All in the name of civilization- world turns a blind eye:

Merciless Israeli genocide of Palestinians

by Latheef FAROOK

In the latest of US-Israeli war crime, on 27th Saturday, December 2008, Israel using United States supplied latest weapons, F.16 warplanes and Apache helicopter gunships dropped 100 tons of bombs on 1.5 million defenceless and starving Palestinians and indiscriminately and mercilessly killed 220 Palestinian men, women, children and the aged and wounded hundreds. Israel arrogantly claimed that this is just the beginning. And thus the carnage continues killing more- at the time of concluding this article on Monday 29 the death toll stood at 313.

Television footages of scattered bodies, some lay in a pile, some carried away by distraught rescuers and wounded writhing in pain and reciting verses from the Qur`an, melted the hearts of all alike all over the world. However, they failed to kindle the conscience of the ruling elites in the West and the Middle East as well, because Israel Foreign Minister Tizipi Livni has already obtained their blessings.

As expected and as usual US President George Bush, blamed Hamas. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown whose affection towards Jews has been too strong to condemn their crimes. After all it was British treachery and conspiracy that created Israel whose crime records during the past three quarter century have been common knowledge.

A British columnist pointed out “Britain’s Prime Minister Brown and his predecessor, now peace envoy Blair, both self-confessed Zionists, have given their undying support to a terrorist state and steered Britain’s foreign policy on a course that has earned the opprobrium of civilized people.

Our Foreign Office went so far as to say they were “deeply concerned” then spouted the mantra: The only way to achieve a lasting peace is through peaceful means”.

Reiterating this, another columnist pointed out that this killing spree could not have happened without the tacit approval of America, Britain and the EU. The political pea-brains that direct the pro-Israel western alliance were partying, gorging themselves on Christmas fare or binge-shopping while this massacre of hungry women and children and their despairing men folk in Gaza was being planned and executed.

Washington uses veto powers

Washington once again used its veto powers on Sunday to block a United Nations Security Council Resolution calling for an end to the massive ongoing Israeli attacks against the Gaza Strip. The council has only been able to issue a `non-binding’ statement that calls on Israel to voluntarily bring all its military activities in the besieged region to an immediate end.

The US has so far vetoed over 40 anti-Israeli resolutions sought by the council since 1972. Since 2004, Washington has prevented the adoption of four other resolutions that called for Tel Aviv to halt its operations in the Gaza Strip.

Some reports disclosed that, though the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas slammed this as “barbaric” and “unnecessary” that for months he and his top representatives have waged a quiet but intensive campaign requesting Israel to target Hamas in Gaza just before his term in office is scheduled to expire on Jan.9. Hamas leaders have repeatedly warned they will not recognize Abbas after the 9th, and that they will launch a major campaign to delegitimize the PA President and install their own figures to lead the Palestinian government.

Abbas hopes a large-scale Israeli military campaign in Gaza would distract Hamas from attempting to undermine his rule Forty-eight hours before the carnage Tizipi Livni visited Cairo and got the blessings of Egypt’s oppressive dictator Hosni Mubarak. London-based daily al-Quds al-Arabi reported on Sunday 28 that Egypt collaborated with to deal a blow to Hamas. Egyptian Intelligence Minister Omar Suleiman deceived Hamas into believing that Israel would not launch an attack on the Gaza Strip in the near future.

Citing Hamas sources close to former Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar, Al Quds reported that “Egypt told Hamas on Friday evening that Israel had agreed to begin talks on a ceasefire and would not attack Gaza before Cairo ended its diplomatic efforts. Egypt’s assurance persuaded Hamas not to evacuate its security compounds in accordance with routine procedures in place after any threats by Israel. Suleiman also convinced a number of Arab leaders that Israel was intending to launch only limited operations into the Gaza Strip to mount pressure on Hamas ahead of signing a new ceasefire agreement”. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Saturday blamed Hamas for provoking Israel into attacking the strip. “Egypt warned for a long time, and someone who ignores warnings is responsible for the outcome,” said Gheit. This was the treacherous role of Hosni Mubarak’s regime which has become a cheap and obedient tool of the “Zionists” humiliating the great Egyptian people.

Blessings of Saudis

Meanwhile it is common knowledge that she also had the blessings of Saudis whose secret and extremely dangerous links with Israel has been an open secret in the Middle East and beyond. With the blessings of Cairo and Riyadh, the entire Middle East was neutralized, giving the licence for Israelis to kill the Palestinians.

Thus the deafening Arab silence.

Yet the sights of death and destruction struck close to the hearts of many Egyptians, especially with their government being accused of complicity in the latest Israeli crime. They accused President Hosni Mubarak’s regime of taking a spectator’s position while the blood of the Palestinians continues to be shed in the Gaza Strip. They asserted, “Arab governments are complicit in what happens to the Palestinians. These governments assisted Israel tighten its grip on the dispossessed Palestinians and kill them.” “Mubarak and Tizipi Livni have agreed on the genocide of the Palestinian people,” read one banner. “Mubarak is an accomplice in attacks against the Palestinian people,” read another. These people have been massacred in Gaza, because they elected with overwhelming majority Hamas, known for its commitment to the Palestinian cause and pursuit of peace with dignity, in a spotless democratic election, under the supervision of former US President Jimmy Carter who described it as free and fair in January 2006.

This alarmed Israel, the US and their European and Arab collaborators who wanted Hamas crushed at any cost. They introduced inhuman measures to collectively punish the Palestinians for electing Hamas. Israel, backed by US and Europe, stopped all donations and cut off the flow of all money to starve Palestinians into submission. The Arab regimes too joined this financial blockade knowing very well the misery they were causing to the Palestinians who needed this money to keep body and soul together.

In the midst of this calamity, as the world was busy witnessing the World Cup Football Championships, Israel, under the guise of trying to free a captured soldier, bombed Gaza Strip in June 2006 with its F-16 fighter planes and helicopter gun ships while artillery fire from tanks surrounded and turned Gaza into a bloody slaughterhouse. Within days roads, bridges, power plants, water supply, universities, schools, hospitals, playgrounds, mosques and even tombs and ministry buildings were bombed and destroyed causing untold misery to the people already starving. In an unprecedented lawlessness, and the violation of international law, Israel started mafia-style abduction of Hamas Cabinet ministers, mayors and parliamentarians. Israel continued to tighten its economic blockade as part of its move to starve Palestinians and force them to rise against Hamas.

The situation deteriorated to such an extend that on 9 December Dr. Richard Falk, UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories, forcefully insisted on the need to protect a civilian population from being collectively punished by policies that amount to a Crime Against Humanity. The UNHRC harshly reprimanded Israel for its policies toward calling for an end to their “cruel, inhuman and degrading” punishments. Falk insisted the UN International Criminal Court investigate into Israel’s atrocious crimes and those Israeli civilian leaders and military commanders responsible be indicted and prosecuted for violations of international Criminal Law.” Even in the face of Dr. Falk’s and the UNHRC’s findings and conclusions, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, King Abdullah of Jordan, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, the princes, sheikhs and emirs of the Gulf fiefdoms, and the feckless Arab League, all remained silent.

Tender mercies of Israel

Israeli peace activist Uri Avnery said “the message of Jews, the US and Europe to Palestinians is that you will reach the brink of hunger, and even beyond, if you do not surrender. You must remove the Hamas government and elect candidates approved by Israel and the US. You must be satisfied with a Palestinian state consisting of several enclaves, each of which will be utterly dependent on the tender mercies of Israel”. Unable to bear the suffocation, Hamas demolished the towering iron and concrete border wall that Israel erected since 2003 and broke open the Rafah border allowing hundreds of thousands to burst out and shop for desperately needed supplies in Egyptian border towns. In this unbelievable movement of joy and freedom they travelled by foot, car, truck, and donkey cart and the highway was jammed with packed taxis and pick-up trucks whose beds were filled beyond capacity and racing from Egyptian Rafah to al-Arish. Some journalists have called it a huge “jail break” and Gazans felt a deep exhale of relief and some joy - both rare commodities in this forsaken land.

The situation continued to deteriorate with Israel intensifying its blockade and Egypt closing the Rafah border crossing.Condemning the terrible conditions of Palestinians former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, told the BBC during the first week of November 2008 that it was “almost unbelievable” that the world did not care about what she called “a shocking violation of so many human rights. Their whole civilization has been destroyed, I’m not exaggerating. It’s almost unbelievable that the world doesn’t care while this is happening.”

It was under this circumstances that Israel unleashed its carnage on starving Palestinians on Saturday while the world, and even the United Nations, watched as spectators doing nothing to stop this Jewish holocaust of Palestinians.As pointed out by the World Socialist sources the hypocritical and lying reports of the pro-Jewish Western media, which shamelessly describe Israel’s aerial blitz against apartment blocks, police stations, universities, mosques and office buildings as an act of “self defence,” while equating the occupied with the occupiers and ineffectual homemade rockets with US-supplied F-16s, Hellfire missiles and “smart bombs”.