On 7th October 2023 Hamas lunched Al Aqsa Flood operation against Israel, a
surprise attack that stunned Tel Aviv and the world for the rapidity, bluntness
and brutality of the action. In a few hours, hundreds of soldiers and civilians
were killed in a mixture of military and terror activity. The Israeli’s response,
as expected, has been once again of sheer brutality and total disregard for people
lives, humanity, and international law.
While we leave the political, geopolitical and military assessment to later stage,
when things will be clearer, at this precise moment we cannot longer stay
silent in front of the clear suffering of people in the Gaza Strip, and denounce
the crimes committed by Israel and its backers.
The Gaza strip, de facto an open air prison for 2.3 millions of Palestinians, has
been since the 7Th October pummeled by thousand of bombs, cut off of
supplies, and threatened now with an imminent land operation by the IDF.
At the time of this writing, this is the astonishing casualty count:
Gaza:
Killed
at least 2215
Injured
more than 8700
Israel
Killed
at least 1300
Injured
at least 1100
More than 423000 people has now been forced to leave their homes, in comparison Israel
has done more damage to Gaza than Russia to Ukraine in over a year of war, or
the US in Afghanistan in their 20years operations.
In front of our eyes, a human disaster is taking place; millions are facing revenge
for the acts of a terrorist group by a state that proclaims itself democratic
but act with barbarity. All this happens while the international community, and
especially the Western powers, uses double standards, censorship and propaganda
to justify their actions. The aims are always the same: power, nationalism,
strategic interest. In one word forget humanitarian concerns.
What makes Gaza different from Ukraine? Where are the same indignation and disgust
for the civilians killed in indiscriminate Israeli raids? If the same amount or
even a 1/3 of all victims were caused by Putin, we were probably already
sending troops to fight in Ukraine. What makes this unhappy child that is
Israel, being continually immune from criticism and repercussions?
The support that Israel receives, not only militarily but also on a diplomatic
level is such that if Netanyahu is responsible of war crimes, then are also his
sponsors such the US, UK and EU. Exactly like they consider Putin a war
criminal in Ukraine, then you cannot deny Biden and US administration
responsibility for the total impunity on how Israel conducts its criminal war
in Palestine, Gaza, including past wars.
Israel has the right to defend itself from terrorism, as any other country should. However,
how many times we heard this sentence used to justify the killing of civilians,
and it has been as long as the dispute itself. Of course we know that every
country has a right to defend but Israel is a state that signed international
conventions, including for human rights, and cannot use this as a pretext to
bombard indiscriminately all the Gaza strip. Hamas is a terrorist organization
that also transformed itself in a political administration since taking control
of Gaza. Hamas launch of missiles indiscriminately against Israeli civilians is
a crime, but this does not justify Israel to kill in the same way innocent
people.
Hamas is a product of Israeli occupation, born from Intifada in 1987, violent from
the onset. It put itself in completion with the Palestinian Liberation Organization
of Arafat, and paradoxically Hamas grew thanks to the Israeli and US actions
undermining Arafat’s leadership until his death. This is when Hamas broke loose
and became a powerful organization, rivaling PLO and taking control of the Gaza
Strip.
Hamas is a terrorist group, but for a state to be classed as terrorist is ten times
worst, and this is what Israel has become today. Hospitals, schools, UN
buildings, houses are these all Hamas nests? Even if Hamas is using human
shields, as Israel and US claims, and they are aware of, does this legitimate
you to kill innocents anyway?
Israel is committing war crimes: land, sea and air blockade, apartheid policies,
ethnic cleansing, occupation of territories that UN Resolutions assigned to
Palestine, illegal settlements of colonizers in Palestinian lands.
The relentless indiscriminate bombardments, the cut off supplies are all war crimes,
acts against humanitarian law and contrary to war laws. All treaties that Israel
ratified, and is a signatory.
Netanyahu is not a hero is now officially a war criminal; his defense minister did not
have hany shame in announcing these crimes on TV to the world calling the people
in Gaza animals.
What is most shocking and appalling is the hypocrisy from US, UK and the EU, the so
called defenders of democratic values!
While UN and Arab league stayed silent until they could, the reality is now too much
to bear and digest for not standing against these crimes. But in the West
double standards and hypocrisy are in full swing. They accuse Putin of war crimes
in Ukraine, for bombing cities, hospitals, markets and occupying Ukrainian land.
Well, Israel is committing the same crimes, even in bigger proportion taking
account Gaza size, and in just 7 days.
In addition, Israeli’s evacuation order from the northern side of the Gaza strip
in 24 hours has been declared by the UN defined as defiance to the rules of
war, and basic humanity.
These are all officially recognized war crimes, as well as now it is becoming a
possible attempt of ethnic cleansing and genocide, due to the likely bloodshed
that will follow to a ground invasion.
The Western powers that backed Israel are complicit of war crimes, displacement, ethnic
cleansing and, possibly, favoring genocide.
How can we not call double standards the following cases?
After western media have lambasted Russia for curtailing freedom and public opinion,
we had:
1. Ban on Palestine protests
2. No Palestine flag waving as this will support Hamas
3. Standing with Palestine will equate support Hamas
4. Governments telling journalists how they should address Hamas, the war and what to say what not
In Russia you cannot say that the so called “special operation” is actually a war,
or you cannot waive a Ukrainian flag. This has been seen in the West as proof
of Russian dictatorship, then what about the above?
Our media cannot talk about this conflict presenting the events as a one-off that do
not have continuity with 75 years of oppression and occupation. This war in unjustified,
is a revenge attack for an intelligence blunder in Israel, it is the result of
75 year of statehood denial for Palestinians.
As the western allies are now trying to recover and pretend that nothing happened,
they are rushing talking about humanitarian disaster. Are they credible? We
heard them just few days ago, Biden, Blinken, Sunak, Macron, and the others,
calling for war, sending war ships, threatening other countries. People in
their own countries are protesting despite the ban, people are voicing their
disgust at this shameful hypocrisy and crimes.
UN, China, Russia, Turkey, Brazil, Egypt and all the Arab countries, while condemning
the crimes of Hamas, they are all united in saying that enough is enough and that
we cannot stop violence with violence, in a never ending circle of revenge that
claimed thousand civilians lives in Israel and Palestine. The time is mature to
uphold UN resolutions and move to a 2 state solution, the only way forward, the
only path to peace.
The Internationalist Voice 