Editor,
The idea of collective punishment is not only illegal under international law and the Geneva Conventions, but it is a form of evil and brutal oppression that is placed on people who have no control over a certain situation.
In January 2006, Hamas was elected by the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. The reasons behind Hamas' victory are obvious. Hamas provided people with humanitarian services ranging from running low-income health clinics to managing charities and organizing the school system. The ruling party at the time, Fatah, was seen by most Palestinians as corrupt and unable to help them with their most basic needs.
When elections took place, it was no surprise that the majority of the people voted for the group that had taken care of them. The problem the Palestinians fell into in the eyes of the democratic world was electing the wrong group to lead them. The West believed that democracy should be applied only when it results in what the West wants. So, sanctions were placed on the new government to guarantee its failure.
Tensions rose because of the sanctions, and the two leading Palestinian parties started attacking each other. After Hamas felt it was being stripped of its claim to power, it took over the Gaza Strip with violence and declared itself the rightful ruling party of the territory. Hamas is now the most powerful armed group in all of Gaza. This brings us back to the idea of collective punishment.
By collectively punishing the civilians of Gaza who have no control over Hamas, Israel is not only infuriating more Gazans, but it is also starving and torturing a majority of defenseless civilians. Some will argue that the fault is of the Palestinians, as Israel showed goodwill by pulling out of Gaza in 2005. This statement would lead you to believe that Gaza was under full control of the Palestinian National Authority, when in actuality, Israel was still in control of what was allowed to come in and out of Gaza.
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Any person would agree that it's pretty hard to run a place when you don't have control over what you can import or export into your own territory. Even the Rafah border, which leads to Egypt, was effectively closed 86 percent of the operational days by Israel, making it extremely difficult for the territory to function.
Gaza is starving and the people will not be able to oust Hamas. Israel needs to figure out a better method than collective punishment to stop the Hamas attacks on Israel. To add to this, Israel promised to let food and fuel in for one day to relieve the developing humanitarian crisis, but reports show that only fuel was allowed into Gaza. Reports are also stating that severe shortages of food and medicine are developing, and if those items are not allowed in, Gaza will witness a full-blown humanitarian crisis.
I implore all readers of the Daily Lobo to condemn the evil and disgusting act of collective punishment and to write to your representatives to put pressure on Israel to find another course of action to crack on Hamas.
Amjad Musleh
UNM student
