9 Jan, 2009 in Israel, Taiwan by Fili An
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Gaza, Israel and Taiwan

Peace On Earth by Renie Britenbucher If you’re an Israeli abroad there’s no escaping it, even in Taiwan.

The other day I was at the Taipei Main Station tourist information center looking for some info about what was happening that week in Taipei as a smiling old Taiwanese looking man approached me in English. "Welcome, welcome" he shouted at me, as if I had trouble hearing, the Taiwanese around us naturally stopped whatever they were doing and stared at us. "Welcome to Taiwan! American?" he asks, with the broadest smile he could master. "No, not American" I replied. "Oh, oh, England, England!" he kept yelling, to which I decided to reply - "No, I’m Israeli, 以色列人". His face changed in an instant as he barked "Israel, not good, always war, kill many people, Israeli people, bad!". Feeling extremely uncomfortable, I muttered "not that bad, sometimes have some problems, but usually okay", to which he sneered back in contempt "bah! not sometimes, always! not good!" and walked away waving his hands at me as if trying to wave me away.

I wouldn’t usually really think much about this, but I’m afraid this had occurred a few times this past week on different levels with different variations, and even my Taiwanese friends keep asking me questions that show confusion at best and extreme disapproval of me at worst. I usually don’t comment much about Israeli politics as it’s an impossible subject to deal with, but I will go out of my way on this one to say a few words.

 

I’m not a big supporter of this war or the one previous to that in Lebanon. As the Israeli support for the war reaches over 80% approval rates I am among the few Israelis that I know who does not extend strong support to what is happening although I can understand the people who do and have no alternative solutions or suggestions to offer. I hate the loss of life and misery bestowed upon innocent civilians and believe this may eventually cause more harm than good to both sides. It may not, too. But I also believe that the Israeli side of the equation is misrepresented and misunderstood and that influences people like me that feel they have little to do with the results of this conflict.

Two weeks ago, there was no "actual" war, The Israeli troops long ago withdrew from the Gaza Strip, as they previously did over a decade ago from Lebanon. The Gaza Strip, due to American ignorant insistence on pseudo-democratic elections, has given way for a terrorist organization to take power resulting in a steady stream of rockets launched at Israeli cities that are located up to 30-40km from the border with the Gaza Strip.

I remember, back in the days, being a 7th grader in Rehovot, carrying around a Gas Mask and waking up every night to sounds of missile attack alarms as Saddam Hussein was sending rockets down on Israel due to what the Americans decided they need to do in the Gulf. I also remember the weeks of terror in Jerusalem being a high-school and university student, as buses, restaurants and cafes exploded all around my neighborhood, and us not knowing where it’s coming from or where it will happen next. I have a close family member who was one of those unsuccessfully trying to protect a Jerusalem neighborhood (Gilo) from terrorist gun shooting from the neighboring Palestinian town. So, I believe I have a slight sense of what it’s like for those towns around Gaza that receive the missile rain every day. I’ll shortly summarize the feeling - it’s not a good one.

I’ll quote something from a Taipei Times article that I believe delivers some of the point in "If you were in Israel’s predicament, wouldn’t you do the same?" :

Imagine your next-door neighbor — with whom you have had a long and bloody feud — pulling out a gun and shooting into your windows, from his own living room, which is densely packed with women and children. In fact, he’s holding his daughter on his lap as he tries to target your own kids. He claims he will not stop until your family is dead. Police are unavailable. What should you do?

One option is to do nothing, or little. You try this for a while. After all, your neighbor is poor and traumatized, there is a sad and complicated history between you, and you bear some of the blame.

But finally, as one shot hits your child’s bedroom, you decide that enough is enough. You pull out your far superior gun. You attempt a surgical strike: aim at the shooter’s head and try to spare the innocents.

In an abstract sense, this is what Israel is doing right now.

But there is nothing surgical about the blood and agony that have engulfed Gaza in the last week. Try as Israel might to target militants alone, civilian bodies are being pulled from the rubble because, like our metaphorical gunman’s home, militants and civilians inhabit the same urban space in the Gaza Strip.

Most would argue that the Israeli response is out of proportion. That is, naturally, debatable, and I have little to add to either sides of the discussion, but what is probably easier to agree on is that any normal country would react, and not mildly. Look at how the US and allies responded with their zero-tolerance to a one time 911 terror event. Imagine Mexican terrorists continuously raining missiles on Texas, or Brighton UK shot at from Wales. How about British Canada receiving rocket rain from terrorists in French Canada? Not the same, eh? some insist of comparing Gaza and Taiwan, even though I believe there are huge differences and Taiwanese spirit to resist violence is especially incomparable to the Gazian current spirit of terror. How would China react to Taiwanese rockets landing on Hong Kong or any other big city in Fujian province in order to gain independence?

The situation is complicated, it really is. It’s endless to try and discuss it. What is important for me to point out :

  1. There are two sides to every story.
  2. Most people who only briefly read the newspaper or watch the news probably don’t know much about either side.
  3. Israelis are not blood hungry monsters, as Palestinians are not all terrorists. The war is between the Israeli government and the Hamas Gazian role, and people are the ones getting hurt.

(If you decide to comment, please do so in a calm respectable manner)

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17 Responses so far | Have Your Say!

  1. MJ Klein - Gravatar

    MJ Klein  |  January 9th, 2009 at 11:41 pm #

    Fili, whenever i visit Thailand, invariable some police officer will corner me and start asking stupid questions:

    1. you from UK?
    2. you have Thai wife?
    3. you on holiday?

    i just answer “yeah” to whatever is asked of me. it’s none of their fucking business where i’m from or who i’m married to. so if i just say “yeah” to everything they say they’ll go away quicker.

    i suggest you do that too.

  2. Jayce - Gravatar

    Jayce  |  January 10th, 2009 at 12:07 am #

    It’s very unease to see how people just yelled or being aggressive to another human being just because he/she’s different, either politically or physically; unfortunately that’s the reality in Taiwan, even in any country. I can understand you felt uncomfortable when that man shout at you. When I was studied abroad, I was shouted by people to go back to China (even I’m actually from Taiwan, and i asked them politely to go back to school and study in return…)I came to learn more about the historical background of the conflict in Gaza, when I have the opportunity to meet friends from Israel, I agree with you the comment: “Israelis are not blood hungry monsters, as Palestinians are not all terrorists.” there are always extreme views in any issue, this is not a ‘you live or die’ world, as a human being I believe we are born and taught to love and not taught to hate. There is one article in Chinese posted recently on Apple Daily which I found is a balanced and objective report on Gaza & Israel:

    http://1-apple.com.tw/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Article&Sec_ID=1&ShowDate=20090106&IssueID=20090106&art_id=31293382&NewsType=1&SubSec=67
    http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/01/a_real_ceasefire_needed_in_gaz.html

    It’d be great to see more of these objective views being broadcasted so more people can evolved from shouting ‘you bad guy go away’ to a more civilized discussion.

  3. Fili - Gravatar

    Fili AUSTRALIA  |  January 10th, 2009 at 12:11 am #

    MJ - noted, thanks. I just think that this might be okay with people I don’t know, but it’s a bit more of a problem with people I do know. I can’t simply ignore the whole world.

  4. Yuri - Gravatar

    Yuri  |  January 10th, 2009 at 3:56 am #

    appreciate your writing and insights. I do hope that the situation will get better sooner than later.

  5. Chao - Gravatar

    Chao UNITED STATES  |  January 11th, 2009 at 10:48 pm #

    Israel has every right to defend itself in the holy land. The news does not say that prior to the war, there were already hundreds of small attacks from Gaza. The news often report that Israeli troop “violently rush” into Gaza people’s houses and kill them. what’s missing in the news? in many of the houses there were “booby traps” set up by the terrorists that’s why the Israeli troop needed to “violently rush in” not “politely knocking and opening the door”.

    It is the Hamas wants to destroy Israel so that’s why Israel fights back.

    Arab news about Israel / Palestine war zones are often edited and manipulated.

    Most of the foreign news in Taiwan are translated from westerner new sources. They are biased again Israel and of course “lost in translation” and insensitive of the cultures also added more biased to it.

    I feel that Israel is the only country in the world that is obligated to tell the world it’s war strategies / humanitarian strategies DURING the act of war.

  6. David - Gravatar

    David UNITED STATES  |  January 12th, 2009 at 12:42 am #

    Taiwan has no right to condemn Israel. They merely steal (or buy) the news stories from Western news agencies and report them as if they know what they are talking about. The Taiwanese people are almost completely ignorant of the real situation in Gaza and Israel. That is why they so easily believe what they hear on the nightly newscasts.

    And you are definitely right in your analysis that Taiwan is not even close to Gaza. The Taiwanese are not tough enough, patriotic enough, or even courageous enough to stand up for their own independence against the mainland. How can such a society compare itself to and identify with the Palestinians in Gaza?

    The truth is that the State of Israel was created precisely because no nation on earth would stand up for the protection of the Jewish people. As Jews, we do care about what the world’s opinion of us and our country is, but only with a very large grain of salt. We are always much better off when we listen to what Hashem wants and not what the rest of the world (who never lifts a finger in defence of the Jews) wants.

    Of course, Hashem wants peace. But at what cost? The Torah says that the Jews shall not go down to Egypt again. This means that we should never allow us to become slaves again.

  7. Jayce - Gravatar

    Jayce  |  January 12th, 2009 at 3:44 am #

    I would like to give more input on the issue that Fili brought up in his analysis:
    “some insist of comparing Gaza and Taiwan, even though I believe there are huge differences and Taiwanese spirit to resist violence is especially incomparable to the Gazian current spirit of terror.”

    It’s understandable for anyone who has limited knowledge of the Middle East to come up with the comparison between Taiwan and Israel. Israel v.s. Arabic world; Taiwan v.s. Mainland; small v.s big; good v.s. evil; In reality, it is not that SIMPLE at all.

    Each country has it’s own story and history, even from the religious point of view. The unproportional reviews and media exposure we are seeing now in Taiwan are certainly from the western news agencies, and that’s the REALITY too. One of the Israeli friend made a comment about how he felt about Taiwan: ” I feel safe walking in Taiwan.”. A simple comment which strike me deeply: How lucky I am to live here and deserve this sense of safety and freedom of speech here in Taiwan? What kind of terror and emotional insecurity Israeli been through every day? How can that be stopped? To what cost? What would one react if getting threaten with bombs and rockets constantly? Who wants to live in fear and uncertainty ALL THE TIME? This level of physical or emotional agony I must say, no one would understand how that really feels unless one is in that situation.

    Taiwan hasn’t been in combat or war since 1949, it’s a long way to come this far with the democracy and freedom we have now. My parents and grandparents been through the I & II WAR and they were lucky to survived from it. That generation fought to demonstrate the courage and patriotism, and fought for survival. Whether Taiwanese now is courage enough or patriot enough is another issue to discuss, I will leave that to later.

    I am looking for journalists and editors, although I am not Israeli, see if an episode or segment of special report on people’s reactions about Gaza in Taiwan, some interviews perhaps, give it a try never hurts, and see what comes up, it’ll be interesting to find out.

  8. nostalgiphile - Gravatar

    nostalgiphile  |  January 12th, 2009 at 7:33 pm #

    Hmm, interesting discussion. As for the comparisons mentioned, I would say yes, Taiwan’s situation is similar to Palestine’s in one important regard: that is, no major country recognizes or actively supports their existence. As a supporter of both–for the cause of long-term peace–I have to say Israel has gone too far (esp. in use of incendiary bombs and this increasingly looks like tanks running over college students in Tiananmen Square.

    And, honestly, I think you goofed it when you said “How would China react to Taiwanese rockets landing on Hong Kong or any other big city in Fujian province in order to gain independence?” I think you know better than anyone that Hamas isn’t lobbing rockets at Israel over the cause of independence. There’s a level of animosity between your Palestine and Israel that is born partly of religious zealotry and partly of proximity. Taiwan doesn’t hate China to that degree–not even as much as the Irish hate the British–and such an action would never pass in a democratic country like Taiwan.

    All that being said, I know it must be hard to come from a place like Israel. My friends tell me it’s a psychological nightmare to live there when this sort of thing erupts–I can only imagine what that must be like, and try to sympathize with both sides victimized by this ugly thing called war.

  9. Fili - Gravatar

    Fili TAIWAN  |  January 12th, 2009 at 8:04 pm #

    Nostalphile - thanks for the interesting comment. I’d like to say a few things about the points you made.

    About the Taiwan Palestine comparison, Palestine actually has far wider international support headed by the Arab countries and representation in international organizations than Taiwan. Israel does not block Palestinian participation (with the exception of those endorsing terror and the inhalation of Israel) nor could it really. It’s not China. With that said, defacto Taiwan has achieved far more “sovereignty” than Palestine has till now. You point out the differences in the Palestinian so-called democracy and Taiwan’s and together with Taiwan having a much stronger economy that gains something to lose in case a war breaks out makes the difference huge.

    As to what I was “goofing” about, comparison wasn’t meant to suggest they’re doing it for independence but it is to say that this is how others legitimize their actions. Hezbollah, although Israeli forces withdrew from Lebanon, has been playing that political game with the Sheva farms for a while now as well, although it’s clear they’re a terrorist group.

    As for what the Israeli Defense Forces used, I don’t know the details and find it hard to get the truth from the propaganda, but with that said I believe if wrong has been done the Israelis would be active to condemn it and bring the ones who did it to justice. I don’t think you’ll find many Hamas folks condemning their leaders but you’ll find no shortage of Israelis in human-rights and peace organizations constantly criticizing the Israeli government and holding it responsible. No one in Israel, including politicians and army generals, support the usage of such extreme measures.

  10. Andy - Gravatar

    Andy CHINA  |  January 14th, 2009 at 2:08 pm #

    No need to imagine if there were bombs in the UK. I grew up with bomb threats and actual bombs via the IRA.

    Of course, the UK invaded Ireland and colonised it, eventually settling a bunch of people on part of the land which ‘we’ still control today. So, can’t say I blame them.

    Also, once we established the parliament there an let Sinn Fein come to the table politically, the UK bombings stopped. Because, people generally use terrorism because the have no other fair options.

    Mind you, getting back to the first part of your post, I don’t have people mentioning it to me when they find out I’m from the UK. If I was them, i’d be sticking it to me over Iraq and Afghanistan. Iraq is even more extreme than Gaza when it comes to punishing civilians.

    People should probably bother to find out our stances on the issues before lumping us in with the governments. That would be nice.

  11. Stephen - Gravatar

    Stephen TAIWAN  |  January 15th, 2009 at 5:54 pm #

    I have had enough conversations and read enough history to realise the problem is intractable. Two groups of people want to live on the same piece of land and there is only room for one.
    What the world sees are a people without hope, without land and without freedom fighting for their existence. It is no different than a cat in a cage fighting for its life. Of course it scratches, bites and does anything it can so that it might live. And so would you!
    I think people without a stake hold in the conflict naturally empathise with the oppressed.
    As for a solution, sadly I think it is a Darwinian one. Survival of the fittest.

  12. chao - Gravatar

    chao UNITED STATES  |  January 15th, 2009 at 8:52 pm #

    “I think people without a stake hold in the conflict naturally empathise with the oppressed.”
    that’s what happens to the European countries. Europeans are sided with the Palestinians. BUT the Palestinians have chosen the path themselves. They elected their own terrorist leaders like Yeast Arafat and Hammas.

    The Muslim populations in Western Europeans are on high rise. Europeans talks about humanitarian support of the oppressed countries and opens their doors to their countries. They shall look at the history and realize that “Islam is spread by sword” and the ambition of Islam is to conquer Europe.

  13. chao - Gravatar

    chao UNITED STATES  |  January 18th, 2009 at 9:42 am #

    anyone that blames Israel for “invading ” Gaza should first know what the Palestinians / Arabs done to the State of Israel.

    http://fun.mivzakon.co.il/flash/video/2664/2664.html

  14. Ahmed - Gravatar

    Ahmed TAIWAN  |  January 21st, 2009 at 1:17 pm #

    Well, I hear you “cousin” Fili! I am from Egypt and my father was in “Youm Kippur” war (Thanks god he wasn’t on the frontlines..and he didn’t engage in the combat!) Let me just state the one fundamental believe I “came to believe in” : Any Human Being Killing Another Human Being For Whatever Reason is Unacceptable!

    I do not like how the situation is being handled by my brothers in Gaza and my cousins in Tel Aviv. Hamas is a novice organization that is playing with the future of their own people by showering Israeli civilians with rockets. However, Israel used excessive power and many innocent people (women and children) got killed! Both sides are not playing it fair! The results? Young Palestinians who saw their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, friends getting killed will grow up on hatred and they will comeback for revenge. On the other hand, young Israelis will grow up in constant state of fear that a rocket might fall in their house one day and they will never trust the Arabs!

    It’s a dilemma my friend! It doesn’t matter who started this vicious circle anymore. What matters is if we can really start to forget and forgive and get closer as neighbors and cousins. Nations prosper in peace not during war and hatred. Can we (Arabs and Israelis) prove to the world that we are cousins and we’re civilized enough to take each other’s hand and develop our nations?

    I’m into economics and finance, I believe that a peaceful settlement to this conflict will help Israel and the Arab nations beyond anybody’s wildest dream. Israel is the silicon valley of the Middle East but lacks the natural resources and the demography that supports a sustainable long term growth. On the other hand, the Arab countries have natural resources, capital, population and skilled labor. If we combine both…the Middle East can prosper exponentially!

    I hope it is not just a dream!

    Salam and Shalom

  15. Ahmed - Gravatar

    Ahmed TAIWAN  |  January 21st, 2009 at 4:08 pm #

    Mr. Chao,

    You wrote: “The Muslim populations in Western Europeans are on high rise. Europeans talks about humanitarian support of the oppressed countries and opens their doors to their countries. They shall look at the history and realize that “Islam is spread by sword” and the ambition of Islam is to conquer Europe”

    I would agree that there are some Muslim immigrants abuse the benefits and the freedom granted to them by the host countries in the West! And yes, there are some aspects of the social systems that spun of early Muslim societies that I disagree with completely and I always argue that we need some reform to bring our “young relgion” up to the standards of the 21st centurey. But again, that’s a behavioral problem of “some” Muslims and if they understand the true meanings and spirt of Islam (or any other religion), our lives will be much better!

    However, the stereotype of “Islam is spread by sword” became boring, I won’t argue with you on that in details but I will lay down some questions and quotes from “Western” historians:

    1-Indonesia is a country that has the largest number of Muslims in the world. The majority of people in Malaysia are Muslims. May one ask, “Which Muslim army went to Indonesia and Malaysia?”

    2-The Muslims ruled India for about a thousand years. If they wanted, they had the power of converting each and every non-Muslim of India to Islam. Today more than 80% of the population of India are non-Muslims. All these non-Muslim Indians are bearing witness today that Islam was not spread by the sword. (However, they started killing eachother these days…shame!!)

    3-With which sword was Islam spread? Even if Muslims had it they could not use it to spread Islam because the Qur’an says in the following verse:

    “Let there be no compulsion in religion:

    Truth stands out clear from error”

    [Al-Qur’an 2:256]

    4-Opinion of historian De Lacy O’Leary.

    The best reply to the misconception that Islam was spread by the sword is given by the noted historian De Lacy O’Leary in the book “Islam at the cross road” (Page 8):

    “History makes it clear however, that the legend of fanatical Muslims sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the point of the sword upon conquered races is one of the most fantastically absurd myth that historians have ever repeated.”

    Well, I am not here to defend Islam, it has its own god to defend it! And I don’t think this is a/the proper place to discuss the issue of the Islamophobia that I’m “personally” suffering from. But I also believe that before people start throwing punches, they shoud ask the right questions to the right people to get an unbiased answers and clearer pictures of how we got to where we are!!

    I really hope there will be no mother crying her child in this world!

    Cheers!

  16. Natasha - Gravatar

    Natasha  |  January 21st, 2009 at 11:17 pm #

    Somebody’s already said what I was going to say about the UK (though, as a side note, the terrorist attacks on us were mostly funded by the U.S. of A.), but I will say that I was backpacking around Taiwan during the Israel-Lebanon war.

    At the time I was an idealist idiot (still idealistic, hopefully not so idiotic) and believed it was all Israel’s fault - end of conversation. I met a young Israeli man at a Taipei hostel and spent many, many hours talking to him that night about Israel, Palestine and the war. He wasn’t particularly for it, but he did open my eyes and make me see that Israel, for all its over-the-top responses… actually waits a very, very long time before they snap and give that response.

    Yes, Israel has to do something to protect its people; is what happened in Gaza the right move? I don’t think that’s something for any of us on here to decide, and it’s certainly not something for a stranger on the street to decide for you.

  17. Fili - Gravatar

    Fili AUSTRALIA  |  January 22nd, 2009 at 10:08 am #

    Following is an adjustment of a comment I left on a different blog (http://keywords.oxus.net/archives/2009/01/19/understanding-gaza/#comment-8826) :

    That’s the alternative view? bias in the US and international media -for- Israel? :O ROTFL

    I’ve read some of the articles you’ve posted, and agree that the situation is extremely complicated and very sad. There is no foreseeable resolution to this conflict. What I will say about that list of (so called “self hating”) Israeli and Jewish authors, John Stewart included, is that I find it refreshing that Israelis (and Jews) constantly pursue a lively emotional debate regarding this war, the Lebanon war and generally Israeli actions and politics, driving politicians into action.

    The international reaction to the one-time 911 led by the US and followed by allies everywhere has received far less global debate and internal criticism, has lasted far longer than 3 weeks and has continuously practiced far more extreme measures against much friendlier regimes that served lesser threat to their people or neighbors.

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