Israel’s unprecedented use of violence against the Palestinians proves that it is incapable of making or keeping peace, writes Dilly Hussain.
The siege of Gaza is entering its third week and the Palestinian death toll continues to rise. Yet again, it’s the Palestinian women and children who are paying the price for the Zionist entity’s incapability of maintaining a ceasefire. As if aerial and naval bombardment of the biggest open air prison on earth is not enough, Israeli forces mounted a ground offensive on Thursday night. The Muslims of Gaza have become used to being attacked during the holy month of Ramadān, a form of psychological warfare intentionally enacted by Israel.
There are many hidden truths about the build up to Operation Protective Edge, which the BBC and the mainstream media have chosen to downplay or ignore outright. Few are aware that two Palestinian boys were shot dead by Israeli soldiers before the three Israeli settlers were murdered; while a further five Palestinian children were killed in subsequent “revenge attacks”. What our so-called independent, “impartial” media giants conveniently forget to mention is that it was Israel who broke the November 2012 ceasefire, which Hamas honoured.
But before we start talking about any practical solutions towards “peace in the Middle East”, we need to study some facts that serve as a stark reminder, when assessing Israel’s capability of digesting the meaning of peace, let alone maintaining it.
Israel and the “Peace Process”
In its fervent efforts towards peace, Israel:
1) Is the only country in the Middle East to possess nuclear weapons, while it refuses to sign the non-proliferation treaty and bars international inspections.
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2) Is cited by Amnesty International as responsible for “demolishing more than 4000 Palestinian homes as a means of ethnic cleansing”.
3) Regularly violates the Geneva Convention by imposing collective punishment on entire towns, villages and camps in Palestinian territories.
4) Has seized and continues to illegally occupy or control sovereign territory in Syria, Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan by military force and continues to do so in utter defiance of the UN Security Council’s resolutions.
5) Routinely violates the international borders surrounding Palestinian territories with war planes, artillery and naval gunfire.
6) Has created millions of refugees and refuses to allow them to return to their homes, farms and businesses. According to UN statistics, the number of registered Palestinian refugees currently stands at around five million.
7) Refuses to pay compensation to Palestinians whose land, bank accounts and businesses have been forcefully confiscated.
8) Is in defiance of 69 UN Security Council resolutions and has been protected from a further 41 by U.S. vetoes.
9) Has signed the Oslo Accords, promising to halt any new Jewish settlement construction, but has instead built more than 270 new settlements since its ratification.
10) Has assassinated more than one hundred Palestinian officials, most of whom form the democratically elected government in the last two years, which has resulted in the deaths of civilians in the process.
The above facts are merely the tip of the iceberg while the list of broken ceasefires and international treaties is never-ending. The most recent assault has claimed the lives of more than 600 Palestinians, three quarters of whom are women and children, has injured almost 3500, demolished 1000 homes and has damaged 2000 others. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was to slip at these figures when he said Israel is indeed “becoming an apartheid state.” UN reports show that abject poverty has increased in Gaza by 300% since the 2007 Israeli blockade. One can only imagine how unbearable life has become in one of the most densely populated areas in the world.
Ironically, Israel continues to play the victim card and sobs to the international community for being “singled out”. However, its 65-year track record of unprecedented brutality and aggression towards the Palestinians has made its lip service to the peace process farcical to say the least.
Anti-Israeli sentiment
People of conscience around the world, Muslims and non-Muslims, Arabs and non-Arabs have been protesting, boycotting, praying and giving charity. These are all sincere and well-intended actions, which have undoubtedly raised awareness of Israel’s bloody and ruthless rampage.
However, and not to sound like a pessimist, I ask myself how fruitful boycotting and protesting is. How effective is boycotting Israeli products when it receives more than a third of all U.S. aid and is ranked one of the richest nations in the world? If two million people marched in London against the Iraq war which fell on deaf ears, what will hundreds of thousands demonstrating outside Downing Street or the Israeli embassy achieve when the successors of Mark Sykes and Arthur Balfour stand in adamant support of their exceedingly bias Middle East foreign policy?
Whilst well-armed neighbouring Arab states that bodyguard Israel sit idly and spectate the bloodshed taking place before their eyes, here at home, PM David Cameron reaffirms his allegiance to Israel and its “right to defend itself.”
Unsurprisingly, Israel has agreed to a ceasefire proposed by the butcher of Rabaa, the Pharaoh himself, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. The “ceasefire”, other than having overlooked the resistance’s stance completely, in effect grants the Zionist entity international legitimacy to carry on bombing Gaza whilst viperously diverting blame for Israel’s atrocities onto Hamas. The UN, OIC and the Arab League have once again proven their ineptness as they witness the one-sided war that is turning Gaza into a city of rubble and stray limbs—again. They do, however, throw the occasional one-liners of condemnation, but the bitter truth is that they have never been able to contain Israel’s manoeuvres due to their obedience of string-pullers in Washington, London and Paris.
Once this reoccurring episode passes, empty talks of “peace” and “practical solutions” will dominate the post-siege narrative by the usual suspects—the same protagonists that created Israel and continue to fund it. However, our hope in Allāh (swt) is great and peace will be dictated on the terms of the most resolute, and by His will, justice will serve a humiliating blow to the Zionist oppressors.
@DilyHussain88
This article was first published on the Islam21c website.
