By Meher Ahmad
<[email protected]>

The foremost global crisis appearing in today’s media is the conflict in Gaza in the Middle East. Situated in the tinder-box of the Arab world, Israel has long been the source of controversy and conflict.

The current situation in Gaza worsens daily. What started as just another exchange of rockets has quickly turned into an unthinkable emergency with Israel.

What is difficult for most to understand is the perspective of the Palestinian people. The media reporters, for the most part, stand near the Israel-Palestine border with bullet proof vests. The only information coming out of Gaza is reported by Israeli military and civilian reporters. What is known is certainly frightening.

This whole conflict has been blamed on the organization that most of the Western world recognizes as a terrorist organization called Hamas. Criminalized by most media organizations, Hamas is considered a terrorist group by both the United States and Israel, mainly because they use military tactics that target civilians and promote some usage of suicide bombing.

Targetting civilians and suicide bombings can by no means be justified, but Hamas is in a difficult position. As the only voice for the Palestinian people, Hamas has a laundry list of grievances to address. The Gaza strip, as well as all of the Palestinian territories, is virtually being suffocated slowly. Surrounded by the recent Separation Wall, which is five times bigger than the Berlin wall and made with three feet of concrete, the territories are economically crippled. Palestinian farmers are separated from their farmland, whole villages have lost steady water supply, and the unemployment rate is astronomical. The depression rate in the Palestinian territories is somewhere around 75 percent.

Hamas is a form of government. The people of the territories have chosen Hamas leaders to represent them in the global political scene. Hamas also funds a number of community service activities through mosques and schools in the Gaza territory.

Unfortunately, Hamas does not have a legitimate method of communicating with the Israeli government. Since it is considered a terrorist group, Israel and the United States refuse to have talks with Hamas leaders. This seems counteractive to avoiding military conflict, as it prevents any sort of peace talk.

Thus far, over 500 Gaza civilians have died, including roughly 150 women and children. Just recently, cnn.com reported 60 civilian casualties in a school. The Israeli army claimed that they were responding to mortar fire emanating from the school. All civilian reporters have told stories of not being able to leave their homes for fear of Israeli air strikes. What I find especially disturbing is that Israeli authorities have been sending automatic calls to regions where they plan air attacks as warnings to civilians.

In my opinion, avoiding human suffering should be the priority of both Hamas and the Israeli government. In order to achieve a cease-fire, there needs to be direct talks between Hamas and Israel, instead of communication through rocket fire. If Israel truly claims to be responding to Hamas attacks correctly, why have there been a growing number of innocent civilians dying daily? Hamas should be recognized as a legitimate form of government in order to reach an agreement. Meher Ahmad is a reporter for the HiLite. Contact her at [email protected].