Desertpeace

(Ben Heine © Cartoons)
That’s Just the Way It Is …. A reader’s comment on THIS post, not to be missed.

Of course, Israel has the right to launch hundreds of missile strikes on the crowded Gaza Strip for days, for weeks, for months. It did not mean for its air strikes to massacre a Palestinian family of seven enjoying a picnic on a beach, or wipe out three Palestinian children playing in the street, or slam into a pregnant Palestinian woman and her brother having lunch together. That’s just the way it is.

Of course, Israel has the right to blockade the Palestinian territories and impose curfews for days, for weeks, for months, denying people the basic necessities of life—food, water, medicine, electricity, freedom of movement, their very livelihoods. It does not mean to visit oppressive collective punishment upon the Palestinian population. That’s just the way it is.

Of course, Israel has the right to hold over 10,000 Palestinians in its jails, to arrest or kidnap anyone suspected of knowing a terrorist, to assassinate anyone it wishes to target for assassination. It does not mean to imprison civilians—men, women, children—whose only crime is to say “No!” to a brutal Occupation. That’s just the way it is.

Of course, Israel has the right to lay waste to anything in its path, to bulldoze houses, to uproot ancient olive groves, to confiscate land, to obliterate basic infrastructure. It does not mean to vandalize radio and TV stations, destroy NGO offices and cultural centers, shell hospitals, mosques, and schools. That’s just the way it is.

Of course, Israel has the right to manipulate the narrative of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, hiding the full truth, playing the anti-Semitism card whenever anyone dares to question its perverse interpretation of events. It does not mean to cast itself as the most justified victim of all time. That’s just the way it is.

Of course, Israel has the right to behave any way it wants to, as if it really were not accountable to anyone. President Bush and the U.S. Congress aren’t going to tell Israel otherwise, or to stop funding Israeli military aggression with US taxpayer dollars to the tune of 3 to 4 billion a year. That’s just the way it is.