I would like to preface this by saying that I know my views on this issue differ greatly from a large group of my friends and readers. I am usually silent on the topic of politics, in my daily life and in my blog, but what I saw today was the-straw-that-broke-the-camel’s-back for me. I hope you will respect my opinions as I respect yours (you are not forced to read any further). I am not questioning how strongly you feel, and am always open to speaking civilly on the matter (or just agreeing to disagree:).
As I walked down the ever crowded Istiklal Caddesi in Taksim today, I witnessed a march. Now, this is not an extraordinary occurrence by a long shot. On any given day this occurs all over the city, and most commonly on weekends. There are usually many people carrying signs, yelling the slogan of that particular march, and trying to make their voices heard by the masses. The number of marchers is usually nothing in comparison to the amount of police brought out for each event. Usually there are a few tanks, and about 20 police to each marcher.
This march stood out to me though. A couple of things were very different. The first was the very low number of police. It was no small march, and a very emotional one from what I could tell (I could hear the sheer anger in the chants). I could not really understand what they were saying, but the Palestinian flags, keffiyeh (scarves), and signs made it very clear what the cause was. But where were all the police? What if any supporters of Israel came out to disagree with the marchers? There were a few vans, but most of the officers were waiting inside. The marchers were only followed by a dozen or so police! In my opinion this was due to the belief that no one could possibly think any different than these people. And granted how could the majority of people living in Turkey think anything different based on the news coming in? I have yet to see a single newspaper publish anything that criticizes Hamas for starting to bomb Israel a month ahead of the ceasefire being finished, of the bombed Israeli kindergarten, of Palestinians being treated in Israeli hospitals, or about any dead Israelis for that matter (I do not expect them to). What I do see however is picture upon picture of bombed out Palestinian homes, and dead Palestinian children. How could someone not hate Israel when this is all they are shown? Those pictures of the Palestinian children break my heart as well. No child deserves to die in this way or any other for that matter! It also greatly saddens me because I support Israel with out hesitation, but things like this make it difficult for me to justify my support to others. But at the same time, Israel is not just standing by and doing nothing about the lives being lost and people being injured. Many people are being taken out of Gaza to be treated in Israeli hospitals. Hopefully some news agency has covered that. I do wish for there to be peace, just like I wish for balanced media coverage, but both are just as unlikely to happen.
The other thing that struck me was the sheer amount of propaganda used by the marchers. Signs, flags, scarves, chants, and the like are always completely legitimate in a march. However, the marchers were surround by a buffer of men selling Palestinian flags, flags with slogans in Arabic, headbands, football team looking scarves, regular keffiyeh, and scarves that looked like white satin (with flags as the ends) with something written in Arabic, to the onlookers. I felt like I was at some major league sporting event as was half expecting to see the big foam fingers and snacks. Is the money spent on those items going to help the people you are so fired-up to support in anyway? I am positive they are not. They will just go into the pockets of these entrepreneuring men who are taking full advantage of this event to make them some quick cash. Perhaps the most shocking display of propaganda was the live child that they dressed up, and carried through the crowd on a stretcher, like the dead Palestinian children. I thought that it was completely uncalled for and just a cheap trick to get at people’s emotions. That one act alone made me sick (not to mention the other things), and put me into a different state of mind.
I was thinking to go on about the media, and recent events I have read about ,when I started writing this blog but will limit my rant to today’s march. I always try to educate myself on issues of importance to me, and have read a lot about this subject from both sides. I have read books, newspaper and magazine articles, websites, watched footage, and looked at pictures that run the gamut. I have also been to Israel and talked to people, Israeli and Arab, first-hand. Feel free to comment and I will try to respond in a timely manner.
