I’m writing this as F-16s and Israeli-operated drones target Palestinian “objectives” (which we’ve come to realize encompasses everything from olive trees to bread factories), plunging Gaza City into darkness, destroying homes and apartments, and worst of all, maiming and possibly killing innocent civilians and their children. Where is the foreign intervention when you need it? Why isn’t there a no fly zone over Palestine? Why is the radio still playing yesterday’s news?

Everyone’s big on intervention these days. The West recently came to its senses and launched strategic military attacks against pro-Gaddafi monsters in Libya. Maybe it’s for the oil. Maybe it’s a way of saying that America really doesn’t hate Arabs. Maybe NATO finally realized Gaddafi serves no purpose but to terrorize his own people. Maybe. But why isn’t Gaza getting the same type of response?

Just yesterday, the Israeli Air Force carried out an indiscriminate bombing raid that left up to nine people dead, including children. Dozens more were injured and it’s likely that the death toll will increase. The only news coverage I found came from small media outlets. American press coverage didn’t even see fit to identify the victims by their names.

Less than a full day later, a small bomb went off in Jerusalem, killing one Israeli and injuring 30 more. Virtually every major news network broke the news in one way or another. The identity of the bomber has yet to be discovered or confirmed.

I’m going to ignore numbers because, frankly, I refuse to compete over who experiences ‘more’ deaths. It’s a problematic thinking process that implicitly advocates for 1:1 death ratios. After all, there really is no need to play the Pain Olympics. I don’t need to prove that Palestinians have been winning gold since 1948. So if we look at these two scenarios as flagrant attacks against unarmed civilians, why do the Israeli victims receive more coverage than the Palestinian victims?

Before you answer the question, let me remind you that the Israeli Air Force has a swarm of apache helicopters, drones, and fighter jets currently circling the skies over Gaza, prepared to rain fire on the terrified yet upstanding Palestinian population. Reports are leaking in; special Israeli military units have already made the incursion into northern Gaza and several eye witnesses report tank sightings. A house in Beit Lahiya has already been cleared of its inhabitants.

Although these eye witness accounts haven’t yet been confirmed by investigators and media watchdogs, the world is at a very crucial crossroads. Either it can confirm the testimonies itself by focusing its lenses and training its cameras toward the plumes of smoke in the Gaza Strip or it can provide the same foreign intervention that it has for the last 63 years: nothing.

Speaking to Israel’s Channel 2 News, Knesset member Baruch Ben-Ari informed viewers that “the doors of hell are to be open on Palestinians”. Even after revealing to the world the intentions of the Israeli military, the international community refuses to stand up to the indescribable horror imposed against the Palestinian population. What more does the world need in order to get its act together and defend justice in its entirety and not just for select groups of people? So much for intervention on behalf of a global interest in peace, security, liberty, and human dignity.

There is a military escalation in the Gaza Strip whether the U.S. State Department want to believe it or not. Paralleling Gaddafi’s brutal response to the frustrated Libyan people, this escalation pits the military of Israel against the people — the men, women, elderly, and children — of Palestine. Please do something before CNN broadcasters are forced to manually scratch out any possible headlines reporting the deaths of dozens upon dozens of innocent people. Please do something before we face another Operation Cast Lead.

Sami Kishawi