympathy with the Israeli victims, because I share the feeling.
But there my understanding stops.
Because of the almost hysterical “we stand with Israel” reactions, especially from the Western World [USA, EU], completely with Israeli flags hanging from their official buildings [luckily not in Scotland!] is not only hypocritical. It is disgusting!
Disgusting, because it implies support for Israel as a State and that is, to say it is mildly, controversial.
Because of the bloody 7 October Hamas attack and subsequent abduction operation diverted the attention from the important fact, that since 1967 Israel has been the occupying power in the West Bank, Eastern Jerusalem and Gaza [still occupied according to International Law since Israel controls the Gaza borders, airspace and territorial waters]
Not only did Israel refuse to withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories despite UN Security Resolution 242 [1967], but there is a decennia-long brutal oppression, Israel is guilty of torture of prisoners, administrative detention, bloody military attacks in Gaza and the West Bank, with as macabre result thousands and thousands of civilian victims, the building [since the end of the sixties] of illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian territory [land theft!], extrajudicial execution, apartheid, etc., etc.
En despite this brutal occupation the EU never took any sanctions against the State of Israel, which made them complicit in the Israeli occupation and oppression.
According to International Law, every person has the right to rise up against an occupation, which includes armed resistance.
So Hamas, as any other Palestinian organisation, is in its right in this regard, but of course according to International Humanitarian Law
Hamas must refrain from attacks on civilians.
By the way, I wonder whether the EU will also condemn Israel, which right now launches a bloody attack in Gaza by bombing.
Gaza for a whole week, with more than 2200 deaths, denying the Gazan population water, medicines, fuel and food supplies, in the same strong terms as it condemned Hamas.
Reacties uitgeschakeld voor Published by the Ghana Report.com!/My Letter to the Editor/Hamas attack on Israel/The Right to rise up against the Israeli occupation
The 7 october 2023 surprise attack of Hamas on the South of Israel
with thousands of rockets codenamed ”Al-Aqsa Flood”, suprised me,
like doubtless many others, but I was not completely taken aback.
It was a bloody attack in which a great number of Israeli civilians
were killed [according to Israeli autorities at least 1200] or abducted and
at least 260 people were killed by the Hamas attack on a
Festival near kibbutz Re”im.
Of course this deserves strong condemnation, since targetting
civilians is not only inhumane, but prohibited by International
Humanitarian Law, declaring clear distinction between combatants
[soldiers and fighters, who are legitimate targets] and non-combatants [civilians,
who must be protected]
So I understand the common [especially Western] sympathy with the Israeli
victims, because I share the feeling.
But there my understanding stops.
Because the almost hysterical ”we stand with Israel” reactions, especially from
the Western World [USA,EU], completely with Israeli flags hanging from their
official buildings [luckily not in Scotland!] is not only hypocrite.
It is disgusting!
Disgusting, because it implies support to Israel as a State and that is, to say
it mildly, controversial.
Because the bloody 7 october Hamas attack and subsequent abduction-operation divert the attention of the important fact, that since 1967 Israel
is the occupying power in the West Bank, Eastern Jerusalem and Gaza [still
occupied according to International Law since Israel controls the Gaza borders, airspace and territorial waters]
Not only Israel refuses to withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories
despite UN Security Resolution 242 [1967], there is a decennialong brutal
oppression, Israel is guilty of torture of prisoners, administrative detention,
bloody military attacks in Gaza and the West Bank, with as macabre result thousands and thousands civilian victims, the building [since end of the sixties]
of illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian territory [land theft!], extrajudicial
execution, apartheid, etc, etc
En despite this brutal occupation the EU never took any sanction against
the State of Israel, which made them complicit in the Israeli occupation
and oppression.
According to International Law every people has the right to rise up against
an occupation, which includes armed resistance.
So Hamas, as any other Palestinian organisation, is in his right
in this regard, but of course according International Humanitarian Law
Hamas must refrain from attacks on civilians.
By the way, I wonder whether the EU will also condemn Israel, which right
now launches a bloody attack in Gaza by bombing
Gaza for already two weeks, with more than 2200 deaths, as denying the Gazan population water, medicines,
fuel and food supplies, in the same strong terms as it condemned Hamas.
Astrid Essed
Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Reacties uitgeschakeld voor Mail/Letter to the Editor to Wafa News Agency [Palestinian newscentre]/Hamas attack on Israel/The Right to rise up against the Israeli occupation
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