Heartbreak Hotel

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, military man gone peace-loving hippy, is unilaterally “disengaging” from the Gaza Strip. It’s plastered all over television, play by play, the hardships Israel is enduring. Scenes of Israeli soldiers, emotionally and physically struggling to remove the 8500 settlers from the Gaza Strip is displayed while CNN anchors utter soft, shocked words in the background. Images of Israeli soldiers painstakingly carry flailing settlers who are protesting the move. These same soldiers police brethren their government once spent billions to protect and contain the animosity of 8500 people who once turned to them for help. But as the old saying goes, you break the law, you pay the price.

I can’t commend Israel for dismantling illegal settlements they put in place against international law, the will of the Palestinian people, and the effort to maintain peace. The settlers were well aware of what they were doing, and they were aware of the implications of their actions. With their government, they chose to thumb their nose at the rights of an indigenous people and moved ahead anyway. This should not be viewed as Israel’s reasonable concession towards peace. This should be viewed as the first step, in a long line of necessary actions, toward justice for the Palestinian people.

The event taking place is historic. Yet, it is not disengagement. Gazan children may be able to play in the yard while husbands and wives walk the street freely, but unfortunately their freedom ends there. Israel will control Gaza’s air, sea, and borders as well as the movement of Palestinians entering or leaving Gaza. The dream of contiguous Palestinian territory is left a dream. As predicted, Gaza remains an open air prison, with the outside landscape controlled by their occupying neighbors. The illegal settlers are making their way to lush West Bank territory. Shortly after an estimated $150,000 to $400,000 per person will be doled out to each Israeli settler, with America footing the bill, of course.
Unlike Palestinians, the settlers will be granted unlimited housing permits, while the world watches indifferently as Israel displaces and encroaches upon more Palestinians.

It is necessary Israel leave the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, but this is not the only factor. The quality of life in Palestinian society is fundamental. Will “disengagement” have a positive affect on the 80 percent living below the poverty line, the 60 percent unemployed, or the flow of products in and out of the territories? The simple answer is no. The continued constraints on Palestinian life will further deteriorate the economic conditions of Gaza.

Palestinians initially accepted the Oslo Accords because people were tired of the violence. Furthermore, promises of a state were made, and the quality of life for their families seemed to be improving. As the world witnessed, quite the contrary occurred. The transfer of power to the Palestinians was slow at best, Israeli incursions continued regularly, and settlements expanded at an unprecedented rate. So while the removal of illegal settlers from Gaza is welcome, if Israel continues to control vital aspects of Palestinian life and the Gazan economy, the Palestinian people will keep on suffering.

As I flip back to the latest coverage by Fox News, I learn the Israeli heartbreak continues. Settlers with tears in their eyes must depart from their surroundings—the easy life they once lived in their “promised land.” All the while, I wonder, where are the pictures, the video footage, and the sound bites of Gazans who have lost their homes because of the dispossession of 1948, 1967, the construction of the Annexation Wall, and thousands of house demolitions? Where are the cameras covering the closures, the curfews, and the attacks on Palestinian homes and their livestock? Who is documenting their tears and struggle? Unfortunately, it won’t be Palestinian journalists who can’t get permits by Israel to cover the atrocities in the territories.

Flipping back to CNN unarmed Israeli soldiers are under “vicious” attack by settlers equipped with buckets of oil, eggs and swinging fists and legs. I only wish the Israeli soldiers resorted to disarmament when struggling with the Palestinian people. I wonder what the family members of the three Palestinians killed by a settler in the West Bank are thinking. How is it possible the Israeli settler was able to take a gun away from a soldier, kill three people, and not be shot dead, but only arrested? Yet, when an 11 year old Palestinian boy in Rafah throws a rock that doesn’t come within 50 yards of a tank, he is sniped in the head.

The disengagement satisfied the appetites in the West, but the Palestinians living in Gaza face a harsh reality. The Israeli soldiers are still in sight, still pulling the strings of their lives, while Gazans brace themselves for Israeli reinvasions made easier once the settlements are out of the way.

Occupational Hazard

The highly anticipated disengagement of the Gaza Strip is just days away. The unilateral mission will entail the removal of 8500 illegal Jewish settlers from the tiny strip, which houses 1.4 million Palestinians. In preparation for the withdrawal, Israel has stepped up its threats of a “major ground offensive” if the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) or illegal settlers come under attack. Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim told Israeli public radio, "In the case of fire, we will stop the pullout and strike a big blow in an operation at division level." In what was called the “worst case scenario,” Boim states, “I believe such an operation of the magnitude of Operation Defensive Shield would last 10 days to two weeks, time to strike a massive blow in order to finish with terrorism.”

Operation Defensive Shield began on March 29, 2002 and ended on April 21, 2002. According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, 216 Palestinians were killed, of which 55 were children, and 416 Palestinians were wounded. Israel arrested nearly 4,200 Palestinians and demolished hundreds of homes. Prolonged curfews, denial of medical care and supplies, and heavy destruction of infrastructure sent numerous Palestinian towns into a humanitarian crisis. According to the World Bank and a team from donor countries, the estimated financial loss of Operation Defensive Shield was 360 million dollars. On April 12, the UN Security Council passed resolution 1402 calling for Israel to “withdraw from Palestinian cities.” Although claiming Israel’s right to security and self-defense, even US President George Bush demanded withdrawal.

This type of offensive against “terrorism” is a guise for Israeli forces to act with impunity in the Gaza Strip. Ariel Sharon’s government is prepping the world for a major offensive, which, if the past is any indication, will lead to a high death toll, including many children and civilians. Israel’s claim of security, while the Palestinian people suffer the consequences, must not be tolerated. Reiterating readiness to take over security, Palestinian National Authority presidential advisor Nabil Abu Rudeina stated “What {Boim} said is very dangerous and will have negative consequences on the peace process. We ask the Israeli government to stop this."

The members of the Quartet—the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia—must come forward and denounce these incendiary statements coming from the Sharon administration. While the denouncement of suicide operations and force against Israel is commonplace in the Western media, the calls for Palestinian rights is rarely voiced, and has yet to be enforced.

Residents of the Gaza Strip have endured daily incursions by Israeli forces and a sharp increase in attacks by Israeli settlers. From January to April 2005, the Israeli newspaper Maariv reported the IOF filed 265 cases against settlers for “being suspected of disturbing order and exercising violence against Palestinians,” a 52 percent increase from the same period a year ago. The 2005 report included nearly a month of the Sharm al- Sheik cease-fire, which took place on February 9, 2005.

As the disengagement of Gaza nears and the veiled threats turn into outright threats, the Palestinian people, and those protecting international law and the human rights of an occupied nation, should be prepared to act against any such offensive. Writing reports and issuing statements of condemnation after the fact doesn’t do any good for the Palestinian people. If those in the West expect positive ground to be made in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and want to reinforce the “moderate” Palestinian leadership, then they must ensure that further breaches in international law be dealt with swiftly and effectively to ensure stability in the region.

It is imperative the state of Israel be forced to comply with the Fourth Geneva Convention (Convention IV), which was ratified by Israel in 1951. Convention IV outlines the basic human rights of the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip. In 1999, the Conference of High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention was held. The Convention affirmed that Israel "immediately refrain from committing grave breaches involving any of the acts committed under art. 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, such as willful killing, torture, unlawful deportation, willful deprivation of the rights of fair and regular trial, extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly.”

Fulfilling their commitments as an unbiased broker for peace, it is essential the Quartet issue a statement condemning any breach of Convention IV by the state of Israel. Supporting these breaches against a civilian population is in conflict with democracy and “Western values.” While Israel has ignored Convention IV in the past and the ruling by the International Court of Justice against the Annexation Wall, the world community cannot once again sit idly by and watch the events of Operation Defensive Shield terrorize the imprisoned Palestinian people. If the terms of Convention IV are violated, political pressure and cutting of aid is the next necessary step to force Israel to adhere to its commitments.

But we as consumers and supporters of human rights must take action on an individual basis. Campaigns calling for boycotts, divestment and an immediate end to the occupation exist throughout the world. The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, The U.S. Campaign to End Israeli Occupation, and divestment campaigns coordinated by Colombia University, Rutgers University, and the University of California, are to name a few. For an extensive list of online resources visit the organization section of Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel (www.vtpj.org).

Whether locally or globally, let your voice be heard, go out and get active. If the Western powers will not enforce international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention, then wemust do it for them.