Israel, Occupation & Blind Hatred

I used to think that the Haaretz website was silly for allowing all and any views to be published on it’s website in response to its news reports. However over time I have begun to appreciate the fact that the opinions expressed at Haaretz reflects the opinions of much of Israeli society as well as American and other world opinions. What is more striking is the obvious state of denial Israeli society is in when it comes to the true nature of the occupation even when its brutality is caught on tape.

Let us analyze the recent footage of a young Palestinian blind folded and bound by the hands and feet at an Israeli checkpoint. An Israeli soldier points a gun towards the young Palestinians legs for a few minutes before shooting him in the foot. Now many news reporters cite Israeli rubber bullets without mentioning that they are steel bullets with a thin rubber coating, making them little different from normal steel bullets. What makes this incident even more repulsive is the fact that the Palestinian is being held by the Israeli officer in charge as well as at least three other Israeli soldiers, diminishing the argument that cases like these are isolated incidents as opposed to an institutional problem. So how do many Israelis view such incidents? You would think that any honest person watching the video would undoubtedly condemn the soldier’s actions for its sheer cruelty. Comments such as “this video is anti-Semitic” or “this video is a fake” or my favourite “he probably deserved it” really does make me lose any hope in a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

Israelis need to start accepting the reality of their existence and the occupation, which its Government continues to maintain over another people. The denial within Israeli society is what allows its Government to maintain and perpetuate its brutal policies. There is also another fundamental problem with the mindset of the pro-Israel I camp. One comment which best describes this was “...at least they [IDF soldiers] do not chop off his head…” referring to the evil actions of a tiny minority of so called “Muslims”. A problem with this argument is that the conflict in Palestine has nothing to do with George Bush’ so called “War on Terror”. For example I could not compare the actions of the American soldiers who torture and kill Iraqi prisoners in their military dungeons with the actions of a Police officer in the UK who was filmed beating a young boy. The only similarity between the two is that they both speak English and that they both tick ‘Christian’ when filling out their census forms. However many Israelis and pro-Israelis alike are quick to bring in Al-Qaeda when talking about Palestinian “terrorism” as if the two were somehow connected. Now anyone with a basic understanding of history would know that Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation began as a secular movement long before Al-Qaeda was a household name. Hamas has in the past condemned the actions of Al-Qaeda and has made clear their position in this regard, distancing themselves from the propaganda being circulated in western media in trying to connect the two. The truth always stands out from error in just the same way that George Bushes propaganda in the run up to the Iraq war claimed that Saddam Hussein has helped Al-Qaeda attack the two trade centres in New York on Sept 11^th. Did Bush really think that people would believe such an absurdity? How can a secular socialist Government and Al-Qaeda share similar ideologies? The Ba’ath party of Iraq represented everything contradictory to Al-Qaeda’s own ideology to such a degree that it made them enemies by default. Israeli society as well as many in the pro-Israel camp do not of course see these differences within the Arab and Muslim world, and will therefore always excuse the crimes committed against Arabs and Muslims on the grounds that the entire Arab & Muslim world are guilty for the crimes committed by others who are labelled “Muslim”.

There is also another difficulty the Palestinians face when seeking justice for their people. The IDF usually carry out their own “investigations” when it comes to incidents like the checkpoint shooting. In nearly every single case the IDF claim that the Palestinians have fabricated crimes and atrocities in order to win world sympathy. The reality is of course is that the Palestinians as a whole are no longer hoping that world opinion will help win their freedom. The massacre of an entire family on a Gaza beach in 2006 was the Israelis claimed caused by “unexploded ordinance” on the beach. In other words they were killed by their own people. The evidence gathered and the subsequent Human Rights Watch and Palestinian investigations as well as medical reports have proved that it was an Israeli gunship which fired the rocket which resulted in their deaths. Now it seems the IDF are already quick to question the legitimacy of this recent video evidence of Israeli brutality. An IDF “investigation” is currently under way with Ehud Barak claiming; “…The military will exact the full extent of the law in this case….” It should not be any surprise that the Palestinians and human rights organizations alike do not take such words seriously, especially when soldiers who are guilty of murdering Palestinian children are hardly ever convicted. In the rare cases when Israelis are convicted of crimes against Palestinians their punishment are never fitting to the crime. A few months in jail for shooting a Palestinian child in the head is usually the norm. In the case of the settlers who beat an old Palestinian couple, which was also caught on tape resulted in their release two days after they were initially arrested. Readers can verify this information by visiting the Israeli human rights organizations website B’Tselem (an Israeli organization).

In a nutshell Israeli society needs the lies and myths surrounding the existence of the state in order to justify and wipe their hands of any and all responsibility for the suffering of the Palestinians and the responsibility for that suffering. If Israel was an Arab state and the Palestinians were Jews or Christians the international community would not hesitate in branding it a terrorist state. They would not hesitate in comparing its policies to that of apartheid South Africa. The many massacres would have been condemned in the most caustic of terms and international pressure and sanctions would be enforced without question. If Israel was an Arab state, be sure that the US would be pushing for ‘regime change’ even if that meant a full scale war in order to achieve this end.

What makes this conflict hopeless is that Israelis will continue denying their responsibility for the crimes of the state yesterday and the crimes it will commit tomorrow. Israeli society and Government alike will continue to justify the murder of Palestinian children and the humiliation endured by Palestinians on a daily basis. Reports of pregnant women and terminally ill patients dying at checkpoints or ambulance personnel being harassed and even killed by so called soldiers will surface again and again. Israeli bombardments and incursions into occupied Palestinian territory will in no doubt lead to more civilian deaths many of whom will be children. Palestinians will continue to wonder why on earth they are being treated the way they are and why it is that the world is silent at what is so obviously a brutal and disgusting occupation, which will continue to deny Palestinian human rights and their right to resist the Israel’s occupation. Israel will continue being in a state of denial unable to comprehend the actual facts on the ground blaming Palestinian violence on inherent hatred as instead of recognising the truth, that Palestinian violence is bourn from a hatred engraved in the minds Palestinian children each time they see their friends or family killed or father, mother or brother humiliated at the hands of the Israeli military. If these realities do not change, then peace in Palestine will remain a distant dream in the minds of those who are living the misery of occupation.