Ismail Fan's blog

Gaza - Our Auschwitz

Admittedly, such grand title should be reserved for a political commentator well versed in West Asia conflicts. After all I didn't live through the Nazi occupation nor have I been on the ground inside Gaza Strip. Thus far I have lived a life relatively free from persecution, starvation and despair. Most days when I wake up I am greeted with a clear blue sky and always with the hustle and bustle of the streets. This is a far cry from what the Gazans have been subjected to every day for the past month - deafening bombs, sleepless nights and piercing cries. Not to mention streets filled with the stench emanating from torn corpses.

Why does one dare to make a comparison between Gaza and Auschwitz? Obviously, we can't escape the irony of history that the persecuted has now become the persecutor. But what about scale? Certainly the death toll in Gaza Strip ever since the beginning of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict seems paltry to the degree of insignificance compared to the approximately one-million Jewish deaths occurred in Auschwitz. Some might also challenge the comparison between the events that have taken place in Gaza with those inside Auschwitz-Birkenau. It's a "military conflict" after all rather than a genocide committed by a lopsidedly stronger party. Or is it?

A Palestinian boy talks about his suffering during the Israeli war on Gaza

Firstly, it has to be rather disconcerting to people who are at least vaguely familiar with world history that the state of Israel, whose creation is very much founded on the collective suffering of the Jewish people, is actually committing these recent atrocities, many of which bear resemblance to those committed by the Nazis in the Second World War. The killing of civilians. The razing of buildings. The destruction of cities. Most important of all, the degradation of human dignity. We should all be reminded that Jewish suffering during the Second World War was a major catalyst in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, many of its articles have been violated by the Israeli army as I write this.

Secondly, when Adolf Hitler was conducting his symphony of death, there was no global media conglomerates with field reporters scrutinising his every directive. The very nature of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp was not ascertained by the Allied until late into the War. This is in sharp contrast with the situation the Israeli government has found itself in. Fresh photographs of Palestinian casualties are coming out of Gaza Strip by the minute, which effectively force the Israeli government into massive cover-ups and ban on reporting in certain areas of Gaza Strip. Imagine an Israeli military operation sans media scrutiny. It's not for the faint-hearted to even begin to fathom the devastation then.

Lastly, and perhaps most disturbingly, people tend to overlook that Hamas is a democratically elected body. By attacking Hamas, the state of Israel, itself a democracy, is attacking the will of the Palestinian people and the fundamental value of the Occident, which it claims to be a member of. Many Israelis like to invoke the rhetorical question: what would a Western country do if rockets are falling on its cites?  Implicit in the question is the denial and distortion of the cause and effect of history. Robert Fisk pointed out in his article : "most of the people of Gaza don't come from Gaza."

Why is Gaza our Auschwitz? Rockets are being launched out of Gaza Strip out of exasperation and despondency. The Israeli government has managed to turn the whole strip into a concentration camp by systematically wresting human dignity away from the Palestinian people. Undoubtedly we should condemn all wanton acts of murder, be it from Hamas or Israel but it's also incumbent upon us to know the facts. When you uproot a whole generation of people from their homes, force them into becoming refugees, raze down their apartments, deny them basic necessities of life, and then degrade them to the level of animals by constantly subjecting them to blood and toil, you will have suicide bombers, not as martyrs, but as desperate human beings trying to salvage their last scrap of dignity with a retaliatory act of blowing themselves up into pieces against their tormentors.

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Library

We all have some bittersweet memories in libraries. I remember trying to memorise a chapter worth of chemical reactions at a secluded carrel and having a debate on politics with my friend on the main floor. Library has given me so much so I think it's only appropriate that I commemorate it with a little poem:

Library makes me
a humble man.
Library makes me
a traveller
without an airplane.
You find in the library
both the divine and the profane.
Library has a wealth of knowledge
one can never hope to contain.

Mumbai

I read something quite chilling the other day, an opinion piece titled "The age of 'celebrity terrorism'" by Paul Cornish, an expert on international affairs from Chatham House. Obviously much has been written about the tragedy in Mumbai but I didn't expect anybody to attribute the motive to seeking fame. Can one person, much less ten of them, be that hungry for celebrity that they would meticulously plan and synchronise their attacks and wreak havoc at the expense of more than a hundred innocent lives? I think it remains to be seen and perhaps we'll never know.

Although Cornish deplored the vanity of media speculations in regards to the incident, he nonetheless speculated. What he should have mentioned along with the target's reaction as what completes a terrorist act is that fame is invariably part of the equation as well. The shock value of a terrorist act in a global age depends on coverage, which generates celebrities. Fame is an inevitable byproduct. Terrorists mean to terrorise and to them, the more the merrier but fame is hardly the ultimate goal. Even in the case of Columbine, what the perpetrators ultimately desired the moment before their death is not to be on the front page (they wouldn't have seen the front page anyways) but that outpouring and release of their rage.

Terrorists are never eloquent and because if they were, they probably wouldn't have to resort to terrorism in the first place. Cornish is quite right in this respect to describe terrorists as "vapid and inarticulate" but in saying that "an obsessive audience" is there to feed on their every move, he unwittingly shifted the blame away from the terrorists themselves and unto the onlookers. Are we at fault? Perhaps fame works much the same way as terrorism where the 'target's' reaction is part of the equation? It's hardly imaginable that this is the way to look at the Mumbai tragedy. Well, at least let's hope it's not.

I often watch this video...

I often watch this video when things are not going well. Looking beyond his athletic ability, it's perseverance and dedication driven by a passion for what he does. The same maxim applies to almost everything in life — You like something that you have a knack for. You then put in time and effort, untempted by other worldly things. It's passion substantiated by hard work and focus and an awareness that talent alone is not enough.

Michael Jordan - The Beauty Of Hangtime

Not many people know that Michael Jordan is often the last one to leave the gym after practice and that he spent a lot of time maintaining his body. He knows that he has an extraordinary talent but his success is not purely built on talent alone. In fact, Michael Jordan only started winning championships after he started to share the ball.

It might be platitude now, Jordan's story, but I just find it a really fitting real-life example of how we can succeed in life. How come Jordan's career has such a longevity? It's because he took care of his body. He sees basketball as a marathon, not sprint. People remember him for his flash but actually his flash is built on firm foundamentals.

So, the beauty of hangtime is like a broadway show that the audiences see, after hundreds of practices and rehearsals. That to me is the true meaning of beauty.

Youth

I'm mostly settled in, after a long summer of constant relocation, in my new dorm room, which is both spacious and bright, alhumdulillah. One can see the skyline of the city through the only but exceptionally large horizontal sliding window that takes up most of the wall in the west.

"Isn't it great to be young?" I think to myself just now looking out. I couldn't have done all this moving around had I not the stamina that comes with youth. Youth allows one to adapt more quickly, physiologically speaking. Going from Iceland to Taiwan, I've covered three major climate zones in less than three months. In the same token, youth also furnishes one with endurance. Under the scorching sun typical of southern Taiwan, I'm still able to carry out daily business while fasting, alhumdulillah. Last but not least, there is another very important trait of youth and that is the desire to learn. I'm still learning. It is exactly the desire to pursue something I love that brings me here.

Speaking of learning, school will start in exactly a week for me. This week the plan is to get all the administratively-related paperwork done. I know a lot of you are starting school or have already started. Congratulations again to those who are steadfast in their pursuit of their goals. May you be rewarded.

Ramadan Mubarak

Today is the first day of Ramadan, the holiest month on the Islamic calendar. There are many reasons I chose today to put up my first post. First and foremost, I felt today signifies a new beginning, not just because of the fact that I returned to Taiwan after more than a decade abroad but Islamic calendar 1429 marks the year that I'm psychologically emancipated from the shackle that is blind elitism. I finally broke free of the blind conviction that going to medical school is the best thing for me and chose to study something my passions lies, political sciences, more specifically international affairs.

So this will be one of the major themes of this blog, my take on various international events and my vision for how education should be about. These are two disparate topics. For the former, obviously it is presumptuous for a person with my level of knowledge to comment on things such as the conflict between Russia and Georgia but I'll do it anyways. Take it or leave it. I think having a computer with Internet access qualifies you for almost everything these days. As for the latter, I just want to say that I've been through many different education systems and read many self-improvement titles. I'm sure I'll have something interesting to say about the topic of education.

To keep things varied, I'll punctuate my 'academic' posts with some tidbits of my own life. This is mostly for people who know me. Having lived in quite a number of places, I'm very fortunate to have met some really great people and I'd like to keep in touch with them for as long as I can. Internet presents itself as a great means to do just that.

Lastly, I just want to say that I believe in everyone having her opinions and I also believe that all opinions are inherently biased. Whether you like what I say, please be respectful.

Peace and Ramadan Mubarak!

Ismail