"The war in Gaza has been an intense lesson in western hypocrisy. It won’t be forgotten"

[flashbac]

She nails it on the head:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/nov/27/war-gaza-lesson-western-hypocrisy-international-community

Biden tweeted this today
It has been referred to as some by 'mixed messages'

@Parkingt111 Biden is really revealing himself in this conflict. He can't seem to do any coherent thought at all he seems to be cognitively declining and he needs to not be in charge if that's the case. Not that I think Sunak is good at all but if he was tweeting I'd be REALLY worried.

@Weddingpuzzle I must say at times I do wonder myself
There was a video recently which many MSM outlets picked up, he was doing a talk and was about to say something and blinken shook his head at him from the crowd and he stopped.

I suppose it must have been something that its better he didn't say than others trying to do damage control later

Good piece in the Guardian today
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/30/west-encourages-killing-of-civilians-in-gaza-says-father-of-murdered-activist

Western governments are “actively encourag[ing] the killing of women and children” in Gaza, because they are not willing to challenge Israeli accounts of the war there, the father of a British peace activist killed by an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) sniper has warned.
Anthony Hurndall’s son, Tom Hurndall, was shot in the head in April 2003 in Rafah, while he was helping Palestinian children.

Anthony Hurndall left his job as a City lawyer to work on an investigationinto the shooting and embarked on an international campaign for justice after Israeli authorities initially declined to open an inquiry into the case.
He described himself as “a longstanding supporter of the state of Israel”, but said his work nearly two decades ago exposed a culture of impunity and cover-ups over civilian deaths that he fears is being replicated in attacks on Gaza today.
“The IDF … routinely falsely misrepresent civilians and children as militants, or as armed, and fabricate accounts of events, as a pretext for their killing,” he wrote in a statement about the war.
“These claims appear similar to the claims the IDF are currently making to justify their bombing, missile and other attacks on civilian targets and hospitals in Gaza.”
His meticulous dossier was critical to creating international pressure that led to the arrest and trial of the sniper, who was sentenced to eight years for manslaughter. Hurndall said that Palestinians in Gaza do not have the resources to investigate the death of civilian relatives in the same way.
“Only when confronted with irrefutable evidence, and subjected to the unrelenting pressure of the UK government and press, did [the Israeli military] concede and accept responsibility. Unfortunately, Palestinian civilians do not have the resources or support to protect themselves in this way,” he wrote.
He called on both the UK government and opposition to interrogate Israeli claims about civilian deaths in Gaza more rigorously.
“Western governments and media appear overly willing to accept Israeli accounts and narratives and repeat them,” he wrote. “In doing so they actively encourage the killing of women and children, and are, in my view, themselves complicit in, or at least condoning, the deliberate killing of civilians and war crimes.
“The situation has deteriorated since the time we were involved, as Israeli policy becomes more extreme. I believe the government and opposition in this country should carefully consider their positions over present events and over the situation in Israel and the occupied territories.”
He said he was “a longstanding supporter of the state of Israel” and was reluctant to speak out, and did so only because asked, and in the hope that it would contribute to understanding and resolution.
“I wish Israel a happy, secure and prosperous future, but it needs to abandon policies which destroy the very prospects of such a future,” he added.
The IDF has been contacted for comment.

@MercanDede Exactly what so many of us can see so clearly.

Edward Said, from his Introduction to Culture & Imperialism (c)1993

”What are striking in these discourses are the rhetorical figures one keeps encountering in their descriptions of ‘the mysterious East’, as well as stereotypes about ‘the African [or Indian or Irish or Jamaican or Chinese] mind’, the notions about bringing civilisation to primitive or barbaric peoples, the disturbingly familiar ideas about flogging or death or extended punishment being required when ‘they’ misbehaved or became rebellious, because ‘they’ mainly understood force or violence best; ‘they’ were not like ‘us’, and for that reason deserved to be ruled.”

"It is a time for everyone to decide where they stand. Israel will stand against the forces of barbarism until victory," Netanyahu said. "I hope and pray that civilized nations everywhere will back this fight” “Calls for a ceasefire are calls for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorism, to surrender to barbarism," he added. "That will not happen."- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu frustratingly dated “1 mo ago” https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/netanyahu-demands-world-pick-a-side-in-fight-against-hamas-barbarians-says-ceasefire-equals-surrender/ar-AA1j6qzO

“Hamas only understands force,” Gallant says, calling the terror group “barbarians,” who would only improve the terms of the hostage deal if the military pressure against them increased.- Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on 22 November 2023. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/gallant-says-hamas-only-understands-force-glosses-over-pms-third-stated-goal-regarding-post-war-gaza/ar-AA1knAbG

@MercanDede That's an interesting passage from Said. It reminds me of the transatlantic slave trade as well.

Message today from Blinken to Israel. Although it seems abit late for it

"Israel has... one of the most sophisticated militaries in the world," he said.
"It is capable of neutralising the threat posed by Hamas while minimising harm to innocent men, women and children," he added.
"It has an obligation to do so,"

The US is concerned about being attacked by enemies in the Middle East. Israel was supposed to be their buffer. Planted there with the cover of giving Jewish people an home. Ideally Israel would have had a friendly, civilising influence in the ME - but the Israeli governments and their IDF henchmen are very far from civilised. They’ve made a right mess out there but the US is stuck with them now.

He and Biden have the power to step in, properly. Why don't they? meaningless platitudes that Israel will likely ignore.

Ideally Israel would have had a friendly, civilising influence in the ME -

Can you elaborate pls - friendly, civilising influence?

Israel was literally built on a system of forced displacement and terror. How can a state built on violence ever be anything but violent?

@Chaitales
I hear you but I imagine that there were many ordinary, non-fanatical people who genuinely thought that after a tricky start Israel would be a thriving home for Jewish people and bring prosperity to the region.

But there were always ulterior motives. A US politician called Jesse Helms referred to Israel in the 1980s as “America’s aircraft carrier in the Middle East” meaning that it was America’s military foothold there and therefore worth the enormous ongoing military expense.

Little wonder, with such backing, that while many ordinary people attempted to live in Israel only to leave again within a few years, not liking the vibe, the governments there became a haven for the power-hungry, the racist and the violent.

@Chaitales
I hear you but I imagine that there were many ordinary people who genuinely thought that after a tricky start Israel would be a thriving home for Jewish people and bring prosperity to the region.

But there were ulterior motives. A US politician, Jesse Helms, referred to Israel in the 1980s as “America’s aircraft carrier in the Middle East” meaning that it was America’s military foothold there and therefore worth the enormous ongoing military expense.

No wonder the Israeli governments became a magnet for the power-hungry, the racist and the violent.

@Thereissomelight

Thanks for elaborating.

bring prosperity to the region

Im not entirely well versed enough in this so apologies but still a bit confused.

So the Ottoman empire, which ruled the region till ww1, was still relatively prosperous though declining power and influence, and you had the Arab States though while not fully developed were not poor or struggling either. It was still a relatively harmonious region (till British interference pushed the Arab revolt and involvement in ww1 broke il the empire and distributed the countries between Britain and France. Most of the countries at that time were under British or French rule including Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, etc. So where does Israels aim of bringing prosperity to region fit in? And given that it was built by violently displacing a nation, how did they think that would bring prosperity to the same places/people it was fighting with?

Genuine question as trying to understand the underlying logic of this

Sorry - failed edit.

Chaitales This documentary from 2002 is very good on the shenanigans that the British got up to in the region after the fall of the Ottoman Empire and how the Arabs were betrayed.
Promises & Betrayals: Britain and the Struggle for the Holy Land (2002)

@Chaitales
Good point. I’m talking about later I suppose. When Israel was getting so much money from the US and Palestine and some of the other ME countries had a poorer standard of living. I’m assuming there were and are people who try to justify it all by saying “But if only everyone would accept Israel they can bring democracy and prosperity to the region”

When in fact they’re doing anything but.

Thank you, will watch! It's all so depressing to watch though isn't it. So, so much harm done across the world

It's about US interests in the Middle East.

As Joe Biden famously said If Israel didn't exist we'd have to invent it.

Framing Israel as a democracy, allows painting other countries in the ME (as long as they are currently not a US ally) as Dictatorships.

Allowing America to export it's democracy via regime change or bombing those dictators.
A win for the Military Industrial Complex and US companies that will rebuild the destroyed countries. It also allows America to control natural resources in the region [Gas and Oil] etc.

@BelleHathor
Thats what I meant about people thinking Israel would be good for ordinary Jewish people and the ME. That’s how it was presented to Joe Public.

@BelleHathor @Thereissomelight i guess it's also in line with British divide and rule policy - same in India /Pakistan, across Africa and by pitting Ottoman powers against each other and then putting their interests (Israel) in the center to create lasting unrest in the region. And making it all sound as if it's for the world's good (as seen in the destruction of Iraq, Libya etc)

You’ve skipped over some fairly important stuff that suggests it isn’t just the ‘fault’ of the Europeans. The Ottomans and the almost-universal expulsion of Jews from other middle-eastern countries, for example.

I think a fixation on the role of Europe is misleading - this wasn’t a colonial project and certainly isn’t now.

Hamas are clearly murderous anti-semites so I don’t know why anyone is trying to defend their charter as not that bad.

I agree that ideally Israel would not use such stringent security restrictions but then again after all the terrorist attacks of the infitada I can see why they have to. I thought relations with Gaza were mellowing before October 7th though. Weren’t things heading in a positive direction?

People were displaced, but it wasn’t a ‘nation’. There was a huge amount of flux in populations and borders around the time of the fall of the Ottoman Empire.