theSun | WEDNESDAY JANUARY 28 2009
speak up!
Dealing with death
by Sonia Randhawa
THE death toll is horrendous
and it rises daily. Racially
motivated violence kills 1,200
people each day. In June
last year, 2,000 women were
raped. With the breakdown
of any semblance of law, it’s
impossible for people to have
access to basic health facilities.
A fifth of babies don’t reach the
age of five, and the average life
Freespace
expectancy is 45. Where young views rule
And yet, we hear nothing of
the violence in the Democratic Republic of
Congo. It’s the worst conflict since World
War II. Over 5.4 million people, largely
civilians, are dead. On Christmas Day, 500
civilians were massacred in a church. And
yet, the news barely rated a mention.
I mention this in the context of the
horrors in Palestine, and by no means
suggesting that these should be ignored.
Following the events there in both the
Australian and, virtually, Malaysian media
has been interesting. It’s interesting that
– for opposite purposes – both media use
“Israeli” and “Jewish” interchangeably.
It’s a mistake that would attract the ire of
some orthodox anti-Zionist Jews. But it
serves the purpose of elevating a territorial
conflict into an emotive racialised one, of
enlisting hatred of a religion in support of
a particular (geographic) group.
I’ve also been aware of the calls by some
for “neutrality” and for watching our own
backyard first. A friend suggested we do
something about the death toll on Malay-
sian roads, which exceeds the current death
toll in Gaza, before we start worrying about
what’s happening in countries
and territories far away, and out
of our lives’ ambit.
And he does have a point.
There is much more we can do
about deaths on our roads than
we can do to broker a peace
between Israel and Palestine.
It is easier, in theory, for us to
combat our own apathy on road
safety – imagine if each road ac-
cident victim was given a page
three obituary in each of the
national dailies. Imagine if we
banned any glorification of fast
cars and fast driving from advertisements.
If we put the same energy into catching
road hogs that we put into rounding up
cyclists. It could easily make a difference.
But ultimately, it’s a point of view that’s
deeply disturbing. First, the point of neutral-
ity. Undoubtedly, the media should be more
neutral in reporting conflicts throughout
the world. Perhaps that would result in
more coverage of the Congo conflict, for
example. In this context, this means first,
getting the facts right – Israeli children may
be Jewish, Muslim or Christian. Conflat-
ing Israel and Judaism is inaccurate, and
exacerbates tensions that already exist. It
also means treating all deaths equally. And,
contrary to my friend’s expectations, in that
context it means devoting far more column
inches to Palestinian deaths than is cur-
rently the case. Because Palestinian deaths
far outweigh Israeli deaths, in everything
except media coverage. Even in Malaysia
– because so much of the news in our me-
dia comes from the Western wire services,
as is true across the international world.
There is also a difference between
letter
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deaths by negligence and accident and
deaths through violence and warfare. Death
is always tragic, however, inevitable. And
preventable deaths even more so. But isn’t
there a moral difference between deaths
by accident and deaths by violence and
conflict? Certainly, this is reflected in our
laws, and the laws of most of the world.
Lastly, though, the other moral question
is whether as individuals, and societies, we
should remain neutral. A neutral media
does not mean a neutral public. Are all
sides in every conflict equal? Were the
Nazis of Germany equal to the Jews, Roma
and other minorities of the concentration
camps? Are the armed militia in Congo
equal to those raped or killed? And if there
is imbalance, if as one Congolese woman
attests there is a silent genocide happening,
can we really sit back and pretend that it
doesn’t matter? Today, the 1,200 deaths
that take place in the Democratic Republic
of Congo, the 50 deaths that take place in
Gaza, these are of no consequence to us,
because they are too far away, and they
are none of our business. Never mind that
we can make a difference – we can give
money to humanitarian efforts, we can
raise awareness, we can put pressure on
our political leaders to stop the violence, to
raise the problem in international forums,
to send peacekeepers or to do something.
We can write letters to those affected, so
they know that the world is with them, that
they are not alone, initiate programmes in
our children’s schools to twin with affected
schools. We can care.
Sonia thinks liberty and equality are the
only real guarantors of security. Comments:
letters@thesundaily.com
13
Walk a mile in
Palestinian shoes
I REFER to “Politics and kids don’t mix” (Jan 20) on the
Palestinians and I applaud Terence Fernandez’s desire
to call a spade a spade.
He says we should tell Hamas to stop sending rock-
ets into Israel. Does he give this advice knowing the
context in which the rockets are being fired? Perhaps
this quotation will help him walk a mile in Palestinian
shoes.
“The strongest weapon all over the world is love,”
says Dr Tarazi, adding he has always believed this and
has said this to his colleagues, whether Muslim, Christian
or Jewish, throughout his career. He had been among
200 Christians who were chosen (800 had applied) to
cross the border and celebrate the Orthodox Christmas
holiday with family members in the West Bank.
“Yes, ‘rockets’ go out,” says Dr Tarazi, referring to
Hamas rockets fired into Israeli towns, “and we felt sym-
pathy for Israelis hurt by the rockets.” But, if someone
hurts you with a pin, you don’t cut off his head, you ask
WHY the person tried to prick you with a pin.
Consider that people are trapped in a prison and
there is a shortage of everything. People wanted bor-
ders opened so that goods could come and go. After six
months of closed borders, people are frustrated. Please
remember from the day Hamas was elected Gaza has
been blockaded.
Terence says we should advise Hamas militants to
respect ceasefires. Which “ceasefire” is he referring to?
He says we should advise them not to launch attacks
from mosque compounds, residential neighbourhoods
and schools? Please tell me which part of the large open
air prison called Gaza is a not a civilian area? Please
bear in mind UN facilities have been targeted both in
Gaza now and in South Lebanon in 2006. Israel refused
to allow independent investigations in Lebanon then
and will most likely not allow them again now.
Hishamudin Ubaidulla
Chairman
Malaysian Committee for Deir Yassin
Remembered