Recently the Gaza Shooting of unarmed civilian protestors saw the killing of 58 and life changing injuries inflicted upon more than 1,200 protestors by soldiers of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF.) The response by the the British Government of Theresa May reveals the disgusting degree of hypocrisy our political establishment blithely offers us.
Israeli officials claimed that the protestors were actually terrorists, that they were intent on storming the fence between Gaza and the Israeli Occupied Territories and posed a direct threat to the lives of Israeli settlers near the border. Not only was this spurious nonsense, if if it were true, it still provided no legitimate reason for the Gaza shootings.
However, to date, Israel haven’t produced any evidence at all that shows the ‘storming’ of the fence. Rather the footage released shows a large scale protest on the Palestinian side of the border. There were undoubtedly some throwing stones (using sling shots), the use of a small number of ineffective petrol bombs (which had little or no chance of reaching, let alone harming IDF defensive positions) and others approaching the fence while protesting vigorously. Some attempted to damage their side of the fence (without success) but there are two parallel fences with a strip of ‘no mans land’ between the Palestinian and the Israeli side of the border. Therefore there was no threat to the Israeli side.
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The vast majority appeared to be waving flags, chanting and hurling vocal challenges to the Israeli State. An entirely reasonable form of lawful protest. While there was clearly some minor degree of violence on the Palestinian side, this in no way presented a threat to the lives of the heavily armed significant IDF military presence positioned on the other side of the border.
The Evidence was clear and unequivocal. Israeli forces had absolutely no justification whatsoever to open fire with live ammunition on these people. The Gaza shooting was an unprovoked massacre of civilians by the IDF, there is a wealth of corroborating evidence to prove the fact. Moreover it is clear that unarmed Palestinian protestors were targeted by IDF snipers with the evident objective of killing them. Many were killed hundreds of meters away from the fence, a high number were shot in the back, the live ammunition used in the Gaza Shooting (7.62mm rounds) was designed to inflict the most severe injuries possible (in the absence of death) and there was no realistic threat to IDF forces and certainly none to Israeli civilians, who weren’t even present. 8 Children were among the 58 murdered Palestinians and hundreds, possibly thousands, more were permanently disabled by the IDF.
The spokesman for the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights, Rupert Colville, speaking about the Gaza shootings, stated:
“Israeli forces responded with teargas, plastic bullets and various types of live ammunition. Some causing horrific wounds and lifelong disabilities. We stress again, lethal force may only be used as a measure of last, not first, resort and only when there is an immediate threat to life or serious injury. An Attempt to approach, damaging or crossing the Green Line fence do not amount to a threat to life or serious injury and are not sufficient grounds for the use of live ammunition.”
The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word massacre to mean: “An indiscriminate and brutal slaughter of many people.“ Under any definition of the term, what the happened on 14th May 2018 in the Gaza shooting was the massacre of unarmed Palestinian civilians by the Israeli state.
The stark contrast between the British Governments response to the proven actions of the Israel and the alleged actions of Syria in Douma, only a month earlier, reveal the reality of the British Government’s supposed moral indignation. While the highly dubious allegations that Bashar al Assad’s Syrian Government killed civilians in Douma, resulted in moral outrage and military action by Theresa May’s government, the undoubted massacre of Palestinian civilians by Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israeli Government was merely ‘a cause for concern.’ While I am in no way advocate a military response against Israel, the disparity between to two approaches belies the underlying political agenda of the British Government. Whilst they were quick to condemn the alleged actions of the Syrian Government, based upon spurious evidence, and eager to use military force in response, they were just as quick to practically defend the equally horrific actions of the Israeli Government, for which the evidence was far more clear cut.
Speaking on 14th April 2018, a day after the UK, France and the U.S had launched reprisal missile strikes against Syria for the alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma, Theresa May called the attack “a despicable and barbaric attack.” Yet she referred to the mass slaughter of civilians by Israel as “tragic and extremely concerning.” She made no mention at all that it was an undoubted massacre.
Speaking about the alleged Douma attack she stated: “We are also clear about who is responsible for this atrocity. A significant body of information, including intelligence, indicates that the Syrian Regime is responsible for this latest attack.” I am not going to explore why this evidence was flawed in this post, but it was very far from unequivocal. The evidence of the slaughter in Gaza, which prompted the clear apportioning of blame by the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights, was far less in dispute. This was something completely ignored by May who, in reference to the Gaza shooting said, “there is an urgent need to establish the facts of what happened yesterday.” While such events should always be independently investigated before apportioning blame, the facts, in the case of the Gaza shootings, were apparent. As May well knew, responsibility was not an issue. The only question was possible justification for the Israeli actions and all the indications were there were next to none.
Also notable is the difference in the tone of the language used. In reference to Douma, Theresa May was at pains to to highlight “harrowing images” and that “young children were killed,” calling the alleged Douma victims “innocent families.” However, she made no comment at all about the loss of “innocent families” in Gaza; there was no mention of the children murdered by the IDF nor any mention of the “harrowing images” which emerged from Gaza. Instead what we heard from Theresa May was broadly a defense of the Israel. May stated that “…we do not question the right of Israel to defend its borders,” despite the fact that their was absolutely no evidence of any threat to Israel’s border.
Rather than strongly condemning the Gaza shootings, May offered an apologist justification for the mass slaughter of Palestinians exercising their lawful right to protest. What was most despicable was her disgusting attempt to blame the Palestinian victims for their own deaths.
According to her dubious rhetoric regarding Douma, May stated “…the regime (Syrian Government) was indeed responsible.” Yet, when speaking about the Gaza shooting she said “violence is destructive to peace efforts and we call on all sides to show restraint,” adding, “….there is an urgent need for an investigation to establish the facts of what happened yesterday…….including what role HAMAS played.” She went on to say that her government were concerned that “….extremist elements are seeking to hijack legitimate protests to further their own objectives.”
In her statement regarding the Douma attack May stated, “Daesh does not even have a presence in Douma.” Contrary to her comments about Israeli culpability, while technically accurate, May was suggesting that there were no “extremist elements” in Douma and that there was no possible role for these elements in the supposed Douma atrocity. Through omission this was tantamount to an obscene lie. The groups present in Douma included Jaish al Islam, who were notorious for their barbaric executions, including throwing gay people to their deaths off rooftops. May’s deliberate attempt to obfuscate this fact not only evidences her willingness to mislead the British public, but also her callous disregard for the murder innocent civilians by the people she and her government support.
There were undoubtedly HAMAS elements within the Palestinian protest group during the Gaza shootings. However, Hamas has significant political legitimacy within Palestinian territories and, regardless of its involvement during the protests, the fact remains there was no threat to Israeli lives which warranted the use of deadly force by the IDF, May’s mealy-mouthed equivocations notwithstanding. That being said, it is legitimate to question Hamas apparent exploitation of the gathered protestors during the Gaza protests. There clearly were elements who deliberately urged the protestors towards the fence, in the knowledge that this could have potentially placed the protestors at risk. However, this in no way excuses the IDF for the subsequent atrocity.
If May’s apologist bile in defense of the Israeli government wasn’t bad enough, her utterly disingenuous comments about the use of vetoes within the U.N Security Council merely heaped further insult upon injury. During her statements about the alleged Douma attack, May spoke at length about Russia’s use of its permanent member state veto on further U.N investigations into the supposed Douma atrocity. She made no mention at all about the U.S and UK vetoes which had previously been used to block Russian requests to expand earlier inquiries, not end them, to include investigation of the alleged chemical weapons attack in Khan Sheikhdom the year before. Most notably however, May was careful to omit any reference to the fact that the U.S had used it’s veto to block any independent inquiry into the Gaza shooting. May’s calls for an independent inquiry into the events in Gaza were said in the full knowledge that the U.S veto had, and would continue, to render any such investigation an impossibility.
I am not attempting to draw any moral parallel between either the alleged Douma chemical attack or the Gaza shooting massacre. I am deeply saddened by the loss of all human life. I am however suggesting that, by contrasting the Theresa May’s response to both apparent atrocities, the putrid lack of morality within the British government, particularly in regard to its pursuit of foreign policy objectives, is clear.
While acts of obscene violence apparently carried out by the British governments ‘regime change targets’ warrant condemnation, aggressive rhetoric and even a military response, those perpetrated by the governments it defends do not carry the same degree of moral outrage. Obviously, as far as Theresa May is concerned, some lives are more valuable than others. Indeed some lives, such as those of the Palestinians, appear to be meaningless to her. She is someone perfectly willing to overlook the slaughter of some innocents, if it suits her political objectives, while exploiting the deaths of others for the same reason. Lost innocent lives are nothing other than a political football for Theresa May and her ilk. These are the statements of a psychopath.
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