The
Israelis mow the grass in Gaza; again.
Nicholas
Fourikis PhD
“Israel
must actively defend all its borders by itself, including the security envelope
in the Jordan Valley and West Bank. And, Israel will act to mow the grass as
frequently as necessary to degrade enemy military capabilities and keep
Israel’s rivals off-balance.”
Benjamin Netanyahu.The Jerusalem
Post, 13 Aug 2014
Military
cemeteries in every corner of the world are silent testimony to the failure of national leaders to sanctify
human life.
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Yitzhak Rabin, 1994 Nobel Peace Prize lecture
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1 - Introduction
Yitzhak
Rabin played a leading role in the signing of the
Oslo Accords, which created the
Palestinian National
Authority and granted it
partial control over parts of the
Gaza Strip and
the
West Bank. Prior to the signing
of the accords, Rabin received
a letter from
PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) chairman
Yassir Arafat renouncing
violence and officially recognising Israel, and on the same day, 9 September
1993, Rabin sent Arafat a letter officially recognising the PLO.
After
the historical handshake with Yassir Arafat, at the South Lawn of the
White House on September 13, 1993, Rabin said on behalf of
the Israeli people, "We who have fought against you, the Palestinians, we
say to you today, in a loud and a clear voice, enough of blood and tears ...
enough!1a"
Rabin’s words resonated with the nations of the world who
witnessed several wars between the Israelis and the Palestinians
In 1994, Israel granted the right of
self-governance to Gaza through the Palestinian
Authority; and Yitzhak Rabin, Yasir Arafat and Shimon Peres received
the Nobel Prize for Peace.
In accepting the Nobel
Prize, Rabin declared, “military
cemeteries in every corner of the world are silent testimony to the failure of national
leaders to sanctify human life1a.”
The Accords however greatly
divided the Israeli society, with some seeing Rabin as a hero for advancing the
cause of peace and some seeing him as a traitor for giving away land they
viewed as rightfully belonging to Israel.
And
on the evening of 4 November 1995, Rabin was
assassinated by Yigal Amir, a radical
right-wing Orthodox Jew who opposed the signing of the
Oslo Accords.
From that
fateful moment, the dream of a two state solution in Palestine steadily receded
and on
the 8th of July 2014, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched Operation Protective Edge in
the Gaza Strip1 – also known as the largest open air prison where
the Israelis and the Egyptians are the prison-wardens.
And
five days later, the Israeli military reported that more than 1,300 Israeli airstrikes had taken
place on Gaza, while more than 800 rockets had been fired from Gaza into Israel1
Here is a preliminary account of the
casualties and of the destruction caused by airplane / tank raids during the
2014 incursion1 at the time of writing – Mid August 2014; as the
incursion continues, the number of casualties given here should be considered as
minimal.
1,904 Palestinians are killed.
{73% civilians (35% women and children)}
9,800 Palestinians injured.
520,000
Palestinians are displaced.
10,800 homes are totally destroyed or severely
damaged.
33,100 homes are damaged but are still
inhabitable.
26 health facilities are damaged.
1.5 million Gazans have limited or no access to
water supplies.
On the Israeli side the losses are:
64 soldiers and 2 civilians killed.
Regrettably
we are destined to witness casualties and destruction caused by this incursion
into Gaza comparable to the casualties and destructions caused by the First and
Second Intifada – uprising / resistance / rebellion – that took place during
the period (1987-1991) and (2000- 2005) respectively.
The reasons for the
latest incursion into Gaza and the previous incursions vary but we are indebted
to Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s current PM, for sharing with the world his
vision of recent Middle-East developments and the real reason for the three incursions
into Gaza. Moreover he gave the world every indication that future incursions
are on the cards.
“Israel’s
protracted conflict with Hamas in Gaza, the feebleness and fecklessness of the
Palestinian Authority in the West Bank,” Netanyahu stated2, “and the
gains made by radical Islamists in Arab civil wars raging across the region
call for a reassessment of Israel’s strategic posture.”
And he continued:
“For
the past two decades, Israeli policy has been based on the twin pillars of
pretentious Peres-ian optimism: that a ‘New Middle East’ was dawning based on
peaceful economic cooperation, and that the establishment of a full-fledged
Palestinian state alongside Israel would guarantee security for Israel. Both
conceptions have collapsed. They were illusions2.”
On the reasons for the frequent incursions
into Gaza, Netanyahu was candid.
“Israel must actively defend all its borders by itself,
including the security envelope in the Jordan Valley and West Bank. And, Israel
will act to mow the grass as
frequently as necessary to degrade enemy military capabilities and keep
Israel’s rivals off-balance2.”
And just in case any
reader missed the Israeli government intent the journalist, D.M. Weinberg,
iterated2.
“To
be forthright, Israel should make it clear that such offensives will have to be
repeated again and again. Keeping the enemy off balance and reducing its
capabilities (“mowing the grass”) requires the intermittent use of force.
Israel is not looking for a diplomatic solution with Hamas; it is waging a war
of attrition.”
From the foregoing declarations
of intent, it is clear the “new Israeli strategic posture” is not new and that Israel
espoused the same strategic posture since 1994 when it granted the Gaza Strip
the right of self-government. I.e. the IDF killed Palestinian civilians as well
as combatants indiscriminately and demolished considerable infrastructures during
the two intifadas and during the current incursion. Regrettably that is the
meaning of “mowing the grass.”
Parallel
to the armed confrontations between Israel and the Palestinians the combatants
engage in PR wars for the hearts and minds of the international community, with
particular focus on the American public. We shall briefly review the PR wars in
section 4.
2
– The social landscape of the Israeli- Palestinian conflict
Away from the armed Israeli-Palestinian conflict it
is important to delineate the prevailing social landscape in the region. Here we are indebted to the Palestinian depicted
in Picture1 who brilliantly summarized the feelings of a typical Palestinian
living in the occupied territories2a.
Picture 1- A succinct summary of the Palestinian
plight 2a
And Prof Noam Chomsky offered us a complementary
description of Israel’s recurring attacks on the Palestinians in Gaza2b.
As the Gaza strip is
the largest open air prison in the world Mouin Rabbani, reports another dimension
of Israeli cruelty3.
“In 2006 Weissglass was just as frank about Israel’s policy towards Gaza’s
1.8 million inhabitants3. ‘The idea is to put the
Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger.’ He was not
speaking metaphorically: it later emerged that the Israeli defence ministry had
conducted detailed research on how to translate his vision into reality, and arrived
at a figure of 2279 calories per person per day – some 8 per cent less than a
previous calculation because the research team had originally neglected to
account for ‘culture and experience’ in determining nutritional ‘red lines’3.”
Dr Kevin Barrett4
shared with the world several glimpses into Israel’s social fabric.
(i)
Every time Israel
embarks on a new round of wholesale slaughter in Gaza, polls show that more
than 90% of Israelis support the butchery.
(ii)
When the IDF starts dropping cluster
bombs, white phosphorous, DIME (Dense Inert
Metal Explosive) munitions
and other horrendous weapons on Gaza, crowds of Israelis pack the hilltops to
barbecue meat, drink alcohol and cheer as they watch Palestinian children being
blown to bits.
(iii)
According
to Israeli blogger Elizabeth Tsurkov, the mobs’ favorite chant is: ‘Tomorrow
there is no school in Gaza, they don’t have any children left.’
(iv)
While
they enjoy slaughtering children and their mothers, Israelis take special
relish in killing pregnant women. A T-shirt popular in the Israeli army shows a
pregnant woman with a target on her belly. The legend reads: ‘One shot two
kills.’
(v)
Killing
children is the de facto official policy of the Israeli military. In his
article “Gaza Diary”, Chris Hedges wrote about Israeli soldiers who hunt
Palestinian children for sport:
“Yesterday
at this spot the Israelis shot eight young men, six of whom were under the age
of eighteen. One was twelve. This afternoon they kill an eleven-year-old boy,
Ali Murad, and seriously wound four more, three of whom are under eighteen.
Children have been shot in other conflicts I have covered—death squads gunned
them down in El Salvador and Guatemala, mothers with infants were lined up and
massacred in Algeria, and Serb snipers put children in their sights and watched
them crumple onto the pavement in Sarajevo—but I have never before watched
soldiers entice children like mice into a trap and murder them for sport.”
(vi)
In his
book Goliath, Max Blumenthal – a young Jewish American from an influential family
discusses the wildly popular Israeli best-seller Torat Ha’Melech, which advocates the wholesale murder of non-Jews.
Torat Ha’Melech is not a marginalized radical
screed; on the contrary, it is an authoritative guide for Israel soldiers. And
its authors are two of Israel’s leading Rabbis, Yitzhak Shapira and Yosef
Elitzur.
Picture 2 - Palestinians mourn for
a relative in the
morgue of the Shifa hospital in
Gaza City on July 12, 2014.
In
considering what can be done by the international community, Dr Barrett puts
forward the following proposals4. “The international community needs
to completely ostracize Israel, indict its leaders for war crimes, and use the
combined diplomatic and military force of the world’s nations to peacefully
dismantle the genocidal Zionist entity. But that cannot happen until the
Zionists’ death-grip on the West’s media, finance and politics is broken once
and for all.”
3
-World Reaction to Israel’s mowing of grass
Policy.
World reaction to the Gaza incursion and to Israel’s
policy of “mowing the grass” was swift and negative in the International Press
and the Internet. Israel’s supporters however tried hard to limit the damage to
Israel’s standing.
Tayyip Erdogan the PM
of Turkey stated, “Israel surpasses Hitler in Barbarism5.” And at a
political rally in the Black Sea city of Ordu, Erdogan told supporters.
"(Israelis) have no conscience, no honour, no
pride. Those who condemn Hitler day and night have surpassed Hitler in
barbarism5." He also accused the
United States of defending Israel's "disproportionate" tactics, and
bemoaned the failure of the Muslim world to take a stronger stance5.
The Brazilian President
Dilma Rouseff told the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper6 “I think what’s
happening in the Gaza Strip is dangerous. I don’t think it’s genocide, but I
think it’s a massacre.”
Representatives of Chile,
currently a member of the U.N. Security Council, stated that the Israeli
government6 “does not respect the fundamental norms of international
humanitarian law.”
Uruguayan President
José Mujica condemned the attacks in a weekly radio show6. “The loss
of perspective in the response is undermining Israel’s prestige and, I think,
sullies the marvellous history of the Jewish people. Hatred and revenge do not
work to build civilization,” he said.
Bolivia’s Evo Morales
went further, saying6, “Israel does not guarantee the principle of
respect for life and the basic right to live in harmony and peace in the
international community,” adding that “Israel was passing onto the list of
terrorist states.”
Lastly, at a recent
meeting the regional bloc Mercosur issued a statement condemning6
“the disproportionate use of force on the part of the Israeli armed forces in
the Gaza Strip, force which has almost exclusively affected civilians,
including many women and children, while criticizing Hamas attacks on Israeli
civilians.” Mercosur urged “an immediate lifting of the blockade that is
affecting the Gaza population, so that the free movement of people, food,
medicine and humanitarian aid can flow freely in and out, both by land and sea
and an immediate and durable cease-fire.”
On the 30th of July 2014 the “U.N.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon7 directly accused Israel of shelling a
U.N.-protected shelter housing more than 3,000 Palestinians in Gaza as part of
what he said was an "outrageous" and "unjustifiable" strike
that left at least 16 civilians dead and lent urgency to the need for an
"immediate, unconditional cease-fire”.
Rihanna has come under fire
for writing “#FreePalestine” on
her
Twitter account before deleting the post eight minutes later8. Her
post published on Tuesday morning,
was retweeted 7,000 times in this short space of time,
according to NY MAG. She faced an explosive reaction from her followers,
who questioned her decision to publicly support Palestinians in the Gaza Strip
conflict.
Zayn
Malik of the British boy band One Direction was the latest bold-face name to
voice his concern when he posted “#FreePalestine” on his Twitter account
Sunday. His message had been retweeted 230,000 times, and favourited almost as
often, among his 13 million followers worldwide9.
Dance-pop songstress Selena Gomez caused a stir with an image
on her Instagram account that began: “It’s About Humanity. Pray for Gaza.” Her
post generated 654,000 likes — but got the racy TMZ.com gossip website asking
if the 21-year-old was “pro-humanity or pro-Hamas ...9”
“Omri Casspi9, one of Israel’s
supporters, the first National Basketball Association (NBA) player born in
Israel, put his feelings in capital letters.
‘600 missiles been fired from GAZA by Hamas in the
last 4 days. NUMBERS DONT LIE. STOP LYING (sic),’ he tweeted in a July 13 tweet
that is still in place.
The
issue of how destructive the Qassam rockets used by the Palestinians arise
naturally. Does a Qassam rocket have the destructive power of a V2 for instance?
Hardly, as the following parameters indicate:
Range and weight of the V2 rocket10 320 km and 12,500 kg
Range and weight of the Qassam (1/3) rockets11 12 / 16km and 35/50 kg
Any loss of life is regrettable but
the destructive power of the Qassam rocket is relatively small; more precisely Palestinian
rockets, which include the Qassam, alongside others such as the Grad
rocket, have been used to kill 22 Israeli citizens and one Thai national during the period between the
year 2000 and January 9, 200911.
CNN has pulled the reporter, Diana Magnay, out of her post
covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after she tweeted that Israelis who
cheered every time bombs exploded in Gaza, were “scum”12. Moreover
they threatened her, she alleged.
The reporter eventually deleted the
tweet, but not before it had been retweeted more than 200 times. A CNN
spokeswoman said Magnay has been assigned to Moscow12.
The
US condemned the shelling of the UN
school in Gaza but restocked Israeli ammunition13. The US is also
to send $47M in humanitarian aid to Gaza Strip14. According to a
State Department breakdown of the aid, nearly a third of the money — $15
million — will go to the United Nations’ refugee mission in Gaza14.
For Jewish Israelis, and
Palestinians living inside Israel, opposing the war is a dangerous act. With 86
percent of Israelis opposing the ceasefire, the overwhelming
public attitude leaves anti-war activists in a precarious position15.
The historian and social activist Ilan
Papé16 and Miko Pelet17, the son of the Israeli general, Mattityahu
Peled,
are two activists among many outside Israel who consistently express
humanitarian views and oppose Israel’s apartheid policies. Professor Noam
Chomsky and Dr Kevin Barrett are also trustworthy humanitarian activists.
4 – The PR Wars between Israel and the
Arabs
The most famous and visible lobby group is the American Israel Public
Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
AIPAC and other lobby groups influence American public policy in a variety of
ways such as through education, responding to criticism of Israel, and putting
forth arguments in support of Israel. The Israel lobby is known for its success
in encouraging U.S. lawmakers to support the policies that it supports19.
Reference
[20] lists the many Arab lobbies based in the US that support Arab causes.
These lobbies are however funded by Arab countries.
5 -
Arab-Israeli Peace projects
"We
who have fought against you, the Palestinians, we say to you today, in a loud
and a clear voice, enough of blood and tears1a Yitzhak Rabin
Tragically the present Israeli leadership does not
espouse Rabin’s view that resonates with most world humanists. Moreover we can
expect periodic incursions of the IDF into Gaza to mow the lawn, if the present leadership remains in power.
The Palestinian and Israeli citizens are however too wise to await the
coming of another Rabin to lead Israel once more. They know that deep down education
is the key to the peaceful coexistence of both peoples and reference [21] lists
the many Arab-Israeli Peace projects that promote understanding between all
residents of Palestine and reject the outdated and harmful stereotypes about
each other.
Hand in Hand is a network of bilingual (Hebrew-Arabic)
schools in which Jewish and Arab children study together21. It was
founded in 1997 by two Israelis, one Arab and one Jewish, with the philosophy
of breaking negative stereotypes, cultivating mutual respect and understanding,
and providing a dynamic example that Jews and Arabs can study, work and live
together in peace.
Two
Hand in Hand teachers21
Ala Khatib, a co-principal, said21,"never
mind what is going on outside, whether it's bombing in Gaza or if it's suicide
bombing in Tel Aviv, you can't stop school. You have to go to school, you have
to face the other side, you have to say good morning, and you have to
talk."
The
historian and social activist Ilan Papé16 and Miko Pelet17,
the son of the Israeli general, Mattityahu Peled, are two
activists among many outside Israel who consistently express humanitarian views
and oppose Israel’s apartheid policies. Professor Noam Chomsky and Dr Kevin
Barrett are also trustworthy and eloquent humanitarian activists.
6 - Concluding Remarks
Wise Israeli and
Palestinians actively promote education among all citizens of Palestine because
they believe that education can transform the minds of people who prefer wars,
mistrust and destruction. The pious hope
is that in such a spiritual environment a new Rabin will emerge.
I would like to conclude this short contribution by
iterating Yitzhak Rabin’s observation, Military
cemeteries in every corner of the world are silent testimony to the failure of national leaders to sanctify
human life.
I’m sure Rabin provides the inspiration to forward looking Israelis and
Palestinians who believe the two peoples can live and prosper in Palestine, the
Terra Sancta for Moslems and Jews.
6 - References
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yitzhak_Rabin.
1 – 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Israel–Gaza_conflict
2
–D M Weinberg. “KNOW COMMENT: Mowing the grass in Gaza – and
beyond.” The Jerusalem Post, 13 Aug 2014.
2a - Mariamsabzi on Twitter: You
take my water, burn my olive tree ...
twitter.com/Mariamirani/status/490186200808845312
2b – Professor Noam
Chomsky (Jew): “It is Not a War. It is Murder”! The socioecohistory.wordpress.com/2014/07/15/professor-noam-chomsky-jew-it-is-not-a-war-it-is-murder-the-genocide-of-palestinians-by-zionist-israel.
15 Jul 2014. by John
Glaser, November 18, 2012, http://antiwar.com/blog.
3
–Mouin Rabbani. “Israel mows the lawn.” London Review of Books. Vol 36, No15-
31July 2014. P 8-10.
4 - Kevin
Barrett. “Child-killing sociopaths of Israel.”
www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/07/29/373194/childkilling-sociopaths-of-israel. 29 Jul
2014.
5
– G Solaker and J Hogg. Reuters. “Turkish PM Erdogan says Israel 'surpasses
Hitler in barbarism.' July 20, 2014.”
6
– Laura Carlsen. Aljazeera. “Why Latin American Leaders are standing up to
Israel.” america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/8/latin-america-israelgazahumanrights.html.
7 – Colum
Lynch. “U.N. Chief:
Israel Responsible for ‘Reprehensible’ School attack.” The Foreign Policy Group.
thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2014/07/30/ban_ki_moon_blasts_israel_over_deadly_strike_on_un_shelter.
30 Jul 2014
8
– Sufi
Rahimi. “Rihanna criticised for publishing then deleting #FreePalestine tweet.” The Telegraph. 16 Jul 2014.
9
– News.com.au. “Rihanna, One Direction’s Zayn Malik, and Selena Gomez among
celebrities to anger fans with political tweets.” July 30, 2014.
10
– V-2 rocket - Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-2_rocket
11 - Qassam rocket -
Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qassam_rocket .
12 – RT Question More. “CNN
boots reporter from Israel-Gaza conflict after 'scum' tweet.” July 18, 2014.
13
– P Lewis and H Sherwood. “US condemns shelling of UN school
in Gaza but restocks Israeli ammunition.” www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/30/us-firm-condemnation-shelling-un-school-gaza. 31 Jul 2014
14 –
Pamela Geller. Atlas shrugs. “Obama to send $47 million to Gaza jihadists.”
July 21, 2014
pamelageller.com/2014/07/obama-send-47-million-gaza-jihadists.html.
15 – Dan Cohen. “Israel's Anti-War Activists Feel Increasingly
Threatened.” VICE News. August 15, 2014
news.vice.com/article/israels-anti-war-activists-feel-increasingly-threatened
16 – Ilan Pappé - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilan_Pappé
17 – Miko
Pelet.
Miko
Peled - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miko_Peled
18
- Nuclear weapons and Israel - Wikipedia, the
free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapons_and_Israel
19 - Israel lobby in the United
States - Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_lobby_in_the_United_States
20 - Arab lobby in the United States - Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_lobby_in_the_United_States
21 - Arab-Israeli peace projects
- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab-Israeli_peace_projects.
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