Palestine's Guernica and the Myths of Israeli Victimhood

 This is a guest post written by Mustafa Barghouthi, Secretary General
of the Palestinian National Initiative. These comments and views are
his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Huffington
Post. Barghouti is a former secular candidate for President of
Palestine and has been a strong advocate of non-violent responses to
Israeli occupation. Barghouti is thought by many to be a leading
contender in the next Palestinian presidential election. Perspectives
have also been solicited from various national leaders and incumbent
Knesset leaders in Israel.

Here is a link to an interview that Steve Clemons did with Barghouti in
July 2008 regarding Barack Obama's trip to Israel and Palestine.


Palestine's Guernica and the Myths of Israeli Victimhood

The Israeli campaign of 'death from above' began around 11 am, on
Saturday morning, the 27th of December, and stretched straight through
the night into this morning. The massacre continues Sunday 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 attack 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 insure 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 public ally, 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 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 presidential
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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