[E-rundbrief] Info 781 - Palestines Guernica

[Matthias Reichl]

E-Rundbrief - Info 781 - Mustafa Barghouthi (Secretary General of the 
Palestinian National Initiative, Palästina): Palestine's Guernica and 
the Myths of Israeli Victimhood.

Bad Ischl, 31.12.2008

Begegnungszentrum für aktive Gewaltlosigkeit

www.begegnungszentrum.at

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Palestine's Guernica and the Myths of Israeli Victimhood

An Opinion Editorial by Mustafa Barghouthi

Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative

The Israeli campaign of 'death from above' began around 11 am, on 
Saturday morning and stretched straight through the night into this 
morning. The massacre continues as I write these words.

The bloodiest single day in Palestine since the War of 1967 is far from 
over following on Israel's promised that this is 'only the beginning' of 
their campaign of state terror. At least 290 people have been murdered 
thus far, but the body count continues to rise at a dramatic pace as 
more mutilated bodies are pulled from the rubble, previous victims 
succumb to their wounds and new casualties are created by the minute.

What has and is occurring is nothing short of a war crime, yet the 
Israeli public relations machine is in full-swing, churning out lies by 
the minute.

Once and for all it is time to expose the myths that they have created.



1.    Israelis have claimed to have ended the occupation of the Gaza 
Strip in 2005.

While Israel has indeed removed the settlements from the tiny coastal 
Strip, they have in no way ended the occupation. They remained in 
control of the borders, the airspace and the waterways of Gaza, and have 
carried out frequent raids and targeted assassinations since the 
disengagement.

Furthermore, since 2006 Israel has imposed a comprehensive siege on the 
Strip. For over two years, Gazans have lived on the edge of starvation 
and without the most basic necessities of human life, such as cooking or 
heating oil and basic medications. This siege has already caused a 
humanitarian catastrophe which has only been exacerbated by the dramatic 
increase in Israeli military aggression.



2.    Israel claims that Hamas violated the cease-fire and pulled out of 
it unilaterally.

Hamas indeed respected their side of the ceasefire, except on those 
occasions early on when Israel carried out major offensives in the West 
Bank. In the last two months, the ceasefire broke down with Israelis 
killing several Palestinians and resulting in the response of Hamas. In 
other words, Hamas has not carried out an unprovoked act throughout the 
period of the cease-fire.

Israel, however, did not live up to any of its obligations of ending the 
siege and allowing vital humanitarian aid to resume in Gaza. Rather than 
the average of 450 trucks per day being allowed across the border, on 
the best days only eighty have been allowed in -- with the border 
remaining hermetically sealed 70% of the time. Throughout the supposed 
'cease-fire' Gazans have been forced to live like animals, with a total 
of 262 dying due to the inaccessibility of proper medical care.

Now after hundreds dead and counting, it is Israel who refuses to 
re-enter talks over a cease-fire. They are not intent on securing peace 
as they claim; it is more and more clear that they are seeking regime 
change -- whatever the cost.



3.    Israel claims to be pursuing peace with 'peaceful Palestinians'.

Before the on-going massacre in the Gaza Strip, and throughout the 
entirety of the Annapolis Peace Process, Israel has continued and even 
intensified its occupation of the West Bank. In 2008, settlement 
expansion increased by a factor of 38, a further 4,950 Palestinians were 
arrested -- mostly from the West Bank, and checkpoints rose from 521 to 699.

Furthermore, since the onset of the peace talks, Israel has killed 546 
Palestinians, among them 76 children. These gruesome statistics are set 
to rise dramatically now, but previous Israeli transgressions should not 
be forgotten amidst this most recent horror.

Only this morning, Israel shot and killed a young peaceful protester in 
the West Bank village of Nihlin, and has injured dozens more over the 
last few hours. It is certain that they will continue to employ deadly 
force at non-violent demonstrations and we expect a sizable body count 
in the West Bank as a result. If Israel is in fact pursuing peace with 
'good Palestinians', who are they talking about



4.    Israel is acting in self-defense.

It is difficult to claim self defense in a confrontation which they 
themselves have sparked, but they are doing it anyway. Self-defense is 
reactionary, while the actions of Israel over the last two days have 
been clearly premeditated. Not only did the Israeli press widely report 
the ongoing public relations campaign being undertaken by Israel to 
prepare Israeli and international public opinion for the attack, but 
Israel has also reportedly tried to convince the Palestinians that an 
attack was not coming by briefly opening crossings and reporting future 
meetings on the topic. They did so to ensure that casualties would be 
maximized and that the citizens of Gaza would be unprepared for their 
impending slaughter.

It is also misleading to claim self-defense in a conflict with such an 
overwhelming asymmetry of power. Israel is the largest military force in 
the region, and the fifth largest in the world. Furthermore, they are 
the fourth largest exporter of arms and have a military industrial 
complex rivaling that of the United States. In other words, Israel has 
always had a comprehensive monopoly over the use of force, and much like 
its super power ally, Israel uses war as an advertising showcase of its 
many instruments of death.



5.    Israel claims to have struck military targets only.

Even while image after image of dead and mutilated women and children 
flash across our televisions, Israel brazenly claims that their 
munitions expertly struck only military installations. We know this to 
be false as many other civilian sites have been hit by airstrikes 
including a hospital and mosque.

In the most densely populated area on the planet, tons upon tons of 
explosives have been dropped. The first estimates of injured are in the 
thousands. Israel will claim that these are merely 'collateral damage' 
or accidental deaths. The sheer ridiculousness and inhumanity of such a 
claim should sicken the world community.



6.    Israel claims that it is attacking Hamas and not the Palestinian 
people.

First and foremost, missiles do not differentiate people by their 
political affiliation; they simply kill everyone in their path. Israel 
knows this, and so do Palestinians. What Israel also knows, but is not 
saying publicly, is how much their recent actions will actually 
strengthen Hamas -- whose message of resistance and revenge is being 
echoed by the angry and grieving.

The targets of the strike, police and not Hamas militants, give us some 
clue as to Israel's mistaken intention. They are hoping to create 
anarchy in the Strip by removing the pillar of law and order.



7.    Israel claims that Palestinians are the source of violence.

Let us be clear and unequivocal. The occupation of Palestine since the 
War of 1967 has been and remains the root of violence between Israelis 
and Palestinians. Violence can be ended with the occupation and the 
granting of Palestine's national and human rights. Hamas does not 
control the West Bank and yet we remain occupied, our rights violated 
and our children killed.



With these myths understood, let us ponder the real reasons behind these 
airstrikes; what we find may be even more disgusting than the act itself.

The leaders of Israel are holding press conferences, dressed in black, 
with sleeves rolled up.  'It's time to fight', they say, 'but it won't 
be easy.'

To prove just how hard it is, Livni, Olmert and Barak did not even wear 
make-up to the press conference, and Barak has ended his election 
campaign to focus on the Gaza campaign. What heroes...what leaders...

We all know the truth: the suspension of the electioneering is exactly 
that -- electioneering. Like John McCain's suspension of his presidential 
campaign to return to Washington to 'deal with' the financial crisis, 
this act is little more than a publicity stunt.

The candidates have to appear 'tough enough to lead', and there is 
seemingly no better way of doing that than bathing in Palestinian blood.

'Look at me,' Livni says in her black suit and unkempt hair, 'I am a 
warrior. I am strong enough to pull the trigger. Don't you feel more 
confident about voting for me, now that you know I am as ruthless as 
Bibi Netanyahu?'


I do not know which is more disturbing, her and Barak, or the 
constituency they are trying to please.



In the end, this will in no way improve the security of the average 
Israeli; in fact it can be expected to get much worse in the coming days 
as the massacre could presumably provoke a new generation of suicide 
bombers.

It will not undermine Hamas either, and it will not result in the three 
fools, Barak, Livni and Olmert, looking 'tough'. Their misguided 
political venture will likely blow up in their faces as did the brutally 
similar 2006 invasion of Lebanon.

In closing, there is another reason - beyond the internal politics of 
Israel - why this attack has been allowed to occur: the complicity and 
silence of the international community.

Israel cannot and would not act against the will of its economic allies 
in Europe or its military allies in the US.  Israel may be pulling the 
trigger ending hundreds, perhaps even thousands of lives this week, but 
it is the apathy of the world and the inhumane tolerance of Palestinian 
suffering which allows this to occur.

'The evil only exists because the good remain silent'

 From Occupied Palestine,

Dr. Mustafa Baghouthi


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