I was saddened and dismayed at the ongoing strife between Isreal & Palestine. With Isreal currently indulging in their raids of the Gaza strip with no end in mind, my heart sank.

Further to this, I feel that there is no motion from the international community in assisting the peaceful resolution. Beyond the Swiss government accusing Isreal of breaking humanitarian law by inflicting "collective punishment" on Palestinians, that is. Who else is advocating for Palestinians right to return to Palestine? Wasn't this right extended to Jewish settlers back in the day?

Here are some facts:

1948 the modern state of Isreal was formed. Needless to say, the placement of the state of Isreal was formed on a land that had two seperate histories, one for Jews and one for Palestinians.

As a result of the state of Isreal being formed we found nearly 700,000 Palestinians were turned into refugees. Also, since the creation of Isreal the state has devoted much of their resources into defence, preparing for the inevitable attacks from a displaced people.

Yes, there is reason to be optimistic. For the 6 decades that Isreal has existed, it has only been recently when talks of peace and resolution have taken a greater precidence over the extermination of the Palestinian people. So we can be greatful for that, correct?

Now further to this, I wish to look at numbers. As it is the number of deaths that we can paint another picture. These numbers are a little out of date, but, since this time, there has not been a significant shift in figures. I just couldn't locate the other source to cite immediately, I'll change the blog as I come across more information.

Israel is responsible for some 733 Palestinian noncombatant deaths, while Palestinians have killed 546 Israeli noncombatants.

If we look at the ages of those killed, there is a relatively even distribution over the ages for the Isreali noncombatant deaths. Whereas, if we look at Palestinian noncombatant deaths, they are concentrated mostly between the ages of 10-13 year old boys.

60% of noncombattant Palestinians killed are men between the ages of 12-29 with only 20% of Isreali deaths falling in this age range.

Why the lopsided numbers? There could be a lot of reasons, numbers are only only just that and they paint another side to the story. If you want more check this site out

Now I'm not looking to demonize anyone! I realize that too is part of the fear in approaching this conflict! It is one that has heel and toe dipped in religion, and in face of a population that was victim to strife in the earlier part of the century by Europe, many are hesitant to speak out for fear of being perceived as Anti-Semetic. There are also many articles found online that attest to this, including some that proclaim that Anti-Semetism exists still in European politics in face of the Arab-Isreal conflict! I truly cannot see how, the international community isn't exactly doing anything for either side, they simply are looking the other way! So how is that helping either side?

Regardless, at the end of the day, we need to understand that we have a desperate people and a fearful people. The desperate feel that they have nothing more to lose, and the fearful are scared about what the desperate may do.