The Israel war machine continues unabated into its massacre of civilians in Gaza. No amount of Israeli or Zionist-sponsored propaganda can wipe the fact that the primary targets during its invasion of Gaza have been civilians, a disproportionate number of whom have been women and children. The Israelis would like the world to believe that their mission is in response to rocket attacks. But such claims fall on deaf ears to those who have followed Israeli actions over the years. Their policy to corner and goad their Palestinian victims into reacting and then follow it with howls of indignation is becoming old. Israeli expansion policy over the decades has deeply etched their grandiose designs to stretch their empire far beyond their borders in the minds of many. The fact that they sought to achieve their goals through violent and criminal means is no surprise.
In the latest massacres, their forces repeatedly sent bombs flying into a United Nations-run school that was sheltering civilians fleeing from the carnage. They conducted their cold-blooded exercise in the middle of the night, killing 16 children and their parents. If you closely follow events into this latest Israeli excursion you will notice a diabolical pattern of specifically targeting women and children by the Israeli forces. Netanyahu’s ministers have reportedly encouraged the killing and even the raping of such victims to “break the back of the resistance”.
In a strongly-worded statement, United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) chief Pierre Krahenbuhl said after the attack: “I condemn in the strongest possible terms this serious violation of international law by Israeli forces,” adding that the school’s location had been communicated to the Israeli army no less than 17 times to protect it from indiscriminate bombardment. “No words to adequately express my anger and indignation,” he continued.
The killing of Palestinian women and children by Israeli forces is nothing new. Since 2000, more than 1,500 Palestinian children have died at the hands of Israeli forces. A Unicef report stated that in addition to the 1,520 children that have been killed, another 6,000 have been injured and more than 10,000 arrested. Two hundred children still remain in detention in Israeli prisons without due process of law. The March 2013 Unicef report concluded that “Palestinian children detained by the Israeli military in the West Bank and Gaza are ‘systematically’ ill-treated, which is a violation of international law”.
Following their investigation, the Unicef report also added that every year, more than 700 Palestinian children aged 12 to 17 are arrested, interrogated and detained by Israel’s army, police and security agents. The 22-page report also charged that “ill-treatment often begins at the point of arrest, when children are woken up by heavily-armed soldiers and forcibly brought to an interrogation centre — tied and blindfolded, sleep-deprived and in a state of extreme fear”. The international community has repeatedly criticised Israel for the mistreatment of Palestinian minors, but to no avail. Israel blatantly dismisses all allegations with a rebuff of anti-Semitism to stifle such charges.
Another report in June 2013 by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) brought up the fact that “thousands of Palestinian children were systematically injured, tortured and used as human shields by Israel”. The report further said that during a study of the previous ten years, “up to 7,000 children aged 9 to 17 were arrested, interrogated and kept captive indefinitely”. The report added that “hundreds of Palestinian children have been killed and thousands injured over the reporting period as a result of the state party military operations, especially in Gaza where Israel proceeded to conduct air and naval strikes on densely populated areas with a significant presence of children, thus disregarding the principles of proportionality and distinction”.
Israel continues to deny such findings from independent global organisations, all the while projecting that it is they who are the victims. But the reality is that their lies have begun to unravel. You don’t bully and indiscriminately target civilians who you have surrounded in large open-air concentration camps and expect them to respond with a barrage of roses and orchids. You cannot expect warmth and brotherhood if you deny the other party the basic requirements for a decent life by crippling blockades and denial of everyday necessities, including badly-needed medical supplies.
Meanwhile, world powers continue to behave as if nothing of significance is going on and that Israel is simply trying to get rid of the rockets in Gaza. It is almost like denying that there is a holocaust in the making. In the words of Aaron David Miller, an American Middle East analyst, author and a former Middle East negotiator under several presidents, “the silence is deafening”.
Throughout history, as any oppressor has found out, resistance does not die or fade away with increased violence. The massacres that the Israelis are conducting against the civilians today will only increase the resolve of Palestinians everywhere to achieve their dream of an independent homeland, free from the apartheid policies of the Israeli regime. That day will come.
Tariq A. Al Maeena is a Saudi sociopolitical commentator. He lives in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. You can follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/@talmaeena
