Terrorism
noun ˈter-ər-ˌi-zəm\
: the use of violent acts to frighten the people in an area as a way of trying to achieve a political goal - Merriam-Webster's Dictionary
On Saturday, residents of northern Gaza returned to their homes to try and salvage some belongings, and
dig more bodies out of the rubble, before fleeing again at the end of the agreed 8 hour cease fire. For many of them, they found they had no home left to return to.
The level of destruction is hard to fathom. For weeks, the eleventh most powerful military on the planet has been literally pulverizing this strip of land - 25 miles long and 7 miles wide at its largest point - with the stated aim of harming Hamas, currently the government in Gaza.
In the process of pursuing their stated goal of wiping out Hamas, the Israeli military has caused the loss of life of roughly a thousand people so far, over 70% of whom are civilian casualties. More than 150 of those dead civilians have been children. Among the targets chosen in this campaign have included civilian shelters operating in United Nations schools, mosques, medical clinics, and multiple hospitals.
Killing hundreds of civilians to damage their government is, by definition, terrorism.
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Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, 26 July 2014 -
Photo c/o HARALD HENDEN/VG
The Background
In mid-June, Benjamin Netanyahu seized on an opportunity to go after Hamas with the disappearance of three Israeli teens from a settlement on the occupied West Bank. Making a point to call out Fatah for having just entered a unity government with Hamas, he pointed the crosshairs of the IDF straight at Hamas. A swift crackdown on Hamas in the West Bank lead to the predictable reaction of rockets fired from the Hamas stronghold of Gaza.
After the bodies of those young men were found, the tragic victims of a heinous crime, the rhetoric - and attacks - against Hamas were stepped up. In Netanyahu's words, "Hamas will pay" An aerial bombardment of Gaza commenced, with - again - the predictable escalation of rockets fired back into Israel.
In fact, Israel's aggression is having the predictable effect of increasing support for Hamas in the Gaza strip. When the Israeli government comes in and flattens entire neighborhoods, killing hundreds of civilians, a group that puts forth any sort of defense of the area is going to win itself some support. Just this weekend, the US Department of Defense has pointed out that "Destroying Hamas won't solve the conflict" and would likely make the situation worse, with them being replaced by an even more extreme group.
To top it all off, the original pretext for going after Hamas has now evaporated. The Israeli police confirmed just this weekend that Hamas in fact had nothing to do with the tragic kidnapping and murder of the Israeli teens. The replacement pretext is to "defend" Israel from rockets, though those rockets are a predictable outcome of the Israeli government's aggression [for context, read up about the history of Northern Ireland from 1968-1998].
The Goal
Even among those that vocally support the right of the people of Gaza to defend themselves, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone on the left who genuinely likes Hamas. They are a very conservative, strictly religious organization that is essentially the mirror image of militant zionism. They believe in one state from the Jordan river to the Mediterranean for only their side, their people - exactly like the hardcore zionists do. However, it is not the character of Hamas that the government of Israel actually dislikes.
The relationship between the Israeli government - populated with ultra-right-wing conservative groups that do not hesitate to call for the extermination of Palestinians, and the ruling Hamas party in the Gaza strip is increasingly being characterized as a symbiotic one. The militant nature of Hamas plays right into the Israeli government's policy of rule by force, and provides them with a pretext to pursue their next major strategic objective.
Beneath the territory of the Gaza strip lies reserves of over a trillion cubic meters of Natural Gas. Going back to 2008, the Israeli Government has been quietly pursuing a policy of trying to acquire that gas by any means necessary, ranging from growing their claim to the territorial waters of Gaza, to actively making deals to sell that Gas without the consent of the people or government of Gaza.
With the context taken into account, I think the Israeli government's end game becomes clear. If Israel can gain control of the gas reserves below Gaza without having to make a deal with Palestinian representatives to share any of the income derived, and instead take control of the export of the resources themselves - as a defensive measure, of course.
From Counterpunch:
While many articles have debunked the myth that Israel is acting out of “self-defense,” very few have attempted to establish why Israel is continuing its assault on Palestine through Operation Protective Edge, aside from the supposition that Zionists have a fanatic penchant for drawing Palestinian blood. Behind the operation, behind the mass Israeli and U.S. propaganda attempting to justify the massacre, and behind the death of every child in Gaza is a conflict rarely discussed, an imperialist conflict and a contradiction that rests on Israel’s ambitions to appropriate and profit from Gaza’s natural gas resources.
The Outcome
What has happened as a direct result of the Israeli government's terrorism is unconscionable. Greed hiding behind propaganda and an inflamed sense of righteousness - fed constantly by that propaganda - has, in the words of Charlie Chaplin, "poisoned men's souls."
With American weapons, and the unconditional support of the US government and tacit approval of the EU, the IDF has gone on a rampage.
"A pause in the bombing by Israeli forces – and the ruins of Gaza are laid bare.
Repeated shelling has inflicted a terrible reality on Palestinians as they try to salvage something from shattered homes and lives"
-The Guardian
"In Pictures, Palestinians Visit Ravaged Gaza Areas During Cease-Fire"
-Colin Daileda, Mashable
How could we let this happen? How can we continue to give unconditional support to a government that would show such callous disregard for human life, in the pursuit of material wealth? A government that would target the UN, a children's rehabilitation center, and hospitals? That would set out to cause such great destruction?
Simply put, enough is enough. It's time to start rethinking our no-strings-attached support for Israel. It's time for us as a people who care about our fellow human beings to tell our government (and governments) that we do not support terrorism.
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Sign the Amnesty International petition to the US Government to stop arming Israel here: https://campaigns.amnesty.org/...