No Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza?

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) assault on the Gaza Strip is a hasty maneuver designed to inflict maximum damage on Hamas in the waning days of the Bush administration. The IDF seized the moment during the American political transition to create new "facts on the ground" in Gaza before the new president could alter the geopolitical status quo. On the surface it appears to have been a cunning move, but its shortsightedness will soon prove that it is just another pointless bloodbath.

"There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza," Israel's Foreign Minister and former Mossad agent Tzipi Livni assures us, and Israeli cabinet secretary, Oved Yehezkel, repeated the exact same line. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza disagrees and therein lays the rub. With casualties mounting and a collapsed medical system it's hard to believe there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Maybe Israel should allow in a few journalists to find out.

Wars against civilians are nothing new. In Vietnam the United States erased entire villages using the exact same arguments that Israel is using today: "Women and children are being killed because our heartless enemies locate their fighters amidst the civilian population and we have no choice but to . . . blah, blah, blah." Golda Meir said: "We can forgive them for killing our children, we cannot forgive them for making us kill theirs." That line was repeated ad nauseum during the June 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon that left over 18,000 people dead. I'm surprised I haven't heard it lately from the talking heads on CNN.

With Washington blocking for it the IDF has a free hand to do as it pleases in Gaza. They'll probably be a massacre somewhere before it's over. It's only a matter of time before we have another Sabra and Shitila or (more likely) another Qana. And then we'll be treated to lectures on situational ethics by the likes of Alan Dershowitz, William Kristol, and Michelle Malkin.

The IDF is sending the Palestinians in Gaza a very clear message: Your collective fate is sealed and we will smash you into a million pieces if you resist. The targeted assassinations of Palestinian leaders inevitably result in the rise of even worse leaders than the ones who were offed. Maybe that's the point, to ensure there's no viable negotiating partner on the other side; no negotiations means no concessions.

Tanks, F-16 jet fighters, and helicopter gunships are all designed to go into battle against other militaries. But Israel is training them on a civilian population. Back in 1989, in Tiananmen Square, when that lonely democracy protestor confronted a tank the image became an international icon for a human being standing up for freedom against tyranny and violence.

Not in Gaza.

This Israeli military operation is so disproportionate and so one-sided it really looks more like a turkey shoot than a "war." The "Made in the U.S.A." weaponry that is killing innocent people will not be winning any hearts and minds for American soldiers now policing Iraq.

In 2006, during the 34-day IDF attack on Hezbollah, Miri Eisen was the ubiquitous Israeli spokeswoman assuring Americans via numerous media appearances that the IDF's motives were purely defensive. She looks like a soccer mom from Dubuque, Iowa. Mark Regev, the currently ubiquitous Israeli spokesman, looks like he's from Topeka, Kansas. They both speak perfect accent-free English. Orientalism works to the IDF's advantage in these bloody situations (especially when controlling news and images that might influence American opinion). The Israelis are "Us" and the Palestinians are "Them." Meanwhile, Al Jazeera and other Arab media beam heart-wrenching images of the carnage to everyone in the world who happens to reside outside the United States. This dangerous disconnect serves a narrow set of interests.

Lost in the maw of television news is the fact that the United States is blocking all international efforts for a ceasefire.

In Israel there will be elections next month and whatever government comes to power hardliners will dominate it. And some of the hardest of the hardliners, like Likud's Benjamin Netanyahu, might wish to cause President Obama some trouble in Iraq by stirring up tensions with the goal of prolonging the United States' sister occupation there.

I suppose we should be grateful that no wider war has broken out. During the presidential campaign, in a New York Times editorial, the Israeli historian Benny Morris called for Bush to launch air strikes against Iran during his lame duck period if he lost the election out of fear that Obama lacked the resolve to do so. So far, no one has been crazy enough to attack Iran.

But Bush still has two weeks to go. And it looks like Bibi will be the next Prime Minister of Israel.

Comments

[bluegrasstafarian]

Great post, Joe. There is no effort in the corporate media to dispel orientalism, rather it is the template of most any foreign policy analysis on the networks. In hysteria, neo-cons will shriek about the evil-doer Arabs (them) and their many atrocities while cheerleading Israel (us) in its ambitions. I know everyone here already knows this...but it really gets disgusting after a while, the fact that Israel gets a blank check for its atrocious conduct of war. Peace

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

Joe,
I think the lack of comments is because you're not getting page time on the HuffPo Politics page.
A few months back, I went to bat for Larisa re similar.
Best wishes.

[Joseph A. Palermo - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks for the comment, I guess the subject matter isn't "controversial" enough to spawn many comments this time. Bibi is the front runner and I think in this environment he'll win - with a liberal president, Israeli voters will feel the need to counter that with a right-wing extremist Prime Minister.

[SiberianRat]

"And it looks like Bibi will be the next Prime Minister of Israel." - God help us all. Thanks, Joseph, for a very important piece. I'm so saddened that this is not only being allowed to happen, but we (US) are facilitating it. Thanks for speaking out.