Workers Solidarity Movement

When we hear of '400 Israeli airstrikes' against Gaza we don't necessarily understand just what a tiny area this constant bombing is happening in. A lot of people are probably thinking its the size of a smallish country like Ireland when in fact as the map below shows its more similar in size to the greater Dublin area.

Gaza Under Attack: Emergency actions for Palestine this Saturday 12 July!

Dublin – 2pm @ The Spire, O’Connell Street
Derry – 2pm @ Guildhall Square
Limerick – 2pm @ Thomas Street
Cork – 2pm @ Daunt Square

(map comparison concept from Mark M, @soundmigration on Twitter, make you own for local use at  http://mapfrappe.com/?show=20150 )

Some 1.82 million people are crammed into this area, they are surrounded on the land side by a wall ringed with watchtowers staffed by snipers and machine gunners. Israeli naval boats maintain a constant blockade at the coast and at times like this shell the coast. Overhead there is the constant buzz of helicopters, drones and F16 Fighters.

If you are one of the 1.8 million people trapped in this giant prison you are going to hear just about every one of those airstrikes and you will constantly hear the threat of them in the form of plane, helicopter and drone engines overhead. If you are near the coast or near the apartheid wall (and Gaza is long and narrow so almost everyone is) you will have the added constant terror of a ground or naval assault.

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On Wednesday RTE Morning Ireland news reported that there had been Israeli airstrikes io Gaza overnight and Palestinians had fired over 200 rockets. If you don't know much about the conflict 200 sounds like a lot - you can see why the idea that this is some sort of war between two sides who should just stop might make sense.

RTE then said that 72 people had been killed in the region. Suddenly the precision of exactly WHO fired HOW many evaporates behind the vagueness of PEOPLE. Is it simply because if RTE led with the number & identity of those killed in this 'exchange' it suddenly would sound like something other than a conflict between two matched powers?

WORDS Andrew Flood (Follow Andrew on Twitter )