Memo to World - Israel Not Occupying Gaza Any More. Please Stop Using That Excuse.
Obviously, no one expects pathological scapegoating to be rational. But is it also too much to ask that it actually make sense? >Blaming all things Palestinian on the Occupation - from hardships they suffer to atrocities they inflict - is embedded pretty deeply in anti-Israel rhetoric and political activity.
Palestinian terrorist murders children by shooting up a schoolbus? It's the Occupation.
Palestinian population celebrates indiscriminate violence against Israeli civilians by dancing on the roofs as Iraqi missiles head to cities? It's the Occupation?
Palestinian government rejects a peace plan to end the Occupation? It's the Occupation. Obviously.
So what happens when Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip, depriving the world of this reflexive anti-Israel rhetorical habit? Well first, confused bumbling:
Sometimes, the way that international sophisticates think makes itself very, very plain. Let's review: Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip a long time ago. That many ISM activists don't know this doesn't make it less true... Today's attack occurred on Israeli soldiers in an Israeli base on internationally recognized Israeli territory. So you wouldn't think that respectable news outlets would describe it as a "Gaza attack"
From confusion, it appears that international diplomats and human rights lawyers have simply moved into outright denial:
Switzerland said Monday that Israel has been violating international law in its Gaza offensive by heavy destruction and endangering civilians in acts of collective punishment banned under the Geneva conventions on the conduct of warfare... "There is no doubt that Israel has not taken the precautions required of it in international law to protect the civilian population and infrastructure," it said. The statement did not name the Geneva Conventions, but it referred to provisions of the 1949 treaty, which is regarded as the cornerstone of international law on the obligations of warring and occupying powers... Both the principle of proportionality and the ban on collective punishment are found in the Fourth Geneva Convention, which spells out the obligations of occupying powers toward the civilian population under their control.
(1) This concern for legal warfighting seemed remarkably absent while the Palestinian government's forces were shelling Israeli homes and schoolhouses in the past month.
(2) Seriously, we could not be more sick of this "the Palestinian people should bear absolutely no cost for electing a government that promised to attack Israel and then attacked Israel". Collective punishment is wrong even in warfare and it should be avoided - point taken. But must sparing the Palestinians any hardship because they deliberately choose to empower warmongers be at the top of every international diplomat and groups' agenda?
(3) You know how Israel says that no matter how far beyond their legal or moral obligations they go (say, by giving food, water, and supplies to people who want to kill them) they still get attacked diplomatically? This is that.
Israel is not collectively punishing an occupied population. It is preparing to launch an attack against an enemy entity whose government committed acts of war and terrorism after being elected on a platform of warmaking and terrorism.
At some point, the international sophisticates who make a career out of demonizing Israel are going to have to come to grips that the Palestinians in Gaza are not under Israeli occupation any more. Not to worry - we're confident that the international press will soon form a consensus on what new Israeli policy they can use to excuse Palestinian terrorism.
Palestinian terrorist murders children by shooting up a schoolbus? It's the Occupation.
Palestinian population celebrates indiscriminate violence against Israeli civilians by dancing on the roofs as Iraqi missiles head to cities? It's the Occupation?
Palestinian government rejects a peace plan to end the Occupation? It's the Occupation. Obviously.
So what happens when Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip, depriving the world of this reflexive anti-Israel rhetorical habit? Well first, confused bumbling:
Sometimes, the way that international sophisticates think makes itself very, very plain. Let's review: Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip a long time ago. That many ISM activists don't know this doesn't make it less true... Today's attack occurred on Israeli soldiers in an Israeli base on internationally recognized Israeli territory. So you wouldn't think that respectable news outlets would describe it as a "Gaza attack"
From confusion, it appears that international diplomats and human rights lawyers have simply moved into outright denial:
Switzerland said Monday that Israel has been violating international law in its Gaza offensive by heavy destruction and endangering civilians in acts of collective punishment banned under the Geneva conventions on the conduct of warfare... "There is no doubt that Israel has not taken the precautions required of it in international law to protect the civilian population and infrastructure," it said. The statement did not name the Geneva Conventions, but it referred to provisions of the 1949 treaty, which is regarded as the cornerstone of international law on the obligations of warring and occupying powers... Both the principle of proportionality and the ban on collective punishment are found in the Fourth Geneva Convention, which spells out the obligations of occupying powers toward the civilian population under their control.
(1) This concern for legal warfighting seemed remarkably absent while the Palestinian government's forces were shelling Israeli homes and schoolhouses in the past month.
(2) Seriously, we could not be more sick of this "the Palestinian people should bear absolutely no cost for electing a government that promised to attack Israel and then attacked Israel". Collective punishment is wrong even in warfare and it should be avoided - point taken. But must sparing the Palestinians any hardship because they deliberately choose to empower warmongers be at the top of every international diplomat and groups' agenda?
(3) You know how Israel says that no matter how far beyond their legal or moral obligations they go (say, by giving food, water, and supplies to people who want to kill them) they still get attacked diplomatically? This is that.
Israel is not collectively punishing an occupied population. It is preparing to launch an attack against an enemy entity whose government committed acts of war and terrorism after being elected on a platform of warmaking and terrorism.
At some point, the international sophisticates who make a career out of demonizing Israel are going to have to come to grips that the Palestinians in Gaza are not under Israeli occupation any more. Not to worry - we're confident that the international press will soon form a consensus on what new Israeli policy they can use to excuse Palestinian terrorism.
