How the Israeli Government Tried to Spin Its Way out of Its Inhumane Gaza Invasion

The following is an excerpt from Norman Finkelstein's new book, "This Time We Went Too Far: Truth & Consequences of the Gaza Invasion" (O/R Books, 2010).

Recognizing that images of dead civilians and massive destruction in Gaza had flooded the world media during the invasion, Israel and its defenders set out to win the spin wars. Shortly after a ceasefire went into effect on 18 January 2009, Anthony H. Cordesman published a report titled The "Gaza War": A strategic analysis. Because Cordesman is an influential military analyst in academia, the political establishment, and the media, and his study in effect synthesizes Israel's makeshift rebuttals to criticism of the invasion, it merits close scrutiny. Cordesman reached the remarkable conclusion that "Israel did not violate the laws of war." His analysis was based on "briefings in Israel during and immediately after the fighting made possible by a visit sponsored by Project Interchange, and using day-to-day reporting issued by the Israeli Defense Spokesman." Cordesman omitted mention that Project Interchange is an institute of the fanatically "pro"-Israel American Jewish Committee.

Meanwhile, apart from adverse media coverage Israel had to cope with a mountain of human rights reports condemning its crimes in Gaza that began to accumulate after the ceasefire. Because of the sheer number of them, the wide array of reputable organizations issuing them, and the uniformity of their major conclusions, these reports could not easily be dismissed. Although the reports made significant use of Palestinian witnesses, these testimonies also could not easily be dismissed as Hamas-inspired propaganda or tainted by Hamas intimidation because "delegates who visited Gaza during and after Operation 'Cast Lead,' as on many other occasions in recent years, were able to carry out their investigations unhindered and people often voiced criticisms of Hamas's conduct, including rocket attacks."

The proliferating denunciations eventually compelled the Israeli government itself to issue a "factual and legal" defense of "the operation in Gaza." It alleged that these human rights reports "too often" amounted to a "rush to judgment" because they were published "within a matter of hours, days or weeks" after the invasion. In fact most of the reports came out months later. To be sure, Israel was not wholly dismissive of human rights reports. It did cite one that condemned Hamas suicide bombings.

Rejecting the main thrust of the reports, the Israeli brief claimed that "Israel took extensive measures to comply with its obligations under international law" and that the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF's) "mode of operation reflected the extensive training of IDF soldiers to respect the obligations imposed under international law." The critical evidence adduced in the brief consisted largely of testimonies extracted from Palestinian detainees during "interrogation." It would surely be querulous to cast doubt on such confessions just because, according to the Goldstone Report, Palestinian detainees rounded up during the Gaza invasion were "subjected … to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment throughout their ordeal in order to terrorize, intimidate and humiliate them. The men were made to strip, sometimes naked, at different stages of their detention. All the men were handcuffed in a most painful manner and blindfolded, increasing their sense of fear and helplessness"; "Men, women and children were held close to artillery and tank positions, where constant shelling and firing was taking place, thus not only exposing them to danger, but increasing their fear and terror. This was deliberate." Detainees were "subjected to beatings and other physical abuse that amounts to torture"; "used as human shields"; subjected to "methods of interrogation [that] amounted not only to torture … but also to physical and moral coercion of civilians to obtain information"; and "subjected to torture, maltreatment and foul conditions in the prisons."