Dead children sway minds in US

A Palestinian woman weeps during the funeral of nine people in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip on July 18, 2014.

My friends throughout the Middle East assume that a large majority of  Americans are favouring Israel in the brutal war that’s being fought in Gaza. But the reality is that our country is quite divided.

According to a recent CNN poll, more Republicans favour the war than Democrats. Yet, the country is split almost evenly on whether we believe Israel is using too much force. A slight majority, 57 per cent, side with Israel.

Graphic images are bombarding Americans. Nearly 600 Palestinians, most of them citizens, have been killed. The UN says that one child is being killed every hour, and those pictures are the most heart-wrenching.

PLENTY OF FICTION

There is also the great debate on social media. Are photos of the dead Palestinian children too graphic? Are they causing harm to the families who’ve already suffered enough?  Are these pictures a true reflection of reality or are they simply propaganda?

There is plenty of fiction. Scrolling through Facebook, I’ve seen many videos that seem real about Israel but are not.

Many have been made by those opposed to the Israeli invasion and place false and incendiary words into the mouths of politicians.

But there is also truth. I will not forget seeing the lifeless legs of a Palestinian child hanging over the edge of a gurney. The child’s face is covered, but the legs are pock marked with shrapnel wounds and pieces of flesh are missing on the feet.

I have seen war, and there is no real way to bring its enormity home.  To see long lines of wounded standing and waiting for the help of a doctor. To see bellies ripped open by bullets. To witness one traumatic, fearful event after another and to be convinced that the violence will not end. To be scared beyond belief, day after day.

The giant truth is the world seems to have blown up in the last ten days. The shoot-down of the Malaysian jet by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine has produced gruesome and sad images, especially the black hearses driving through crowded Amsterdam streets.

CURLY-HAIRED CHILDREN

Daily photos bleed from the battlefields in Syria, Libya and Iraq. Nigeria is a daily image of suicide bombings and large-scale kidnappings.

Surrounded by two great oceans and two peaceful neighbours, Americans were largely immune to these things until 2001.  The attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Centre brought the horror of war into American living rooms — the first time since the Vietnam War.

The growth of social media — and the willingness to publish more graphic photos and videos — is an amplifier. That may be one reason why Barack Obama, who promised to remove America from two wars, was twice elected.

I remain devastated by the recent killing of children in a Gaza fishing village. In one photo, there are beautiful, curly-haired children playing on the beach. In the second, there are lifeless bodies. In the third, they are being carried away.

There is an impact on the US. Israel may see itself fighting Hamas, the Iranian-backed fighters who have been reigning rockets down on Tel Aviv. But they are also fighting for world opinion. The killing of children is changing hearts and minds in America.

# KIM #