Palestinians Genocide and World Silence
By Dr Zafar Nawaz Jaspal
Since last week, Israeli air-force has been unleashed to carry out genocide of the innocent Palestinians residing in Gaza. The international community seems unmoved over these inhuman air raids of Tel Aviv. The Western advocators of the United Nations’ ‘responsibility to protect’ the human beings from the genocide policies of the aggressive regime, presently, are acting indifferent to the Israeli air strikes.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been defending his brutal aggression against the people of Gaza by generating an impression that he was chasing and killing Islamic terrorists.
The Hamas had also fired rockets on Israel. Nevertheless, these rockets were technologically rudimentary and, thus, not able to cause a substantial damage. They were intercepted by the Israeli anti-rocket batteries named ‘Iron Dome Defense System.’
The military strategy of Tel Aviv is understandable. It is determined to inflict maximum damage on Hamas and its supporters/sympathizers. It was reported that Hamas headquarter was destroyed. Despite the destruction of Hamas headquarter, the air strikes by the Israeli air-force continue since November 24, 2012.
Israel had planned to launch ground operations to search and annihilate the Hamas members. However, the Egyptian intervention and assurance to resolve the issue through diplomatic means had prevented the ground war at Gaza. Importantly, at the time of writing these lines, the regional and international stakeholders, including United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, were heading towards Cairo on November 20, 2012, to situate a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.
Although, Tel Aviv had put temporary hold on the ground incursion on November 20, 2012, it continues building up its ground forces along the Gaza border. The primary objective of the ground forces was to coerce the Hamas leadership or blackmail the negotiators. The forces buildup marked that Israeli army was ready to go inside Gaza, if truce negations failed.
Israelis have been deliberately underplaying the legitimacy of Hamas. They are not ready to acknowledge the reality that Hamas enjoyed a popular support in Gaza. Its government in Gaza is democratically elected and, thereby, it is entirely legitimate. Therefore, it is not possible that Israeli with its military adventurism will be able to quash the power base of Hamas in Gaza. The current Israeli military operation will be counterproductive and further increase the popularity of the Hamas.
Palestinians did receive the rhetorical support from the Muslim countries at the time when they were in dire need of material support. On November 20, 2012, an Arab League delegation led by Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi had crossed into the Gaza Strip in a show of solidarity with the people of Gaza. Why Arab League responded late? It reveals the Arab States’ apathetic approach towards the Palestinian cause.
On November 11, 2012, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan described Israel as a “terrorist state” in carrying out its bombardment of Gaza. Since 2010, Turkey and Israel have coldness in their bilateral relations. But this coldness and Israeli brutality against the natives of Gaza do not encourage the former to assist Hamas militarily.
The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon asked Israeli government for cease fire. But his request failed to change or at least influence the Israeli ruling elite. Tel Aviv continued its military operation in Gaza. In addition to air strikes, its naval artillery also started hitting the Gaza people. More precisely, instead of scaling down the military operation intensity, Tel Aviv augmented its fire power or broadened its striking horizon.
The Israeli inhuman strategy would not only intensify the Palestinians insurgency, but also strengthen al-Qaeda led transnational terrorist syndicate’s narrative. This narrative is too perilous for the internal security of the Muslim States. It is because the common man in Muslim states raises a pertinent question that if South Sudan independence was secured by the Western powers, why they are reluctant to ensure an independent homeland for the Palestinians.
Importantly, Israel will refrain from ground invasion due to the fear of the troops’ casualties. But it tries to achieve maximum leverage over Hamas through air strikes and artillery fire without taking into account the collateral damage. The primary objective is to terrorize the Palestinians through inhuman ‘State Terrorism Tactics.
