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Israeli 'Massacre' Overshadowed by U.S. Elections

By Uri Avnery, AlterNet. Posted November 13, 2006.


Israel's massacre of innocent Palestinian families on Election Day was no simple "accident," "tragedy" or "incident."
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"Thank God for the American elections," our ministers and generals sighed with relief.

They were not rejoicing at the kick that the American people delivered to George W. Bush's ass this week. They love Bush, after all.

But more important than the humbling of Bush is the fact that the news from America pushed aside the terrible reports from Beit Hanoun. Instead of making the headlines, they were relegated to the bottom of the page.

The first revolutionary act is to call things by their true names, Rosa Luxemburg said. So how to call what happened in Beit Hanoun?

"Accident," said a pretty anchorwoman on one of the TV news programs. "Tragedy," said her lovely colleague on another channel. A third one, no less attractive, wavered between "event," "mistake" and "incident."

It was indeed an accident, a tragedy, an event and an incident. But most of all it was a massacre. M-a-s-s-a-c-r-e.

The word "accident" suggests something for which no one is to blame -- like being struck by lightning. A tragedy is a sad event or situation, like that of the New Orleans inhabitants after the disaster. The event in Beit Hanoun was sad indeed, but not an act of God -- it was an act decided upon and carried out by human beings.

Immediately after the facts became known, the entire choir of professional apologists, explainers-away, sorrow-expressers and pretext-inventors, a choir that is in perpetual readiness for such cases, sprang into feverish action.

"An unfortunate mistake … It can happen in the best families … The mechanism of a cannon can misfunction, people can make mistakes … Errare humanum est … We have launched tens of thousands of artillery shells, and there have only been three such accidents. (No. 1 in the Olmert-Peretz-Halutz era was in Qana, in the Second Lebanon War. No. 2 was on the Gaza seashore, where a whole family was wiped out.) But we apologized, didn't we? What more can they demand from us?"

There were also arguments like "They can only blame themselves." As usual, it was the fault of the victims. The most creative solution came from the deputy minister of defense, Ephraim Sneh: "The practical responsibility is ours, but the moral responsibility is theirs." If they launch Qassam rockets at us, what else can we do but answer with shells?

Ephraim Sneh was raised to the position of deputy minister just now. The appointment was a payment for agreeing to the inclusion of Avigdor Liberman in the government (in biblical Hebrew, the payment would have been called "the hire of a whore," Deut. 23:19). Now, after only a few days in office, Sneh was given the opportunity to express his thanks.

(In the Sneh family, there is a tradition of justifying despicable acts. Ephraim's brilliant father, Moshe Sneh, was the leader of the Israeli Communist Party, and defended all the massacres committed by Stalin, not only the gulag system, but also the murder of the Jewish Communists in the Soviet Union and its satellites and the Jewish "doctors plot").

Any suggestion of equivalence between Qassams and artillery shells, an idea which has been adopted even by some of the peaceniks, is completely false. And not only because there is no symmetry between occupier and occupied. Hundreds of Qassams launched during more than a year have killed one single Israeli. The shells, missiles and bombs have already killed many hundreds of Palestinians.

Did the shells hit the homes of people intentionally? There are only two possible answers to that.

The extreme version says: Yes. The sequence of events points in that direction. The Israeli army, one of the most modern in the world, has no answer to the Qassam, one of the most primitive of weapons. This short-range unguided rocket (named after Izz-ad-Din al-Qassam, the first Palestinian fighter, who was killed in 1935 in a battle against the British authorities of Palestine) is little more than a pipe filled with homemade explosives.

In a futile attempt to prevent the launching of Qassams, the Israeli forces invade the towns and villages of the Gaza Strip at regular intervals and institute a reign of terror. A week ago, they invaded Beit-Hanoun and killed more than 50 people, many of them women and children. The moment they left, the Palestinians started to launch as many Qassams as possible against Ashkelon, in order to prove that these incursions do not deter them.

That increased the frustration of the generals even more. Ashkelon is not a remote poverty-stricken little town like Sderot, most of whose inhabitants are of Moroccan origin. In Ashkelon there lives also an elitist population of European descent. The army chiefs, having lost their honor in Lebanon, were eager -- according to this version -- to teach the Palestinians a lesson, once and for all. According to the Israeli saying: If force doesn't work, use more force.


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And Americans don't know why 'they' hate us?
Posted by: edith on Nov 13, 2006 12:41 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Israel uses Gaza as a shooting gallery to let off steam at its inability to crush the national aspirations of Palestinians. Politicians from major Israeli parties are responsible for these massacres by their participation in coalition regimes that oversee these endless operations. A Palestininan life is worth far less than a Jewish life.

Now I know what it must have been like to be an American white citizen in the 19the century who read about skirmishes in the far off West against the Indians. A dozen dead here; a dozen dead there. Buried at the bottom or in the back of the newspaper. Not as important as the firing of Don Rumsfeld or the antics of some Hollywood slutnik.

But when reprisal comes against Israel and America, as it will, and some American tourist or Israeli kid is buried, we will all be so outraged at what those 'animals' have done.

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» Eternal Strife.... Posted by: CatDad
Israelis need to reflect on their own history and act accordingly
Posted by: LeftWright on Nov 13, 2006 12:57 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
instead of continuing to occupy lands and murder those who resist. While we can't return to 1947, the international community decided that Israel needs to live within its 1967 borders and it should be required to.

The truth shall set us free. Love is the only way forward.

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twins
Posted by: rsaxto on Nov 13, 2006 1:13 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The big twin USA must be prosecuted for its war crimes and the little twin Israel must be prosecuted for its war crimes and people all over the world must be prosecuted for whatever war crimes they commit else war will continue unabated until both the human race and the biosphere as a whole will be rendered sterile of life and the grand experiment called Earth will all have been for naught.

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» RE: twins Posted by: symcokid
» Prosecute the Palestinians Posted by: Burton
Israel's role in the middle east unlikely to change soon
Posted by: thoughtcriminal on Nov 13, 2006 3:10 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
US elections unlike to lead to change in US Mideast policy, Daily Star, Lebanon:

"Although Congress may influence the course of foreign policy, its direction ultimately emanates from the executive branch. Therefore, the outcome of the elections is unlikely to result in any fundamental strategic re-think in foreign policy, particularly on the Middle East. This may be only possible with a change of president in 2008".

When Egypt's Nasser nationalized the Suez canal in the 1950's, the result was an attack by British, French and Israeli forces. To the external powers with interests in the Mideast, Israel has always been a useful adjunct in controlling the oil resources of the region.

For the regional dictators in the region (such as the Saudis and Iranians) Israel provides a handy 'external enemy' that helps keep the subject populations from rebelling against their despotic rule. The violent militant religious groups in the Palestinian resistance (Hamas, etc.) seem to get most of their funding from Saudi oil money - or am I mistaken?

Israel's "internal problems" with the Palestinians have a lot to do with local land, water and oil questions - who gets to plant orchards? Who gets to live in villages? Israel's responses to such questions are based on military control, which means killing lots of people in Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank, with the cover-ups and justifications arranged by the US (notice the UN veto).

The Palestinians are faced with what is really a relic of British colonial strategy - see also South Africa and Rhodesia for a primer on the usefulness of 'disadvantaged white settlers' in securing colonial holdings in far-off lands. They should ask themselves, now who successfully got the British to cede control of India? How did South Africa successfully get rid of apartheid? Tit-for-tat violence was never effective; Palestinians should review the actions of people like Gandhi, Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela.

Eventually, Israel and Palestine will also need a Truth and Reconciliation Committee, if they don't end up nuking themselves first.

However, you're dealing with a region of the world that hasn't even accepted the basic modern premise of separation of Church and State - Israeli is a "Jewish State", Iran is a "Shia Islamic State", Saudi Arabia is a "Sunni State". The one state (Lebanon) with a fairly peaceful multicultural mix is Lebanon, and they were just bombed to pieces with hundreds of thousands of cluster bombs, phosphorous bombs and uranium-waste weapons, courtesy of the insane Israeli air force and US financial aid.

Isn't that a war crime on par with what Saddam was condemned to death for? The use of cluster bombs against a civilian population as collective punishment for the actions of Hezbollah militants - that's just as bad as anything Rumsfeld did, if not worse. Saddam was condemned for the murder of 150 prisoners he claimed had plotted his assassination - but what if he had bombed their villages with cluster bombs in retaliation?

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Writing from Jerusalem and the Occupied Territories
Posted by: wawa on Nov 13, 2006 3:53 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Wish you ALL were here! especially the Fourth Estate!

But since the USA media is missing in action this civilian journalist/WAWA Blogger has been your faithful witness and reporter of the truth about occupied territory.

eileen fleming
www.WeAreWideAwake

A few recent blog reports have been picked up @
http://www.opednews.com/author/author1112.html

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» It's simple Posted by: Burton
» RE: It's simple Posted by: mountainsrock
On Election Day American Voters Solidified Israeli Control of US Foreign Policy
Posted by: Douglas on Nov 13, 2006 5:48 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
With the possible exceptions of Virginia Democratic Congressman Jim Moran and Texas Republican Congressman Ron Paul, all Democratic and Republican members of the House of Representatives and the Senate were endorsed and supported by AIPAC and can now be counted to uncritically support the murderous policies of the Israeli government. Most of them, including the so-called "Liberals" will use the term "anti-semite" to label anyone whose conscience prompts them to speak out against Israel's ongoing ethnicide of the Palestinians. The US Congress remains what Ralph Nader called it during the 2004 election: Israeli occupied territory. The Israeli government has been empowered to use money generously and unendingly supplied by the US taxpayers to continue its shameful and bloody massacre of Palestinian and Lebanese innocents. Any American who has the effrontery to object will be labelled and villainized.

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Iran Will Check Israel
Posted by: sofla100 on Nov 13, 2006 5:53 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Well now, GW Bush has set in motion the forces that are going to be creating a new greater Iran. This new Mesapotamia is going to extend East past Baghdad with Kurdistan to the North, once the Iraq debacle is over and the country vanishes. Israel is going to go just plain nuts you can bet on that. The good that might emerge is that a powerful Iran is going to check US and Israel power and agression in the region. The Iranians are the ones who really benefit from the Iraq war, GW Bush has handed them a great gift. It's a kick in the pants to the USA and Israel. Now, we have to be alert to this because Israel is no doubt going to attack Iran and we are going to here gobs more about their supposed development of nukes as justification.
The fireworks are coming.

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What an amazing and candid commentary by an Israeli? I presume?
Posted by: Prophit on Nov 13, 2006 6:04 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Or is he a Palestinian? I am unsure, but its a candid assessement and highly informative. I had no idea this had gone on. Its rapidly changing my opinion of the leaders of Israel and making me realize Barry Chamish has been right all along.

Personally, I was unaware of the truth of any of it, but lately I am beginning to see the light. I began with AIPAC and the spying by Israel on its great ally, the United States. If your friends, why would you spy on your friend? That began my questioning of that relationship. Barry Chamish's articles and commentary began my education and his forced relocation to the US for fear of his life began my real education into the leaders of Israel.

This now confirms all that Barry has been saying and I am more and more convinced the Israeli people are as much victims as are the Palestinians. I wonder if their elections are rigged as well???

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» No, they hate him over there Posted by: cold2touch
forgot to mention..........
Posted by: Prophit on Nov 13, 2006 6:07 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
... if there is any work done to clean up lobbying it must begin with reducing the influence of foreign powers upon US policy and that means Israel as well as other nations. There is no constitutional protection for foreign nations influence upon US public policy either domestic or foriegn. Lets remember that.

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What is now
Posted by: ng1944 on Nov 13, 2006 6:40 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Olmert is coming to talk with Bush again.
Last time he talked to him, war in Lebanon started immedeately.
This time He needs O.K. for bombing Iran.
Nothing changed, this criminal gang continues to
operate the same way

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» RE: What is now Posted by: symcokid
It's all about the money
Posted by: mauricear3 on Nov 13, 2006 6:56 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
As in every foreign policy-driven military operation, greater understanding can be had by looking for the money. Consider this: the US government gives the Israeli government FIFTEEN MILLION DOLLARS A DAY ! See the website http://www.ifamericansknew.org/stats/usaid.html , I was stunned. I emailed and faxed my senators Kerry and Kennedy, and faxed Kerry, and my congressmen too. The silence was deafening.

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» RE: It's all about the money Posted by: albrechtkrausse
NOT Black and White
Posted by: laime22 on Nov 13, 2006 8:56 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Most people appear to be children in search of a fairy tale, where the good guy and the bad guy are clearly identified.

Just as for years, Israel could do no wrong, now Israel can do no right. Every ill on the planet is the fault of the US and Isarel.

I don't, for a second, excuse the use of cluster bombs by Israel. I don't, for a second, give the Palestinians a pass for their continued embrace of terrorism.

While the Palestinian casualties in the Gaza Strip are a tragedy, and it is the Israelis who are doing the shooting, the tragedy would not have happened if the Palestinians would have chosen to expend their energies on develping the economic potential in this newly freed territory, instead of spending their monetary and psychological capital on acts of revente.

Instead of unifying to present their case on the international front, Hamas and the PLO engage in squabbling up to the level of armed battle. The Palestinians are not acting reasonably to achieve their goals, and unreasonbale actions beget unreasonble responses.

There is blame enough to go around all societies. None of them are restricted to wearing an all white or all black hat.

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» RE: NOT Black and White Posted by: HeroesAll
» A"FRIGGEN" MEN!!!!!! Posted by: Prophit
» RE: NOT Black and White Posted by: paschn
A sad situation, but I'm not sure what the solution is
Posted by: bookworm8571 on Nov 13, 2006 9:41 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
From a layman's perspective, it appears that the Israelis and the Palestinians hate each other's guts and will be killing one another until the end of time. The children killed in the latest shelling are more innocent victims of that war, but I also recall seeing pictures of dead Israeli children after a disgusting suicide bomber blew himself up in a market or outside a night club.

I believe the Palestinians are in their current dire circumstances because they have elected a government that is unable to control deadly militias or renounce the use of suicide bombings and other terror attacks. They've also refused to accept the various deals they've been offered for a separate state and large factions refuse to recognize Israel's right to exist.

I'm also reminded of just how tiny a country Israel is and how endangered they might be if they were to give over more land to such a hostile population. They live within miles of Israel and after reading the vicious anti-Semitic propaganda that is regularly produced by clerics and media in that region, I understand completely why Israel is reluctant.

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The TRUTH about Israel
Posted by: sofla100 on Nov 13, 2006 11:46 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Yes, you can say that Israel is a small country. But, it is a small country bristling with nuclear weapons (estimated in excess of 150-200), with illegal settlements on Palestinian lands, with 20% of it's annual defense budget paid for by the USA, and it receives billions yearly in US aid. It's a democracy of sorts if you a Jew. If your an Arab, your trash. The Palestinians effectively have no Army, no weapons except what is smuggled in. So to defend themselves, they essentially are redueced to mostly throwing rocks at Israeli (ie US made) M1 tanks. This "agression" is met by Israel with Palestinians being shelled and attacked by Isarelis. It is known now that in the early days of Israel, plans were in place to essentially force march the Palestinians into Arab countries. Those who could not or would not go would be executed. In the USA, it is almost impossible, except perhaps on some internet sites, to find out the truth of what is happening and has happened in the Middle East. Americans are presented with a completly sanitized version by the corporate media. The extent of Zionist control is almost total. Notice that I say Zionist, because this (Israel) is a state of kooky zealots. Many Jews do not support it or want it, it's an albatross around their necks.

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» RE: The TRUTH about Israel Posted by: Burton
A question for progressives.
Posted by: Burton on Nov 13, 2006 5:54 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
What I find interesting is the hatred that the state of Israel evokes in people who otherwise consider themselves to be "progressive". Mention the state of Israel, and a sector of progressives will immediately go wide-eyed in terror.

ISRAEL!
OPPRESSION!
WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION!
EEK!

The anti-Israeli sector sounds a lot like "W" Bush drumming up war fever against Iraq or Iran. I suspect there is not so much different between progressives and warmongers. The left enjoys a good holy war just as much as any arms merchant, maybe even more. It feels so good, doesn't it, to hate a country. Orwell went into this in some detail in his Nineteen Eighty-Four. So Israel is the Eurasia of the Left.

Of course, progressives do not ask themselves why they support the Arabs when the Arabs are the antithesis of everything that the left claims to stand for: Arab states are, by and large, anti-democratic, militaristic, inegalitarian, etc., etc. And the establishment of a Palestinian state would mean more corrupt dictatorship in the Middle East.

You would think that if progressives really believed in "peace" then they would tell the Islamic world in general to stop its crusade against Israel. And tell the Palestinians to lay down their weapons and use non-violent resistance. But it seems that progressives believe that only Western countries should cut and run, eh?

Any progressives care to comment on this?

(PS: I am really interested in your responses.)

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» RE: A question for progressives. Posted by: ericthefool
They don't want to live in an Arab-dominated Israel.
Posted by: bookworm8571 on Nov 13, 2006 7:42 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The Israelis are afraid that their country will be overwhelmed by Arabs, who have a higher birth rate, and Israel will cease to be a uniquely Jewish state. That is something that undoubtedly WOULD happen were they to live in Israel on an equal basis. They'd outvote the Israelis and their culture would predominate. Their culture and their values aren't Israeli culture and values. Yes, it's a fight over land and water, but it's also a battle over resources.

And I'll admit that I sympathize with that position. While I sympathize with the PEOPLE involved and hope they will be able to live decent lives with jobs and education and a future, I don't particularly like what I hear about the most negative aspects of Arab culture. I wouldn't want to live in a country where it predominated. And so I understand the Israeli position there as well. I strongly suspect those two cultures cannot live together and the only solution is two states side by side and never the twain shall meet.

Israel's right to exist must be acknowledged and the violence must stop. Surely the rest can be negotiated from there.

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More black and white nonsense
Posted by: laime22 on Nov 14, 2006 2:57 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
You are painting a halo around the Palestinians, further obfuscating true conditions. Even assuming the proposition, that the Palestinians are the only victiims,which I reject, being a victim does not make one into an instant saint. Some victims of crime are despicable human beings.
You are wrong about the populrity of terrorism among them.
They may not all engage in it, but few condemn it. Children are taught to hate, and suicide bombers are adulated heroes.
The Israeli army returned to the Gaza Strip, only after the rocket launching started in all seriousness. At least don't re-qrite history.
On the other hand, Israel lives with the illusion that everything it does is permissible, because it is in the interest of self preservation. It does not evauate enough which tactics are effective in reducing tensions and which have the contrary result.
You are falling into the same sand trap the palestinians and Israelis are caught in: one side is all goddness and the other evil.

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Delusional ramblings
Posted by: laime22 on Nov 14, 2006 3:09 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Ths comment has so many inaccuracies and wiild assertions. it's not possible to take it seriously. I would guess that you are quoting from some propoganda lliterature. A little scepticism and checking of facts is necessary before swallowing every crazy accusation whole sale.
If you think the US went to war in Iraq for Israel, then you should look to the moon for the next slice of green cheese.

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Nobody Seems to Get It.....
Posted by: gellero on Nov 14, 2006 9:43 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Ok....let's examine this. Israel leaves Gaza with an agricultural infrastructure.......which the poor oppressed palestinians promptly destroy. They basically say to the Palestinian Authority....take over and live in peace with us. But the PA does nothing. Smuggling tunnels are dug bringing arms, attacks are planned and carried out. For what purpose. The Israelies have said on the record, if you do these things to us YOU WILL DIE. They're not obligated to do a 'proportional response'. Why should they?? As far as they're concerned, .....plan attacks....acquire arms....launch missles...AND YOU WILL DIE. Why is this so hard to understand?? Shoot from a neighborhod or Mosque.......expect to DIE. The Israelis at least review military rules of engagement. The Palestinians seem to have no regard whatsoever for innocent life.

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