On the Road to Holocaust in Israel

March 4, 2008 at 10:53 am · Filed under Read All About It, posted by ret marut

Far from being ashamed at maintaining the world’s closest current equivalent to South Africa’s apartheid, last week the deputy defense minister of Israel publicly threatened Palestinians with a “holocaust.” In a rare moment of muted criticism from the corporate media, a Reuters article admitted that

Critics say at least 68 deaths in Gaza in February and 62 in January are a disproportionate response to 3 Israeli deaths in a year.

Even if you don’t take into account the enforced disparities in living conditions, access to resources, and self-determination—when you compare the raw numbers, 130 Palestinians killed over two months to 3 Israelis killed over twelve, it’s hard to continue seeing this simply as a case of Israel defending itself.

Sadly, there are still some radicals who insist on that interpretation of events, against every indication. We’ve added a new text to the reading library, “Antinationalist Nationalism: The Anti-German Critique and Its All-Too-German Adherents,” addressing the way this perspective has developed in Germany. This article originally appeared in the third issue of Rolling Thunder and unfortunately remains relevant today.

b. traven said,

March 4, 2008 @ 10:34 pm

It has to be emphasized that opposing the conduct of the Israeli government and army does not imply supporting its opponents–i.e., Palestinian nationalists, jihadist organizations, fascist anti-Semites, etc.

This matter has already been explored at length by anarchists–for example, by Wayne Price (http://nefac.net/node/2123 and http://www.anarkismo.net/newswire.php?story_id=1016), who unfortunately prioritizes class over other questions of hierarchy and uses the words “national liberation” where we would say “self-determination,” but still does a lot to elucidate the basic issues.

As the new text in the reading library suggests, it may be that the most effective way to undermine tragic national/ethnic conflicts such as this one is to fight against whatever complicit hierarchies are nearest at hand. (For anarchists in the US, that means struggling against our government, which funds the Israeli military machine almost singlehandedly.) If one can do so effectively, one is then positioned to establish meaningful solidarity with those doing the same thing on the opposite side of the conflict.

Fuck Hamas as well as the IDF! But let’s recognize the racist double standards in the different values placed on Israeli and Palestinian lives, and the ways the US government perpetuates the conflict by enabling one side to so brutally repress the other.

mobius1ski said,

March 11, 2008 @ 10:07 am

I really don’t think that it’s fair to take the irresponsible and idiotic remark of one Israeli politician and use it to characterize wholly Israel’s actions in the occupied territories. If it should be considered reasonable to do so, then I believe it necessary that you hold the Palestinian leadership to every irresponsible, hateful, racist remark they’ve ever made against Jews, such as the Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council’s call last year to kill every Jew and American “to the very last one.” See: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1178020746583&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Also, the claim that only three Israelis have died in the course of the last year is simply untrue. See: http://www.btselem.org/English/Statistics/Casualties.asp

Though Israel can and should certainly end the occupation, and address the issues imposed on Palestinians in terms of “disparities in living conditions, access to resources, and self-determination,” Israel also has a responsibility to stop the rocket fire raining down on its cities. The scale of response is irrelevant when hundreds of rockets are falling in civilian centers every day. Why is it excusable for Palestinian militants to attack Israeli civilians, but not okay for Israel to respond by attacking rocket-sites that Palestinian militants “conveniently” place within residential areas? Why does Hamas bear no culpability for endangering its citizens by -also- engaging in war crimes, and inviting Israel’s wrath?

comprob said,

March 13, 2008 @ 1:16 pm

Funny how the Palestinians seem to have the sympathy of the anarchist movement. The fact that they seem to have no ability to self-organize and make a real government, that they spend so much of their combined social power on worshiping “martyrs” and so little on building a real society with laws rather than religious slogans continues to depress me. All they have to do is stop rocketing Israel, and the Israeli counterstrikes will stop. The Israeli’s withdrew from Gaza, and it got them nothing. The crazy militant thugs in Gaza are holding the population hostage, sending rockets to provoke a response and then whining when they finally get one. How do you suppose we would respond if rockets started coming from Mexican border towns, and the Mexican government did nothing. We wouldn’t wait 48 hours before responding.

Meanwhile, in Israel, women vote, the press is free to skewer anyone, and laws protect everyone, including Arab citizens of Israel.

I do hope eventually the Palestinians will rise up, overthrow their corrupt and vicious leaders, their repressive society, and their armed thugs, and build a real country. The world is certainly waiting for them to do it. It will take great courage for them to admit that their problems are self-inflicted, but other countries have managed to do it.

ret marut said,

March 13, 2008 @ 11:19 pm

mobius1ski–

I went to the webpage you suggested regarding the body counts, but it doesn’t immediately contradict the Reuters article; it offers figures lumped together from “29.9.2000-29.2.2008″, not from last year alone. Far be it from me to trust Reuters or any corporate media, of course. But even the website you suggested shows 4604 Palestinians killed by Israelis, compared to 1133 Israelis killed by Palestinians–that includes 2113 “Palestinians who did not take part in the hostilities and were killed by Israeli security forces ( not including the objects of targeted killings).” That means the Israelis have killed almost twice as many innocent noncombatants as the Palestinians have killed Israelis, period.

But this is just a numbers game, and we should never get used to thinking of the loss of human life in terms of statistics. It also doesn’t address the actual disparities of power on the ground. Who lives in Western-style luxury? Who lives in virtual concentration camps, with every movement controlled, enduing constant humiliation by armed soldiers?

And who has more power to initiate meaningful progress towards peace?

As for whether it’s OK for Palestinian militants to attack civilians, it’s not. Fuck Hamas, as said above.

You say “Israel … has a responsibility to stop the rocket fire raining down on its cities. The scale of response is irrelevant when hundreds of rockets are falling in civilian centers every day.” The scale of response is irrelevant? You really think it’s not important HOW many Palestinian civilians are killed, so long as the rockets are raining down? You’re giving Israel carte blanche to kill Palestinians, then.

I also believe Israelis (I have no faith in their government) ought to do their part to stop the rocket fire raining down on their cities, but (as suggested in the article in the reading library as well) I don’t believe the effective way to do that is with more and more and more violence.

And do you think that’s all that’s going on, that Israel is simply trying to defend civilians against crazed killers? What about the years of settlers grabbing up all the land they can, defended by soldiers? What about the interests of the US in the region?

ret marut said,

March 13, 2008 @ 11:41 pm

comprob–

Your reduction of the Palestinian people to one monolithic body of morons who “don’t know how to make a real government” is disgustingly racist. Try this adjustment of your comment:

“I do hope eventually the Israelis will rise up, overthrow their corrupt and vicious leaders, their repressive society, and their armed thugs, and build a real country. The world is certainly waiting for them to do it. It will take great courage for them to admit that their problems are self-inflicted, but other countries have managed to do it.”

Few in the US would dare imply the problems of the Israelis are self-inflicted, but you’re quick to blame the victim when it comes to the Palestinians. Have you ever spent time with families in the Gaza Strip? Do you know where all that rage and frustration comes from?

Allow me to direct you to the International Solidarity Movement, via which you could get that experience, if you so desire: http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/join/. But I doubt you really want to know the other side of the story. If you’re really not afraid to learn it, I dare you to go.

This also disgusted me:

“How do you suppose we would respond if rockets started coming from Mexican border towns, and the Mexican government did nothing. We wouldn’t wait 48 hours before responding.”

Who’s this “We”? You mean the US government, presumably. You’re right, I think the US government would be just as quick as the Israeli government to perpetrate a massacre against brown-skinned people–Iraq didn’t even fire rockets at us. That hardly bolsters your point.

With all your talk about laws and government as the hallmarks of civilization, it’s clear that you understand nothing of the anarchist critique. It’s not surprising that a racist Statist would support Israel in whatever brutal bloodshed it perpetrates; it’s only surprising that you’d post here.

Let me emphasize that I’m not arguing in favor of Palestinians shedding the blood of Israelis, either. The kind of thing I personally want to see more of is along these lines: http://www.awalls.org/

2existis2resist said,

March 21, 2008 @ 1:27 am

I am currently living and working in Southern Palestine in the west bank town of Hebron. The idea that the Occupation is self-inflicted is a disgusting myth that should be refuted by any good libertarian. The Palestinian people have no rights, can be humiliated, shamed, beaten, held in the sun or the rain for hours, can be kicked out of their houses whenever the Army decides , can be occupied in their own houses for years by the military, can have their land stolen by the settlers. They face intimidation whenever they try and organise, and to put right that peice if filthy racism, the Palestinian people are geniuses at self-organisation. Every village is run from a Popular Committee which is voted in on popular concensus. Decisions are made by the people, despite the fact that the PA has decided not to support the people and be the PR campaign for Israel and be just as oppressive as Israel.

As for the Gaza strip, the rockets that Hamas fires are nothing more than drainpipes with a peice of metal with welded fins placed inside. They are not missiles, if anything they are enthusiastic fireworks! They have to directly hit someone to hurt them. They have no guidance systems, just fire and hope for the best. (or the worst) Gaza has 95% unemployment, 80% in poverty 1.6 million people crammed into an area 4 by 6 km. They are not allowed to fish in their own waters, they cannot get out of Gaza, when Sharon pulled the settlements out he assured the complete prison sentence for the Gazans. The airforce bombs the place everyday. Now tell me that you wouldnt start wanting to fight back against the Israeli’s?

People have this idea that the conflict is even, but the main weapons of the Palestinians is stones and bravery. I have stood with children in front of guns, and i have watched them get shot and killed for throwing stones. I have witnessed the army torture and beat people for doing nothing but filming. I have seen some of the atrocities of the West Bank but not all, and i hope that you can understand what it is like for these people. Come and see for yourselves, live with these people. Be held up at checkpoint for hours trying to get to school, be attacked by drunk settlers or the army. If not then you have no right to call this conflict self inflicted!

RSS feed for comments on this post · TrackBack URI

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.