Editor,
The war in Gaza has generated much criticism toward Israel. The usual accusations of Israel committing war crimes and the hollow comparisons to the Holocaust were not late to come. However, I am suspicious of the authenticity and decency of those who demonstrate such a deep concern to the other and possess such a developed conscience.
It happens for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, where the understanding and support within the moderate Arab world in regard to the Israeli campaign are greater than those of most Western countries to such an extent that even West Bank Palestinians do not allow the war to disturb their lives too much. Likewise, countries like Egypt and Jordan officially adopt pro-Palestinian positions, while the reality is clearly different as they realize the potential danger of Hamas.
At the same time, the "enlightened" world, which in this case is represented by the United Nations, Great Britain and even Turkey, views Israel as powerful, aggressive and fully responsible for the Palestinian tragedy while canceling any Palestinian responsibility whatsoever. This distorted presentation of the balance of power in the Middle East and this patronization on the Palestinians is common within Europe and Western media, and it is caused by ignorance and dishonesty.
One difficulty is that if human suffering (kids experiencing trauma or destroyed cities) causes so much discomfort to those bleeding hearts, then where was their sensitivity hiding in the past eight years when Israeli cities were bombarded daily by thousands of rockets? The wonderment increases when considering the Israeli retreat from Gaza in 2005 when, for the first time in history, the Palestinians were given a land of their own where they could have prosperity, but instead, they intensified the rocket shooting without even concealing their supreme goal of destroying Israel. The only reason for the relatively low number of Israeli casualties is the warning alarm that saved many lives but also made families live in shelters for a long time. Perhaps a higher Israeli death toll could have calmed down some of those who were concerned about the disproportionate number of corpses.
Another difficulty arises when examining the past of those who believe they are on the side of the angels. Any sensible person should not take preachment coming from them seriously. Examples are abundant: Great Britain, which a few years ago fought in the Falkland Islands located 300 miles from Argentina; Turkey, which carried out the Armenian genocide; Europe, which, until recently, dealt with massive colonialism and the killings of at least 60 million people of each other; Jordan, which killed, by some reports, 20,000 Palestinians in Black September; or maybe the Russians who opened a war with Georgia over South Ossetia, a territory the size of 0.02 percent of Russia. But there is no need for past events to suspect the impurity of those concerns. The ignored real massacres in Sudan, the daily casualties in Iraq or even the Palestinian refugee camps in the Arab countries that deliberately are not rehabilitated. Sometimes it seems as if racism is so dominant that when Muslims kill Muslims, it looks for some almost natural.
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In a previous letter, I argued the primitive comparison of Israel to the Nazis or the attributions of satanic characters to Israel are not coincidental. They are meant to remove guilty feelings and purify the consciences of those whose past is full with looting, bloodshed and generations of persecution of Jews. At once, they move from belonging to the dark, wicked side to the enlightened, progressive one. All those who stood aloof during the Holocaust try to renounce their crimes by "protecting" the "new Jews," namely the Palestinians from the "new Nazis," namely Israel.
Yuval Carmi
UNM student
