These words are not easy for me to write, and still, they should be written. This post walks a fine line, but one that should be walked. It crosses bridges that should be crossed and reveals truths that should be discussed. Its purpose is to show that Israel is using increasingly alarming terror techniques in its fight against the Palestinians.
I further argue that at this point the state terror used by Israel imposes by far a greater risk to Israel itself than the Palestinian terror.
Some parallels between the Hamas and the Isareli government:
- Both do not acknowledge each other, even though they both were elected democratically by their own people. Furthermore, both choose violence in order to attempt to destroy the other. By doing so, both only strengthen their partner to this bloody dance.
- Both kill hundreds of civilians, on purpose. Yes, even Israel. For example, Israel used artillery and other inaccurate weapons during the last war. One cannot use these weapons in the most densely populated place on earth and hope that no civilians get killed. There is one difference between the Hamas and Israel, and Israel should not be proud of it: more Palestinians (overall and civilians) were killed during the 3 weeks of Israeli operation in Gaza compared with Israelis who got killed by Palestinians in the 9 years since the Second Intifada broke. 3 weeks vs. 9 years.
- Both kidnap soldiers and put them in inhumane conditions. Again, only one tiny difference: while the Hamas kidnapped one member of the Israeli army, Israel holds thousands of Hamas members.
- Both do so in the name of religion.
- Both need the other to exist in order to justify their own ideology of hatred and racism.
- This is a key point: they both hide behind civilians. One of the most common criticism towards the Hamas is that it operates from civic centers, and its soldiers use human shields to protect themselves. For example, the Jewish Chronicle published the following caricature last week:
Here is another similar caricature.
However, also Israel uses human shields. First, its biggest military bases are in the middle of civilian concentrations (HaKirya in Tel Aviv, Pikud Darom in Beer Sheva, etc). But I am not talking about this. I am talking about the Neighbor Procedure (נהל שכן).
Bear with me, this is tricky.
When searching for suspects from house to house, Israeli soldiers take local people and make them knock on the doors and open them, so that if the suspects open fire, the locals will get hurt and not the soldiers. This was declared illegal by the Israeli supreme court, yet nonetheless, the army still uses this procedure and ignores the court order.
More can be found here. Testimonials from the recent Gaza war can be found here: "soldiers had made them, at gun point, open doors and enter houses to search for Hamas members". And if you believe only Jews, here Israeli soldiers talk about using this procedure.
So again, both sides use human shields. Again, one difference - while Hamas uses its own people, Israel uses Palestinians to protect its soldiers.
- Both declare that their goals are to terrorize the other side. Israel calls it 'so they learn a lesson', but I am not sure how this is different.
- Both parties took advantage of the truce to prepare for the next war...
There are also differences, of course. Naturally, I do not defend the Hamas. It is a terror organization and Israel should protect itself against its violence.
However, Israel cannot - - - well, it can, it does, but it should not - become a terror organization itself.
Furthremore, I argue that this imposes a greater risk to Israel compared with the Palestinian terror. Why is it dangerous?
- First and foremost, we loose the moral ground and the basis to our existence.
- Second, it creates emotional scars also in the soldiers, that lead, so I believe, to increasing domestic violence - in home, on the road, between individuals, etc.
- Security wise - it gives legitimacy to the worst terror against Israel. For example, what can Israel claim now when Iranian missiles will start falling on Tel Aviv?
- It puts our democracy at risk. For example, in the recent war, there were many cases of pro-peace demonstrators being attacked by security forces and dehumanized. One example for such story was told by a friend of mine to the Guardian. Another example - the Israeli parliament voted for disqualifying the Arab parties from participating in the elections. (who said democracy is for all? Also in Iran the government can choose who will run in the 'democratic' process...). Luckily, this miserable decision was later overturned by court.
But my main point is not that this is not a smart move. My main point is that this simply should not be done.
Luckily, Jon Stewart found a better way to say it.
Posts
thanks for a great post. I agree -- Israel's state terror makes it even worse than Hamas (which has legitimate reasons for resisting the Israeli occupation with force), hence it's an illegal entity. A state that deliberately murders hundreds of children just to show it can should not be allowed to exist!
ReplyDeleteJosh
According to the same logic, there should not be a Palestinian state either. For example, during the 1st Intifada, the Palestinian killed from their own civilians more than Israel did, not to mention all the Israeli civilians attacked by the Palestinian regime in Gaza.
ReplyDeleteOther countries in the middle east should cease to exist too, such as Lebanon and Iran, not to mention global powers such as China and the US.
I don't think we can eliminate China and the US that quickly...
Alternatively, here is a more constructive conclusion. Countries who commit war crimes should be held accountable to their actions. In addition, we should use the democratic tools given to us in a democracy to try and influence these policies. In that regard, at least, Israel is doing better than its neighbors and the US is doing better than China - look at the current status of Guatanamo.
hummusmonster,
ReplyDeleteI think you are making the same logical error that Josh made. Is any other country held responsible for its war crimes? are you suggesting we make israel the first one, and that the rest will follow? it seems to me that most of the people/countries that are trying to hold israel accountable for its supposed war crimes are doing it for political reasons only.
And Guatanamo is nothing but PR; the US is responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan - no one is suggesting to investigate this.
/r
hummusmonster - no other country murders children as a matter of policy!
ReplyDeleteIf the western world does not recognize Hamas's legitimate rule in Gaza because it's "terrorist" why does it recognize Israel then? as you showed, there are little differences between the two.
Josh
anyway, what war crimes did Lebanon and Iran do? you can't just blame law-abiding countries without any evidence!
ReplyDelete"- First and foremost, we loose the moral ground and the basis to our existence." - so is the US, china, lebanon and iran losing their moral ground and the basis of their existence as well?
ReplyDelete"- Security wise - it gives legitimacy to the worst terror against Israel. For example, what can Israel claim now when Iranian missiles will start falling on Tel Aviv?"
Come on... the US is responsible for killing thousands of civilians. If a new 9/11 happens, would anyone think the terrorist attack is more legitimate as a result???
"- It puts our democracy at risk" - weaker democracies has sustained much bigger threats than that. A much bigger threat to democracy is the agony of the southern israelis that felt that no one really care about their suffering.
"For example, in the recent war, there were many cases of pro-peace demonstrators being attacked by security forces and dehumanized. One example for such story was told by a friend of mine to the Guardian." - this incident is not a valid example. some idiot fire fighters are not "security forces", spraying water is not "dehumanizing" and in any case the demonstration was not peaceful. the protesters blocked traffic and the entrance to the base (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1052261.html)
/r
Good, discussion!
ReplyDelete/r, I stand corrected. Most countries are not held accountable, at least not as long as they are strong enough. I still think that we should be bothered by that, and I think that there are *some* things for which Israel can be held accountable, such as the siege on Gaza.
Josh - I think that the Hamas regime should be recognized. The fact that the world does a mistake with one does not mean it has to to do the same mistake with the other...
ReplyDeleteAlso, I do not agree with the statement that killing children is a policy.
Last, and just as examples, the way the Lebanese government treats the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon is worse than the way the Israelis does. And Iran committed enough war crimes during the Iran Iraq war.
/r, there is a question of magnitude. But yes, countries can loose their moral ground.
ReplyDeleteAs for 9/11, there are plenty of Americans that say that the war in Iraq and Iran gives more justification for terrorists. You don't have to search far to find that.
The agony of southern israelis is outrageous. I don't understand why we had to wait so long to help them, and why this was done by causing others a bigger suffer. This may be part of the prevailing discourse of violence.
Last, there was a consistent mistreatment and dehumanization of protestors. Here I simply don't agree with you. here is a nice example, including the excuse about blocking the camp:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JAG7UK_Nuk
Lsat, we can argue about this single protest - but this does not change the overall conclusion.
hummusmonster, let me quote you again:
ReplyDelete"- Security wise - it gives legitimacy to the worst terror against Israel. For example, what can Israel claim now when Iranian missiles will start falling on Tel Aviv?"
There is a big difference between excuses and legitimacy. I completely disagree that the gaza war gives any legitimacy whatsoever for Iran attacking Tel aviv with missiles. As for excuses - they had plenty even before the war, so I don't see how this changes anything.
/r
You are brave! I feel like you in many ways but I do not think that people hear/see/listen/feel that way...so what I try to do is to listen to EVERYONE (Israelis and Palestinians from right and left) and take actions in order to change it.
ReplyDeleteIt is like Obama, many people did not believe he can make it and did not believe he is going to change something. But here we go. He does. We should stand up and say, and act, and write, and listen because we can stop this horrible conflict. There must be a solution.
Thanks for being who you are.