It is only human for emotions to run high in conflict situations such as the current Israeli operation in Gaza. Cries of alarm and harsh condemnation have been heard worldwide since Israel began its military bombardment of Gaza after Christmas -- a move which it says is retaliation against recent sustained rocket fire from Hamas militants targeting southern Israel.
There is nothing wrong with such condemnation and outcry (everyone has the right to their own opinion), but it is wrong to let our emotions loom so large for too long.
In the densely populated Gaza, victims of the attacks have suffered tremendous pain and are in need of urgent help, despite Israel's assurance that it is avoiding harming civilians wherever possible.
Rhetoric and blaming matches are the last thing Palestinians need right now. What they desperately need are basic things like food, water, medicine, blankets and tents -- which the world can readily supply.
Palestinians needed these things immediately after the attacks and they need them now. And the need is especially dire given that Gaza's health services have been severely constrained by eighteen months of Israeli sanctions prior to the attacks.
The world community including the United Nations Security Council has largely overlooked these basic needs. It is as if the world is just watching as a humanitarian crisis unfolds.
To date, only a sparse amount of humanitarian aid has trickled into Gaza. On Sunday, a foreign doctor in Gaza said, "Civilians are being killed ... shells are severing people's legs, shrapnel is going into people's homes, a lot of people are being hit. Everyone is terrified."
A 14-year-old Palestinian American whose uncle was killed in an airstrike said on Friday, "There is no water, no electricity, no medicine. It's hard to survive. Gaza is destroyed."
This is the reality on the ground. What they need are the basic necessities to survive in a war.
Instead of providing this aid, however, a large part of the world community has indulged itself in politics. Politicians have been too occupied in drafting and rejecting resolutions or blocking food and humanitarian aid, or mulling over things like whether or not the attacks have been defensive or offensive.
Fortunately, good gestures have not been entirely absent, as nearly 300 Palestinians with foreign passports were allowed to leave the Gaza Strip on Friday. But there is a clear need for increasing and expediting humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Indonesia's promise to contribute $1 million in aid for the Palestinian people, as announced on the sidelines of an extraordinary meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), is highly commended.
Up to Sunday, more than 500 people had died in the attacks -- at least 60 of whom were civilians, and 34 of these were children. More than 1,700 had been wounded in the nine days of Israel's "Operation Cast Lead".
We will likely see more victims too, as Israel has made it clear its ground offensive that began on Saturday may continue for many days to come.
Whether or not hostilities continue, however, civilians must be protected. At stake are the 1.5 million of people who live in the Hamas-ruled strip of land.
It doesn't pay to waste time in helping victims on the ground.
