As
the Israeli incursion into Gaza continues I will be creating posts in this
series entitled “Notes of the Gaza Assault,” attempting to highlight some of the
primary issues we should all be concerned with as events continue to develop.
These may be a bit more free form and written a bit more “from the hip” so to
speak, however I will do my best to keep providing sources for information
discussed.
“Political language… is designed to make lies
sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to
pure wind.” –George Orwell
Just
after the assassination of Ahmed Al-Jabari, the leader of Hamas’ militant wing,
the Israeli military announced “The IDF [Israeli Defense Force] has begun a
widespread campaign on terror sites & operatives in #Gaza Strip, chief
among them #Hamas & Islamic Jihad targets.”[1]
They made this announcement via Twitter. Less than three hours later the same
Twitter account posted a link to YouTube featuring the Israeli army’s video
evidence of the drone strike that killed Al-Jabari, his bodyguard, and his son.
Within twenty-four hours many Israeli news websites carried Op-Eds up detailing
the just and necessary measure of killing this Al-Jabari, many replete with a
comments section full of gleeful and impassioned praise.[2]
None of these editorials carried the slightest mention about the bystanders
thus far killed, at least two of them children (though there are unverified
reports of more).[3]
One
such Op-ed entitled “Bull’s-eye in Gaza” spells out how the government of Israel
is justified in the ongoing aerial and naval bombardment of a densely populated
area, claiming that the operation is defensive in nature. This is, and has long
been, the hallmark of Israeli doublespeak. Part of it is certainly for its own
domestic audiences, but one must realize that for international audiences, the
propaganda and dishonesty is taken to completely new heights. In Hebrew, the
assault is going on under the name “Pillar of Cloud.” However for English
audiences the operation has rebranded as “Pillar of Defense.” While Gaza’s
sympathizers on twitter on using the hash tag #GazaUnderAttack to stay up to
date on developing information, Israel’s sympathizers are using
#PillarOfDefense, picking up the Israeli army’s twitter post that carried the
fancy, new, sanitized operation name.
On
November 15, Mark Regev, an Israeli government spokesman, conducted an
interview on SKY television. While Mark Regev denied that “regime change” was
Israel’s goal he announce that
“The truth is we
are trying to defend and protect Gaza’s civilian population if you think about
it. Despite all the propaganda that Hamas is spewing out, they are keeping
their own population under an iron fist. I mean they are trying to establish in
Gaza a Taliban type regime that oppresses the people of Gaza that is stamping
out all freedom there in Gaza, stamping out all independent civil society.”[4]
It seems that Operation
Pillar of Cloud Defense is becoming reoriented yet again to Operation Iraqi
Gaza Freedom. Regev goes on to reiterate the familiar chastisement that Hamas
ought to focus on the economy in Gaza rather than attacks on Israel, with
apparently no cognitive dissonance at all regarding Israel’s part in the
embargo placed on Gaza.
Regev
is not alone in the campaign to paint Israel’s policies as benevolent. Numerous
public figures and news reports have reminded their audiences of Israel’s 2005
disengagement of Gaza, insisting that the Palestinians were handed independence
only to squander it on “unprovoked” acts of terrorism.[5]
Retired Major General Dan Harel in an interview with Arutz Sheva exclaimed, “We carry Gaza on our backs. I do not know
if Israeli [sic] are aware of this, but we supply Gaza with all of its needs.
We supply it with electricity, we supply it with water.”[6]
However, there can be no doubt that Maj. Gen. Harel is aware that this obvious
measure of dependence, this obvious mechanism of containment, is by design.
Ariel Sharon’s disengagement plan formulated in April 2004, while not
implemented completely the following year, retained this provision.[7] He knows
as well that the disengagement was simply the most effective way of imposing
complete control and closure over the strip.[8]
These arguments about the benevolence Israel’s occupation and Israeli policies
go back decades. Neve Gordon demonstrates this effectively in his work Israel’s Occupation, particularly in a discussion
of how the Israeli leadership was caught off guard by the first intifada due to the widespread
perception that Palestinians were satisfied with the economic developments that
had been achieved under occupation, albeit under the framework of economic dependence
and captive markets.[9]
This
schizophrenic approach is symptomatic of the Orwellian mobilization tactics
that Israel employs. Israel’s security is no doubt a complicated topic, but the
reality is the so-called “wars” that Israel has engaged in during the previous
decades have not been wars in the traditional sense. They’ve never been
threatened by foreign soldiers on their own soil, never endured bombing campaigns
the likes of which they have visited upon Lebanon and Gaza. This is not to
diminish the effect of terrorist attacks that have been perpetrated in Israel by
militant groups, but the vast majority of these militant groups come from the
occupied Palestinian territories. The latest assault demonstrates this: the
Israeli army is currently bombing the Gaza Strip, a place commonly referred to
as an open air prison.[10]
Yet Israel’s representatives and surrogates are constantly reiterating Israel’s
right to defend itself. No where though, does this discussion allow for
consideration of Gaza’s rights. How are the people of Gaza expected to resist the
aerial and naval bombardment, blockade, and the general misery visited upon
them by the Israeli government and its policies? Certainly the rocket attacks
carried out by militants are an inadequate approach—both in terms of
practicality and morality—toward improving the lives of Gazans, but the
question remains: What, by the standards of the Israeli government, is an
acceptable form of Palestinian resistance to its policies?
The
most useful tool for poking holes in the propaganda that this offensive will
make any serious improvements for Israel’s security is simple attention to
detail. I’ve said in a previous post, that a “who shot first?” discussion is
pointless.[11]
But consider this: on Wednesday morning it was reported that a tentative
ceasefire (or lull, if you prefer) had occurred between the two parties during which
no shots were fired, no one was injured, and no one was killed.[12]
This lull had lasted for over 24 hours when the Israeli government decided that
rather than a ceasefire, they would prefer Operation Pillar of Cloud
Defense. Since this operation began three Israeli civilians have been killed by
rocket fire, largely because the frequency and volume of rocket attacks have
increased, while casualties due to rocket fire had been reported since October
2011.[13]
Doesn’t this objectively mean that Operation Pillar of Cloud Defense has
imperiled rather than secured the lives of Israeli citizens?
In
spite of all reason and evidence, Israel’s spokesmen and surrogates persist in
claiming that the offensive in Gaza is about national security and the defense
of its citizens. Today it has been reported that Hamas and other militants are
now using more sophisticated rockets that are capable of reaching Tel Aviv.[14]
This is the kind of escalation that Hamas had refrained from before the most
recent, more typical exchanges with Israel. Currently, however, there are an
excess of contradictions and double speak. Regev appears on international
television and declares that the bombardment of Gaza—at the time of this writing
the death toll is fast approaching 100 Palestinians—is at least in part being
carried out for the benefit of the Palestinian people. Spokesmen continually
evoke self-defense as the onus for the operation, ignoring the context of such
violence, ignoring the fact that Israeli citizens have become dramatically less
safe since the beginning of the operation, ignoring all of the conclusions that
reasonable, informed individuals are drawing this conflict. The path forward for
Israel does not lead deeper into Gaza. If the government of Israel wants peace
and security for its citizens, it is a ridiculous, dishonest, contradictory
proposition that they pursue war.
Follow
Expert/Activist: Middle East on facebook at (http://tinyurl.com/cwj387s) and
on Twitter at (@Adam_Wes_S). Comments, discussion, and criticism are always welcome.
[2] Haber,
Eitan. “An Endless War.” Yediot Ahronot. 15
November 2012. Accessed 15 November 2012. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4305905,00.html.
Raskas, Joseph. “Bull’s-eye in the Gaza Strip: when targeted killings is
justified.” The Times of Israel. 14
November 2012. Accessed 15 November
2012. http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/bulls-eye-in-the-gaza-strip-when-targeted-killing-is-justified/
. Rosen, Jonathan. “Inside Out: Beyond Gaza Rhetoric.” The Jerusalem Post. 14 November 2012. Accessed 15 November 2012. http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=291892.
[3]
“Gaza conflict intensifies.”Al Jazeera. 15
November 2012. Accessed 15 November 2012.
[5] Spivak,
Yaakov. “In Solidarity with Israel.” NY
Daily News. 18 November 2012. Accessed 19 November 2012. http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/node/134246.
Shragai, Nadav. “From Disengagement to
terrorism.” Israel Hayom. 13 November
2012. Accessed 19 November 2012. http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=2864.
Also see Alan Dershowitz’s comments on Piers Morgan Tonight: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1211/16/pmt.01.html.
[6] Ronen,
Gil. “Disengagement General: Stop Carrying Gaza on our Back.” Arutz Sheva. 29 October 2012. Accessed
19 November 2012.
[8]
Li, Darryl. “The Gaza Strip As Laboratory: Notes in the Wake of Disengagement.”
The Journal of Palestine Studies. Winter
2006. Web. Accessed 19 November 2012. http://www.pchrgaza.org/Library/darryl.pdf
[9]
Gordon, Neve. Israel’s Occupation. Berkeley.
University of California, 2008. Print. Pg. 148.
[10]
Most recently: Chomsky, Noam. “Impressions of Gaza.” Chomsky.info. 4 November 2012. Accessed 19 November 2012. http://chomsky.info/articles/20121104.htm
[11]
“’None of your governments would accept such a situation.’” Expert/Activist: Middle East. 13
November 2012. Accessed 15 November 2012. http://expert-activist-mideast.blogspot.com/2012/11/none-of-your-governments-would-accept.html
[12]
“Israel and Gaza reach tacit truce.” Al
Jazeera. 14 November 2012. Accessed 15 November 2012.
[13]
Nguyen, Phan. “Dissecting IDF propaganda: The numbers behind the rocket attacks.”
Mondoweiss. 17 November 2012.
Accessed 19 November 2012. http://mondoweiss.net/2012/11/dissecting-idf-propaganda-the-numbers-behind-the-rocket-attacks.html
[14]
“Tel Aviv Suburb Hit By Rocket.” The
Huffington Post. 15 November 2012. Accessed 15 November 2012. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/15/tel-aviv-rockets_n_2137334.html.
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