The Politics of Proportionality

For many Americans, the recent assault on Gaza and Lebanon makes perfect sense. Two attacks on Israeli soldiers by groups in Gaza and Lebanon, and the subsequent capture of three Israeli prisoners, were “unspeakable provocations,” but a sordid feeling overcomes all those who have been closely watching the events unfold in the Occupied Territories and Lebanon. The Israeli government, reinforced by American steadfastness and the international community’s capitulation, set the rules for the one-sided catastrophe. Israel can freely pound Gaza, batter south Lebanon, and hammer Beirut, but if Hezbollah, Hamas, Fatah or any other Palestinian or Lebanese civilian lifts a finger to defend themselves or their country against Israeli military aggression, it is tantamount to crimes against humanity.

The “reaction” against Hezbollah and Hamas has involved an intense bombing campaign—targeting civilian infrastructure and the innocent population. In the past six days, more than 230 Lebanese have perished at the hands of Israeli forces, nearly all of whom were civilians. The scene in Gaza is equally bleak. Since the start of the month, the Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) killed nearly 100 Palestinians. The damage in Lebanon is already estimated to be in the billions—a staggering sum for a nation with a 2005 Gross Domestic Product of 20 billion dollars. The economic blockade imposed on the Occupied Territories has driven up the rates of poverty, malnutrition, and unemployment.

Israel used the capturing of the three Israeli prisoners as a pretext to wage a larger war on the inhabitants of the Occupied Territories and Lebanon. Still bitter about Hezbollah forcefully driving the Israeli military out of south Lebanon in 2000 and emboldened by Hamas’ election sweep in January, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reaffirmed that Israelis “will not be held hostage to terror.” But Israelis, as Olmert maintains, “will fight with all the strength we are capable of,” which includes the use of terrorism against civilian populations. At no point is it appropriate for a United Nation’s member state, a signatory to the Geneva Conventions, and a self-proclaimed “moral democracy” to act in this manner.

Suppose Israel didn’t occupy the Shebaa Farms and it didn’t frequently incite and intimidate the Lebanese population with military operations, sonic booms, border attacks, and the abduction of Lebanese civilians: Israel’s recent attacks would still constitute war crimes. Under no circumstance is a nation allowed to attack another sovereign nation’s civilian population with the use of physical force, economic strangulation and collective punishment due to a “provocation” caused by a non-government entity—particularly when the aggressor state is accusing other nations of orchestrating the attacks. While 23 members of Hezbollah are representatives in the Lebanese parliament, Hezbollah is not the Lebanese government, nor does Israel claim it to be. Furthermore, many critics are condemning Israel for its “disproportionate use of force.” While many of these critics astutely recognize the brutality inherent in Israel’s offensive, it is necessary to note that proportionality does not apply to the endangering of civilian life and the collective punishment of the civilian population; civilians must never be targeted.

Some Israelis now fear the bombing of Lebanon will have an adverse effect on the public relations of Israel. Their concern is valid. Just as the 1982 Israeli invasion of Beirut was a moral stain on the Israeli state, the image of innocent dead Lebanese on the front page of the New York Times and TV clips of bloodied women and children being carried away on stretchers is having a significant impact on American society. The American mind has become accustomed to witnessing scenes of Israelis running for cover, but now the images are of Lebanese—Arabs—and Americans are finding themselves coming to the same horrific conclusion: this is wrong. The first sign of American disapproval came a few weeks ago when the US media aired a video which showed a little girl on a Gaza beach hysterically searching for her family after an Israeli attack. American minds will start to change if they are consistently exposed to the atrocities inflicted upon the Palestinian and Lebanese people. This is Israel’s greatest fear. Israel’s force is maximized by its ability to constantly buttress the notion that it is a nation of victims. The longer Israel indiscriminately attacks Lebanon—the further support for Israel will wane. This is not to infer, however, that the US media is providing equal coverage of the conflict now consuming Lebanon. Yet, these glimpses into the suffering of populations that the American mind has been trained into believing as foreign, as non-human, and as the “enemy,” provides a possibility for change.

Although European support for the Palestinian people is overstated in America, Europeans tend to be more understanding of Arab issues, given their large Arab and Muslim populations. Furthermore, many European media outlets are more balanced in their coverage of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and the greater Arab/Israeli conflict than the outlets in the US. Nevertheless, an unbiased picture of the conflict in Lebanon and the Occupied Territories has yet to emerge in the Western press. Some European leaders have been outspoken in their criticism for Israel’s “disproportional force” against Lebanon. Their diplomatic effectiveness, however, has been hindered by the US administration’s unwavering support for the state of Israel.

Over the last few weeks, a number of protests condemning Israel’s assault on Gaza have induced many Arab-Americans and supporters of human rights to come out of the woodwork. On July 18, more than a thousand people came out to protest Israel’s destruction of Lebanon and the Occupied Territories at the Israeli Mission to the UN, dwarfing the previous protests.

In the US, the sense of outrage from the Lebanese and Arab community has been unlike anything I’ve ever seen. People are angry, disgusted, and enraged by these recent events. Over time, many Arab-Americans became desensitized to the violence engulfing Iraq and the Occupied Territories. The events in Lebanon, however, have politically energized many Arab-Americans generally disinterested in the “politics” of the Middle East. A few reasons may attribute to this. First, the US is home to a large Lebanese population. 25,000 Lebanese-Americans, currently under siege in Lebanon, have yet to be evacuated from the nation. Second, in the minds of many Arab-Americans, Beirut—once considered the “Paris of the Middle East”— was nearing that status again. Third, many Lebanese and Arab-Americans I’ve spoken with were stunned by what’s seen as an attack on the Lebanese government, the indiscriminate bombing of Beirut, the striking of both Christian and Muslim neighborhoods and interests, and the expansive attack on the civilian population and infrastructure. Many Lebanese believed that after a 15 year civil war, the calming of inter-religious tensions, and an end to the Israeli occupation, that they were on a better footing. Yes, governmental corruption consumed the state, the economy was in tatters, and political unrest still existed, but the Israeli incursion that started last week was simply a hit they couldn’t afford to take.

Israel lost its moral compass through its creation. The “disproportional use of force” against the indigenous civilian population of Palestine has been its cardinal sin. The firm policy of keeping an ethnic Jewish majority through means of violence and might is a cancer that will always plague the state. Today, the majority of the Israeli population is rallying around Olmert and Israel’s absolute right to “defend” itself. This tends to be the case when Israel is engaging in a military offensive. The US population has not always been as supportive of its government’s use of military force. Americans eventually turned on the war in Vietnam; many are now turning on the war in Iraq. Just as most Americans understood that Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, the massacres in Haditha, and the recent raping of the 14-year-old Iraqi girl by US soldiers were wrong, they immediately realized that the attacks on the innocent people of Lebanon were deplorable. It is too soon to tell how strongly this will affect the American outlook, but one can only hope that it produces a change of unprecedented proportions.

When Civilians Become Targets: Israel's Destruction of Lebanon and Gaza

In the last two weeks, Israel has sent a chilling message to the Palestinian and Lebanese people: civilians and infrastructure are legitimate targets in their war of aggression. The Geneva Conventions have been fragrantly violated and humanitarian law has been thrown into the garbage can. The Israeli government would have us believe that the killing of civilians is the “necessary consequence” of holding one Israeli prisoner in Gaza and two Israeli prisoners in Lebanon.

On July 12, Israel killed 22 Palestinians in Gaza, including nine civilians from one family. An economic, political and physical siege has been placed on the Palestinian people. In the past two weeks, the Israeli bombardment has killed eighty Palestinians, knocked out power and water for the majority of Gaza’s 1.3 million inhabitants, and pummeled Gaza’s infrastructure with thousands of artillery shells. The international community has been silent on the sidelines, while Israeli forces bombed Gaza back twenty years—as it promises to do with Lebanon. While the premeditated assault on Gaza continues, Israel still holds nearly 10,000 abducted Palestinians, including many members of the Palestinian government.

This week, Hezbollah attacked an Israeli military target, killing three soldiers. Four more soldiers died after an Israeli tank ran over a mine in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah now holds two Israeli prisoners that were caught in the attack. In response, Israel bombed civilian infrastructure and Beirut’s Rafik Al-Hariri International Airport. July is Lebanon’s busiest tourist month. Bombing all three runways of Beirut’s airport and its fuel tanks is a direct attack on the economic welfare of Lebanese society. Already, thousands have fled the country, but with the intense bombing of the airport and the main highway leading out to Damascus, fleeing for safety has become impossible. Reminiscent of the Lebanese civil war and the Israeli siege of Beirut in 1982, the Lebanese population has rushed to supermarkets for food and supplies in fear of a further escalation of Israeli aggression.

The military onslaught against Lebanon has only intensified and expanded. The Israeli strikes have devastated Lebanon’s infrastructure, destroying most of country’s bridges—including bridges in the South that connect villages to their main roads. The entrances and exits of many villages in the South have been destroyed by Israeli forces—leaving civilians as prisoners in their villages. The widespread incursion has left most of the country without electricity and operating land lines. Many Lebanese have cell phones and rely on them as a means of communication, but with cell phone antennas knocked down in most parts of the country, cell phones are useless, further strangulating the population’s means to communicate. The majority of inhabitants in Lebanon are without communication to the outside world.

By 3 am Eastern Time on July 14, my cousin in Beirut indicated that power had been down for nearly an hour. Typing to me through instant messaging, (her electricity is supplied through a generator) she explained that she “couldn’t sleep last night because of the [Israeli] planes.” By the time I contacted her the next morning she said, “It’s horrible. It’s almost comical now. I feel like I’m in a dream. A bad dream.” The Israeli Air Force has been bombing the suburbs of Beirut throughout the morning and afternoon of July 14. According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the Israeli Air Force has struck “a bridge in the southern suburb of Beirut, and the fuel stores of the Jiyyeh power plant south of the city early Friday, witnesses and security sources said.”

In addition, there are many foreign nationals stuck in the South without a route out, while the expansive bombing is now putting all foreign nationals throughout the country at risk. The Lebanese in the South can’t flee up north towards Beirut because the roads and bridges leading to Beirut have been bombed by Israeli forces. During the civil war, many residents of the South would flee up north during intense periods of fighting to stay out of harms way—but because of the intensity of Israel’s collective punishment and killing, this measure has been impossible to pursue.

Israel continues to pound areas in and around Beirut and is further blasting densely populated Shia areas in the South and in the suburbs of Beirut. The Israeli Air Forces has struck multiple army bases in Lebanon and has bombed Al Manar, the Hezbollah run television station. Since the start of the offensive, Israel has killed at least 60 Lebanese civilians, including ten members of one family. It is yet unknown what humanitarian implications this offensive will have. Without electricity in the second hottest month of the year, it may have a serious effect on the population. The most affected will be young children, the elderly, pregnant women and those in need of medical care. Israel has warned that the military blockade debilitating Lebanese society will continue. The operation is likely to broaden, including more suburbs in Beirut and other heavily populated areas. Nearly 1.2 million people live in Beirut, while another 2.1 million people live in surrounding areas.

Placing Blame

Since the taking of the two Israeli prisoners, Israel and America have pointed fingers at Syria and Iran for supporting Hezbollah. Yet, it’s disingenuous to suggest that Syria and Iran are pulling the strings of Hezbollah. The actions of Syria and Iran are similar to American financially supporting Israel—both have interests in common, which justifies the financial support. It is not surprising that Syria and Iran—who out of favor with the Israel and the West—would be willing to fund movements that are trying to free their countries from occupation or defend their countries from Israel, the regional pariah state. It should be noted that Israel has not attributed blame to the Lebanese government for logistically helping Hezbollah, although, Israel still holds the Lebanese government “responsible.” Israel has been quick to take out its hostility on the Lebanese government—which forced out a militarily stationed Syria last year—and the civilian population of the state. The Lebanese government is already calling for a cease-fire and has petitioned to the United Nations to intervene. Israel and America know that the Lebanese government doesn’t have the power to disarm Hezbollah even if it wanted to, aside from the fact that it would be unwilling to start a civil war to appease Israel and America. Israel, mirroring the chilling standard it set in Gaza, is setting the same precedent in Lebanon.

Shifting Positions

There is a stark difference between the initial actions of Israel and the initial actions of Hezbollah and the groups in Gaza—Hezbollah and the groups in Gaza attacked military targets. Ironically, groups that much of the West regards as terrorists entities, applied more conventional standards of warfare in recent weeks than Israel has.

Since the start of its incursion in Gaza, Israeli forces abducted many members of the Palestinian government to put pressure on the Palestinian government to release Israeli Corporate Shalit. This policy is not new for Israel. Ali Abuminah, co-founder of ElectronicIntifada.net, pointed out on Berkley radio that “Israel explicitly introduced the tactic of hostage taking for the purpose of prisoners exchanges…in the early ‘90s.” Today, Israel holds many Lebanese prisoners and occupies the Shebaa Farms. Abuminah illustrates Israel’s hypocrisy in condemning Hezbollah’s “disregard for the sovereignty of Israel,”

“When did Israel every respect the sovereignty of any of its neighbors. Israel occupies southwest Syria. There are 30,000 Israeli settlers living in southwest Syria cultivating wine and enjoying the Golan Heights and claiming God gave it to them. Israel is establishing new settlements everyday throughout the Occupied Territories. Israel has been violating the airspace and territorial waters of Lebanon continuously and consistently ever since it was forced to withdraw its forces and its collaborator army, the South Lebanon army, in May 2000.”

A Christian Palestinian, who lived most of his life in Beirut before moving to the US, explained, “They [Israel] do whatever they want. They are so militarily superior. It’s been like this since 1967. It’s depressing. Once upon a time, when Russia was a big power, we could get some support, but now Israel can do whatever it wants and nobody gives a damn.”


What Happens Next?

Those that stayed silent during the atrocities inflicted upon Gaza have voiced a little more concern in the assault on Lebanon. The European Union (EU) stated, “The European Union is greatly concerned about the disproportionate use of force by Israel in Lebanon in response to attacks by Hezbollah on Israel.” The EU continued, “The presidency deplores the loss of civilian lives and the destruction of civilian infrastructure. The imposition of an air and sea blockade on Lebanon cannot be justified.” It is also not in the interest of the US government or the international community to see the collapse of the Lebanese government, as US President George Bush noted on July 13. The international community can stomach the slow ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people, but they cannot stomach a regional war in the Middle East. Furthermore, regional instability has led crude oil to surge to 78 dollars a barrel—many analysts see 100 dollars a barrel in the not so distant future if regional instability continues. The outrage of US consumers may help Bush rethink the blank check he has given Israel “to defend itself.” While Condoleezza Rice urged Israel to “exercise restraint,” these hollow suggestions haven’t hindered Israel’s use of brute force.

The US, pressed by the EU and the UN, must force Israel to restrain itself and engage in negotiations to deescalate the situation in Lebanon and Gaza. The destruction of Lebanon and Gaza will not lead to the release of the Israeli prisoners. Much like the residents of Gaza, the Shia dominated south of Lebanon, which has seen widespread humanitarian support from Hezbollah, has become stronger willed over time. Israel hoped its military incursions in Gaza would break the back of Hamas, toppling the Hamas-led government in Palestine: this has yet to be the case. Although the Palestinian population is immensely suffering, it is not willing to concede to its occupier this time. Unfortunately for Israeli forces, those in the Israeli north and possibly in Haifa, the residents of the South are willing to fight off its oppressive neighbor once again. It is up to the international community to let the Lebanese population know how long they will have to fight for.

Crisis 2006: When Pariah States Cry Wolf

It’s lights out in the Gaza Strip and lights out in the moral consciousness of the Western and Arab world. The reason? One soldier, who lacked the ethical fiber to resist involvement in the illegal occupation of an indigenous people, was captured by those he was oppressing. It’s like a rapist complaining when his victims get aggressive. Red flags have gone up throughout the West. This event is an “escalation,” a “declaration of war,” an “obscene act by terrorists.” Is this capture ten thousands times less offensive and harmful than the ten thousand prisoners abducted by Israel? Would not the executing of four thousands Palestinians, the vast majority of them civilians, constitute a “crime against humanity?”

Palestinians have a legitimate right—under international law and the Geneva Conventions—to defend themselves against this illegal occupation. This event was not an attack on the civilians of Israel, but rather a patriotic fight against an oppressive foreign force. Similarly, the twenty-four point reconciliation proposal in Iraq which, based on the argument of patriotism, calls for amnesty of those attacking American forces. This argument seemed generally accepted within the US administration and military. Although for some odd partisan reason, democrats, burnt flag in hand, had a hissy fit over it in Congress. The West should not only apologize to Hamas for defaming its good name, but it should pat Hamas on the back for playing by rules. As for the Palestinian’s “Arab brothers,” it’s understandable that Egypt likes its monthly cash deposit from its sugar daddy, America, but amassing troops on the border to appease its sugar daddy is a sellout that even Sadat would have grimaced at.

In recent days, the Israeli government reverted back to its roots: the implementation of hardcore collective punishment. A few hundred artillery shells striking houses filled with children and beaches filled with families just wasn’t sufficient. Operation Brown Man Down aims to cut off electricity to 1.4 million people, further starve children suffering from malnutrition, and make 500 artillery craters a day in the most heavily populated area on the planet. I’d reserve Israel the Purple Heart for its courage during the recent wounding, but I think any heart at this point will do.

It’s clear the wicked witch of the Near East, which has no regard for democracy within its own borders, is out to destroy its neighbor’s democracy as well. This week Israeli forces abducted sixty-four members of Hamas’s political wing—many of whom serve in the Palestinian government. But don’t worry kids, according to sources for the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, more arrests are on the way. It’s believed that the 100th Hamas member abducted will get to take home a new car after being summarily beaten—well that is if artillery shelling doesn’t blow the vehicle up by the time he gets out.

As icing on the cake, Israel revoked the residency rights of four top Hamas members living in Jerusalem. Surprisingly, these measures didn’t spring up as a spontaneous retaliation. The plan for the revocation of residency rights was formulated in April and the plan for the abduction of the Hamas members had been in the works for “several weeks” according to Haaretz. Israel, however, needed this intense period of victimization to apply such outrageous policies against the Palestinian government. Israel tries not to define itself by subtlety. Rather than leaning on Hamas, it appears Israel felt a flying tackle would be more appropriate.

It’s sad that the world is expending so much energy on the life of one soldier engaging in state-sponsored terrorism, yet the world doesn’t so much as wince when another Palestinian child is killed. Unfortunately, while Palestinians brace themselves for further destruction and a possible Jenin-style massacre, the international community is rooting Israel on like it’s a 26-1 underdog in the Kentucky Derby.

Missing the Point and the Target

The recent Israeli artillery strikes on the Gaza Strip have outraged Palestinians, raised eyebrows in the international community, prompted condemnation from human rights organizations, and put the Israeli government on the defensive. One thing is certain: the loss of innocent Palestinian life in Israeli attacks has been the rule rather than the exception.

Since the start of the month, Israeli forces have killed nearly 50 Palestinians, the majority of them being innocent civilians. In May, the killing of more than 40 Palestinians by Israeli forces was scarcely reported in the US media. The recent artillery barrage on Gaza left many children under the age of ten dead. The number of Palestinian children killed in the last three weeks by Israeli forces is equal to the number of Israeli children killed by Palestinian groups over the past two years. Palestinian rocket fire, which has put Israeli towns in the Negev such as Sderot “under siege,” rarely wounds civilians or causes deaths. According to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign affairs, Palestinian rocket fire killed seven Israeli civilians in the last three years. These attacks, however, are futile, counterproductive and only strengthen Israel’s excuse to rein terror on the Palestinian population.

The killing on June 20 follows the liquidation of three children on June 19. Although extrajudicial assassinations (which kill many innocent civilians and frequently miss the target) are against international law, Israel has continued this policy with virtual impunity. The Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, reported comments made by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, “The lives and the welfare of the residents of the Sderot are more important than those of the residents of Gaza.” One could argue, however, that the excessive and disproportionate bombardment of Gaza puts the protection of Israeli Jews in jeopardy by unnecessarily fanning the flames of the conflict. While every nation has the right to protect its citizens, the disregard for the safety of innocent civilians is unconscionable. Firing on a crowded city, marketplace or beach does not constitute precision or the value of innocent life, as Olmert makes clear in his comments.

The apathy for the loss of innocent Palestinian life continues in the US media. On June 20, CNN.com, Yahoo, and the online of edition of The New York Times did not report the killing of a woman and one her relatives in her home on the front page of their respective publication. The BBC, Le Monde, Haaretz and most online news sites based outside the US did cover the killing on their front page. Media bias pertaining to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is not a new occurrence. In March, I discussed a study by If Americans Knew:

“In 2004, If Americans Knew—an American organization that exposes and examines the facts of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict—reported that 808 Palestinian conflict deaths occurred while 107 Israelis conflict deaths occurred. The study, however, found that The New York Times covered Israeli deaths in the headline or the first paragraph in 159 articles—meaning in some cases they covered the same death numerous times. In contrast, The New York Times only covered about 40 percent of Palestinian deaths—334 of 808—in the headline or in the first paragraph of the articles. Nearly eight Palestinians died for every one Israeli.”

Unfortunately, The New York Times is one of the more liberal and “fair and balanced” of the outlets.

Onlookers in the West should not be surprised by the recent Israeli assault. Although the initial coverage of the killing of the family members picnicking on a Gaza beach two weeks ago was PR disaster for the Israeli military and government—both tried to spin the bad press and cover up the situation. While the first proclamation by the Israeli government was an apology for the killings, the Israel Occupation Force (IOF) backed off from the initial account attributing blame to the Israeli Air Force. The IOF, after an “investigation” that concealed the evidence it was using, said that the deaths were caused by a mine planted by Hamas. The mine theory was passed off to the media as fact, without any evidence to back up the claim. The IOF finally admitted that the deaths could have been caused by an old Israeli shell that was at the beach site. Palestinian medics, human rights groups and bystanders at the site corroborated the initial evidence—that the deaths were caused by an Israeli shell. Nonetheless, every major US media outlet covered the story, including CNN, The New York Times and most of the other outlets that “forgot” to cover the latest liquidation of Palestinian civilians.

Historically, Israel (including Labor, Likud and Kadima) has instituted a method of slow ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people. This strategy, however, was only effective when combined with the appearance of Israel having the moral upper hand. A PR victory would ensure the notion that Israel acted in self-defense. This methodology continues today. Americans should know better than anyone else that the truth rarely matters (i.e. weapons of mass destruction in Iraq); rather it is how an event is presented or spun. Over the last five years, nearly 4,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces while more than 30,000 have been injured—the majority of them being unarmed civilians. Israel has known for sometime that it can continue its policies under the radar as long as the attacks do not become “newsworthy.” Tanya Reinhart addressed this issue in her book Israel/Palestine: How to End the War of 1948, in which she stated,

“The reason for this strategy is clear: Massive numbers of Palestinians killed every day cannot go unnoticed by even the most cooperative Western Media and governments. [Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud] Barak was explicit about this. ‘The prime minister said that were there not 140 Palestinian casualties at this point, but rather 400 or 1,000, this…would perhaps damage Israel a great deal.’1 Apparently, he believed that with a stable average of five casualties a day, Israel could continue undamaged in the media, as, in fact, it has.”

The implementation of this course of action has reinforced Israel’s position of victimization; as attacks on Palestinians go unreported, attacks on Israel are extensively covered. This policy further shields Israel from criticism regarding its action of Judaizing Jerusalem, appropriating Palestinian land, strangulating the Palestinian economy and securing the matrix of control over the Occupied Territories. When Israel has been criticized, it has habitually played the security card. For example, Israel’s construction of the Apartheid Wall has not been limited to the internationally recognized 1967 borders; rather its invasive route usurps Palestinian land and resources well beyond the Green line. If the Apartheid Wall was for security purposes only, Israel could easily build the monstrous barrier on the internationally recognized border. This does not even address the ruling by the International Court of Justice, which deemed the Wall illegal, or the Shin Bet’s (Israel’s internal security service) assertion that the Wall is not a significant mechanism in reducing attacks on Israel.

The killings in Gaza over the last three weeks have sparked verbal condemnation from the UN, while the IOF chief issued a probe concerning the latest string of civilian deaths. A couple weeks will pass however, more Palestinian civilians will be killed, and the words of discontentment from UN will not bring justice. Theoretically, the UN could pass a resolution chiding Israel’s latest strikes in Gaza, but the US, as a member state with veto power, would no doubt exercise its right to reject the resolution to protect its ally, Israel. The probe of the IOF will attribute the strike to “miscalculations” and the “unfortunate” and “non-deliberate” c*-osts of fighting a war against “terrorists.” But this rhetoric is becoming obvious and old—at some juncture international law and the protection of human rights must be applied.

The focus of media attention will go back to Israeli Prime Minister Olmert’s convergence plan, internal fighting between Hamas and Fatah, and Israel’s quest to find a “partner for peace.” The media will all but forget Hamas’ call for a renewed cease-fire, Hamas’ persistent moderation, and the “diet” Palestinians have been put on by Israel and the international community. The closing of the Rafah border, which used to make headlines, has become the status quo in Gaza. The closing furthers malnutrition among children, hunger throughout the general population, depletion in wages, a spike in unemployment, and a severe reduction in trade. Israel’s creation of unilateral facts on the ground in the West Bank and East Jerusalem will forge on. This is the world Palestinians live in. Most appallingly, it is the world the international community has created for them.

1 Jerusalem Post, October 20, 2000.