The tenth day of Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip has arrived. To date, 550 people have been killed, 2,400 injured, and the death toll increases by the hour since the start of the ground operations. "Attack strongly and don't worry about public opinion" is the slogan that supports all actions of the Israeli army.
This is the first time that the Israeli government has so unabashedly endorsed the violence and cruelty of its military. Defense Minister Barak and Foreign Minister Livni confirm each day through public statements, their intention to continue in their war against Hamas by encouraging their soldiers to strongly attack Gaza. The Israeli military does not hesitate to comply with the leaders’ orders, even if the result of this obedience is an incredible number of casualties, often incorrectly labeled as linked with Hamas.
And of course Israel's army, one of the strongest in the world, does not heed to the public's condemnations of the attacks.
The strength of Israel’s attacks is evident from what is happening in the Gaza Strip.
40 percent of the 550 Palestinians killed since the beginning of Cast Lead are women and children. Entire families have been killed together during a shelling. People who survive are forced to leave their homes, because of the fear of attacks and bombings. The number of victims has also increased due to the difficulties in reaching Gaza’s overcrowded hospitals.
At the moment, the Gaza Strip is clearly divided into three separate areas: the North, that holds GazaCity and the Jabaliyah refugee camp; the Center, which includes the Nusayarat and Al Bulrayj refugee camps; and the South, which holds the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. Between each area there is a "military controlled" zone, which is the same land that used to hold Israeli settlements until 2005. This is now completely overrun by tanks. This situation makes the passage from one area to the other almost impossible for the Gazans, who are imprisoned in their own cities.
At the moment all of Gaza is without electricity and last night (6 January) the telephone network collapsed, cutting off many mobile phones, land lines and internet connections.
This isolation, among many factors, has a detrimental effect on the psychological state of Gaza residents. The most severe consequences is on the organization of medical aid and distribution of goods from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Yesterday, a woman who was injured from an attack while bringing her husband from Gaza City to the center of the Gaza, had to wait 10 hours for somebody to help her because of the lack of resources and ability for people to help. The days are full of such stories.
Ambulances are also targeted by the Israeli air strikes. On Sunday evening, three Palestinians paramedics were killed and others injured in Gaza City and Beit Lahiya. If Israel launches its attacks in the most densely crowded streets it will inevitably hit aid lines. These attacks are not targeted, but generalized.
All these examples scream the slogan, "attack strongly, don't worry about public opinion." All the violations of human rights that are taking place in the Gaza Strip are justified to the world by the Israeli government. The Israeli government speaks about a defensive war against Hamas. and fails to address who becomes a target, or if its army is killing a slew of the innocent. Cutting off main access roads or maintaining a safe area for aid lines are not concerns.
Hundreds of people are dying and one of the strongest armies in the world is carrying out this operation in complete violation of International Humanitarian Law and the 1949 Geneva Convention, specifically in relation to the protection of civilians in time of war.
Collective punishment is a war crime. Targeting civilians in one of the most densely populated areas in the world, claiming that it is part of the fight against terrorism, is insane.
Humanitarian laws aim to protect people who are not taking part in the hostilities, and to ensure care for the wounded and sick. Each event in Operation Cast Lead reveals the complete lack of respect that Israel has for rules of war and international rights.
The most stunning aspect of this situation is how the Israeli leaders are encouraging these kinds of actions. And the reaction from the international community is mixed. For the moment, the states of the international community are trying to carry out an impossible balance, condemning both Israel and the Hamas, without shouting against the war crimes that Israel is committing.
However, there are a few people who are aware of their responsibility to stand up against these cruelties. On December 27th, Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, the current President of the UN General Assembly, said: "This is a wanton aggression, by a powerful state against a territory that it illegally occupies. Severe and massive violations of International and Humanitarian Law as defined in Geneva Convention". After the list of Israel’s crimes (collective punishment, target of civilians, disproportionate military response), d'Escoto Brockmann added: "UN continues to be bound to an independent obligation to protect any civilian population facing massive violations of international humanitarian law, regardless of what country may be responsible for these violations. I call all members States, as well as officials and every relevant organ of the UN system, to move expeditiously not only to condemn Israel's serious violations, but to develop new approaches to providing real protection for the Palestinian people".
And the evidence piles up. Watching Al Jazeera news, looking at photos, searching data and reading statements of Israeli leaders provides evidence of the violence of the attack, the death of hundreds of civilians, the infraction of laws.
Rarely in the history were war crimes so evident and so emphasized by the guilty. The statements of the UN General Assembly President render the situation to be clear. If the other States will not do something to condemn Israel for its crimes, they will be considered complicit in these crimes. And years later apologizes will not bring the thousands of victims back from the dead. Apologies will not return the smile to thousands of children who will are likely to grow up angry and full of hate.
When Israeli leaders gave official orders to attack strongly and not worry about public opinion, they failed in one of the most important fronts by exposing their recklessness, and their lack of humanistic values and manners. There is an old saying that, "the big empires were defeated when their manners and values collapsed." This is a nation-state that built itself in contradiction to humanistic values and manners by massacring and exiling the original people. In all its war, we have seen the same scenario of repeated massacres and destroyed infrastructure. All organizations in the area- Palestinian, Israeli, and international- have a responsibility to speak out against what we are witnessing for yet another time.
An important fact that Israeli leaders have not taken into is how public opinion has played a crucial role in defeating the colonizing and occupying powers everywhere, with the South Africa apartheid as an example. Public outcry is the voice of truth in the occupation, and must refuse it's suppression in order to stand up for those who are victims of hypocrisy and recklessness.
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