Peace and Justice Post

Israel has been knocked off balance by the publication of its own troops’ exposure of the war crimes ordered and carried out during the murderous assault on Gaza just over six months ago.

The zionist establishment has had a ready retort to previous allegations of atrocities, dismissing them as Palestinian propaganda.

But it cannot rely on this convenient fallback position when it is Tel Aviv’s own armed forces who have been disgusted by what they themselves have seen and heard.

It is a bit rich of an Israeli Defence Force spokeswoman to complain about “anonymous, generalised testimony” and failure to give the IDF, “as a matter of minimal fairness, the opportunity to check the matters and respond to them before publication.”

Human rights organisations have consistently supplied evidence of Israeli security forces mistreating or killing civilians, including children, and the political/military response has always been the same.

There is the initial denial that a crime has taken place, usually accompanied by some variant of Defence Minister Ehud Barak’s sickening claim that the IDF “is one of the most ethical armies in the world and acts in accordance with the highest moral code.”

After outright denial comes reference to an official investigation, which invariably reports that the Israeli security forces are innocent of all charges.

Armies acting in accordance with the highest moral code do not coerce civilians into acting as human shields, forcing them to enter buildings which may contain combatants or booby traps.

They do not launch artillery or aerial bombing raids on built-up, populated areas where it is inevitable that civilian casualties will be caused.

They do not use white phosphorus shells in populated areas for the same reason.

Nor do they engage in wanton demolition of homes, workplaces and places of worship simply to create free-fire zones and minimise the capacity of those resisting invasion to hide and return fire.

Israel denies overreaction, yet the casualty figures tell their own story, with over 1,400 Palestinian dead – the IDF says 1,166 – as opposed to 10 Israeli soldiers and three civilians, and four of the 10 soldiers were killed by Israeli fire.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights has recorded the deaths of 906 non-combatants, including 288 children under the age of 16, while Tel Aviv asserts a death toll for Palestinian fighters of about twice that for non-combatants, which flies in the face of historical experience from previous military onslaughts against heavily populated areas.

However, as atrocious as Israel’s actions were, the muted response of its allies in the US and the European Union has been more nauseating.

Britain’s cancellation of five contracts, out of 182 current military licences, to supply parts to Israel for its Sa’ar missile boats is insulting in its niggardliness.

It is a meaningless token that gives the green light to Israel to continue its slaughter, ethnic cleansing and colonisation of conquered Arab land.

And it will serve as a reaffirmation for those who declare that Western governments such as our own are hostile to Muslims and who therefore justify terrorist attacks against our citizens.

Britain is already perceived as part of the problem, given that our Prime Minister is a patron of the Jewish National Fund, the property arm of the World Zionist Organisation, which is dedicated to securing land in the occupied territories for settlement by Jews only. It is intrinsic to Israel’s expansionism.

Support for the Palestinian people’s national rights is an essential contribution to the struggle for global peace and justice.