Gaza - the real face of Israel

The UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories, Richard Falk, warned that the Israeli siege of Gaza, threatening the lives of an entire civilian population, expressed genocidal intent:

" The recent developments in Gaza are especially disturbing because they express so vividly a deliberate intention on the part of Israel and its allies to subject an entire human community to live endangering conditions of utmost cruelty. The suggestion that this pattern of conduct is a holocaust in the making represents a rather desparate appeal to the governments of the world and to international public opinion to act urgently to prevent these current genocidal tendencies from culminating in a collective tragedy, but it would be unrealistic to expect the UN to do anything in the face of this crisis given the pattern of US support to Israel and taking into account the extent to which European governments have leant their weight to recent illicit efforts to crush Hamas as a Palestinian political force."

Since its inception in 2006 the siege was a strategy to prepare the ground for a protracted military operation, known as "Cast Lead". Although justified on the grounds of stopping Hamas rocket-fire, the operation was planned over six months before the launch of the operation at the end of 2008.

Canadian analyst, Professor Michel Chossudovsky from the University of Ottawa has revealed that Operation "Cast Lead" is in fact the legacy of :

"a broader military-intelligence agenda first formulated by the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2001, aiming to produce a planned humanitarian disaster, designed to inflict mass civilian casualties and terror - that is, to weaken resistance, increase Israeli control, and encourage Palestinian emigration. Contrary to Israeli official rhetoric, military targets are secondary to this principal objective. "

"Given the growing weakness of Abbas and the increasing popularity of Hamas, it was far from likely that the PA would be able to forestall elections until January 2010, as it had wanted to, without severe recriminations and domestic opposition. Both presidential and parliamentary elections were therefore likely in 2009, and would have allowed Hamas to consolidate its power in the Occupied Territories."

"Israeli military and policy planners clearly recognized that this would create significant difficulties for Israel's own plans for the Occupied Territories. A decade back, the British oil firm BG International discovered a huge deposit of natural gas just off the Gaza coast, containing 1.2 trillion cubic feet of gas valued at over $4 billion. Controlling security over air and water around Gaza, Israel quickly moved to negotiate a deal with BG to access Gaza's natural gas at cheap rates."

The incentives for Israel are obvious as the Telegraph reports:

"The indigenous gas fields of Israel - north of the Gaza Marine field - could run out within a few years and the only other long-term source will be a pipeline from neighbouring Egypt."

The British Foreign Office, described the reserves as :

"by far the most valuable Palestinian natural resource."

Tel Aviv journalist, Arthur Neslen, cites an informed British source saying,:

"The UK and US, who are the major players in this deal, see it as a possible tool to improve relations between the PA and Israel. It is part of the bargaining baggage."

The project could provide up to 10 per cent of the energy needs of Israel, at around half the price the same gas would cost from Egypt. The Gaza Strip would be effectively circumvented, as the gas would be piped directly onshore to Ashkelon in Israel.

The short-term objective is to allow Israeli and Anglo-American interests unchallenged monopolisation of the Gaza gas reserves, and continued apartheid-style domination of the Territories.

The long-term objective is to create permanent conditions facilitating the re-encroachment of Israel on the Territories, encouraging Palestinian emigration and expulsion from their homes, and absorbing their remaining lands under renewed Israeli settler-colonisation programmes.

The attack on Gaza is, therefore, a war on democracy, a war on the right of peoples to self-determination; a war on the right of peoples to utilise their own resources for their own benefit.

Israel's siege of Gaza is largely unseen by the outside world because of Jerusalem's refusal to allow humanitarian aid, reporters and photographers access to Gaza . Whilst the Israeli public relations machine is in full swing churning out lies by the minute, with their Rabbis doing their own little bit to fortify the innocence of Israel. (Here the anomaly between the term "good" Jew and " bad" Jew should be emphasised. From the Jewish view a "good" Jew is an Orthodox Jew who follows the Talmud which teaches that all non-Jews are placed on earth for Jewish exploitation or human drudgery.)

Israelis have claimed to have ended the occupation of the Gaza strip in 2005.

While Israel has indeed removed the settlements from the Gaza strip they have in no way ended the occupation. They remained in control of the borders, the air space and the waterways of Gaza and have carried out frequent raids and have targeted assassinations since the disengagement. Furthermore since 2006 Israel has imposed a comprehensive siege on the strip. For over two years Gazans have lived on the edge of starvation and without the most basic necessities of human life, such as cooking or cooking oil and basic medication. This siege has already caused a humanitarian catastrophe which is only being exacerbated by the dramatic increase of Israeli aggression.

Israel claims that Hamas violated the cease-fire and pulled out of it unilaterally.

Hamas respected their side of the cease fire except on those occasions early on when Israel carried out major offensives in the West Bank. In the last two months the cease fire broke down with Israelis killing several Palestinians and resulting in response from Hamas. In other words Hamas has not carried out an unprovoked attack throughout the period of the cease fire. Israel however did not live up to any of its obligations of ending the siege and allowing vital humanitarian aid to resume in Gaza. Rather than the average of 450 trucks a day being allowed across the border, on the best days only 80 have been allowed in, with the border remaining hermetically sealed 70% of the time. Throughout the supposed cease-fire Gazans have been forced to live like animals and a total of 162 dying due to the inaccessibility of proper medical care.

Before the ongoing massacre in the Gaza strip and throughout the entirety of the Peace Process Israel has continued and even intensified its occuption of the West Bank. In 2008 settlement expansion increased by a factor of 38. A further 4950 Palestinians were arrested mostly from the West Bank and check points rose from 521 to 699.

It should be remembered also that the majority of the Gazan occupants are young. The average age is 17. The people that they are targeting are mostly women and children.

Israel claims it is acting in self -defence.

It is difficult to claim self-defence in a confrontation which they themselves have sparked. It is also misleading to claim self defence in a conflict with such an overwhelming dissymmetry of power. Israel is the largest military force in the region - the fifth largest in the world. (Israel's arsenal ). Furthermore they are the fourth largest exporter of arms and have a military/industrial complex rivalling that of the United States. In other words Israel has always had a comprehensive monopoly over the use of force and has used war as an advertising showcase of the instruments of death.

Israel has claimed to have struck military targets only.

This in spite of the fact that image after image of dead and mutilated women and children flash across the television screens. Israel brazenly claims that their munitions expertly struck only military installations. In the mostly densely populated area on the planet tons upon tons of explosives have been dropped.

Israel claims it is attacking Hamas and not the Palestinian people.

First and foremost missiles do not differentiate people by their political affiliation.

Israel claims that the Palestinians are the source of violence.

The occupation of Palestine since the war of 1967 has been and remains the root of violence between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Is Resistance to Israeli Occupation a Right?

The Palestinians are a people under occupation who have the right to self determination under the UN Charter, the Declaration of Principles of International Law concerning friendly relations and cooperation amongst states in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations 1970.

The use of force as part of resisting an occupation in the Palestinian case is therefore derived from the international legitimacy to recourse to armed struggle in order to obtain the right to self-determination. In some cases resistance can also stem from the right to self-defence.

Despite the withdrawal of military troops in 2005 there are ongoing as well as new measures of Israeli military administrative control in the Gaza strip which amount to effective control. Such as control over air space, sea space and international borders.

The law of occupation still applied to the Gaza strip even during the period from the withdrawal of Israeli military troops from the Gaza strip in September 2005 Israel regardless of the specific question of applicability of the laws of occupation, continues to be legally responsible for protecting persons that live in the Gaza strip under the general provisions of international humanitarian law.