Israel Gaza Strikes Prove History Repeats Itself
Massacre By Israeli Occupation Amid Popular Outrage and UN Impotence
Dec 29, 2008
No one could have expressed the plight of those living under heavy Israeli air strikes in Gaza better than the British journalist Robert Fisk. In fact, Palestinians must award him an honorary citizenship. In two commentaries published by The Independent December 29 and 30, 2008, Fisk sums up the Middle East calamity: corrupt Arab leaders, a brutal occupation, disturbing Western complicity -and a smiling man in a turban somewhere in a cave in the east.
History Repeats Itself
Here are some of the sad highlights of this 50-year struggle:
- September 16, 1982: Sabra and Shatila massacre. Hundreds of Palestinians are brutally massacred, under the watchful eye of Israel. The world is outraged. The dead are buried. The United Nations is shamefully helpless.
- December,1987: The Palestinian first Intifada. The world sympathizes with images of Palestinian children armed with stones facing Israeli artillery tanks. The international community appeases the world with a peace conference. Secretly, a corrupt Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) leadership puts an end to any possible just resolution for the occupation, signing a historically devastating “peace” treaty. The voices of sympathy are fatally drowned.
- September 28, 2000: The second Intifada. The world watches a 12-year-old Palestinian boy murdered by Israeli gunfire as he huddles in his father’s arms. Hundreds of civilians are massacred. Again, the international community is outraged. Demonstrations ensue. The United Nations scrambles for a resolution in the face of a guaranteed US veto.
- July 12, 2006: The Israeli war on Lebanon. Children are murdered to “wipe out” the Lebanese Shia resistance Hizballah. The world is -again- horrified. Demonstrations are held worldwide. Hundreds of innocent civilians are -once more- buried. The United Nations tries to condemn Israeli attacks. The United States vetoes the attempt. The war ends. Hizbollah is not wiped out. In fact, its popularity soars.
- December 29, 2008: Day three of Israeli air strikes against Gaza, in response to Hamas rocket attacks. The death toll exceeds 400. The world is once more appalled. Demonstrators protest the brutality of the Israeli response. The burials are ongoing. Many of the victims are children. The United Nations is helpless and only secures “passage” of humanitarian assistance -after the massacres.
And the pattern continues.
The Future?
Palestinian mothers will carry on burying their children –they have been for the past 5 decades. Occasionally, innocent Israelis will also die. And if the massacres are really heinous, the world will be “outraged” for a few days or weeks. The occupation will continue. The Arab League will form committees, investigate, and maybe even issue a statement that all Arab leaders will agree on. Meanwhile, as Fisk so brilliantly writes, “within a few months, we'll be hearing that Israel and Hamas have been having “secret talks” - just as we once did about Israel and the even more corrupt PLO. But by then, the dead will be long buried and we will be facing the next crisis since the last crisis.” Lessons of history will continue to be ignored.
And the Winner Is...
The F-18s, Hellfire missiles, tanks, and field artillery are all supplied by the US. Fortunately for them, the arms manufacturers will never be affected by the economic crisis. But that is where the profits end. The lives that have been so innocently lost meanwhile will remain a tragic disgrace plaguing the human race.
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