#Gaza: a decade of changes.

It's been more than a decade since I started taking a great interest in Israeli-Palestinian War. Back then, almost every week you would hear news report about violence in Gaza, Ramallah and Jerusalem. Children were killed, women were beaten, young boys were shot, captured and tortured for no reason (IDF said they were Hamas 'terrorists'..whatever, dickheads). And Temple Mount, the place where Al-Aqsa mosque resides was a hot area back then. Some news reported that the Israeli government wanted to tear the mosques (Al-Aqsa, Dome of Rock & Dome of Chain) down, primarily because they wanted to build the second Great Temple of Solomon (that was what I was told back then). Do y'all remember about a picture of a father and his son taking cover from a series of shooting behind a wall? That was on early 2000s. The Age of The Second Intifada.

 

Yes, I was one of those people who strongly supported the Palestinians' cause during the Second Intifada. Can you imagine a 12,13-year old boy was shown all of these images of war in Palestine. Yes, I was shown all those pictures and videos on what was happening in Palestine back then with the rest of my batchmates (boarding school, mate). It was a total bloody and deadly situation in Gaza and the West Bank. I literally wept for them; the women, the kids, the men, all of them. It was a horrible situation to live in Palestine, and sadly the world did not know about it. Some knew and opposed, some just knew the news but not the real situation in Gaza; and some knew but closed their eyes and ears. All the supporters of Palestinians' claim were branded as 'supporters of terrorists' by the US and Israel (obviously).

Why? Because we were little in numbers back then. The Internet was still a place for professionals, scarcely available for commoners like us. News were censored, only showed images of some Palestinians throwing rocks at the tanks and Al-Qassam Brigades' soldier holding an RPG. No one was dared to show the images of children being killed, women being beaten and old folks being shot. Back then, information on both sides of this war were not available to us. You wanted to know the real story behind this war? Go ask a Palestinian who lives in Malaysia. That was how you get stories from both sides. No Twitter, no Facebook, no Buzzfeed, no Google News, no Whatsapp Messenger. I'm not going to say we were ignorant back then, we were just ill-informed about world news.

If you are a long-time supporter of Palestinians, you'll remember these two important figures in the history: Yasser Arafat & Sheikh Ahmad Yassin. It was these two guys who fought bravely for the Palestinians, organizing peace talks, fighting off IDF's assaults on their homeland. Until I die will I respect these two figures, one of the greatests in history. Sheikh Ahmad Yassin was a cripple, yet he could organize the defense of Gaza, Ramallah and West Bank from IDF assault. He was the true leader & commander of Hamas. People respected him, loved him for that. Yasser Arafat, was another great man. Leader of both PLO and PNA, he was a true genius because he was able to influence several top nation leaders to join his cause, including our former PM Tun Mahathir and former American President Bill Clinton. A great statesman. These two guys were like Batman & Superman, The Hardy Boys, Kane & Bigshow. The best tag team in the world, fighting against the bloodthirsty Ariel Sharon. Sadly, in 2004 all dreams of making Palestinian-Israel territory a peaceful place to live in crushed into pieces. Sheikh Ahmad Yassin was killed on his wheelchair by a cruise missile after performing a prayer just outside a mosque and Yasser Arafat died because of a mystery illness (it's a mystery up until now). It was a big blow for the Palestinians, both of their great leaders were gone. Gone to meet with our Maker.

It's 2014. A decade has gone by since the death of these great leaders. A decade of rapid changes. Information flow is way much faster than before, within seconds you can know what's happening in the other side of the world. People are not being ignorant because of this pace of the information flow. There's no censorship on the Internet, for no one is going to control what you write and post. It's a free and open world. And so, the truth of wars are exposed. People have learned the truth of what had happened in Gaza. The power of images make them realize that the world is not as beautiful as it seems. Killings are everywhere, and the victims are universal. Old folks, women, children, toddlers, babies cannot escape from this horrible fate. Twitter flooded with real-time updates from Gaza and West Bank. Graphic images of dead children filling into timelines. And so the world learns, who is the real bad guy all of this time. Thank you, Internet.



Keep it up, guys. Internet is a powerful tool to bring these bloodthirsty bastards down. Wake the world from a long hibernation and make them see what is really happening throughout this world. We are many, they are few. They (the bloodthirsty politicians and bastards) will be afraid of us.