In the last days of the Bush presidency, Israel launched an attack and invasion of Gaza that ranks among the most heinous crimes ever committed by one nation against another. It is unethical, immoral, and illegal to rain destruction on a civilian population because of something their government does. This is the law of the United States, and we ourselves, in days past when America was a nation of laws, helped write international law and codes of conduct for warfare. It is not true that “all is fair in love and war,” but it is true that “two wrongs don’t make a right.” No matter that Hamas attacked Israel with crude rockets. It matters not whether they used rocks or nuclear weapons, Israel is not justified in attacking civilians.
Before considering the ethical problem in any more detail, we should think about our national self-interest. Israel is "our strongest ally in the Middle East." Are we so sure of this? What has Israel ever done for the US? Other than buying our military hardware, I can think of nothing. In fact, Israel never apologized for the attack on the USS Liberty in 1967, which killed 34 American sailors and wounded 173 more. Had Palestinians, Iran (or Cuba!) attacked a US ship, it would have been an act of war. During the Gaza war, the Israeli Navy rammed and almost sank an unarmed vessel carrying former US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and others on a fact-finding and humanitarian aid mission to Gaza. Israel has amassed a nuclear arsenal of unknown quantity and quality, but analysts have said it's the world's most sophisticated. There is no doubt that Israel could attack the US itself with nuclear weapons if it desired. In fact, Israel's treatment of Palestinians and our unconditional support of Israel, are the underlying causes of the Sept. 11 attacks. Yet, over the last 8 years, the US has deepened its commitments to Israel. For every bomb rained on Gaza, a new terrorist was born, and the target is not only Israel, but also the US.
All nations have the right to defend themselves. This includes Gaza and Israel. However, targeting of civilians is prohibited under international law. Israel intentionally bombed and bulldozed churches, hospitals, and schools in Gaza. Israel used white phosphorus against civilian men, women, and children living in one of the most crowded places on Earth. Israel may have used napalm and depleted uranium. They blocked journalists from Gaza so that the world wouldn't know what was happening there. The Israeli army attacked UN and Red Cross facilities. Fully 25% of the casualties were children. During this terror, the people of Gaza had no place to go.
Response to a threat must not be disproportionate. In response to a few crude missiles shot into southern Israel that killed a few tens of Israeli settlers (most of whom were there illegally in the first place), Israel launched a bombardment and invasion of Gaza that killed hundreds of people and injured thousands more. These are crimes under international law, and they are crimes against humanity itself. Israeli government officials and military leaders who authorized and carried out these acts must be prosecuted for war crimes. Investigations have already begun, and the future of the world depends on justice being served. If no one is ever brought to justice, then future crimes will only be worse.
How ironic that the nation born out of a determination that nothing like the Holocaust would ever happen again, has itself become an instrument of holocaust. The torment of Gaza has been compared to the Nazi destruction of the Warsaw ghetto. The parallels are many, only the tortured of 1943 are become the torturers of 2009. Israel, facing legitimate threats, has begun to see monsters in the shadows, and has gone insane.
America should consider the high price paid by our taxpayers and our consciences to support a criminal government whose irresponsible actions endanger the US. We should immediately stop all financial and military support of Israel and instead offer our unconditional support for a comprehensive, negotiated settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel's invasion of Gaza demonstrates that the two-state solution can never work. Israel is too strong, militarily and economically. A Palestinian state would always be a poor stepchild. Only a one-state solution can work: a democratic nation whose people, no matter the ethnic or religious background, enjoy equal protection and share equal power. Such a state would no longer be a "Jewish state," but it would continue to be a homeland for Jews who wanted to live there, and it would also welcome the return of those dispersed in the Nakba (the Palestinian diaspora).
If ending one diaspora creates another one, if atoning for the Holocaust means enacting another holocaust, if Israel's leaders have betrayed the deepest ethical principles of their faith even to the point of becoming the embodiment of anti-Semitism, then it's time to examine the need for a "Jewish state." What is needed is a homeland for all the people of Palestine: Jews, Palestinians, Christians, and others.
Until such a solution is in place, I commit myself to work for divestment by US corporations in all Israeli ventures, sanctions on Israel by the US government and international agencies, a consumer boycott of all Israeli-made products, and a cut-off of all US aid to Israel. These strategies worked in South Africa, where freedom came without a war, to everyone's amazement. As a college student, I worked for divestment, mainly through letter-writing campaigns. This time, our opponent is stronger, but we also have the support of a near-majority in Israel itself, who do not want war and who want to see a just peace. And, we have the support of a solid majority of Jews living outside Israel, many of whom were strong supporters of Israel until the Gaza atrocities. Together, we cannot fail. When justice finally prevails, all the people and countries concerned will be stronger.
That the growing consciousness of humanity is a good thing, a valuable thing, a thing to be cherished above all else, tells me that we must not ignore what Israel has done to the people of Gaza. If the Holocaust led to the creation of Israel, then perhaps the atrocities in Gaza will lead to a new homeland in Palestine.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
"If the Holocaust led to the creation of Israel, then perhaps the atrocities in Gaza will lead to a new homeland in Palestine."
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that ISRAEL was created after the Holocaust, I believe it was the reason for the gathering. The question you should ask yourself is this, 'Are these people the same people from all the diasporas and pogroms for centuries since 70 AD when Titus and or Vespasian leveled the temple mount and seized ultimate control of Jerusalem?' If your answer is yes then you have wasted time writting and should have been reading your bible. If your answer is 'NO' then where and who are the Israelites so they can take over the land that the Lord has given to them?