In the current climate it is becoming increasingly difficult to criticise the behaviour and barbarism of the Apartheid State of Israel without being labeled anti-Semitic. However those who do make such claims of racism have a clear agenda to defend such barbarity, whilst mocking the real victims of anti-Semitism in our very recent past, in a vain attempt to belittle the opposition to Israeli sponsored State terrorism; there is a growing mood and groundswell of public opposition from liberals, socialists and even Jews themselves… 
Jews and Palestinians have lived together in Palestine for generations without the violence and hate we see today. However, Zionism, a nasty form of ethnic nationalism hell-bent on establishing a Jewish state, has sought to control more and more of what they considered to be land promised to them in the Bible. The violent ethnic cleansing of the people of Palestine by Zionist militias actually began at the end of the Second World War and continues to this day.The real reason for the conflict in Palestine is not Jews or Palestinians, it is Zionism and it's colonisation of Palestine, in turn creating a culture of exclusivity and entitlement within Israel. Jews are “The Chosen People” living in “The Promised Land.” This inherently racist dogma attempts to legitimise human rights abuses and collective punishments against Palestinians simply because they are not Jews. The stated goal of Zionism has always been the removal of the Palestinians and the colonisation of all of Palestine, not just the area which is currently considered Israel.
Israel has refused to abide by UN resolution 194, guaranteeing Palestinians the right of return to, or compensation for, lands taken from them during 1947-48. Again in 1967 Israel expanded well beyond the borders of the original partition of Palestine and has been in violation of the Geneva Conventions as well as the terms of the original United Nations plan ever since.The second misconception is in portraying Israel as a victim of unprovoked Hamas violence. Palestinian resistance to the colonisation of their land is, in fact, recognized as a right under international law. The contention that “Israel has a right to defend itself,” is like saying that squatters that occupied your home have a right to defend themselves from your actions to remove them. Israel does not have any right under international law to “defend” its illegal occupation and ethnic cleansing of Palestine. The attack on Gaza is not an act of self-defense, it is an act of aggression - Israel is not defending itself, it is defending its illegal occupation of Palestinian lands.
It is absurd to suggest that the shocking assault on the captive and defenseless people of Gaza by the world's fourth largest military is somehow justified by the firing of crude homemade rockets into Israel. They have no army, no navy, no air force. Over two thirds of the population is women and children. After the democratic elections in 2006, the Palestinians have had their representatives imprisoned and assassinated and their government was removed in an administrative coup in the West Bank. When Hamas resisted and regained control of the government they were fairly elected to lead, it was Hamas who was considered the aggressor, not those who removed them from power.
To make matters worse, Israel has kept Gaza under siege for the last four-and-a-half years. Gazans have been denied basic necessities, including paper and pencils, school books and even sanitary towels. Israel recently added shoes and clothing to the list, claiming Hamas may use them to make military uniforms, despite Israel justifying its killing of civilians saying the militia can’t be distinguished from civilians ... because they don’t wear military uniforms!!!
Gaza's main power plant has been bombed, severely limiting the amount of electricity needed for water and sewage treatment and general daily life. Fuel supplies have been restricted and importation of cement has been curtailed preventing necessary repairs to schools and hospitals. The Israelis have used F-16 Fighter Jets to make constant low-level flights over Gaza creating huge sonic booms which are causing serious and significant mental damage to children in Gaza, as well as being suspected of inducing miscarriages.
These are just a few examples of the war of terror waged against the civilian population in Gaza, culminating in the denial of medicine, food, electricity and fuel to the people of Gaza.
For the last 60 years Israel has never made any sincere effort to stop the conflict. Indeed it has inflamed it as there has not been one single Israeli administration that hasn't expanded the illegal settlements over Palestinian land. This is in direct violation of the Geneva conventions, not to mention the many agreements Israel has entered into over the years, and broken.
Simply put, Israel is colonising Palestine, any other claim is pure guile. Resistance to this violence is defined as "terrorism", cheapening the lives of the real victims of terrorism worldwide. Israel and the USA, two of the world’s leading so-called "democracies", are in reality rogue nations themselves, engaging in wars of aggression, collective punishment, torture, and criminal foreign policy which disregard even the most basic concepts of human decency. That is why we in Britain must condemn the actions of Israel and rally to the plight of the people of Palestine and their democratically elected leaders, Hamas.
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ReplyDeleteFascinating that you open up by condemning one kind of extremist hate-mongering:
ReplyDelete"...Zionism, a nasty form of ethnic nationalism hell-bent on establishing a Jewish state..."
And end by supporting another:
"...we in Britain must condemn the actions of Israel and rally to the plight of the people of Palestine and their democratically elected leaders, Hamas."
Whilst Zionism is ripe in Israel, the government remains ostensibly secular. The reason that they have kept Gaza under seige for four and a half years is that Hamas were sending suicide bombers out to murder Israeli citizens. Now while we can hardly dispute the reasons why Hamas would want to murder Israeli citizens, the fact still remains that murder is murder-- regardless of who is committing it-- and that Israel's response (setting seige to Gaza) was made out of concerns for National Security, not out of Zionist hatred for non-jews, as you imply here.
"...democratically elected leaders..."
ReplyDeleteWell looking at the kind of "democracy" we get in so-called civilized countries like Great Britain or the USA, I'm sure we can all imagine the kind of "democracy" being doled out by Hamas when those elections took place; you haven't seen brainwashing and propaganda until you've seen it done by religious fundamentalists. Reading your profile quote, I wonder to what degree you are currently accepting the judgment of our "democratically elected leaders", the tories. Pushing this premise a little further, how were left-wing Americans to react to their "democratically elected leaders" from 2000-2008?
Interesting also that you are quick to highlight Israel and the USA as:
"...engaging in wars of aggression, collective punishment, torture, and criminal foreign policy which disregard even the most basic concepts of human decency..."
yet seem to conveniently overlook our own country's history of colonialism and genocide; indeed the above photograph might just as easily be of an Iraqi child killed by British forces. I also note how ignorant most Brits are of our country's involvement in the formation of the State of Israel, and suggest that anyone wishing to comment on the Israeli issue should first take a little time to study the history of Israel over the past hundred years or so.
"... hell-bent on establishing a Jewish state..."
With comments like this you wonder why the term "anti-sematic" is getting thrown round in this debate? Why "hell-bent"? We could equally say that Islam is "hell-bent" on a Muslim world, where non-believers are seen as Enemies of God (an almost comedic oxymoron). This may not be an "inherently racist dogma"-- as one could always convert-- but as most people would only convert out of fear, it amounts to the same thing. And were not the American Forefathers (who were mainly Englishmen) "hell-bent" on establishing a Christian state of their own as they butchered the Native Americans like cattle?
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ReplyDelete"... hell-bent on establishing a Jewish state..."
ReplyDeleteThere are currently 24 Islamic states in the world and 36 Christian states-- Even Buddhism has 5 official states-- so what exactly is so inherently wrong with the premise of one Jewish state? Perhaps you would answer that you have nothing against the idea of a Jewish state (at least no more than any other religious state I would hope) and that your concern is, clearly, how they are going about establishing this state. Well, it is not my intention to trivialise the sufferings of the Palestinian people, nor do I wish to appear to excuse Israeli agression or deny their continued violations of UN law. My point is merely that the Israeli government-- and please don't suppose that the average Israeli citizen is responsibile for it's governments policies; that would be like saying that you are responsible for the Gulf wars-- that while the Israeli government may be commiting savage offenses against humanity, they are in no way particular to Israel. Mankind is-- I regret so very much to say-- a race inclined to violence, blood-shed and war. That Israel proves to be no exception to this is not surprising.
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ReplyDeleteBut I am digressing from my point. I am sure you had only the best intentions by posting this blog, but to what end did you write it? You finish by emploring the people of Britain to "condemn the actions of Israel and rally to the plight of the people of Palestine", but how exactly are the people of Britain to do this? I saw nearly a million people take to the streets and march on the Houses of Parliament in an effort to dissuade our government from illegally attacking Iraq, and that made no impact whatsoever on our leaders' decision. So just what result are you expecting from this article you have written? How are you expecting someone who reads it to react? Do you suppose them to petition their local MP and urge them to alert the House of Commons to the situation? I think they're already aware of it. Perhaps you expect them to run for office themselves in order to personally tackle the problem. There is of course a chance that they'll be overcome with sympathy and volunteer to give aid to Gaza-- which would be fantastic, but someone doing so would hardly need to "condemn" Israel in order to give of themselves charitably. And this is exactly the point: so long as we go around condemning and blaming and generally slinging muck about the place, all we succeed in doing is spreading more hatred and intolerance in the world, WHICH IS A BAD THING TO DO. Because in truth someone who reads your article here is very unlikely to do anything to help out the plight of the Palestinians, but very likely to compensate for this lack of activity by actively choosing to hate Israelis (and, by intimation, Jews).
ReplyDeleteIf you want ideal values such as Peace, Tolerance, Reason, Logic or Love to flourish in the world, then you must try your best to represent these virtues in your life. By preaching anger, indignation and condemnation-- as you have done here, regardless of any justification you feel you have to do so-- you only serve to reinforce those negative principles: as is the seed, so will be the fruit. As Noam Chomsky says (I paraphrase), we should never protest against war, but always for peace.
ReplyDeleteThis is not a personal attack and should not be treated as such, I only wish the world to be a better place to live.
"After the democratic elections in 2006, the Palestinians have had their representatives imprisoned and assassinated and their government was removed in an administrative coup in the West Bank".
ReplyDelete'The Palestinians'? This 'admiinistrative coup' was performed by Israel? Or is the squabbling amongst the Fatah and Hamas also instilled by the perfidious Jews, mr. non-antisemitic?