The
Israeli campaign of ‘death from above’ began around 11 am on Saturday
morning [27th] and stretched straight through the night into this morning.
The massacre continues as I write these words.
The
bloodiest single day in Palestine since the War of 1967 is far from over
following on Israel’s promised that this is ‘only the beginning’ of their
campaign of state terror. At least 290 people have been murdered thus far,
but the body count continues to rise at a dramatic pace as more mutilated
bodies are pulled from the rubble, previous victims succumb to their
wounds and new casualties are created by the minute.
What
has and is occurring is nothing short of a war crime, yet the Israeli
public relations machine is in full-swing, churning out lies by the
minute.
Once
and for all it is time to expose the myths that they have created.
-
Israelis have claimed to have ended the occupation of the Gaza Strip in
2005.
While
Israel has indeed removed the settlements from the tiny coastal Strip,
they have in no way ended the occupation. They remained in control of the
borders, the airspace and the waterways of Gaza, and have carried out
frequent raids and targeted assassinations since the disengagement.
Furthermore, since 2006 Israel has imposed a comprehensive siege on the
Strip. For over two years, Gazans have lived on the edge of starvation and
without the most basic necessities of human life, such as cooking or
heating oil and basic medications. This siege has already caused a
humanitarian catastrophe which has only been exacerbated by the dramatic
increase in Israeli military aggression.
-
Israel claims that Hamas violated the cease-fire and pulled out of it
unilaterally.
Hamas
indeed respected their side of the ceasefire, except on those occasions
early on when Israel carried out major offensives in the West Bank. In the
last two months, the ceasefire broke down with Israelis killing several
Palestinians and resulting in the response of Hamas. In other words, Hamas
has not carried out an unprovoked act throughout the period of the
cease-fire.
Israel,
however, did not live up to any of its obligations of ending the siege and
allowing vital humanitarian aid to resume in Gaza. Rather than the average
of 450 trucks per day being allowed across the border, on the best days
only eighty have been allowed in – with the border remaining hermetically
sealed 70% of the time. Throughout the supposed ‘cease-fire’ Gazans have
been forced to live like animals, with a total of 262 dying due to the
inaccessibility of proper medical care.
Now
after hundreds dead and counting, it is Israel who refuses to re-enter
talks over a cease-fire. They are not intent on securing peace as they
claim; it is more and more clear that they are seeking regime change –
whatever the cost.
-
Israel claims to be pursuing peace with ‘peaceful Palestinians’.
Before
the on-going massacre in the Gaza Strip, and throughout the entirety of
the Annapolis Peace Process, Israel has continued and even intensified its
occupation of the West Bank. In 2008, settlement expansion increased by a
factor of 38, a further 4,950 Palestinians were arrested – mostly from the
West Bank, and checkpoints rose from 521 to 699.
Furthermore, since the onset of the peace talks, Israel has killed 546
Palestinians, among them 76 children. These gruesome statistics are set to
rise dramatically now, but previous Israeli transgressions should not be
forgotten amidst this most recent horror.
Only
this morning, Israel shot and killed a young peaceful protester in the
West Bank village of Nihlin, and has injured dozens more over the last few
hours. It is certain that they will continue to employ deadly force at
non-violent demonstrations and we expect a sizable body count in the West
Bank as a result. If Israel is in fact pursuing peace with ‘good
Palestinians’, who are they talking about?
-
Israel is acting in self-defense.
It is
difficult to claim self defense in a confrontation which they themselves
have sparked, but they are doing it anyway. Self-defense is reactionary,
while the actions of Israel over the last two days have been clearly
premeditated. Not only did the Israeli press widely report the ongoing
public relations campaign being undertaken by Israel to prepare Israeli
and international public opinion for the attack, but Israel has also
reportedly tried to convince the Palestinians that an attack was not
coming by briefly opening crossings and reporting future meetings on the
topic. They did so to ensure that casualties would be maximized and that
the citizens of Gaza would be unprepared for their impending slaughter.
It is
also misleading to claim self-defense in a conflict with such an
overwhelming asymmetry of power. Israel is the largest military force in
the region, and the fifth largest in the world. Furthermore, they are the
fourth largest exporter of arms and have a military industrial complex
rivaling that of the United States. In other words, Israel has always had
a comprehensive monopoly over the use of force, and much like its super
power ally, Israel uses war as an advertising showcase of its many
instruments of death.
-
Israel claims to have struck military targets only.
Even
while image after image of dead and mutilated women and children flash
across our televisions, Israel brazenly claims that their munitions
expertly struck only military installations. We know this to be false as
many other civilian sites have been hit by airstrikes including a hospital
and mosque.
In the
most densely populated area on the planet, tons upon tons of explosives
have been dropped. The first estimates of injured are in the thousands.
Israel will claim that these are merely ‘collateral damage’ or accidental
deaths. The sheer ridiculousness and inhumanity of such a claim should
sicken the world community.
-
Israel claims that it is attacking Hamas and not the Palestinian people.
First
and foremost, missiles do not differentiate people by their political
affiliation; they simply kill everyone in their path. Israel knows this,
and so do Palestinians. What Israel also knows, but is not saying
publicly, is how much their recent actions will actually strengthen Hamas
– whose message of resistance and revenge is being echoed by the angry and
grieving.
The
targets of the strike, police and not Hamas militants, give us some clue
as to Israel’s mistaken intention. They are hoping to create anarchy in
the Strip by removing the pillar of law and order.
-
Israel claims that Palestinians are the source of violence.
Let us
be clear and unequivocal. The occupation of Palestine since the War of
1967 has been and remains the root of violence between Israelis and
Palestinians. Violence can be ended with the occupation and the granting
of Palestine’s national and human rights. Hamas does not control the West
Bank and yet we remain occupied, our rights violated and our children
killed.
With
these myths understood, let us ponder the real reasons behind these
airstrikes; what we find may be even more disgusting than the act itself.
The
leaders of Israel are holding press conferences, dressed in black, with
sleeves rolled up. ‘It’s time to fight’, they say, ‘but it won’t be
easy.’
To
prove just how hard it is, Livni, Olmert and Barak did not even wear
make-up to the press conference, and Barak has ended his election campaign
to focus on the Gaza campaign. What heroes…what leaders…
We all
know the truth: the suspension of the electioneering is exactly that –
electioneering. Like John McCain’s suspension of his presidential campaign
to return to Washington to ‘deal with’ the financial crisis, this act is
little more than a publicity stunt.
The
candidates have to appear ‘tough enough to lead’, and there is seemingly
no better way of doing that than bathing in Palestinian blood.
‘Look
at me,’ Livni says in her black suit and unkempt hair, ‘I am a warrior. I
am strong enough to pull the trigger. Don’t you feel more confident about
voting for me, now that you know I am as ruthless as Bibi Netanyahu?’
I do
not know which is more disturbing, her and Barak, or the constituency they
are trying to please.
In the
end, this will in no way improve the security of the average Israeli; in
fact it can be expected to get much worse in the coming days as the
massacre could presumably provoke a new generation of suicide bombers.
It will
not undermine Hamas either, and it will not result in the three fools,
Barak, Livni and Olmert, looking ‘tough’. Their misguided political
venture will likely blow up in their faces as did the brutally similar
2006 invasion of Lebanon.
In
closing, there is another reason - beyond the internal politics of Israel
- why this attack has been allowed to occur: the complicity and silence of
the international community.
Israel
cannot and would not act against the will of its economic allies in Europe
or its military allies in the US. Israel may be pulling the trigger
ending hundreds, perhaps even thousands of lives this week, but it is the
apathy of the world and the inhumane tolerance of Palestinian suffering
which allows this to occur.
‘The
evil only exists because the good remain silent’
From
Occupied Palestine,
Dr.
Mustafa Baghouthi
