JULY 30 — First and foremost, I would like to congratulate the young writer activist Mikhail Rosli for his concern regarding the pledge of the Israelis and to a certain extent, the Palestinians. It is very refreshing to read and to hear young people talking about the world and strive to be involved in activism movement regardless of what they are fighting for.

By the way, everyone is free to give their own opinion, and we should be ready to agree to disagree.

Secondly, I am very pleased to read his article as it has given me the chance to add on more information and facts that might be left out in his writing. It could be that he did not have the time to write everything or maybe he does not know lots of pertinent facts about the current conflict.

Allow me to write it in point form:

1. Palestine is a country by itself and it consists of not only Muslims but also Christians. When we talk about Palestine, we talk about the oppressed and the millions of humans inside it regardless of their religious background. This is totally not about the Muslims only but humanity in general because if we are just talking about Muslims, we are actually segregating the needs of humanity that should be enjoyed by everyone regardless of colour, creed, and ultimately denying the basic needs of all human beings, which is freedom.

It is very important to talk about Palestinians as normal human beings who hav their own will and the liberty to live life just like their other neighbours. The liberty to have a free country and the liberty to have what other sovereign countries can have without being treated like a prisoner. Hamas is the legitimate government of the Gaza Strip (they won it through election) and even though they are always being called a terrorist group, they have the mandate to administer the Gaza Strip as in a proper government (which they do).

2. I would like to say that I categorically agree with you regarding the use of the term seasonal activism. It is partially correct to say that you are right as the escalation of interest regarding the Palestinian pledge (or maybe Israelis) wax and wane with the escalation of animosity between these two entities. People show their concern now as they see it as the most urgent issue to be settled without any delay. By the way, there are thousands of Palestinians who have died, have been injured and displaced (should I call them human shield?) and the Hamas’ attacks on Israel caused THREE civilian death and the loss of life of scores of Israeli soldiers.

For your information, the seasonal activism of Palestinian and Israeli issues is not actually seasonal. There are lots of NGOs, social movements, humanitarian bodies all over the world including Malaysian who keep on working for the sake of the betterment of the Palestinians specifically, and obviously will reciprocate towards the Israelis too. By the way, Palestinians are still considered an occupied people who live in occupied lands in the biggest open-air prison in the world. Trust me on this.

3. Gaza Strip is actually one of the most populated places in the world. It has more than 1.8 million people (majority of them are actually refugees) with a very young average age. Hamas has around 15,000 reported army personnel with out-of-date (mostly home-made) arms and artillery. Its borders are fully controlled by Israel, and mostly are closed. Nothing comes in and nothing is allowed to go out. Their basic necessities including electricity (they enjoy four hours of electricity a day), clean water, health care and freedom of movement are dictated by the Israelis. They are also put on diet by the Israelis; calories are counted so they are not able to enjoy a sumptuous Hari Raya like us, and just enough to make sure they don’t die because of hunger.

Still, a majority of their children are malnourished. No wonder they have tunnels everywhere, and despite thousands of them having been bombed, hundreds of new tunnels see light daily. Have you seen a sheep or your normal onions imported though tunnels? You can witness it in Gaza.

Wonder what is their primary demand since the truce in 2012? To lift the seven-year total blockade of land, air and sea, and ensuring free trading activities (not arms trading) between Gaza and the world. Terrorist act at their best? The main reason to lift this blockade is for the people to live as humans (they are actually human beings too).

4. Regarding your point that Israel has the right to defend itself, I would say that I agree with you, but not in this case. Maybe you are misled, but I cannot blame you for that.

The recent atrocities that happen in Gaza is not the act of Hamas in the first place but the Israelis. Remember the three unfortunate Israeli youngsters and the brutally murdered young Palestinian (yup, they burned him while he was still alive after they forced him to drink the oil)? Do you know that they have concluded that it was not the act of Hamas but unknown entities that they have yet to figure out?

What happened was they totally blamed Hamas for that, recaptured all the released prisoners in violation of their previous peace agreements, have conducted indiscriminate acts of terror against the people of Gaza including daily raids on civilian houses, and started what they call (precise) attacks on Hamas property.

Hamas, in this case the government of Gaza Strip, has the right to defend their people. On top of that, Israel violated their peace agreement just two years back. No need for us to talk about Camp David 2000 or I will start to talk about the Oslo Agreement 1993. By the way, it is irresponsible to put the blame solely on Yasser Arafat on that as we all know that there was no written agreement about what Israel wanted to do for their part to make peace.

Please. I am not anti-Semite or anti-Jew. Do you know that historically Muslims and Jews have lived as neighbours for hundreds of years and there have been multiple episodes in history of Jews seeking refuge under Muslim government in the past after they were systematically oppressed and massacred in many places in Europe.

The fact is, people like me are anti-Zionists, oppression and inhumane treatment of other people regardless where they are. Does Ukraine ring any bell here?

5. Hamas using Gazans as human shield? I think you have mistaken a picture or two (or maybe hundreds of them) here. The guys with the uniform and a tied child at his feet or that jeep with tied children on the wind screen are actually the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). It is not Hamas. Have you ever seen any pictures or any kind of evidence showing the stone-throwing youths were backed up by Hamas militants behind them? Do you know why they throw the stones in the first place?

Hospitals, schools, churches and mosques were never found to be the place for the Hamas to send rockets to Israel. Yup! There is ONE isolated case of an empty international building used to store arms, but is that a legitimate reason for you to shell all the mosques, schools, refugee camps, flats and civilian houses, HOSPITALS? We better draw our line very clear here.

Do you know the rule during any war (yup, there is a rule even during war). No one or entities shall attack any buildings that are used for the sake of the civilians. So what rules are we using now? Can we agree here that Israel is above all these rules? For self defence?

6. Before I finish, I would like to highlight here what are the demands of the Palestinian people that was actually promised to them but was never delivered.

a) Ending the seven-year blockade of Gaza Strip and allowing all humanitarian and social aid to freely come in and out.

b) Ensuring a better supply of basic amenities (electricity and water).

c) Fishing rights of more than three nautical miles to 12 nautical miles to all Gazans, and ending of the endless terror towards the fishermen by the IDF at sea.

d) The release of prisoners including children and women from Israel prisons.

e) The end of Israel’s continuous siege of Palestine.

This is what the Gazans want. It is obvious that there is nothing to do with denouncing Israel or dismantling of Israel.

7. Finally, I would like to recommend to you to go through the articles, videos and news that have been shared online (you acknowledged that were a lot). Do not just see the pictures, read the facts and the arguments. Most of them are not Malaysian news, and many are not even from Muslims. This is a humanitarian crisis, and it is the worst. The Palestinians cannot run away. They have nowhere to go. They are imprisoned in their own house. The borders are closed except to anyone who can (reportedly) pay US$3,000 (RM9,530) to the border security.

Israel has the Iron Dome to shield them from the useless rockets of Hamas but the Gazans only have their heads and hands to shield themselves.

Open up to other opinions, read more through the history of Palestine, and you will definitely find the answer. As of now, I can say that you have only read or heard from one side of the story. You can even find out articles from Israeli historians, Jewish academics that discuss these issues outside the tunnel vision of Zionism and their supporters.

Happy reading and Selamat Hari Raya. Please pray for universal peace during your prayer.

* Ahmad Rostam Md Zin is a Concern Citizen of the World.

** This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malay Mail Online.