At the United Nations in New York on Thursday, Israel’s ambassador to the world body took out his mobile phone and played to reporters the sound of an air raid warning in a bid to show what life is life for millions of Israelis living under the threat of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip. The stunt was nothing other than pure theatrics.
This is the reality: Not a single Israeli has been killed by any of the rockets fired by Palestinian resistance fighters in the Gaza Strip.
This is the reality: Israeli navy ships offshore can target the area of the besieged enclave with rapid-fire and highly accurate long-range guns. And this is also the reality: Israeli helicopter gunships can target multiple targets in a matter of seconds, raining fire and death in an instant.
And another truth: Israeli fighter jets use laser-guided precision bombs that can fall within a three-metre target zone.
And the most tragic reality is that more than 90 Palestinians have been slaughtered and hundreds more injured by Israel’s unbridled aggression. This is not a contest of equals; it is a battle-hardened military power with the latest high-tech and sophisticated weaponry waging a brutal war against a civilian enclave largely unable to hide or defend itself.
And the harshest reality is that the world is standing idly by as this Israeli war of bigotry and barbarity kills Palestinian women, children and men at the press of a button.
Yes, the UN Security Council has called for a ceasefire, but another ugly reality is that Israel acts with impunity. It is a law unto itself, uncaring of the cries for mercy from the council or the rest of the world.
And Israel has had the loyal support of the United States for decades. America’s lawmakers and its arms cartels do Israel’s bidding.
This Israeli aggression is a war crime. It is a crime against humanity. It is a genocide by the armed against the defenceless.
And where is the world and its leaders to condemn this war on Palestine? The silence is deafening.
