A Plea for Help

I try to keep this blog light, for the most part, but I'm going to take a moment to urge all of you who read it to speak out to those around you and most importantly to your political officials about the violence that has erupted in and surrounding Palestine and Israel. Most of you know that I am Palestinian so I know you know where my loyalties lie, but at this point it's gotten ridiculous, no matter who you are. There is a siege going on in Gaza that is starving a people to death, separating them from outside assistance or aid. This is in response to a kidnapping of a soldier, which is reprehensible, but why punish the entire region of Gaza? Civilians are dying at this point, and the response is completely dispreportionate to the initial crime. Secondly, the bombing going on between Israel and Lebanon has reached a fever pitch. The Israeli's have bombed all the airports in Beirut, Hezbollah (probably) has retailiated by bombing the port of the beautiful city of Haifa, home to Arabs and Jews both. Now there are refugees fleeing from all over southern Lebanon, and once again civilians are being killed. I'm not going to say that Israel does not have the right to defend itself, it does. But once again, the skirmish by Hezbollah on the Israeli/Lebanese border killed eight and kidnapped two. It does not justify and all out war agains the people of the entirety of Lebanon. At this point, I don't really care what side you are one, people are dying on both sides, and it must stop. Please take the time to educate yourselves about what is going on, and then urge those in power and those around you to put a stop to it. The US still has a lot of power over the region, please help us exercise it.