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Monday, March 11, 2013

90,000 Syrian Deaths But Not Alarming to Newsmen

Nadene Goldfoot
On the 12th of February 2013 at least 70,000 Syrians had been killed in their uprising. Syria has been the 17th largest Muslim majority country in the world with a population of 22,505,000 of which 90% are Sunni/Shi'a following Hanafi/Alevi  fiqhs.   Kerry reports that now 90,000 people have been killed in Syria since the uprising began.  It has been a wholesale slaughter but the world just isn't reacting very strongly.  They're just ho-humming about it.   Is it that when an Arab kills an Arab it is not news?  Reporters don't get excited until it is a Jew that kills an Arab.  1.2 million Syrians have been displaced.  Many have found refuge in Jordan who has had to create camps to hold them.  The fighting is even spilling into Israel's Golan Heights.

Jews don't have any laws going on to kill Arabs.  There is no enmity on the part of the Jews towards Arabs, but there has been on the part of the Arabs towards Jews starting at the beginning of time.  Abraham lived in the beginning of the 2nd millennium BCE.  Our problems started about 4,000 years ago. Ishmael, first son of Abraham with Hagar, the maid of Sarah,  had reason to be angry with his half brother, Isaac.  He was cast out of Abraham's house along with his mother by Sarah's frustration over his behavior around the baby, Isaac.  Ishmael became the father of the Arab people.

 Joktan, , the 2nd son of Eber (Gen. 10:25)  is thought to be the ancestor of the southern Arab tribes. Joktan's sons in the order provided in Gen. 10:26-29, were: Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Obal, Abimael, Sheba, Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. Joktan means small, smallness.

 Problems between the two parties continued  with Esau and Jacob, twin sons of Abraham's son, Isaac when Isaac took the birthright due to go to  Esau who was the elder brother by a few minutes. Esau had sold it to Jacob in a deal to get a meal quckly.   Esau wanted to kill Jacob for his own negligence of giving his birthright away which caused Jacob to leave home in Haran.  Jacob returned 20 years later and was greeted affectionately by Esau, who is identified with Edom.  Jacob's name was later changed to Israel, denoting a change in status.  This became the point of reference telling about the 2 nations.   First Isaac had problems and then his son Jacob had problems.

However, with Islam and Mohammad's anger with Jews not converting to his new religion, anger has sprung up again from the Muslims for Jews and along with it an intoleration of Jews living  in the Middle East.  Qaradawi, religious leader from Egypt who lives in Qatar, has a fatwa out for all Jews to be killed.  Enmity has been  shown by the Gazan Arabs who have shelled Israel with mortars, missiles and rockets since 2001 until just recently.

When Israel announced its birth on May 14, 1948, it was attacked immediately by the Arabs which marks Israel's "War of Independence" which cost around 20,000 casualties in total for both sides.  That's the highest amount of deaths that Israel has suffered so far.  Casualty estimates of the wars of 1967  was 20,000 and 1973 was 15,000.

All wars involving Israel have been less that Syria's deaths of the last few years by about 30,000.  The fight from Gaza led to deaths that are but a fraction of Syria's numbers of Arab on Arab.  How has the press reacted?  With protest movements against Israel by bigots.  Israel was attacked.  Israel responded eventually  but with as much diligence as humanely possible.  Then the press reacted by calling Operation Cast Lead a "Holocaust", muddying the word that exemplifies the Jews losing 6 million people in a Holocaust of having become the scapegoats of a warrior nation that tried to exterminate the whole Jewish people.   The Gazans fought among their own populated areas hiding behind women and children, making sure they would be targeted first to play the sympathy card whereas Israel does the best job of teaching soldiers techniques to save lives.

Gazans claim to have lost 1,385 in Israel's Operation Cast Lead action but uniformed soldiers count was 200-300.  "Difficulties in ascertaining an accurate Palestinian casualty count have been attributed to a number of factors. It was reported that Hamas fighters had been ordered not to wear military uniforms during the fighting..  Israeli-Arab journalist Khalad  Abu  Toameh wrote in The Jerusalem Post that this practice led to the over-counting of civilian casualties and under-counting Hamas military casualties, as Palestinian casualties arrived at hospitals without weapons or any other signs revealing they were actually fighters."

Why did the Arabs attack southern Israel from 2001 on?  "Rationales given by the Palestinian groups responsible for the attacks vary, but often include the argument that the rockets are a method of protest and of calling attention to perceived injustices. According to other explanations, the attacks constitute revenge for – or defense against – perceived Israeli aggression."  The Israel aggression hasn't been anything other than defensive strikes when deemed absolutely necessary to stop constant hits.

Israel, being such a small nation of people who make up only  half of 0.02% of the world population, is under the magnifying glass constantly.  Every death is investigated by the press as well as having been investigated by Israel itself.  It's a good thing Jews have tended to follow the profession of law, as they must be ready constantly to defend themselves against anti-Semites.  Every movement Jews in Israel make finds protesters of some sort.

The Syrians are just passed up as stale, uninteresting news.  Fighting goes on among Arabs on a regular basis in the Middle East.  Lebanon and Syria, Palestinians and Jordan, Iraq and Iran, all have had their to the death battles.

When Ha-Shem told the Jews that they were to be the light among nations, I'm sure he didn't mean to have the flood lights or stage lights on them constantly whenever they had to protect themselves, but that's the case.   So Israel tries to be the light of ethics,  even when they are in horrible situations such as war.  The fact that they have shown restraint and care for life as found by fellow soldiers of battle from other countries, puts them in a good light.

Reference:  dailyalert@list-dailyalert.org  from Gatestone Institute, by  Douglas Murray
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_civil_war
http://www.timesofisrael.com/kerry-says-90000-killed-in-syria/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Gaza_War
Tanach, the Stone Edition

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