From a point of ignorance I always viewed the Palestinians as a trigger happy, rocket propelling lot. A people obsessed with destruction as much as with radical ideologies. But as it turns out this seemingly radical behavior is not without a root cause.
The history of the Israel-Palestine conflict makes for an interesting read. Not only does it give a new dimension to the story but it paints a totally different image of Israel. At least it did for me as I arrived to the conclusion that Israel is the rogue state per excellence in the world order- forget the United States. Israel has possibly broken all the rules of international law that there are to break-this might be an exaggeration but it is not one so far removed from the truth.
She is the mother of pre-emptive strikes, again forget the United States. First it was Egypt in the 1967 six-day war. Although Egypt did behave in a manner that could be interpreted as aggression, evidence points to the fact that the Israelis in fact knew and believed that Egypt did not want to go to war with them. In spite of this knowledge they went ahead and launched a pre-emptive strike that saw them acquire territories from three states. They acquired the Sinai Desert from Egypt, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan and the Golan Heights from Syria. All this was done in a bid to expand the Israeli territory. They defiantly hold on to all the territories except the Sinai which they only gave up because the United States twisted them into doing.
Then came Iraq. This was done under the guise of a ‘threat of a nuclear attack’. Although condemned unanimously by the international community, Israel escaped any repercussions under Big –Brothers watchful eye-the United States, after launching a pre-emptive strike against Iraq’s nuclear plants. No evidence was ever adduced by Israel to support the attack.
The most recent incident though is in relation to Iran. Israel suspects that Iran is well on its way to acquiring nuclear weapons something that does not sit well with her. It is common knowledge that Israel is itself in possession of nuclear weapons, something that the United States has decided to turn a blind eye to as it goes around condemning other countries for amassing such weapons. This notwithstanding, Israel is building up for an offensive against Iran. A pre-emptive strike once again. God help us all if they actually follow up on this threat as it might very well lead us down a nasty road. The interesting thing in all this is that Israel has taken it upon herself to ensure that states in the Middle East do not acquire nuclear weapons in spite of the fact that in an age where states are moving towards disarmament Israel has refused to even declare the strength of its nuclear arsenal.
Pre-emptive strikes aside Israel had been busy building settlements on land forcefully acquired from designated Palestinian territory. Modern day relations between states dictate that no state can acquire territory through the use of force. This seems to apply to all states of the World except for Israel which is comfortably transferring its population to Palestinian territory. The United Nations has passed several resolutions to condemn this. Numerous peace agreements have been signed but nothing will stop Israel from asserting its presence on the ‘promised land’.
The human rights record of Israel as far as the ‘Occupied Territories’ are concerned is appalling. Israel’s standard response from attacks by Muslim extremist in the occupied territories is the classic example of fighting a mosquito with a mallet. For the death of a handful of Israelis, Israel will respond by killing over a thousand Palestinians. Not that I support extremist actions. This does not even come near to summarizing the number of human rights abuses and contraventions of international treaties of which Israel is liable for. It does however help to paint an image, albeit simplistic of the rogue state that is Israel.
Behind Israel’s arrogance is the belief that they are the chosen ‘people’ hence the constant persecution and alienation by the rest of the world. The humiliation at the hands of other ‘peoples’ in the world from the times of the Old Testament up until well past World War Two has served to embed this belief amongst the majority Israelis, or at least those in the ruling class. It is this arrogance and refusal to accommodate the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination that has seen frustrated Palestinians sometimes turn to radical means o try and liberate themselves from the suffocating hold of the Israelis.
As the Palestinians pursue their quest for statehood, I continue grappling with the question as to whether by the mere fact of being the ‘chosen people’ the Israelis are entitled to deny the people of Palestine a dignified life in which they can for once since 1967 live in peace and determine their destiny as a people.
~Currently reading, ‘THE CASE FOR PALESTINE’, by John Quigley. ~
