Palestinian youths clash with Israeli Police near to the house of murdered Palestinian teenager Mohammed Abu Khdair, in Jerusalem on July 2, 2014 in Jerusalem, Israel. (Photo by Ilia Yefimovich/Getty Images) WASHINGTON — While it may be a banality, it is still worth noting that the current cycle of Israeli-Palestinian violence did not begin on June 12 with the abduction and murder of three Israeli teenage boys.
Nor did it begin one month earlier on May 15 when Israeli border guards shot dead two unarmed Palestinian youths after they had participated in a protest near Ramallah. Cameras recorded the cold-blooded shootings for all Palestinians to see,
increasing the likelihood that the subsequent murder of the three Israelis was an act of vengeance.
These two events are simply milestones that mark the endless daily violence inflicted mainly on the Palestinians by their Israeli occupiers.
Israel’s justification is security. But even the United States, Israel’s closest ally and most ardent military sponsor, has begun to doubt that wisdom.
“Israel confronts an undeniable reality: It cannot maintain military control of another people indefinitely. Doing so is not only wrong but a recipe for resentment and recurring instability,” Philip Gordon, special assistant to U.S. President Barack Obama and the White House coordinator for the Middle East, said in Israel this week. “It will embolden extremists on both sides, tear at Israel’s democratic fabric and feed mutual dehumanization.”
Israel, he claimed, is not committed to peace. “How will it have peace if it’s unwilling to delineate a border, end the occupation and allow for Palestinian sovereignty, security and dignity,” he continued. “How will we prevent other states from supporting Palestinian efforts in international bodies, if Israel is not seen as committed to peace?”
Gordon went on to commend Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who “has shown time and again that he’s committed to non-violence and coexistence and co-operation with Israel.”
Gordon’s words marked a departure from the usual unwavering support for Israel. Essentially, he was saying that Israel is a country that sees its security only in terms of a destabilized Middle East. That peace is not an option for Israel was made abundantly clear by its swift escalation of the violence stemming from the abduction and murder of the three teenagers.
Israel reacted to the June 12 abduction by immediately blaming Hamas, the militant group that had recently formed a unity government with Abbas’s Fatah party. Despite Israeli opposition, the U.S. supported the coalition, hoping that it would help return Israel to the peace table.
Hamas has repeatedly denied any involvement in the murders. Several Israeli commentators have questioned why Hamas would commit an act of terrorism that would destroy its coalition with Fatah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wasted no time in priming the country for revenge and accusing the international community of deserting Israel.
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Ron Prosor took to the international stage. “It has been five days since our boys went missing and I ask the international community, where are you? Where are you?” he said.
He then attacked the Palestinian unity government, saying: “All those in the international community who rushed to bless this marriage should look into the eyes of the heartbroken parents and have the courage to take responsibility by condemning the kidnapping. The international community bought in to a bad deal and Israel is paying for it.”
Ample evidence exists that Israeli authorities knew the three boys were dead within hours of their abduction. The Jerusalem Post later reported that an emergency call made to police by one of the victims recorded gunshots being fired and one terrorist saying in Arabic, “We got three.” The abductors’ burnt car was found the next day with bullets and blood stains.
There is also evidence that Israeli intelligence knew by June 13 the identities of the killers, but kept the information secret so no one would question the claim that Hamas was responsible for the murders.
After the boys’ bodies were found in a shallow grave on property owned by one of the suspects, Netanyahu issued a biblical tweak: “Vengeance for the blood of a small child, Satan has not yet created. Neither has vengeance for the blood of 3 pure youths …”
A week later CCTV cameras in Jerusalem filmed a group of men abducting a 16-year-old Palestinian boy. A hiker found his body the next day in a wooded area. The autopsy indicated he had been beaten and then burned alive. Israeli police have since arrested six Israelis — all members of an “extremist Jewish group,” according to police — in connection with the murder.
Israeli border guards later arrested the murdered boy’s cousin, an American high school student visiting from Florida. The Israeli paper Haaretz reported that a video shows he was beaten by three police officers.
Three days of Israeli bombings have struck 780 sites in Gaza killing at least 80 people including one entire family. Nine Palestinians were killed while watching Wednesday’s World Cup semifinal between Argentina and the Netherlands at a beachfront cafe. More than 500 Palestinians have been injured.
On the Israeli side, officials reported that nine Israelis have been lightly injured, mainly by running to bomb shelters, according to the Washington Post.
State department spokesperson Jen Psaki said Wednesday the U.S. supports Israel’s right to defend itself against rocket attacks. Asked whether the U.S. also supports the right of self-defence for Palestine’s civilian population, she said there’s a “strong difference” between “rocket attacks launched by a terrorist organization that is based in Gaza and the right of Israel to defend itself.”
Yet when Israel launched its airstrikes sparking a Hamas retaliation, what exactly was it defending itself against?
wmarsden@postmedia.com
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