Unnecessary Violence

The other day, when discussing the Israel-Hamas war with a friend, I reminded him of the oft-repeated phrase "silence is complicity" after he warned that some people might interpret uSpiked's stance on this issue as anti-Semitism. People who know me, would not confuse my position with anything resembling anti-Semitism.

The conflict between Hamas, a Palestinian political and military organisation, and Israel, a sovereign nation, is rooted in the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Both justify their actions as self-defence. However, perceived acts of vengeance complicate the situation. It is necessary to consider the complex historical context, key events and underlying motivations that fuel this ongoing conflict. But that would take thousands of words. I am more concerned with the current situation.

First of all, one can be pro-Palestinian situation without necessarily being an anti-Semite. But why bother? I get the nudge from Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) a prominent Lutheran pastor in Germany; “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

The attacks carried out by Hamas on 7 October were despicable, heinous and barbaric and cannot be excused. But two wrongs do not make a right. Nothing can justify the targeting and killing of hundreds of defenceless people living in what human rights organisations have called the world's largest 'open-air prison'. Those who applaud and justify the indiscriminate bombardments of Gaza are wrong. Meanwhile, the double standards currently being exhibited by Tel Aviv, Washington and their allies are being closely watched around the world. When Russia blows up an apartment block in Ukraine, they quickly cry 'war crimes', but when Israel blows up an apartment in Gaza, they quickly assert Israel’s right to self-defence.

The United Nations, as we have seen in recent months, is gradually losing its purpose. Its Security Council rejected, through a US veto, the resolution calling for humanitarian pauses to allow safe access for aid agencies. The insistence on declaring Hamas a terrorist organisation as a precondition for adopting any resolution is suspect. It would not be the first time that such labels have been attached to a people with whom we don't agree.

One freedom fighter could easily be considered a terrorist by the opposing side. Our own Nelson Mandela remained on the US terrorist watch list until 2008, almost a decade after he left the Union Building. Essentially, throughout Madiba's presidency, America and its allies saw him as a terrorist, but we didn’t.

Area of Conflict

When President Biden evokes the safeguard of democracy as the main reason for arming both Ukraine and Israel, some of us in the global south are left wondering, whose yardstick is this democracy measured? I wouldn’t want an American type of Democracy for my country. Hailing Israel as the only democracy in the Middle East is disingenuous. Shortly after Hamas’ political wing won the 2006 elections, all Western countries granted the process a clean bill of health with the EU declaring “they had been run better than elections in some members countries of the union, and promised to maintain its financial support.” Israel on the other hand preferred to deal with the New Kid on the Block, Hamas as opposed to Fatah. Tel Aviv must have thought that with the tested ‘divide and conquer’ methodology previously employed by European powers in their colonial quest of Africa, dividing the Palestinians would have been manageable. They were wrong. All Palestinians, whether represented by PLO, Fatah or Hamas, want the right to self-govern. They want to be free to move and to decide for themselves without being confined to a section of their land.

In the days following the atrocious 7 October, voices from both sides went beyond condemnation. Some in the West and Tel Aviv called for the extermination of all Gazans. The reference to rats, animals and savages is a clear signal to justify a planned mayhem that was to befall the Gazans. The mantra and repeated vows to wipe Hamas 'off the face of the earth' are not new. The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to do so many times in the past, but Hamas has only grown stronger. The world must seek to understand the plight of the Gazans which gives Hamas its strength and motivation.

What is Tel Aviv’s end game? After wiping Hamas from the surface of Gaza what next? Telling Gazans to migrate to the south could be assumed to be a pretext to repossess the northern parts of Gaza. United Nations has provided examples of what would be considered as war crimes. Removal of a population from their habitats during a conflict is one of the examples presented by the UN. When Tel Aviv ordered a blockade of Gaza in their quest to punish Hamas for the October 7 barbaric attacks, instead of urging for a peaceful solution, Washington rushed in to supply advance weaponry to aid in the wiping out of Hamas. Then what? From Pretoria, President Ramaphosa did the right thing by apportioning liability to those busy arming Israel and Hamas for the prolonged suffering of Gazans.

While Biden is busy begging Congress for funding to arm Israel and Ukraine, US Senator representing South Carolina, Lindsey Graham is busy threatening to attack Iran. In his speech, Senator Graham pretended to have some unknown powers that he could order a drone attack on Tehran faster than his political party could settle on a House Speaker. What exactly does this Senator have against Iran and its people?

While on a Facetime call with a Jerusalem-based journalist recently, I asked her what she thought of the day after the last Hamas fighter would have been killed; “First, that day will not come in our lifetime, it’s a statement meant to buy time and to justify continuous war against Palestinians. Don’t you know that most Hamas operatives don’t even live in Gaza? If I could know this, don’t you think Mossad would as well? Secondly, even if Bibi manages to kill all Hamas fighters, his administration is not looking further than the day after; just like the Republicans who fired their House of Representatives’ Speaker without thinking what or who would replace Kevin McCarthy.” Despite the as-a-matter-of-fact delivery she had, I found it comical.

We must recognise that there are extreme elements on both sides who do not want peaceful coexistence in this part of the world. And we shouldn’t forget that the fifth Israeli Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin, was assassinated in 1995 for trying to get support for the Oslo Accords. Hamas didn't kill Rabin; the assassin, a then 25-year-old Yigal Amir was an Israeli ultranationalist who was radically opposed to Rabin, particularly for signing the Oslo Accords.

The attacks by Hamas militants in October were terrible and inexcusable, and Tel Aviv has every right to defend itself. But when does the right to self-defence become the right to revenge? To quote a Chinese philosopher, Kong Fuzi: 'If you seek revenge, dig two graves'. Is Tel Aviv now digging two graves with its bombing of Gaza?

Many of us have been shaken to our core by the attacks by Hamas, which brought out the best and the worst of humanity. None of my Muslim acquittances have contacted me hailing the attacks. I also understand that one doesn’t have to be a Jew to have been horrified by these actions. That’s why I have not even bothered to contact my many Jewish friends to ask of their feelings. Take the Chicago landlord who saw fit to stab a six-year-old Wadea Al Fayoume, a Palestinian-American boy, simply for being Muslim. Who will end this vicious cycle of violence?

It was indeed inspiring to see a Facebook post from Rabbi Ari Hart of Skokie Valley Agudath Jacob Synagogue, who wrote: “We met with the Imam, heard from the father and stood with the boy’s community as they mourned this horrific loss. We witnessed the pain. We expressed our shock and condemnation of the attack. We wept.

 “I can't say that it was simple to be there. These are not simple times. But the murder of a six-year-old because of his faith and his identity is not complicated. It is a heinous crime. And that's why we went today," he says. "These days it feels like the world has lost its way. But I can't give up on trying, yearning, dreaming, even right now, of finding the way to shalom. The way to peace." Rabbi Hart cannot be branded an anti-Semite because he stands for peace.

Similarly, when [not if] surgeons in Gaza’s hospitals have to use vinegar to sanitise their surgical instruments and to use lights from staff’s cellphones to perform surgeries, I don’t have to be a Gazan to condemn the siege of Gaza.

Self-defence

A lawyer I have known quite well made me think of this dilemma. If your neighbour attacked you three weeks earlier, then you went into his house this afternoon and shot him, would any court accept a self-defence argument? Absolutely not! This belated considered fightback, the lawyer told me, would be regarded as ‘a premeditated murder.’ So Tel Aviv should re-think the continuous indiscriminate bombardment of Gaza under the pretext of hunting Hamas fighters. But of course with Washington holding their water, the International Criminal Court would not get any closer to the current plight of Gazans, unless the perpetrator is Moscow kidnapping Ukrainian children.

Fog of War

The explosion at Al-Ahli al-Arabi Hospital in Gaza that killed nearly 500 Gazans sparked recriminations between the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) and Palestinian militants. Many people may not accept the denials and evidence presented by the IDF because of its past actions. Let us not forget the sniper attack on the journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and the IDF denials that followed. The IDF has been bombing Gazans for days and nobody seems safe. It is not self-defence to cut off electricity, food and water as collective punishment for the 7 October attacks. Dropping leaflets from the sky warning Gazans of impending bombs does not make revenge attacks self-defence.

This has been a war like no other. Misinformation and disinformation have been on steroids, we all recall the claimed reports of beheaded babies. A claim that was repeated numerous times that it’s not even easy to know who exactly informed President Biden of its authority. 

While the demolition of an occupied apartment block cannot be equated with the 7 October attacks by Hamas, it must be condemned.

Listening to President Biden's prime-time address from the Oval Office last week, I was prompted to revisit his history of the Irish debate. What happened to the Joe Biden of the 1980s? Washington will only be taken seriously by the global south if it standardises itself. What is good for the goose should be good for the gander. When American missiles are used to attack Gazans and Yemenis every night, Washington should take some responsibility.

War hawks in Tel Aviv and Washington must realise that children who survive this conflict will grow up to organise their revenge. Violence begets violence. In Matthew 26:52 Jesus says: 'Put your sword in its place. For all who take the sword shall perish by the sword.  How many innocent deaths must we see before we say "enough"? Let's try peace. Who would have the platitude to tell the warring parties in this conflict to put down their swords?

Would two wrongs make a right?

Earlier this morning, I was woken by a Telegram call from the Jerusalem journalist with whom I had FaceTime for this piece, she was in a panic; she asked if I decide to publish my piece not to use her name as that would put a target on her back as well as on her family. Her panic was not baseless, yesterday Aljazeera Arabic Gaza Bureau Chief, Wael Dahdouh buried his family that had been killed by what appeared to have been a targeted missile. Dahdouh had moved his family to the South as was ordered by Tel Aviv.

At the same time, the Committee for the Protection of Journalists has also investigating several instances of journalists being killed. How can I sit back as my professional colleagues are killed while doing their jobs? President Biden, would this be another cost of war? Your Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken is reported to have urged Qatari leaders to ask Aljazeera to tone down their coverage. If this is true, is your administration asking Aljazeera to turn off their cameras and microphones? Is that a justification to target the journalists and their families? Besides wasn't it Aljazeera's camera that presented the open-source footage regarding the Al-Ahli al-Arabi Hospital attacks. What would the Middle East be now hadn't that camera been there? 

I had multiple thoughts on whether to publish or not, then I remembered our driver, Dissemination Beyond Fear. If I don’t speak for the killed journalists now, if I subsequently get targeted, there will be no journalist left to document my demise.