I hesitate to again refer to the appalling genocide taking place in Gaza, but feel Israel’s accelerating carnage simply cannot go without further comment. One of the most tragic outcomes of this horrific and one-sided attempt to destroy the Palestinian people and their homes, their hospitals and their schools, sadly, will be that the huge injustices done to European Jews during the Second World War and prior may end up being overlooked by history.
The strong pro-Israel Zionist lobby fostered by Israel and the US, as it sought to create a safely pro-Western space in the Middle East, has resulted in the tail wagging the dog. By the time this article goes to print, the outcome of the US elections will be known – clearly Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is attempting to get as much of what he wants before then.
We are already seeing the majority of world public opinion turning against Israel’s rampant attacks in Gaza. The latest expansion of the genocide, which has seen Israel attempt to occupy its neighbour Lebanon with an inevitable accompanying cost in civilian lives, is even more appalling to me.
We have been here before. This is not Israel’s first attempt to subdue its neighbours.
Leaving to one side its continuing attempts to humiliate and worsen the lot of the Palestinian people confined to the Gaza strip, and in the so-called ‘occupied’ West Bank, Israel’s previous effort to occupy Lebanon turned into a long-term invasion and Israel was, eventually, obliged to withdraw.
For those of us who can still summon the courage to count the cost, Israel’s attacks on Gaza have resulted in more than 40,000 civilian casualties, unknown numbers still buried beneath the ruins, unremitting attacks on hospitals, homes and educational facilities, and a continuing effort to deny food aid to civilians trapped in Gaza.
Meanwhile, the self-proclaimed ‘most moral army in the world,’ has allowed soldiers to post videos online in which they glorify attacks on defenceless civilians and destruction of homes and infrastructure.
The recent killing of Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar, could lead to the freeing of Israeli hostages and a ceasefire. However, history suggests Israel and its enemies won’t take advantage of it – as Politico magazine recently stated, noting the assessment of veteran former US diplomat and Middle East veteran, Ryan Crocker: “One thing I’ve learned over years, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan, is that the concept of the defeat of an adversary only has meaning in the mind of that adversary,” Crocker said. “If that adversary feels defeated, he is defeated. If he doesn’t, he’s not.”
Despite the genocide in Gaza, amazingly its people do not yet seem to feel defeated, despite clearly yearning for respite. I can, to an extent, sympathise with Israel’s attempts to seek some redress for its own centuries of abuse and exploitation. But, very sadly, this has resulted in Israeli immigrants, many of them American, essentially in a land grab on Middle Eastern land.
The Israeli leadership and much of its media are portraying a view of Israel as a plucky little survivor in a hostile Middle East. In truth, there is no excuse for anybody in Israel being unaware of what their leadership has been doing in their name, with major US support – it’s not as if they have even made any secret of it.
(¹) With acknowledgement to US songwriter Frank Loesser’s hit song, Praise the lord and Pass the Ammunition, inspired by the words of navy chaplain, Howell M Forgy, spoken during the attack on Pearl Harbour, December 7, 1941
*The author is expressing his personal opinion of the Gaza and related conflicts, and not BOPN’s.
