Author: Ben Dalgetty & Aidan Lewis
Pro Palestinian
by Aidan Lewis
We had to carry out this operation. I am at peace with the fact that we did it.” These were the words of Tzipi Livni, Israeli Foreign Minister, justifying three weeks of unfathomable carnage in Gaza. Israel launched its blitzkrieg on the small Palestinian region on Dec. 27, and made a cease-fire on Jan. 18 only after inflicting a sufficiently horrific death toll. The number of casualties in Gaza hovers around 1,300, the majority of which were civilian deaths. Israel lost three civilians and 10 soldiers. Despite Israel’s reassurances that the purpose of the operation was to end the threat of Hamas, the statistics indicate a more plausible purpose for the attack: extermination.
Karen AbuZayd, head of the United Nations (UN) relief agency in Palestine, reported that she witnessed “what appears to have been systematic destruction to schools, universities, residential buildings, factories, shops and farms.” Incidentally, Israel also destroyed the UN compound containing food and supplies designated for the victims of the bloodbath, which it later explained as “a grave mistake.” No reasonable, humane, informed individual could call these bombings a mere by-product of war. What America and the world watched was the unimpeded murder of astounding numbers of Palestinian civilians, including hundreds of women and children.
Writers and social commentators around the globe have already drawn the obvious and grimly ironic parallel between the Holocaust and the obliteration of Gaza. But no one will ensure that Israeli leaders and soldiers are prosecuted for their atrocities, or compensate the people of Gaza for their losses. While today’s Israel may be a rabid monster, it is a monster on an American leash, and will thus remain unpunished. The weapons Israel used to commit small-scale genocide were American weapons, and America is not likely to stop financing Israel’s barbaric conduct in Palestine.
Too many political, economic, and religious motives remain for America to renounce its support. As President Obama’s relative silence on the issue indicates, Israel can flout any and every moral constraint with total impunity. However, while its escape from judgment at the hands of Western nations is almost certain, to imagine that there will be no consequences whatsoever is simply na’ve. The fury Israel has invited upon itself from Palestine and other predominantly Muslim nations will not quickly subside. Muslims will not, and should not, forget the slaughter of so many innocents. It is a tragedy and indignity that deserves the same kind of recognition given the Holocaust, but instead it will be recognized in the form of revenge.
Ultimately, the story of Gaza is one of mass failure. Israel has failed to prove that it can ethically coexist with the Arab world; it has very nearly proved the opposite, and probably set back any feasible process of peace by decades. The UN has failed, once again, to establish itself as an effective peacekeeping agency—it did not prevent the brutalization of Gaza, and it acknowledged Israel’s thwarting of humanitarian efforts with feeble admonition. Even under blatantly direct attack, the UN is incapable of retaliating with more than a weak chastisement.
But the greatest failure of all, to my chagrin and complete lack of surprise, belongs to America. The U.S. funded and encouraged this onslaught, and has done so for every Israeli injustice in Palestine. And yet, America claims to carry standards of moral superiority for the entire world to follow. Our hypocrisy knows no bounds. I am reminded of the words of Colonel Kurtz from the 1979 film Apocalypse Now: “We train young men to drop fire on people. But their commanders won’t allow them to write ‘fuck’ on their airplanes because it’s obscene!”
Aidan Lewis is a first-year ECLS major. He can be reached at alewis@oxy.edu.
Pro Israel
by Ben Dalgetty
Before beginning any serious deliberation on the debate over Israel and Palestine, it has to be recognized that this is an impossibly complex, convoluted, and for many, personal issue. A few guiding principles of my position: Jews have a claim to the land, as do Palestinians. I do not believe one can deny Israel’s right to exist. I believe Palestine has a right to exist, although I do not know within which geo-political boundaries. I do question whether Palestinians and those that advocate for an independent Palestine, recognize that it will be incredibly difficult to maintain and will require massive amounts of aid and infrastructural investment by the international community.
Let me provide a brief back-story on Hamas (from Wikipedia, so you know it’s accurate). Hamas formed in the late 1960’s, branching off from the Muslim Brotherhood, an Egyptian religious and political organization. Its original inception focused on preaching and charitable work. In 1998 Hamas published a charter and broke from the Muslim Brotherhood’s belief in non-violence. In 1993 they conducted their first suicide bombing. And according to a 2006 report released by the rival Fatah party, Hamas had smuggled “between several hundred and 1,300 tons of advanced rockets; anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles; rocket-propelled grenades; raw explosives; rifles; ammunition; and other heavy weaponry [into Gaza],”
I recently traveled in Israel; with an armed guard who had just left the army, a tour guide who is a captain in a combat division of the infantry and a group of students attending university in Beersheba, which was, for the first time, within rocket range of Gaza. Hamas’ new rockets can travel 40km, placing one eighth of the Israeli population in rocket range. Proportionately, that is roughly equal to placing all of California under perpetual random rocket fire. How long would the United States wait? How many times would the U.S. allow its citizens to find themselves in the line of fire? The U.S. military would come down upon the attackers with our trademark awesome might. To anyone who doesn’t understand why Israel would be upset, even given this comparison, I would invite you to look at Israel’s unique placement in the Middle East. Hamas, the Iranian government and others in the area believe Israel does not have a right to exist.
Given these circumstances, does Israel have any choice but to aggressively pursue rocket smuggling and other hostile actions undertaken by Hamas? To those that condemn the recent Gaza action as murder, or genocide; to those that dare bring comparisons to the Holocaust; you are simply illustrating the liberal, idealized bubble in which you live. Israel does not enjoy the security and established relationships that Western nations have come to take for granted. It has only been around for 60 years and in that time, has been invaded by neighboring countries innumerable times. For those that condemn Israel for attacking “innocent civilians” in Gaza, remember that Palestinian citizens are the same people that voted into power an organization for whom one of the main goals is the destruction of Israel.
Israel is a clearly established military and economic power in the Middle East, and as such, many like to make claim to the moral responsibility it holds, the high road it is obligated to take. There is no high road when you are a young nation under siege by an enemy bent on your total destruction – there is only survival. When a weak nation aggressively threatens and endangers the “innocent civilians” of a stronger nation; what can be expected except retaliation? For those that complain of a disproportionate response, I can only hope that perhaps the lesson will actually be learned by Hamas this time. As long as Hamas continues to believe they have the freedom to act with impunity, Israel has an obligation to practice preemptive deterrence.
Ben Dalgetty is a junior politics major. He can be reached at bdalgetty@oxy.edu
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