It Wasn't Enough For Israel

In the midst of the scramble for Palestine, while the UN Special Committee on Palestine was still debating over trusteeship and trying to establish a truce between Zionists and Palestinian-Arabs(1), at the stroke of midnight when the British Mandate expired Jewish leaders declared the new state of Israel knowing it would trigger a war and cause immense suffering. Eleven minutes later, the United Statesrecognized Israel's traumatic birth. Meanwhile, unarmed Palestinianvillagers were ordered into a community square, lined up against the wall, and summarily executed by the Irgun, a Jewish terrorist organization. When the trapped villagers attempt to flee, Irgun commanders tracked them down killing them with hand grenades and knives. Almost 300 men, women, and children laid dead in the smoldering village ruins. Word quickly spread to other Palestinians that unless they fled and left their homes, the fate of Deir Yassin would be their fate.(2)

Mr. Netanyahu: Wasn't it enough for Israel's ruling regimes to have occupied the UN's fledgling Zionist/Palestinian-Arab peace process with militarism and acts of terror and...????

But Israel, acting unilaterally, sought security and peace through militarism and hubris. Not only did the 1948 Jewish War of "Independence" force 750,000 Palestinians off their territories while creating massive refugee camps, but future conflicts were used to justify Israeliexpansionism, increased settlement building, religious supremacy, and the military occupations of East Jerusalem, West Bank, and Gaza Strip. Due to Zionist ideology, Jewish victimization, various Jewish lobbying groups, and a romanticized image of Israel, these gross violations were overlooked and in some cases, even indirectly supported. At the same time, numerous UN resolutions denounced Israel's military occupations of Palestinian lands. However, they were either vetoed by the U.S.-a permanent member of the UN Security Council, sabotaged by a host of Jewish lobbying groups, or completely ignored by Israeli political and military leaders.

Mr. Netanyahu: Wasn't it enough for Israel's ruling regimes to have occupied the UN's fledgling Zionist/Palestinian-Arab peace process with militarism and acts of terror, to have occupied Palestinian lands and...???

When an Israeli soldier, one of thousands who refused to serve in Occupied Territory, declared: "The army is a sacred cow in Israel. Our refusal is an act of despair. We believe that the situation now is so desperate that the only way to shake this country, the only way to shake our leaders...is to say, 'We're no playing this game any more. Give us a future!'"(3), he was speaking for many Israelis who realized the ruling regime was acting pre-emptively, unilaterally, and without restraint. He also understood that military power and hubris, when used externally, can easily be projected internally. Decades of preemptive invasions and military occupations of Palestine have had a paradoxical effect. Inequalities of power are now being imposed on Israeli citizens. Austerity measures are now being imposed, causing dozens of protests that have either turned violent or led some to commit self-immolation. New laws, like universal conscription, are being enforced too.

Mr. Netanyahu: Wasn't it enough for Israel's ruling regimes to have occupied the UN's fledgling Zionist/Palestinian-Arab peace process with militarism and acts of terror, to have occupied Palestinian lands, to have occupied Israel and...??

It was no surprise, then, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that he would be making a "big mistake" by attending an international peace summit in Iran. "Mr. Secretary General," declared Netanyahu, "you do not belong in Tehran!" Although the UN has not confirmed if Ban plans to attend the Non-Aligned Meeting, such commanding and imposing utterances reflects how authoritative Netanyahu and his Likud Party has become. Though Israel still occupies Palestinian lands and has enforced dozens of harsh measures against Palestinians, along with being the sole nation in the region that has nuclear weapons, Netanyahu announced Iran's nuclear enrichment program (Iran claims it is for civilian uses) poses an existential threat. And despite Israel's recent assassinations of several Iranian scientists, Netanyahu continues to maintain that Iran is the largest exporter of terrorism in the world.

Mr. Netanyahu: Wasn't it enough for Israel's ruling regimes to have occupied the UN's fledgling Zionist/Palestinian-Arab peace process with militarism and acts of terror, to have occupied Palestinian lands, to have occupied Israel, to have again occupied the UN and...?

In other words, was it not enough that your nation has illegally occupied Palestinian lands for sixty-four years? 

Was it not enough that for decades, your country has ignored UN resolutions and "land for peace" principles by increasing Jewish settlement building on Palestinian territories? 

Was it not enough that your Israeli Defense Forces have on many occasions militarily invaded and razed Palestinian homes, farms, and orchards, and that you have maintained barriers of separation and armed checkpoints? 

Was it not enough for Israeli forces to have fired on peaceful demonstrators, raid homes, and to have falsely imprisoned thousands of Palestinians? 

Was it not enough to have sustained a punitive economic blockade against Palestinians and then prevent humanitarian aid from reaching them? Was it not enough to have occupied both Palestine and the UN?

And now, Mr. Netanyahu: Do you and your ruling regime not only want to occupy the UN's fledgling Zionist/Palestinian-Arab peace process with militarism and acts of terror, occupy Palestinian lands, occupy Israel, occupy the UN again, but to also occupy Iran?

(Dallas Darling is the author of Politics 501: An A-Z Reading on Conscientious Political Thought and Action, Some Nations Above God: 52 Weekly Reflections On Modern-Day Imperialism, Militarism, And Consumerism in the Context of John's Apocalyptic Vision, and The Other SideOf Christianity: Reflections on Faith, Politics, Spirituality, History, and Peace. He is a correspondent for www.worldnews.com. You can read more of Dallas' writings at www.beverlydarling.com andwn.com//dallasdarling.)

(1) Spiegel, Steven L. The Other Arab-Israeli Conflict: Making America's Middle East Policy, From Truman To Reagan. Chicago, Illinois:University of Chicago Press, 1985., p. 37ff.

(2) Smith, Michael K. Portraits of Empire: Unmasking Imperial Illusions from the "American Century" to the "War on Terror". Monroe, Maine:Common Courage Press, 2003., p. 32.

(3) Ibid., p. 350.

Via: "World News Network"