Israel’s Genocidal War on Palestine

by Stephen Lendman

Longstanding Israeli policy reflects slow-motion genocide. Non-Jews aren’t wanted. Israel considers them subhuman.

Peace, nonviolence, diplomacy, human and civil rights, as well as fundamental rule of law principles are systematically spurned. That’s now rogue states operate.

Pillar of Cloud raged from November 14 - 21. Memorandum of understand terms ended eight terror bombing days. Israel violated its pledge multiple times. Its word isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.

Less than 24 hours after conflict ended, Israeli soldiers killed one Palestinian. Another 19 were injured.

On November 25, three more Palestinians were shot. They were wounded, not killed. On November 26, another four Palestinians were injured. Soldiers opened fire on them. They threatened no one.

Since November 22, 15 fishermen were accosted at sea. Naval vessels used live fire. Israel claimed they exceeded a recently expanded zone. Believe nothing Israeli authorities say. They systematically lie.

Boats were damaged and confiscated or destroyed. Fishermen on board were arrested, detained, and interrogated. At least most were released.

No one assaulted did anything improper. Israeli claims were lies. Expect continued land and sea incidents ahead.

On November 28, seven Palestinians were shot and injured. At least one is in serious condition. Israel said “rioters” damaged a border fence trying to enter Israel.

Israeli authorities make this stuff up. They do it to justify persecution and at times murder.

Nonviolent Palestinians are called threats to Israeli security. These type claims are baseless. Israel pledged attacking Gazans would stop.

Similar promises were made before. Horrific oppression continues. Truce terms changed nothing. Believing otherwise is wishful thinking.

West Bank Palestinians are attacked, beaten and arrested. Apartheid is a way of life. Settlements exclude Arabs. Jews only roads exist. Segregated bus lines appear next.

Palestinian workers with legal permits are being ordered off buses. Settlers claim they pose a security risk. Israel’s Transport Ministry may exclude Arabs. Buses henceforth may be for Jews only.

Jim Crow America relegated Blacks to the back of buses. Israel perhaps wants Arabs excluded entirely.

On November 27, B’Tselem headlined “Attempt at bus segregation appalling,” saying:

Disclosure about possible segregated bus lines is uncalled for. Services “must be available on an equal basis to all and any who require them.”

B’Tselem’s executive director Jessica Montell said:

“The attempt at bus segregation is appalling, and the current arguments about ‘security needs’ and ‘overcrowding’ must not be allowed to camouflage the blatant racism of the demand to remove Palestinians from buses.”

Israel plans greater occupation harshness. Conditions for besieged Gazans persist. Truce terms changed nothing.

December 10 is International Human Rights Day. It commemorates the General Assembly adopting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948.

World leaders pledged to “complement the UN Charter with a road map to guarantee the rights of every individual everywhere.”

In 1946, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was discussed at the General Assembly’s first session.

Member States submitted the UNHR to the Economic and Social Council “for reference to the Commission on Human Rights for consideration….in its preparation of an international bill of rights.”

On December 10, 1948, UN Resolution 217 A (III) adopted UNHR. No members dissented. Eight abstained. Despite emerging Cold War tensions, common ground was found.

UNHR’s 30 articles pledged “to promote respect for (fundamental human) rights and freedoms….both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.”

They affirmed life, liberty, security and dignity. They said no one should be held in bondage or subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. They scorned arbitrary arrests, detention, exile, and other human rights violations.

They said everyone may leave any country and return freely. Discrimination of any kind was deplored. Free expression, assembly, movement, thought, opinion and religion were championed.

Everyone has the right to work and receive equal pay for equal employment. Essential rights to healthcare, food, clothing, housing, and education were supported.

Articles affirmed that “(n)othing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for the State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.”

Since 1945, the UN failed to uphold fundamental Charter and other international law principles. America, Israel, and other imperial partners bear full responsibility.

On Friday, December 7, human rights supporters will march in Tel Aviv. In solidarity, they’ll express support for equality, democracy, peace, and social justice.

Arabs will march with Jews. A midday concert will be held. An official song is titled “Being Human.” Avihu Medina wrote it. A special version called “Being a Woman, Being Human” will be performed.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) sponsors this year’s march. Hundreds of organizations, activists, and others will participate. Together they say: “It’s our right, to all human rights, for every human being.” Jews, Arabs and all others.

It comes after Pillar of Cloud. It’s when Israel plans greater occupation harshness. It follows multiple truce violations.

It’s after Kairo USA’s press advisory headlined “Christians and Jews Gather to Support Churches’ Call to Investigate Unconditional Military Support of Israel,” saying:

On November 29, they met in Washington. They demanded US support for Israel be contingent on its compliance with US laws and policies. Participating groups included:

Jewish Voice for Peace, Kairos USA, US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, United Methodist Kairos Response, Friends of Sabeel North America, Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace, The Palestine Israel Network of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship, and others.

Thousands of signatures were obtained. They seek justice for occupied Palestinians. Stopping the Israeli beast is crucial. It threatens humanity.

Violence in Gaza continues. Palestinians are isolated. They’re trapped in concentration camp hell. They’re on their own. They suffer horrendously out of sight and mind.

Israeli repression is relentless. Civilian deaths are commonplace. From January through October 2012, Israel killed 79 Palestinians. Eleven were in the West Bank. Others were Gazans.

UN and EU officials do nothing to help. They allow grave crimes against humanity. They ignore Palestinian suffering. Naked Israeli aggression and cold-blooded murder are called Israel’s right to self-defense.

Palestinian rights are systematically spurned. It’s been that way for decades.

Official Israeli policy reflects perpetual conflict, daily violence, intimidation, and repression. Children and infants are harmed most. A Gaza psychiatrist said:

“Children exposed to so much violence have no option but to terminate their childhood and move into a different frame. The likelihood is that they will never stabilize.”

Their parents, siblings and friends are killed. Many don’t expect to reach adulthood. Trauma devastates them. There’s no place to hide.

No one helps. Israel attacks when it wishes. It’s vicious and relentless. Violence never ends. Conflict prevents peace, security and freedom. Palestinians deserve better. They hope for what doesn’t come.

Alia Kalajar said her seven-year old daughter, Nisma, “stopped talking, and we don’t know if she will ever talk again.” Israel bombed their home. Nisma sustained a head fracture and internal bleeding.

Dozens of other children and infants were killed or injured. Some won’t ever recover. Many don’t understand. Will war on Iran follow? More on that below.

James Petras called Israel’s strategic goal “Genocide (for a) Greater Israel - the bloody purge of 5 million Palestinians, the creation of a 100 percent ‘pure’ Jewish State.”

It’s that and more. Israel wants Middle East hegemony. It wants rivals balkanized or eliminated. It wants Syria, Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon, and Iran replaced by pro-Western puppet regimes.

It threatens regional war for dominance. Washington provides support. Together they threaten humanity. Media scoundrels cheerlead them. They endorse what they should condemn.

Syria tops their target list. Conflict rages daily. Civilians suffer most. Perhaps Lebanon is next. Strategy calls for isolating Iran. Plans call for replacing its independent government with subservient pro-Western puppet leaders. War may be prioritized. Israel urges it.

Propaganda wars precede hot ones. Conflicts and other forms of violence are glorified in the name of peace. Code language conceals policies.

War is humanitarian intervention. Invasions, slaughter, mass destruction and occupations are liberation. Plunder is economic development. Exploitation and dominance are called democracy.

Managed news mind manipulation inverts truth for public support. Big Lies suppress it. Terrorism is what they do, not us. Iran’s moment of truth awaits. Washington vilified the Islamic Republic for decades.

Israel wants war. Mossad-connected DEBKAfile (DF) called Pillar of Cloud “Less a War than an Anti-Iran Coup.” It claimed Washington, Turkey, and Qatar were involved.

Aborting Tehran’s military ties to Hamas was planned, said DF. “In the short term, the Israeli miniwar was meant as a vivid lesson for Tehran about the fate awaiting its Arab allies. Hizballah is advised” to beware.

Washington and Egypt are involved in preventing Iranian arms from reaching Gaza. Propaganda wars continue.

Haaretz published a spurious AP report. It headlined “Iran allegedly planning nuclear weapon stronger than bomb used on Hiroshima.”

It bears repeating. Annual US intelligence reports say no evidence whatever suggests an Iranian nuclear weapons program. Israeli, US, and EU officials know it. They pretend otherwise.

Iran threatens no one. Alleging a nuclear threat is red herring cover for regime change. Haaretz/AP claim a “leaked diagram.” The source was unnamed.

Concealed ones lack credibility. Claims about Iranian scientists running nuclear weapon computer simulations able to produce “triple the explosive force” that destroyed Hiroshima are meaningless.

Without proof, they’re baseless. Haaretz/AP said an unnamed “country critical of Iran’s atomic program” leaked information to help shut it down.

IAEA made similar claims last year. Proof was absent. It reported alleged diagrams showing Iran was calculating the “nuclear explosive yield” of potential weapons.

An unnamed senior diplomat said Haaretz/AP used old IAEA information. Israel and Washington fabricated it. It was proved baseless. Anti-Iranian pseudo-experts called it credible.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) weighed in. It called AP’s diagram “nothing more than either shoddy sources or shoddy science. In either case, the world can keep calm and carry on.”

AP embarrassed itself. So did Haaretz for publishing its rubbish. BAS added:

“The graphic has not yet been authenticated; however, even if authentic, it would not qualify as proof of a nuclear weapons program.”

“Besides the issue of authenticity, the diagram features quite a massive error, which is unlikely to have been made by research scientists working at a national level.”

AP’s diagram “shows two curves: one that plots the energy versus time, and another that plots the power output versus time, presumably from a fission device.”

“But these two curves do not correspond: If the energy curve is correct, then the peak power should be much lower - around 300 million ( 3×108) kt per second, instead of the currently stated 17 trillion (1.7 x1013) kt per second.”

“As is, the diagram features a nearly million-fold error.

This diagram does nothing more than indicate either slipshod analysis or an amateurish hoax.”

“In any case, the level of scientific sophistication needed to produce such a graph corresponds to that typically found in graduate or advanced undergraduate-level nuclear physics courses.”

Iran denies interest in developing nuclear weapons. No evidence proves otherwise. Bogus claims hype tensions. They surface repeatedly. Expect more next year, especially after Israel’s January elections.

Rogue states never quit. America and Israel reflect the worst of what they represent.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at [email protected]

His new book is titled “How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War”

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour



