Palestine and Israel - A UK Veteran's Perspective
Any unnecessary killing is wrong and illegal. If our armed forces in Northern Ireland had operated the same way that the Israel Defence Forces is operating now by bombing innocent civilians, there would have been far more than an outcry. You cannot take collective action against civilians that are not involved in a conflict. Especially once you have destroyed their homes, illegaly acquired their land and then herded them into an open prison.
Both Hamas and Israel have acted illegally, however, the western controlled world media seems to forget that Palestinians have been subjected to illegal evictions from homes, illegal land grabs, illegal imprisonment and torture of men, women and children and the illegal killing of men, women and children for around 75 years years now. You can search for the information yourselves...but the truth is being hidden and glossed over by the UK, USA and the EU ... and it has to stop. The west seem to be focussed on the recent Hamas attack and are ignoring what has happened and are deeming it irrelevant. The misinformation has to stop. The injustice has to stop. The war has to stop.
When males from a particular ethnic group are being killed to stop that ethnic group from reproducing, when basic care isn't afforded a population or they are being denied food, water, medical care and are being subjected to different methods of administration, travel options, cultural restrcitions, imprisonment for for protesting and death ... and when the government responsible (Israel) has stated that it wants to get rid of all Palestinians, not only are they operating an apartheid state (as was the case with Hitler and their treatment of Jewish people and South Africa's treatment of Black people), it is also in breach of International law.
Just as the UK couldn't collectively punish the innocent people of Northern Ireland for the actions of the various terrorist groups that operated in the 'Troubles', Israel can't punish and continue to act illegally towards Palestinians.
Article 33 - Individual responsibility, collective penalties, pillage, reprisals
No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.
Pillage is prohibited.
Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited.
Israel are also trying to say that anyone that critises the state of Israel is an antisemite - which is also wrong. The IHRA is the only intergovernmental organization mandated to focus solely on Holocaust-related issues. This is their definition of antisemitism:
In the spirit of the Stockholm Declaration that states: “With humanity still scarred by …antisemitism and xenophobia the international community shares a solemn responsibility to fight those evils” the committee on Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial called the IHRA Plenary in Budapest 2015 to adopt the following working definition of antisemitism.
However, criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic.
There's also another issue: what is a 'Semite'?
Noun - a member of any of the peoples who speak or spoke a Semitic language, including in particular the Jews and Arabs.
What does Semetic mean?
Adjective
1. relating to or denoting a family of languages that includes Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic and certain ancient languages such as Phoenician and Akkadian, constituting the main subgroup of the Afro-Asiatic family.
2. Relating to the peoples who speak Semitic languages, especially Hebrew and Arabic.
Yet the definition of antisemetic is defined as:
adjective: antisemitic
hostile to or prejudiced against Jewish people.
Israel started a full scale attack on Palestinians after the Hamas rocket attacks. It's a bit like that part of the bible...David and Goliath...but the government of Israel are Goliath now, as they carpet bomb innocent civilians that don't even support Hamas. If they're guilty of anything, it's defying Israel's apartheid regime and many Jewish people support the Palestinians and speak against Israel from all over the world.
On the 18th October, Al-Jazeera reported that the UN Security Council's resolution for a ceasefire had failed because it was vetoed by the USA. That in itself shows how undemocratic the UNSC is, especially as 12 countries voted for the ceasefire.
"The Brazil-drafted text would have condemned violence against all civilians, but the US said that it did not do enough to underscore Israel’s right to self-defence. The US has typically exercised its Security Council veto to shield Israel from critical resolutions."
Al-Jazeera
My own feeling is that Israel will try and do everything to avoid a ceasefire and want to permanently wipe out all Palestinians living in the occupied territories...which is something various people in the Israeli government have said.
When you take the politics, the misdirection and media out of the equation, you are left with one question: is it wrong to call for a ceasefire to protect the Palestinians from Israel's act of ethnic cleansing?
The USA, the UK and the EU are responsible for the mounting deaths of men, women and children in Palestine at the hands of Israel. You can't isolate a response citing the Hamas attack of the 7th October 2023. You need to look at the whole situation and come to a fair outlook of the situation...and that means going back over 75 years.
There are reports that Israel funded Hamas to undermine the PLO when they were gaining political traction...so it's not beyond the realms of possibility that Hamas attacked Israel to give Netanyahu the excuse he needs to completely wipe out the Palestinians from the occupied territories, permanently. When you consider Israeli interference in the politics of the UK and USA, this isn't beyond the realms of possibility.
There needs to be a balanced response from the world based on an awareness of the whole situation. There needs to be a ceasefire and there needs to be a real effort made for peace, as well as justice, for all concerned. There also needs to be a 2 state solution. That is where the International community should concentrate their collective efforts. Countless Jewish people around the world are aware of the injustice that Palestinians face ... and they support the Palestinians. Please open your eyes to the plight of Palestinians ... before it is too late.
Villayat 'Wolf' Sunkmanitu
