Image: Palestinians look at the damage to a mosque following an overnight Israeli missile strike in Deir El Baleh, Gaza Strip.
Current Events
Our Everlasting Shame
NOAM CHOMSKY
At 3 am Gaza time, July 9, 2014, in the midst of Israel’s latest exercise in savagery, I received a phone call from a young Palestinian journalist in Gaza.
In the background, I could hear his infant child wailing, amidst the sounds of explosions and jet planes, targeting any civilian who moves, and homes as well.
He just saw a friend of his in a car clearly marked “press” blown away. And he heard shrieks next door after an explosion but couldn't go outside or he’d be a likely target. This is a quiet neighborhood, no military targets – except Palestinians who are fair game for Israel’s high tech US-supplied military machine.
He said that 70% of the ambulances had been destroyed, and that by then over 70 had been killed, and of the 300 or so wounded, about 2/3 women and children.
Few Hamas activists had been hit – or rocket launching sites. Just the usual victims.
It is important to understand what life is like in Gaza when Israel’s behavior is “restrained,” in between the regular manufactured crises like this one.
A good sense is given in a report to UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) by Mads Gilbert, the courageous and expert Norwegian physician who has worked extensively in Gaza, also throughout the vicious and murderous Cast Lead operation.
In every respect, the situation is disastrous. Just keeping to children, Gilbert reports:
“Palestinian children in Gaza are suffering immensely. A large proportion are affected by the man-made malnourishment regime caused by the Israeli imposed blockage. Prevalence of anaemia in children < 2yrs in Gaza is at 72.8%, while prevalence of wasting, stunting, underweight have been documented at 34.3%, 31.4%, 31.45% respectively.”
And it gets worse as the report proceeds.
When Israel is on “good behavior,” more than two Palestinian children are killed every week, a pattern that goes back over 14 years.
The underlying cause is the criminal occupation and the programs to reduce Palestinian life to bare survival in Gaza, while Palestinians are restricted to unviable cantons in the West Bank and Israel takes over what it wants, all in gross violation of international law and explicit UN Security Council resolutions, not to speak of minimal decency.
And it will continue as long as it is supported by Washington and tolerated by Europe – to our everlasting shame.
The author is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, logician, political commentator and activist, who is sometimes described as the "father of modern linguistics".
Courtesy: ZNet
July 17, 2014
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Conversation about this article
1: Jim K. Anders (New York, USA), July 17, 2014, 7:51 AM.
The Nazi Holocaust was undoubtedly one of the most shameful chapters in the recent history of humanity. There's nothing that could justify it or condone it to any degree. But now, when I see the way the Israelis have been behaving, I am sad to say that I can now understand why their people have been brutalized over and over again, in country after country, century after century. I am NOT justifying it, but I can see why it happened, evil though their mistreatment was. Is this how these people always behave when they hold power over others? Shameful indeed.
2: Sangat Singh (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), July 17, 2014, 7:53 AM.
"Aytee maar pa-ee karlaanay tain kee darad na aa-i-aa" [GGS:360.13] "There was so much slaughter that the people screamed. Didn't you feel compassion, O Lord?"
3: Gagan Kaur (Florida, USA), July 17, 2014, 8:07 AM.
A recent TODAY'S QUOTE on sikhchic.com's homepage caught my attention. It immediately brought Israel and India to mind. I saved it. Here it is: "If one who's strong and mighty / Attacks another of equal strength, / There is no issue. / But, when a lion pounces / On a defenceless herd? / Why, O why? / It warrants an answer! [Guru Nanak, GGS:360.14]. There is no argument that justifies what Israel is doing. It is indeed America's shame and the shame of the rest of the world which is looking on at this latest chapter of the Israeli Holocaust. It appears that they are out to outdo the Nazis one day.
4: Kevin McCalister (Oxford, United Kingdom), July 17, 2014, 9:32 AM.
Knowing what his people needly urgently, Moses brought down from Sinai ten rules, worded in the simplest and most straight-forward of terms. But found his people, who he had left behind hopefully in prayer and piety, frolicking around a gold idol, and in a rage smashed the tablets containing the rules, in their midst. Ever since, for thousands of years, his people have been finding ways of circumventing those "God-given" rules by stretching them, obfuscating them, or finding exceptions, or creating ever-new interpretations. To the point that "Thou Shalt Not Kill", like all other biblical commandments, has become useless and ignored by Moses' followers today. Today's Israel and its criminal behaviour is evidence of that. Let there be no doubt about it: anyone who condones it or looks the other way -- we here in Britain, or you out there in Canada or the US -- is party to the genocide of the Palestinians. It'll need God's wrath and ingenuity, in biblical proportions, to correct this.
5: Mahanjot Singh Sodhi (Mississauga, Ontario, Canada ), July 17, 2014, 11:31 AM.
Amazing and extremely perturbing to know what some humans are capable of! Israelis munching popcorn and smoking hookahs in front row seats while watching innocent Palestinians being bombed ... Waheguru! http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/07/15/world/middleeast/israelis-watch-bombs-drop-on-gaza-from-front-row-seats.html?_r=1&referrer
6: Harinder Singh (Punjab), July 17, 2014, 11:38 AM.
They, the Israelis and the Palestine people must find ways to co- exist. No one should be an existential threat to any one.
7: Kaala Singh (Punjab), July 17, 2014, 1:31 PM.
It goes both ways: what did the world do when 6 million Jews were massacred in Europe? Most countries in Europe were complicit in the massacre of Jews. It was a compulsion for the Jews to take some land and establish a nation where they could survive as a distinct race. The same goes for the Sikhs. What did the champions of morality in the world do when 300,000 Sikhs were massacred in India. Had the world done something to prevent the genocide of Jews, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict may not have arisen. It's time for both sides to make peace and yes, that includes the Palestinians to stop firing rockets and confront a much superior adversary they can't defeat.
8: Manbir Singh Banwait (Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada), July 18, 2014, 4:48 AM.
Israel should enjoy our support as a country that supports democracy.
9: Dr Birinder Singh Ahluwalia (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), July 18, 2014, 11:20 AM.
Democracy in itself does not command or confer authority (to a nation or society) to wage wrong wars or inflict atrocities on people/humanity. Germany was up to some extent democratic during the period of World War II and the Holocaust. The US was (and still is) a democracy when Bush waged a wrong war in Iraq ... I can go on and on. in fact nations that represent mature democracies have, to some extent, a higher burden of responsibility to ensure that they act righteously and practice restraint and fairness prior to engaging in any conflict which results in loss of precious and innocent human life.