Lieberman – A Thug and a Shame on Israel

Israel’s Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has announced that if Hamas do not return the bodies of Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza, "…, they have to understand they will get in return the bodies of Mohammed Deif, [Ismail] Haniyeh and all of the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip…”

Haggling over the return of corpses is one of the ugly by-products of war. But isn’t everything about war ugly? Being disgusted by Hamas should not mean stooping to their level. Mr Lieberman, Israel’s foreign minister, regularly comes out with outrageous statements and remarks, such his 1998 suggestion that Israel would bomb the Aswan dam and thereby flood Egypt.

Israel needs to rid itself of this despicable man.  

Gaza – Israel – Double Standards ?

Does the world expect too much from Israel?

The latest round that took place between Israel and the Hamas produced immense misery for the population of Gaza, great discomfort for the Israelis and not only very many dead Palestinians but also a high number of Israeli casualties. The media war and the war over public sympathy have created serious anti-Israel sentiment that has worryingly also turned anti-Semitic.

Over the last three years, the civil war in Syria has seen more than 170,000 Muslims, who were killed by fellow Muslims. According to Palestinian sources, the number of casualties in Gaza is 1800. Yet, it seems that there is much more agitation concerning the dead of Gaza than there is about the Syrian dead. Why? Israel and many Israelis feel that they are victims of double standards. Is it possible that what hurts or angers those condemning Israel is not the killing of Muslims but the fact that it was Israelis who did the killing?

Or does Syria simply “benefit” from the fact that it is a pariah state, of which there are no moral expectations and which makes no claims to be a western democracy?  

Racism – Fight Back

The current outbreak of violence between Israel and the Hamas has produced Europe-wide anti-Israel demonstrations, many of which incorporate vile and anti-Semitic proclamations and slogans as well as acts of violence against Jews and Jewish institutions.

It is not surprising that European Jews are worried and often frightened. But so should be the rest of the population. It is up to civil society as well as governments – wherever these anti-Semitic incidents occur – not only to educate but also to come down fiercely against the organisers and perpetrators of these anti-Semitic occurrences.

Similarly, it is up to Israeli society and authorities to educate but also to come down fiercely against organisers and perpetrators of anti-Arab racism that is increasingly rearing its head in Israel. Unfortunately, such racism seems to get away unpunished. Moreover, the right-wing perpetrators of these racist acts are well represented in the Israeli political elite. Israel’s Foreign Minister Lieberman, for example, has just urged Israelis to boycott the businesses of Israeli Arab citizens who are taking part in a general strike in protest of Israel’s operation in the Gaza Strip.

It is generally accepted that such racist language, let alone acts of violence are totally unacceptable, and it is always a minority that perpetrates such racist outrage. But, the majority – be it in Israel or in Europe - must stop looking the other way. It must fight back. 

Israel and Hamas

Does the shooting suit both sides?

What does Hamas want? It wants to ensure that no long-term peace deal is made with Israel. Unlike the PLO, Hamas has not [yet] accepted the existence of Israel.

What does Israel want? It wants to avoid reaching a deal with the Palestinians that would entail giving up some of the land it has occupied since 1967.

That is why Hamas, rather than the Palestinian Authority, are the true partners of Israel. They occasionally fight each other, increasing the heat, killing and getting killed, inciting and whipping up the hatred, only to make sure that no compromise is reached. The agendas of the extremes on both sides command the state of affairs.

Both sides are morally wrong; Hamas more evil than Israel and more corrupt than Israel, but then it does not pretend to be a western democracy, cultured, high-tech and European. A few years ago, the then Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, spoke of Israel as a “villa in the jungle”, thereby suggesting that Israel’s neighbours are wild savages. Observing recent [and not so recent] appearances of Israeli politicians makes one wonder whether they haven’t adapted only too well to their surroundings. 

Is Israel morally entitled to wage its current war in Gaza?

On the face of it, this should be an easy one. After all, Hamas who control the Gaza strip have been bombarding Israel with rockets and missiles for a long time. Hundreds of rockets emanating from Gaza have been making life miserable for the residents of many southern Israeli towns.

On the pragmatic level, the question should be asked what is achieved by such wars?  Will they bring down Hamas or will they convert it to recognise Israel’s right to exist? Going by past experience, this will not happen. 

This, however, assumes that the Israeli regime wants a two-state solution. If – despite its rhetoric - its purpose is to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state and to continue with its colonisation of the West Bank, then such attacks on Gaza make sense. To that end, the Israeli government has systematically weakened the moderate leader Mahmoud Abbas and thereby proven to the Palestinians that moderation does not get them anywhere. The result is the strengthening of the alternative body - Hamas.

The misery of its own population shot at from Gaza is the price Israel seems to be willing to pay in order to entrench in the West Bank.

Israel may have the legal and even moral right of self-defence vis-à-vis the Hamas – However, as this seems to be part of a bigger picture, the morality of Israel’s war in Gaza is questionable. 

Gilad Shalit and Israel’s Mass Hysteria

He is finally back. It has been reported that 79 per cent of Israel’s population approve of the prisoner exchange.

Not all, but many of the 1027 Palestinian prisoners are murderers, men and women with blood on their hands. Many have made it clear that they do not regret their deeds and many of those released are likely to go back to terrorism. Some Palestinian terrorists who have been released in the past, have gone back and killed again. So why has Netanyahu agreed to this deal?

Natanyahu has previously made it clear that he is against such swaps. He attacked previous governments for agreeing similar exchanges and is ideologically opposed to what he has just done. With this deal, Israel has handed Hamas, with its unwillingness to recognise Israel, its call for the Jewish state to be abolished and for the continued armed struggle against Israel, a coup vis-à-vis the Palestinian Authority run by Mr Abbas which has chosen the non violent route to achieve statehood. It may be that that Mr. Netanyahu wished to do just that: weaken that Palestinian element that does not fit Israel’s view and propaganda. If Hamas gains power in the West Bank in addition to ruling the Gaza Strip, Israel will be able to claim that there is no Palestinian partner for peace. This would suit Netanyahu and his friends and enable them to continue with building of further Jewish settlement in the Occupied Territories.

However, I believe that what really pushed Netanyahu to act against his deep convictions was the Shalit family campaign. Much has been written in the last few days about solidarity in Israeli society as the driving force that generated the deal. I would call it mass hysteria. Well and professionally orchestrated mass hysteria into which the Shalit family has very successfully propelled Israel’s population. Wherever you went, you could not avoid seeing Gilad’s photo, on big road signs, on car stickers, in electronic media in social networks. Calls for the government to pay whatever price to get Gilad back became part of life in Israel. They set up a camp in front of the Prime Minister’s residence, held marches in which wives of senior cabinet members took part, infiltrated every public debate with their propaganda of “Free Gilad Shalit”. This family managed to force Israel’s President, it’s Prime Minister and his wife meet with them, almost at command. Families whose sons were killed in action do not benefit from such attention. This was an amazing, well-oiled marketing operation.

The willingness of parents to turn the world upside down to get their son back is obvious. Yet, the by-product of Shalit’s release is the message given to the Arab world that Israeli society will pay any price to release a prisoner. In their hysteria they did not consider the almost certainty that Israelis will die as direct result of the release of unrepentant murderers. The next murder will turn the same people hysterically to demand action against Hamas. In such actions Israeli soldiers might get killed. This is why the deal was wrong. Hysteria does not lead to good decision-making. Unfortunately, that is how weak and visionless governments function.

Bibi and the Hamas

Recently, Israel too has enjoyed its own version of popular revolt. The most vivid representation of this unrest are the tents set up by the mainly middle class youngsters in Tel Aviv’s Rothschild Boulevard to demonstrate the lack of affordable housing in the country.

The continued occupation of the West Bank and the building of Jewish settlements by Israel sadly only produces occasional one-off demonstrations and has no chance of turning out a rebellion with similar stamina.

In the last few days, terror attacks that killed 8 Israelis have brought about Israeli retaliation as well as threatening declarations by Israeli politicians competing with each other in their bravado. Former Labour leader and Bibi Netanyahu’s Minister of Defence, Ehud Barak, informed us that those who act against Israel “will have their heads separated from their bodies.” Nice language Mr. Barak.

It may be that deterioration into another round of slaughter will be avoided this time. However, politicians of the extreme right in Israel and their brothers on the Palestinian side will do their utmost to prevent any agreement or compromise. This is the real purpose behind their actions. This time there is an added bonus: the recent round of fire may conveniently get the social demonstrators off Bibi’s back. Instead of sending the air force, he should really have sent the Hamas leaders a thank you note. Flowers perhaps?

Ship of Fools - But Who Are the Fools?

In attacking the boats that were trying to make their way to Gaza, Israel has managed to be morally wrong as well as a bungling failure.

I am intrigued by the fact that very few voices - if any - to stop Israel from this folly, were heard before it all went pear- shaped. Especially in Israel, where everyone now seems – rightly – to attack the government for “Operation Sky Winds”, the sane minority was not really heard in this matter.

One reason for this lack of opposition is that Israel’s sane minority is rather small. Any opposition to the right-wing majority’s militancy is dubbed as “leftist” in a country in which “leftist” has become a dirty word. A country in which those who have the courage and energy to stand up against the government agenda are referred to as “anarchists”, “traitors” and “fifth column”. Most succumb and have retreated to live in their “bubble”.

A second reason is that many of Israel’s “left wingers” themselves are too busy with “right or wrong my country” whilst forgetting the need to ensure the first part of the well known saying “my country, may it always be right”.

If Israel does not want to lose more important battles, its sane minority must save it from continued acts of immorality and folly. Immorality does not always equate to recklessness but with time it very often leads to it. That is where you lose your battles. In this battle, Israel lost on the public opinion front. The nasty and evil Hamas won with their wits without even having to fire a shot. Israel must choose its battles more wisely – it cannot afford to lose the important ones.