The tensions between the two sides increased after the beach bombing incident, in which seven people, including three children, were killed by a 'stray' Israeli missile. The usual whitewash followed as the Israeli government 'investigated' the incident, despite protests from human rights organisations about the way the enquiry was handled. Of course, once again, the Palestinian people suffered while those in power washed their hands of the suffering that they have caused.
The subsequent kidnapping of an Israeli soldier, led to the current military actions by the Israeli government. Once again the Israeli government loses public support by acting disproportionately to events. Of course the kidnapping is abhorrent, however, the bombing of the civilian infrastructure (including power stations and water supplies) is an absolute disgrace. How is that proportionate to the act of kidnapping a soldier? It is not. To compound the suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza, the Israeli government also refused to allow emergency aid (including food) to be delivered to the Palestinian people. The western powers have, once again, been rather quiet on these recent activities. In fact, the Swiss government stand alone in Europe in condemning these actions. As for the US administration, once again they stand by the Israelis and their right to 'defend themselves' by murdering civilians (an interesting definition, somewhat Orwellian in tone).
And now there have been increased attacks in Lebanon due to the actions of Hezbollah near the Israeli/Lebanese border. The disproportionate reprisals (including the bombing of a civilian airport in Beirut) are themselves highly suspicious given the wider context of the situation in the Middle East. Hezbollah has known ties with Syria and Iran and it is within this context that one must analyse the actions of the Israeli government. After the recent statements of the Iranian leader, it is clear that Israel wants to give a strong message to it's enemies in the region. The attacks on Lebanon and Hezbollah are a thinly veiled attack on Iran and Syria, an attempt by Israel to assert it's authority in the region. Not long ago, the World Zionist Conference called on all nations to:
......act aggressively and immediately to remove the Iranian threat.
This is now part of the action that the Israeli government is taking. Hezbollah is widely seen as an extension of the Iranian regime and receives much of it's funding from Iran. An attack on Hezbollah sends a clear warning to the Iranians that they are not to be messed with and ensures that Israel maintains it's position as the dominant power in the Middle East. In fact, it would be fair to say that the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers has provided the Israeli government with the perfect opportunity to attempt to neutralise Hezbollah and Hamas, a long term goal of the administration. It is, however, worrying to consider what impact that this military offensive will have in the region and what Syria and Iran will do in response. But as long as Israel continues to target civilian infrastructure, the situation can only escalate to it's ultimate conclusion.
"By punishing the Palestinian people for voting for Hamas they hoped that the people would turn against Hamas and they would, ultimately, be removed from power."
ReplyDeleteThey don't want to remove Hamas from power, they want them to change their policies: to respect international treaties signed by the previous administration, to respect international law such as the Geneva Conventions or the UN treaty, and to lay down arms and take part in negotiations to resolve the dispute.
Previously the Palestinians got away with their war crimes because the nominal government claimed to be trying to stop them. The Oslo accords that led to the formation of the PA and the relative autonomy of the disputed territories (and the payment of massive bribes in aid) was conditional on them recognising Israel and renouncing violence. They were lying about that, but it was hard to pin on them. They just said it was militants over who they had no control, made a few desultory arrests, and carried on business as usual.
Now that the militants are the government, they cannot claim not to be accountable for their actions, and we know any deals they make can be enforced. Now you see their true stance, they have no intention of negotiating peacefully, then want Israel destroyed.
You are correct that the abductions are only an excuse, although Israel has always taken such matters seriously. After Hamas came to power the attacks on Israel increased, the peace process took a great leap backwards, and Hamas took Israel's failure to respond as a sign of weakness. Israel were responding to the international community's calls to give diplomacy a chance. Well, Hamas laugh at your 'diplomacy', and treated it with the contempt it deserves. Israel finally lost patience.
I understand that the human rights organisations briefly backtracked on the beach bombing incident, and then went very quiet about it. Even if it was true, which is not only unproven bu highly dubious (as are many Pallywood claims), the 'cause' was Palestinian militants shelling civilians over the border from a point a couple of hundred yards from an occupied beach. That's both illegal and immoral.
Because the Palestinians use their civilian areas to conduct military operations from (which is illegal, of course), there is no civilian infrastructure - it becomes in effect all military. By conducting all operations there, the militants negate its protected civilian status; which is precisely why doing so is illegal. The Geneva Conventions are reciprocal arrangements between nations: you cannot gain protection of your civilians unless you also grant it to the other side.
However, if you would care to point out some purely military targets that the Israelis could use to stop the attacks on them without hurting civilians, I'm sure the Israelis would be delighted to hear from you.
"To compound the suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza, the Israeli government also refused to allow emergency aid (including food) to be delivered to the Palestinian people."
ReplyDeleteI thought you might be interested by this report I just came across.
At the Karni crossing, over 100 truckloads of food and 14 generators were allowed in and at the Nahal Oz fuel terminal, 500,000 liters of diesel, 100,000 liters of gasoline and 125 tons of natural gas were allowed in. Earlier in the week, more than 265 tons of food, a truckload of medicine, over a 1,000,000 liters of fuel, 65,000 liters of chlorine and additional supplies were transferred in. Last week, more than 200 truckloads of food, 1,500,000 liters of fuel, and over 400 tons of natural gas passed into Gaza. Israel also continues to provide Gaza with an uninterrupted supply of water.
anon2 - you have apoint with that report, however i note that the political elites put pressure on the IDF to open the border...which suggests it had been closed...and why did they have to put pressure on in the first place to allow the supplies through?? And did this pressure come before, or after, the human rights organisations appealed to the High Court of Justice??
ReplyDeleteActonbell, it is sad the way things have turned out in that region. I do have symathy for the people, who are represented by a government that takes extreme measures to deal with terroist attacks. And thanks for the visit, new-comers are always welcome here!!