Stand by you

Last week's events in Israel and Gaza have not only stirred up things in the Middle East, but also awoken different people and parties in Finland too. It is amazing how that tiny little piece of land thousands of kilometers away from here manages to heat up discussion, emotions and demonstrations. Even my father sighed to me on the phone... ”I wrote a paper about this conflict 50 years ago at school – and things have not improved at all. How saddening.” And he is right. UN should have cleaned up after its decision a long time ago. Now over time with circumstances changing, the conflict becoming "a way of life", it is even harder to solve.

I try to take pride in my country's liberty and freedom of speech. In the end, whatever someone preaches or boasts in public is left to the listener's judgement to believe it or not. There was a pro-Palestine demonstration in Helsinki, and today it was Israel's friends (over 300 people) who gathered together at Narinkka Square in Helsinki to show support, with following slogans for example:

Israel, you are not alone.                    Media - why do you defend terrorists?  

                                                                      

           EU - time to condemn rockets to Israel.        Let go of antisemitism.                 I <3 Israel.

                                                          Free Gaza from Hamas.

Some had showed up from other cities to give support.

The Israeli Embassador came to greet the people, and thanked them for showing support despite the "temperature just dropping cold".

These demonstrations were rather different. I have to admit, I didn't go see the pro-Palestine one live, but seeing the clips on TV, people showed their support differently for the two sides in this conflicts. ”The Palestinians” took the streets blocking traffic, had a megaphone, said accusations against Israel. ”The Israelis” stood in one place not bothering anyone, sang songs and hoped for peace in the region.

Same thing you could say about the debate televised here in Finland last week. Four young men, one Jew, one Arab (both living in Finland), one pro-Israel Finn and one pro-Palestine Finn were put in a live show to debate the conflict. It was evident, who in the group had negotiation skills, justified facts and rational view to the matter. And who in the group was making accusations of the other being ”murderers of our children”.

An opinion, found on the streets of Helsinki

Another interesting aspect of this conflict is how the presence of online media is more and more used as a means of propaganda. Twitter, Facebook and other forums are used by both parties to make their voice heard and to do good PR - and in this aspect I must say Israel is failing. It is incomprehensible, how a commoner now gets the idea that a terrorist organisation (yes, Hamas is classified as such by e.g. the EU, Canada, Japan and USA) has a silent blessing for its actions, usually randomly targeted to kill innocent civilians. An organisation, who states in its fundamental declaration that Jews have no right to live. How, in any sense of humanity, can someone defend this kind of objectives and think it is OK and allowed?

The other side of the coin is Israel, and what kind of picture is painted of them in the media. The country's name so is tainted, smeared with blood, performing nothing but unjustified acts against the innocent regime in Gaza. Murderous Jews who want to kill Arab babies. How is this possible, when Israel currently remains the only democratic country with some stability in the Middle East? How is this reputation possible, when Arabic is an official language in Israel, Israeli-Arabs hold public positions in the government, are excused to serve in the IDF, are a recognized minority in the country?

I think the Finnish media is also falling for this false picture. The reporting is biased, and I don't know why. Civilians are suffering on both sides. A country should have its right to defend its self when under attack. It is the regime that is failing to find a solution for the conflict, and this is not surprising when the other side doesn't want to negotiate, find a common compromise and thinks you have no right to exist. How do you build peace with someone who has an attitude like that?