Israel is judged differently. We're seeing the hypocrisy on full display at the International Court of Justice this week, where South Africa is making a case against Israel for genocide. As retired Canadian Supreme Court Justice Rosalie Abella put it succinctly in a Globe and Mail article, "It is a legal absurdity to suggest that a country defending itself from genocide is thereby guilty of genocide."
The double standards go deep. What other nation, after being brutally savagely attacked by an enemy, is expected to respond 'proportionately'? What other nation at war against an enemy whose sole stated mission and purpose is your annihilation is told they must use restraint? How is fighting back not self-defense? What other nation is accused of 'genocide' when it engages a terrorist aggressor in military operations by dropping flyers to try to minimize civillian casualities? After the United States was attacked by terrorists on September 11th was there a discussion of 'proportionality? Between 280,000 and 315,000 Iraqi civilians were killed according to a conservative estimate in that operation. Was the US accused of genocide? The Syrian Network for Human Rights has stated it documented 230,784 civilian deaths and 14 million displaced persons in the Syrian Civil War between 2011 and 2023. That war has resulted in an estimated 470,000–610,000 violent deaths, making it the second deadliest conflict of the 21st century, after the Second Congo War. Did any members of the international community take Bashar Al-Assad to the ICJ for genocide? I'll give you a hint, no.
In the war with Hamas there is no doubt that Palestinian civilians have suffered greatly. And the reason for that is because unlike a 'normal' war, with a 'normal' combatant, the Hamas army does not seek to protect non-combatant civilians. On the contrary, it seeks to use them as a tool of warfare. That the international community is not unanimously outraged by this and does not demand full-throatedly that this criminally inhuman practice stop immediately, is to me the most unfathomable and shameful aspect of the current conflict. They would rather accuse Israel of genocide.
We know that Israel stands alone because it's unique in a host of ways. It's a tiny country of unusual religious, historical and geographical significance. It's the only country whose existence was given assent by the international community via a vote of the UN. But the scrutiny of Israel's conduct shouldn't be seen as unique. That it seems unique is an indictment of the way the international community let's other nations get away with murder, literally. Furthermore, it only seems like Israel is held to a higher standard of moral conduct vis-a-vis the Palestinians, because they are not held to any standard of moral conduct at all. They are infantalized and treated as children under guardianship, coddled and enabled by the UN and many other Arab and non-Arab nations who take advantage of them. For their part, the Palestinians like to have it both ways. They want the rights and privileges of being treated like an 'adult' member of the international community, without any of the accompanying responsibilities.
Some people argue that there's no such thing as Palestine, and the Palestinian 'nation' doesn't really exist. I'm not one of those. I don't think anyone has any right to tell another group of people how to identify themselves. All identities are a conglomeration of fact and fictions, whether they are based in politics, culture, race or religion. It's about stories we tell ourselves. But I suspect that part of the reason some people don't take the Palestinians seriously, in spite of the flag, the slogans, and the narrative they embrace, is because serious people take responsibility for decisions and actions. The Palestinian people must be held to the same basic standard.
When it launched its war on Israel, Hamas was hoping that it would be joined in the fight by the Palestinians of the West Bank (as well as Hizbollah and other Iran-backed and anti-Israel factions). They miscalculated. West Bank Palestinians didn't join the fight because they are (quietly) hoping Israel will succeed in destroying Hamas so they can regain control of Gaza. Another example of the Palestinians hoping Israel will clean up its messes. It's hard to take them seriously.
2 comments:
And yet, according to a recent poll, 70% of West Bank Palestinians would vote for Hamas in an election! ... it's disturbing but apparently true that the majority of Palestinians, both in Israel and abroad, actually support Hamas, believe that terrorism is justified, and have zero tolerance for Jews in the region ("from the river to the sea"). Will there ever be peace? Will there ever be compromise? I guess anything is possible, but it's going to take a lot of work (or act of God, perhaps). Everything in this post is right-on (unfortunately)... I am just responding to your final paragraph.
I think the support of Hamas is to some degree a wartime phenomenon. They had something like 15% support in Gaza in the last poll taken just before the attack. Maybe that also played in the decision to attack. On the other hand I read one poll before the war that said the jailed terrorist Marwan Barghouti was the most popular Palestinian political leader. He’s become a sort of mythical figure. Maybe all those years of planting the seed of hatred toward Jews in their children has borne the desired poisonous fruit.
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