Masood N. Khan M.D.
The moral high ground has suddenly turned into a landslide and it seems the U.S. is buried under its own debris.
All the values pertaining to freedom, human rights, justice and international law have suddenly turned into empty slogans. The support of an implanted country that ever since its coming into existence, has had an eye on occupying more and more by building Illegal and ever expanding settlements, demolishing Palestinian homes and confiscating their land, simply does not agree with values the U.S is founded on. Standing for Israel no matter what, has taken precedence over justice, freedom and human rights. The advice of academicians, experts in international law, human rights organizations, multiple UN resolutions and even the assessment of the International Court of Justice calling indiscriminate bombings of civilians and blocking of humanitarian aid as plausible genocide, has been disregarded. About 38,000 helpless Palestinians 2/3rd of who being women and children have been killed. Many have died painful death suffocated under the rubble of bombed buildings. In many instances entire families have vanished. The mask of morality and lofty ideals the U.S. used to lecture others on, has been removed and a totally different face has become clearly visible to the scornful gaze of the world.
The war in Gaza has left many in the world baffled about the overwhelming support of the U.S. for Israel, defying even basic logic much less the principles of Geneva
convention relating to International and humanitarian law.
What is so depressing is that the American mainstream media has silently watched the massacre after massacre of Palestinian people with nominal coverage. False narratives in talk shows, TV debates and at prime time news reports, were allowed to circulate without scrutiny. This is in order to put a defense in favor of Israel and to make American hypocrisy palatable to the world.
It seems the abuse of institutionalized system of political lobbying in the name of freedom to defend, advocate and protect one’s rights and interests has unleashed some deeper and destructive forces in the country which have held under their firm grip, three of the main corridors of influence and power, namely, business corporations (which in a free-market society happen to be of the foundational importance for its economical strength), legislature, and the media. Any explanation other than the country being held hostage to such enslaving forces, does not satisfy the baffled curiosity.
As an example of the compromised media, New York Times, supposedly the most liberal and independent news paper of the country, published a dubious story about rape of Israeli women at the hands of Hamas. It was titled “Screams without Words”, and was published right in the middle of relentless bombings on Gaza as though to justify them. The story was constructed in a manner that gives one to conclude that Hamas “terrorists” indulged into systematic rape of Jewish women on October 7. The article was written by two free lancers one of them being an Israeli film maker who happens to be an ex-officer in Israeli Air Force with no experience in journalism. She actually went around trying hard to gather evidence for the presumed sexual violence committed by Hamas. She tapped various sources like hospitals, Rape Crisis Centers and records from Rape Crisis Hotline but found no credible evidence to support any occurrence of rape. She then resorted to very flimsy sources, like a victim of rape confiding in some lady to give her an account of rape committed on her who in turn reported this to the investigator. The New York Times surprisingly published the story without any critical review of the article. The grossly misconstrued story with no valid evidence was so obviously misleading that it forced 60 journalism professors at various universities to write a letter to The New York Times to publish a correction, which it very obstinately refused to do. The mainstream TV channels eagerly disseminated the story to the American public.
The ugliest false narrative was the lie made up by a reporter of CNN, concerning decapitation of 40 babies by Hamas. Without proper investigation the American mainstream news media started parroting it, so much so that President Biden, undermining his responsibility as President to check it out thoroughly mentioned this in one of his speeches giving it the Presidential seal of approval. This behavior on the part of the President of a country does not reflect a ‘benign neglect’ rather it shows a ‘wishful neglect’ that is meant to satisfy an intense desire to defend Israel.
American media has consistently either underreported or misreported the massacres in Gaza. Israel’s acts of ethnic cleansing and crime against humanity are given just fraction of the coverage they deserved with the briefest possible description.
Any guerrilla-style armed resistance, devoid of air power, understandably has to resort to tactics quite different from that of an open warfare between two armies. Hamas could never possibly have brought out all its militia into open, to fight a ground battle. It is obvious, in no time they all would have been killed by bombs dropped from above. Such guerrilla resistance, as happened in Vietnam and in many other places, has always posed a challenge to countries fighting it. Yet bound by Geneva Convention, they are supposed to try their best to avoid civilian casualties. There can be no justification to convert Hamas’ so called human shield into human massacre by dropping bombs on refugee camps full of innocent civilians and on humanitarian aid workers, health personnel and journalists.
A claim for Jewish homeland in Palestine is often made using ancient history of two to three thousand years ago. In an emancipating exodus, Prophet Moses led Jews out of captivity to Palestine where they settled down recognizing it to be the Promised Land. While this historical account of Jewish emancipation is true, the exclusive claim on Palestinian land on its basis, ignores the fact that before the arrival of Jews into Canaan (the historical name of Palestine), there were many tribes already living there. The same history acknowledges that Jews had to fight with them to occupy their land. So how far back one should go into history? Why begin at the time when Jews arrived in Palestine and not at the antecedent time when indigenous people were the sole inhabitants. Secondly, to base a claim on ancient history, is simply not acceptable under international law, for its acceptance will create a chaotic and destructive world order marred by expulsion and dispossession of people and widespread bloodshed.
The most adverse of the false narratives relates to a concerted attempt to completely erase the underlying context of what happened on 7th October. The mainstream media has converted the deserved condemnation of the brutal attack by Hamas, into journalistic connivance by trying to convince the world that October 7 was the starting point of the conflict that was naturally bound to unfold into horrible bloodshed. As if all was good and peaceful until Oct 7 when the attack by Hamas suddenly posed an existential threat to Israel forcing it to defend itself. The brutal attack by Hamas cannot be dissociated from its context, nor can it be justified. If Israel only retaliated for what Hams did, it can be argued with equal emphasis that most likely it was Hamas who on Oct 7 retaliated against Israel for what it did to Palestinians for decades. It is foolish to think that years of occupation, confinement and brutal discrimination, will not evoke reaction and retaliation by Palestinians.
Talking about recent history, it is often argued in the media that it was Arabs that rejected the ‘Two State solutions’ in 1947 and then four more times subsequently. The historical facts are quite different. When the UN recommended a partition plan into a Jewish and an Arab State, its rejection by Arabs was natural. Immigration of large number of foreign nationals into any country causing displacement of the indigenous population is not going to be accepted, much less implantation of a new country in their midst. Its example is like a stranger intruding into somebody’s home and then occupying a portion of it and claiming its ownership. The furious rejection and resistance by the real owner of the house is understandable. To try to resolve it by partitioning his house between him and the intruder is a joke. Besides, what is not mentioned is the fact that the Jews, even though comprised of only one third of the total population and owned just 10 percent of the land that they purchased from the Arab landlords, were given 55% of the overall territory of Palestine while the Arabs in far greater majority were given only 45%. The highly provocative logic extended to add insult to injury, was that increased territory was needed for Jewish State to enable continuing influx of immigrants.
Similarly, the failure of Oslo accord was due to its unfair premise to begin with being heavily in favor of Israel. On top of it, the expansion of settlements in the West Bank and Gaza under government protection, and confiscation of Palestinian land were enough to ruin it. In The Oslo accord one agreed clauses was that both parties would postpone any decision on settlements, borders, right of return for refugees and status of Jerusalem to its future phases. A lack of political acumen on the part of Palestinians combined with a naive eagerness to finalize the accord became one of their costly mistakes, for Israel exploited the intervening time-lapse to continue its expansionist policy of building settlements and confiscating more and more Palestinian land. So technically still within bounds of the accord as above issues were left undecided, Israel was blatantly in violation of its spirit and the assurance given to Palestinians during negotiations. The lapse of time also gave critics of the accord and the extremists on both sides an opportunity to sabotage it. In February 1994 Baruch Goldstein an American born Jewish settler entered the Ibrahim mosque in East Jerusalem and killed 29 Muslim worshippers. Two months later a car bomb by Hams exploded at a bus stop in Israel killing 8 people. A vicious cycle of violence and bloodshed followed which included incremental building of settlements by Israel and suicide bombings by Hamas, making peace process fade off gradually in the fog of mistrust. In November 1995 The Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated at a peace rally by a young Israeli named Yigal Amir who belonged to a group which believed in Greater Israel (meaning the whole of Palestinian land belonged only to Israel) and was opposed to any peace deal with Palestinians. In September 2000 Ariel Sharon, leader of Likud party made a very provocative visit to Haram al Shareef accompanied by 1000 policemen. This gave rise to widespread demonstrations which soon turned violent and resulted into what is called as Second Intifadah. Oslo then completely vanished. (The First Intifadah occurred in late 80s when Palestinian youth mostly teenagers confronted Israeli police force with stones in their hands versus the bullets they received.) Similarly if one looks into the terms and conditions of subsequent Camp David negotiations with Ehud Barak and still later the offer made by Ehud Olmert, the unfair dealing with Palestinians and a bias in favor of Israel becomes obvious even though in the Western media and pro-Israel Zionist lobbies, blame was consistently placed on Palestinians for rejection. The details of these negotiations are omitted for the sake of brevity. But for those interested, we recommend an honest and objective book titled “The Shortest History of Israel and Palestine” written by an expert on Middle East and a lecturer of history Michael Scott- Baumann. It is concise, succinct and very readable.
In this issue we have included part one of the chronological list of significant events of history behind Israel-Palestine conflict to provide a better understanding of the historical context. Part two of this list will be given in the upcoming next issue.
It is strange that United States, in order to protect the interests of Israel, has shown an illogical resistance to nearly all resolutions tabled periodically in the Security Council which were supported by majority of the member nations even unanimously sometimes. The U.S. has been ever ready to veto any resolution that perceivably would go against Israel. Going back to year 1947-48 when the partition of Palestine was hotly debated by the world at United Nations, the U.S., in total disregard for Palestinians’ concerns, apprehensions and complaints kept pushing hard to have Partition plan approved by the General Assembly. When Arabs rejected the plan there was generally an empathetic understanding among the member nations of Arabs’ rejection, and of a need to give more time to reconcile the situation with further negotiations, concessions and compromises. Therefore when Israel proclaimed itself as an independent State many countries were reluctant to recognize it, but not the U.S which was quick to recognize it. The State was proclaimed May 14, 1948 and the U.S recognized it May 15, 1948. It is ironic that after so many years, when many countries are now ready to recognize an independent Palestinian State alongside Israel, the U.S. paradoxically has been singularly opposing it arguing that more time is needed for negotiations and settlement of issues between Israel and Palestinians. This is diametrically opposite position compared to one the U.S took in an identical situation in 1948.
An often repeated propagandist slogan that is profusely reiterated in the press conferences, congressional hearings, mainstream media, has been that Israel has a right to defend itself. This is like playing smart, a cunning tactic to give Israel the status of a victim. It is simply an insult to human intelligence. A country that has occupied Palestinian land, displaced and dispossessed Palestinians, sent hundreds of thousands of them into exile and imprisoned thousands, obviously is in an offensive posture not defensive. To say that Israel is fighting a defensive was is preposterous.
As an example of imbalanced focus, in the mainstream media in the U.S. the most important issue is that of hostages taken by Hamas. Taking hostages even in war for leverage and bargain is wrong and is against international law. The pain and suffering inflicted upon innocent people needs to be condemned. But at the same time detaining for months and years, thousands of innocent Palestinians in Israeli jail, many without charge, is no less than taking hostages. It needs to be condemned with equal disdain. It is absolutely and equally wrong. Hardly any discussion takes place in the media about them as if Palestinians’ lives are of less value compared to Israelis.
“River to the sea Palestine will be free” , a popular slogan especially among protesting students, has been projected by the media with a deliberate misinterpretation as being anti-Semitic. This is to deviate attention from the demand by Palestinians for their independence and self determination. The slogan only means that Palestinians living in Palestine are entitled for their rights, honor and freedom just like the Jews. Since it is the Palestinians who are under occupation, it makes no sense that its application is more relevant to their situation than to Jews whose freedom is already established.
By being in the position of a solitary Superpower in the world, the U.S. has heavy responsibilities. It has to be fair and just, benevolent and reaching out to poor countries in need of help, just like a rich and powerful person living in a neighborhood should be kind, fair and helpful to its poor neighbors. The U.S. has failed totally in fulfilling its role as a ‘benevolent’ superpower. On the contrary, it has bombed countries, killed hundreds of thousands of innocent people and made selfish alliances to the exclusion and even punishment of those countries who chose to stand for their just rights.
It is a sad travesty of values the U.S. was admired for in the world. Freedom to protest, express and decent have been of foundational importance in the U.S compared to other countries. Yet the non-violent students’ protests against killings in Gaza have been brutally crushed by Police for the whole world to watch with disgust. And sadly, several people in the country across professions have lost their jobs for supporting Palestinians. The U.S. constitution thus has been debased and devalued. It has left behind a history that will not make the coming generation proud of their country.
In Palestine, Jews are not going anywhere and the Palestinians also are not going anywhere. Yet both are fighting with each other to their own destruction. If this situation is given to a third-grader of a primary school to resolve it, he would say without hesitation that both should live together side by side and not fight. Such a shame for adults, to not understand this simple truth. I am sure if third graders are made leaders of the world, this problem and many others will be easily resolved. It is such a disgrace for the adults.
References:
1. ‘The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine’: A history of settler-colonialism and resistance, by Rashid Khalidi
2. ‘The End of the Peace Process’ : Oslo and
after, by Edward W. Said
3. ‘The Shortest History of Israel And Palestine’: From Zionism to Intifadas and the struggle for peace, by Michael Scott-Baumann
4. ‘Palestine and the Arab Israeli Conflict’: A history with documents, by Charles D. Smith
5. ‘The Truth About Camp David’: The untold story of the collapse of the peace process, by Clayton E. Swisher