Gaza's over, and we don't have to think about it anymore. Whatever happened, Israel successfully defended itself against the terrorists and life is back to normal.
Right?
Sorry. There's news out that we need to pay attention to. While the Israeli war in Gaza was going on, I was unwilling to describe it as a war of genocide, or a war of terror, or a war on civilians. Apparently I was wrong.
The news isn't coming from anti-Semites here, or Arab or Palestinian organs in the Middle East, but from legitimate Israeli news sources.
You should read or listen to the NPR story in its entirety, but here are some highlights:
Soldiers interviewed by the Military Institute and Breaking the Silence also allege the army's chief rabbi used an inflammatory religious and nationalist rhetoric to encourage soldiers to see the Gaza attack as a sacred fight to expel non-Jews from Jewish land.
The rabbi's office passed out booklets during the war that among other things urged soldiers not to show mercy to the enemy. The army's chief rabbi, Brigadier General Avichai Ronsky, is from Itamar, a West Banks settlement with a history of right-wing activism. Former soldier Yehuda Shaul says the picture that emerges is of a chief military rabbi promoting the fight in Gaza as a holy war.
Human Rights Watch has also reported on Israeli atrocities, including Israel's use of white phosphorus weapons.
Of course, it's not easy to get the information, because Israel blocked access to Gaza by human rights investigators. Still, it is clear that, whatever official Israeli policy was, it was Israel's widespread practice to target and slaughter Gaza civilians.
But you know, this may as well be a story about U.S. soldiers in Iraq. This is exactly what happened in Iraq, and it was totally predictable.
That a chief rabbi in the army would encourage the worst outcomes and do so invoking God, is awful to hear, but we heard the same sort of thing from one of our own top generals in the “War on Terror.”
Call out Israel on this stuff, but don’t be too awfully surprised by it. They are military power, like we are, and militarism often breeds cruelty.
… you didn’t think this wasn’t going to get my attention, now did you Jack? 🙂
We could argue until the dogs come home about the Israeli/Palestine conflict. Now that what transpired is over – and I’ve had time to think it over – I think a lot of the raw energy I was feeling over this (and hence all my rabid postings at Facebook) was that this aggression was clearly wrong. I think that was the main point. Not necessarily about Palestine statehood, two-state solution, Palestine’s culpibilities, violations against International Law, Quassam rocket attacks, etc. Both sides committed violence.
But truth be told, that was a disproportionate amount of violence and aggression committed by Israeli defense forces. The images and the raw footage that came from Gaza confirmed that. I think the media, in all it’s fairness, tried to convey that … and then the Israeli PR machine kicked in with mistruths, inaccuracies, and personal attacks. I don’t think anyone who covered the crisis – honestly and sincerely – wanted to call Israel’s existence into question, nor their right to defend themselves. The point was… why did they use so much aggression? Why did they violate international law in order to make their point? Why did they deliberately choose to bomb so-called targets when they KNEW there were dozens of people in the area, especially as crowded as Gaza? Why did they refuse to allow ALL journalists into Gaza during the siege? Luckily Al Jazeera got in and citizen journalists on the ground got the word out about what was happening. These were the questions people/journalists wanted answered. Now we find out there’s so many things that happened that were so worse off than before. OK then.
Hamas and suicide bombers have done some barbaric acts. I know that. But all we’re/I’m trying to do is point out that this aggression was uncalled for and it did nothing to secure security in the region nor did it improve Israel’s security. I could analyze why the outgoing parliament/elected leaders did this politics-wise but that’s another issue for another day. All I’m saying is this aggression was barbaric and wrong on Israel’s side. This had to be acknowledged. The press tried and other elected officials/leaders in the U.S. Except when you do so, then comes the attacks. They kicked into high gear… again, at a time when it wasn’t warranted in my opinion.
Palestine has a right to defend themselves under international law because they are occupied. They have a right to defend themselves pending they honor international law. Israel has a right to keep its country secure from violent attacks. But like Palestine, they too should do so AND honor international law. In general, international law was violated on both sides many times. This time Israel CLEARLY violated it in a major fashion. LIke other nations when they commit these violations, the people behind it should be held accountable. No matter who or which country you/they are.