The Cleansing of the Gaza Strip
I need to write this in order to vent my frustrations regarding the current humanitarian crisis in Gaza. While I would never pretend to be an expert in Middle-East political analysis there are some things which become painfully clear to any layman when you take a minute to ponder the recent events:
First off, lets look at the recently violated cease-fire for a minute and consider how this bloody and terrible path wound its way to present-day events. When the Palestinians held their Presidential elections in 2005 (the first since 1996) Hamas as well as other groups boy-cotted the election, due to a feeling of exclusion. These elections were interfered with by the blockade that exists between the West Bank and Gaza and displaced Palestinians abroad were unable to vote at all. Even though there were seven candidates, Mahmoud Abbas won mostly due to his only real challenger being arrested by the Israelis when attempting to give a campaign speech and eventually dropping out all together.
In 2006 it was time for the Parliamentary elections. This time Hamas decided to participate and had a very convincing victory ending up with 74 parliament seats to Fatah's 45, giving Hamas the first legitimate power it had garnished to date. After extolling the virtues of democracy and the election as a whole, the Bush administration, later with the help of the newly empowered Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, began a round of harsh economic sanctions and blockading of the West Bank, but especially of the Gaza Strip.
Beginning in February 7th 2008, Israel began to cut the flow of electricity and fuel into Gaza. This escalated gradually over the course of the past year to include basic goods and services being cut off to such an extent that, currently, the area of Gaza now contains some of the most malnourished people in the world, according to the United Nations Relief Works Agency in October of last year:
"With Israeli army curfews over the past two years hampering food distribution and shopping, undernourishment among Palestinians is now on a par with the crisis in Africa, he [Peter Hansen, head of UNRWA, the UN Relief Works Agency] said.
Medical specialists from Johns Hopkins University in the US have classified 13.2 per cent of Palestinian children in Gaza as suffering from chronic malnutrition and 22.5 per cent suffering from acute malnutrition. These proportions are higher than in Zimbabwe and the same as in Congo."
Israel's actions here are called "collective punishment" in diplomatic parlance, which are considered a violation of the country's obligations under the international laws of war.
There is no way that I can argue that Hamas is a noble group with a lengthy history of enlightened policy, because they aren't (although, they do attempt to build schools, hospitals, and the like inside Palestinian areas). In May 2008 Tony Blair tried his hand at cementing a cease fire agreement, based heavily on the Peace Valley Plan, which was an effort to promote economic cooperation between Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinians.
This cease-fire was generally observed by Hamas and Israel, (if you don't count starving a civilian population to death) until November 4th 2008. Israel then launched an air raid, killing 6 Hamas militants citing the tunnels on the Egyptian boarder and the potential weapons that were being smuggled into the area by Hamas as the reason for the attack. So, the screws have been tightened on Hamas by an Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minister who are about to get kicked out of office. What if Bush and Cheney launched an offensive on Iran days before they leave office? I wonder how we would react then.
Now, regardless of what was being brought through those tunnels, (and I would have to believe there were some medical supplies and other necessary resources as well as weapons) Hamas had not been firing rockets into Southern Israel during the period leading up to this air raid. Citing weapons smuggling as a reason for attacks is like saying that Hamas has the right to attack Israel every time another American-made shipment of weapons arrives in Tel Aviv. Unless one party in a cease-fire is actually firing, then they don't violate the cease-fire.
Unfortunately, for the people of Gaza, the Hamas leadership thought it would be a swell idea to launch a salvo of rockets in response to the attack motivated by their general frustration with isolation and starvation. Of course this was a terrible idea and, their leadership was stupidly lured into the trap even though I am sure they saw it as garnishing international support and staying in the limelight of the anti-Israel movement.
So here we are today, with civilians being wiped out right and left in a tiny strip of land which contains between 1.2 -1.5 million people with only 20,000 of those being official Hamas militants. There are a couple stories which showcase the insanity being displayed on both sides of the fence that have come out of the recent days of fighting:
1.Jan. 1st - When Hamas leader Nizar Rayan was told he was being targeted on the first day of the new year, instead of going into hiding like most of the commanders, he went to his family's home in a eight-story apartment building to be with his four wives and dozen children. Israel air force promptly struck the side of the building with a bombardment killing up Rayan, two of his wives, four of his children, and several other people who lived in the building. How selfish is he for going back to his family and how incredibly unjustified is Israel for this attack?
2.Jan. 7th - A United Nations-run school in Gaza had been the gathering point for roughly 1000 frightened civilians who have had no where to run or hide from the assault on their homes. The U.N. had clearly communicated the whereabouts of all of its personal and resources via GPS locations transmitted to the Israeli Defense Force, yet still the I.D.F. bombed the school causing the deaths of 40 people. Christopher Gunness from the UN Relief and Works Agency said an initial investigation left him 99.9 per cent sure there were no militants at the school. Huh? Last I checked the U.N. is the primary reason Israel even came into existence after WWII!
3.Jan 8th – A U.N. humanitarian aid truck came under direct fire from Israeli forces killing the driver. The Red Cross (specifically Pierre Wettach), who usually doesn't make public statements during conflicts, had this to say:
"The Israeli military must have been aware of the situation but did not assist the wounded. Neither did they make it possible for us or the Palestine Red Crescent to assist the wounded," he was quoted as saying.
The statement said the international Red Cross "believes that in this instance the Israeli military failed to meet its obligation under international humanitarian law to care for and evacuate the wounded. It considers the delay in allowing rescue services access unacceptable."
This is the equivalent of walking by a school, getting shot at, and then fire-bombing the school when children and innocents are inside! In what rational country is this acceptable?
This leads me to the question that has been plaguing me: What is Israel's strategy? It really appears that they want to not only crush Hamas, (which isn't a particularly bad thing), but also to make life so unmanageable for the civilian population in Gaza that they flee en masse into Egypt, which there is no way Egypt will let happen (hence them taking the lead in cease-fire proposals). This reeks of a "final solution" approach to this conflict which is truly despicable. I really can't see any other underlying strategy by the Israel government, but am open to suggestions. Regardless, Israel, through their actions, are currently training the next generation of Palestinian and Middle-Eastern suicide bombers and brokering no goodwill from any quarter, save that of our back-asswards administration.
Finally, what the hell is wrong with the American media and our elected officials?! Is the pro-Israel lobby in America really that powerful? I always chalked the whole "Jews control the media" myth up there with other nut-wing rants like "B. Hussein Obama is a secret racist Muslim", but now I have to pause and wonder. Can someone in the mainstream media find some guts and do some honest reporting on this issue? I guess only time will tell. It sadly reminds me of the one-sided reporting leading up to the Iraq invasion.
When we are the only country in the world besides some tiny island nations who abstain from voting on a U.N. sanctioned cease-fire, there is something deeply flawed with the American political machine to deal with this issue. Its time for some common sense policies and some tough love from the new administration towards Israel. Cut off all funding and aide to Israel until the violence is ended. Of course they will end it themselves prior to Barack taking office, in which case, there should be a sensor in the U.N. and a series of economic sanctions until the peace process is well-under way once again.
Lastest count at time of writing:
830 Palestinians had been killed and some 3000 wounded (anywhere from 30%-50% are children depending on which report you read)
7 Israelis had been killed
For shame Israel government.
Sincerly Saddened,
Marshall Getto