Listening to Netanyahu’s defenders in the media (and that is pretty much all you get as objective reporters are yanked off the air), I’m struck by how Americans are indoctrinated into ignoring the most significant fact about Gaza.
It is under Israeli occupation (now called blockade) and has been since 1967.
That is the cause of the “war.” Yes, Israel has the “right” to defend itself but Palestinians have the “right” to resist occupation. Those conflicting rights are leading to perdition and, in my opinion, the loss of the Israel many of us have loved and identified with our entire lives.
Credit: Flickr Charity Organisation
The oft-proclaimed Gaza withdrawal was a fraud. Although Israel pulled the settlers out, it has maintained a blockade of Gaza ever since, blocking its air, sea, and land borders, locking its people in a giant prison.
At the time Ariel Sharon withdrew the settlers, when the Palestinian Authority was still in charge of Gaza, he refused to coordinate Israel’s withdrawal with Mahmoud Abbas who, despite his pleas, was not even told when the pullout would take place. Abbas wanted to ensure that the militants (who he effectively subdued in the West Bank) would not seize control. Sharon refused and the militants took over.
Then there were the democratic elections of 2006. The United States said it would abide by the results of the election but, once the results came in and Hamas won (“free and fair” according to US election monitors), the United States joined Israel to do everything in its power to overturn the results.
Ultimately Gaza separated from the West Bank and Israel was free to enter Gaza at will, killing or imprisoning whoever it considered a threat, and, in the process, hundreds who weren’t. Militants launched rockets at Israel and Israel responded, disproportionately as always. As now.
As this New York Times piece from earlier this week demonstrates, this latest onslaught was produced by Netanyahu’s determination to destroy the Palestinian unity agreement, a goal he convinced the U.S. and Europe to embrace. The reason Netanyahu needed to destroy Palestinian unity was his fear that Hamas would allow President Abbas to negotiate with Israel on behalf of all Palestinians, leading to a peace agreement (i.e, the end of the occupation.)
JJ Goldberg, editor of the Jewish Forward reports here how Netanyahu, knowing that the kidnapped Israeli teenagers were dead from day 1, maintained the fiction they were alive for 18 days in order to ignite the atmosphere for war. He even lied to the boys’ parents.
Of course, this is the Netanyahu who presided at demonstrations in Israel in 1995 at which Yitzhak Rabin was depicted as a Nazi and his death was demanded. Rabin’s widow, Leah, believed Netanyahu incited her husband’s assassination. You may recall that while Mrs. Rabin welcomed Yasir Arafat into her home after her husband’s murder, she banned Netanyahu.
Is this irrelevant now? No, not when the current situation directly stems from the murder of the one Israeli leader determined to achieve peace with the Palestinians. Netanyahu’s rise is the direct result of Rabin’s murder.
Bottom line: this war is the result of the occupation in general and specifically the suppression of the people of Gaza. It is a result of Netanyahu’s deceptions and his determination to never give up a single inch of land. Although firing rockets at Israeli civilians is intolerable, it is easy to understand why the militants do it. They are imprisoned. And they are desperate. (Imagine how Jews would feel if little Israeli boys were blown up on the beach in broad daylight and even Barack Obama could not muster a word of sympathy, lest he offend a lobby).
My fellow Jews who support this war are entitled to. But they should not kid themselves. They are supporting Netanyahu for one reason alone: ethnic solidarity. Just like every other nation on earth that cheered wars sold to them by liars. Fine. But that is all it is. The cause of the war is the occupation and Israel’s adamant refusal to end it. How long will we be duped?
My solution: it was stated by Avraham Shapiro, the former head of the Shin Beth, in the film GATEKEEPERS. He said “talk to them. Talk to them all.” But, of course, Shapiro, like most of Israel’s intelligence community, is naive. Only war works. This war will really show ’em.
The Palestinians had every opportunity to develop civilian infrastructure in Gaza and live in peace. Hamas then took over and made it into a rocky launching pad. And you ask why the blockade? Wos!
Actually, not. Israel prohibited the import to Gaza of the materiel, equipment, and funds needed to build a civilian infrastructure. Israel deliberately even limits the amount of food brought into Gaza in order to keep the Palestinians there in a state of perpetual hunger and listlessness. Israel destroys schools, hospitals, clinics, and markets to keep Gazans in a state of helplessness. Israel routinely prevents Gazans from traveling and having international contacts and international visitors.
Besides the illegality of all of this, it brings great moral shame upon all of us.
Debi,
And why would Israel do that?
Just to be nasty?
What’s the motive?
Good question…. What is Israel’s motive? I could only guess. What is the motive of any government when engages in massacres of “others?” What is the motive of a populace that supports or even itself carries out these massacres of “others?”
In this case, Palestinians are the “others”; at other times and on different continents, we have been the “others.”
Israel and Jewish charities offered developmental assistance prior to Hamas seizing power in Gaza. Sustainable development relieves the the suffering in Gaza, which runs against Hamas interests
On the contrary, we have deprived the Gazans (and all Palestinians generally) of the ability to build infrastructure: cement, rebar, windows, plumbing and electrical supplies are all in effect embargoed. We deprive them of medical supplies, free access to fishing in their waters, education, the right to travel and visit families based outside Gaza, medical care, and the list goes on. We even deliberately calculate the number if food calories they are permitted so as to keep them in a state of hunger and despair.
Of course they fight back against us. How could anyone not do so?
Is that why Israel intentionally bombed the only two electric generators that Gaza had? Is that why Israel bombed and disabled the only sewage purification facility in Gaza, so sewage can seep into the sea and infect many children with Hapititis infections? Is that why Israel steals the underground water from under the Gaza proper and sell it back to the Palestinians in limited qualities and quantities ? Those are all good indications of the humanitarian intention of Israel toward the Palestinians who live in Gaza 1.7 under the worst condition, and its because of Hamas not Israel that kills them randomly at will with the 24/7 Drones flying over Gaza day and night and it shoots those whom she does not like or suspect, even if they were children as we see now and have seen in the past many times. lies and deception have a very short life!
As usual very informative article from a person with conscioness who speaks the truth for the sake of justice and humanity!I I wish I could say the same about some of the commentators here. Repeating lies does not make them true!
Minor, I will remind you yjst the editors of Tikkun had removed last posts of your littered with anti Semitic myths. It’s not worth engxhing you pong for point because all you want yo for is continue cresting myths
MJ, you say that Palestinians have a right to resist the occupation. Does that right include the right to launch rockets at civilians with no military objective whatsoever? Your failure to answer that question completely undermines the theory of your piece here.
MJ does not need to answer such an irrationally based question. Any act that terrorize innocent civilian is a crime under International law, yet your question intentionally ignores the fact that Israel has been terrorizing and occupying Gaza for over 47 years, restricting, killing and jailing any one at any time it wishes by the force of a full military occupation, and when it claims that its physically has withdraw its troops and illegal settlers from Gaza in 2005 . eight years it have Gaza under inhumane siege. That is from all borders including the Egyptian border, by putting pressure from Israel and the US to limit if not restrict the movement of the 1.8 Million inhabitants of Gaza.Israel has bombed the only air port strip, it controls the Air ,the sea, and land. By shooting and killing any one who dares to venture close to the borders, or even if they go fishing in Gaza territorial waters. Israel has limited to 3 miles,from original international law of 20, and sometimes it starts shooting on one mile limits. So ,if you use some unbiased logic( sadly most Israel supporters don’t) then you would not ask such a question if people subjected to such daily terror for 47 years, if they have the right to shoot stupid rocket, even if just to make sure that they are not lying down and playing dead like Israel wishes them to. Your own argument and such questions discredit you and few other like you on the site of any credibility ! So, keep it up!
“Then there were the democratic elections of 2006. The United States said it would abide by the results of the election but, once the results came in and Hamas won (“free and fair” according to US election monitors), the United States joined Israel to do everything in its power to overturn the results”
Hamas one narrow control of the PA parliament, but Abbas remained president. That does not justify Hamas seizing control of Gaza and creating a terrorist enclave.
Too bad that Hamas did not learn lessons from Gandhi. With passive resistance they would probably have had a state by now. Unless they did not give up their stated objective of totally destroying Israel. I believe what they say, that that is their true objective, and, therefore, I am in total agreement with everything Netanyahu is presently doing.
Even full acceptance of Hamas’s ten point conditional proposal for a ten year truce is dangerous in that it would allow Hamas, with its proposed open land, sea and air border, an unlimited ability to militarily prepare for the final push to destroy Israel.
But its ok for your morales sir that Israel keeps destroying the Palestinians lives, homes ,crops and orange ,olive trees,fields ,live stock ,hospitals ,schools ,mosques. That does not bother you, you just object to Hamas writing it but not to Israel doing it for 66 years? You do make lots of sense for who you are and what you support.
Given our massive bombardments of Gaza now and in previous assaults, it is odd that you should complain about the Gazans returning fire with their feeble missiles.
It is hardly a massive bombardment and civilians are not the target. I goes yu feel it is morally acceptable for Hamas, not Gazans, to target civilians.
With regard to massiveness and civilian targets, please read the papers and watch the news. Targeting any civilians by anyone is immoral: please check out the casualty reports as to the numbers of civilians killed and wounded so far in Gaza, versus those in Israel.
Debi,
Certainly from a psycho-political POV it makes look Israel look bad in that Israel is more effective than Hamas at killing.
But how does it really matter?
Hamas is sending over rockets and it intends to kill. Israel responds and does more effective job.
I just can’t see how this whole dis-proportional thing is relevant.
Hamas could end the killing by stopping the rockets.
Hi, DMS.
I think it is relevant in the following way: the Palestinians are essentially a civilian population. As an occupied people, the occupying power, Israel, has a set if well-defined legal and moral obligations to protect the Palestinians. Israel, going back to 1948-49, has violated these obligations.
As an occupied people, the Palestinians have a right to defend themselves and to seek to recover their homes and homeland. We do not like way Hamas is going about it, or the intifadas, etc.
Our IDF is a national army. Its repression of the Palestinians violates Israel’s obligations as the occupying force to the Palestinians.
I read the news everyday, and follow events closely. Israel is not in any way shape or form targeting civilians. The air force is targeting rocket launchers and weapons caches. As the UN confirmed a few days ago, there are rockets being stored in homes, schools and mosques.
Gaza vs. israel? As you might know, Israel takes great pains to protect its own citizens, otherwise the casualty numbers would be quite high. Those rockiest are being directed at population centers, not military targets.yes, targeting civilians is immoral. Seems to me that you hold a double standard. No wonder yo are so ill informed
Overnight: 67 Palestinians, including 17 children, killed in Shuja’iyah in Gaza by IDF soldiers. You say that Israel targets and hits its targets carefully. I believe you.
Do you know where Hamas hiding their rockets. i’ll give you a little hint. The UN found rockets in a UN run school.
When the Germans bombed London, thee British responded by leveling ever city in Germany. Now that’s massive bombing.
Yes, and rightly condemned by everyone of conscience.
Thank you for your honest, realistic comments. I know exactly what you mean by Americans being indoctrinated. I see examples of it in my own (Irish RC) family. One brother claims to be a student, and believer, of God’s word in Scripture. Yet he is blind to the Hebrew prophets’ messages and warnings! Our hope is that it will again be the ‘remnant’ that leads to peace and brotherhood.
And you, Alice, haven’t been indoctrinated?
You speak The Truth?
Debi, yes, targeting civilians is what Hamas does by firing rockets in the general direction of ISrarli cities and towns. No pretense at trying to hit only military targets. Israel is going after military targets, which unfortunately are deliberately embedded among civilians so the press will score this like a foiotball game. It is sad and regretable that civilians get hit. But Hamas prepared for war, spending hundreds of millions for rockets and tunnels and underground bunkers but nothing for underground shelters to protect its civvilans from the counterattacks they knew were likely to come.
As for MJ, he continues to go off the deep end and distort things. He writes with more bitterness than context.
If there had not been an attempt to control the border crossings, Hamas would have even more rockets and more cement for its tunnels to use to attack Israeli civilians. In the elections, Hamas did win a plurality, then it staged a coup and kicked out the Palestinian authority. Hamas then proceeded to conduct violence against PA supporters and those who did not conform to its fundamentalist codes. Hamas has been formally declared a terrorist group byu the US and some European countries for good reasons.
If you really want to score a balanced game, go ahead and give the Palestinians the same capabilities to defend themselves as the Israelis have ,then we can hold both of Them to the same standard and judge them equally . You don’t want to send your little 90 lbs son to the NFL game with no protective gear and strong defense team and judge him according to the rules of the game if he can protect himself or score like the other team ,would you? I did not think so!
Dear Sir,
As an avid follower of your scholarly articles which I deem highly valuable and inspiring in the sense that their content contributes to the historical contextualization of the 66 year old oppression of Palestinians and therefore it contributes to the eventual resolution of this horrific era which begs for an end to violence and the beginning of a fresh concept leading to co-healing, co-creation, and co-production via the only viable solution which is the “One State” solution.
I salute you for your commendable and principled stand and for your uncanny capacity to shine light through the fog generated by a reckless campaign of mainstream media disinformation about this conflict.
As a son of survivors of the Nazi atrocities against the humanity of Jews and many others, I felt compelled to become an activist writer in support of the just and peaceful ending of the suffering and destruction which ensued from the 1948 unjust partition of Palestine.
I am the writer and publisher of the Argentum Post and hereby provide you with the link to two of my most recent articles on the subject of the Gaza massacre.
http://tinyurl.com/n2tar5a
http://tinyurl.com/kvtgmso
Kudos to you, Mr. Rosenberg !
Palestine was an entity that did mot exist until it was created under the British Mandate. Even President Abbas recently acknowledged that rejecting part ion was the mistake of the Arabs living there and the Arab world.
co-healing, co-creation, and co-production via the only viable solution which is the “One State” solution.”
Should be use Iraq, Syria or Lebanon as an example?
Palestine has always existed, as numerous maps from centuries ago indicate, as well as dies the historical political and diplomatic record. See, for examples close to contemporary Zionist history, the Balfour Declaration, the Mandate, and the (non-binding) UNGA Partition resolution.
We tried to eradicate Palestine from the history books by asserting that Palestine “never existed” and by insisting on calling Palestinians “Arabs”.
I to my shame participated in this trickery, but it is now time to speak the truth. We occupied most of Palestine in 1947-8, and the rest of it in 1967. Until we allow ourselves to recognize this, our defense of Zionism will ring hollow.
Palestine has always existed, as numerous maps from centuries ago indicate, as well as dies the historical political and diplomatic record. See, for examples close to contemporary Zionist history, the Balfour Declaration, the Mandate, and the (non-binding) UNGA Partition resolution.
We tried to eradicate Palestine from the history books by asserting that Palestine “never existed” and by insisting on calling Palestinians “Arabs”.
I to my shame participated in this trickery, but it is now time to speak the truth.
We occupied most of Palestine in 1948-49, and the rest in 1967. This is the fundamental reality, and until we recognize it we will never be able to defend Zionism and Israel with integrity and persuasiveness.
thank you for trying to explain the facts. We must demand an end to the violence and we must realize that violence takes many forms beyond the obvious bombs.
I have read all comments above and here are my observations:
1. Objective people do a very good job of explaining the truth about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
2. The Israeli lobby (is it the AIPAC?) has done a much better job of indoctrinating American public into believing the Israeli/Netanyahu narrative.
3. The same Israeli lobby has done a perfect job of emasculating American politicians into toeing the Israeli/Netanyahu narrative and providing money and arms to the Israeli government.
4. As long as the American public remains indoctrinated and the American politicians remain emasculated, Israeli government will never changed its occupation, abuse and killing of Palestinians.
5. The only hope of the Palestinian
people is to be willing to be killed
wantonly by the Israelis until the conscience of the world, including Americans, will be awakened to the truth- that what the Nazis of Hitler did to the Jews is morally the same as what the Israeli government of Netanyahu is doing to the Palestinian people.
6. What Hamas is doing is completely understandable, as there are absolutely no other options to stop this genocide and live in dignity.
Noel and Debi,
What you both are saying is very true and history and some people with morales and ethics have said and repeated many times over, Palestinians ,Israelis ,Jews and many others.Those individuals who keep repeating the Hasbara lies, are doing it out of despair as they don’t have any ligitimate rebuttal to the facts that you and the whole world sees. Let discreidet Themselves and Israel, they are doing a great job!