Rainbow Pie

Continuing to support Israel unreservedly would bankrupt the moral credibility of Europe and the United States in the Arab world and among the community of human rights defenders. Authoritarian countries like China and Russia can in turn use this matter (like Guantanamo and Prism Gate) to attack liberal democratic institutions. We must use international law as a weapon to stop Israel from continuing to commit war crimes. We must not militarily support a country that has already committed war crimes and will continue to do so.

In conclusion, the impunity of our liberal democratic camp for Israel’s crimes against international law and human rights is a huge trap that encourages the extreme right-wing government of Israel to do whatever it wants with the Palestinians. All those who defend the liberal democratic camp should courageously oppose Israel’s violations of international law. We cannot unconditionally support Israel simply because it is a liberal democracy. Nor can we support it unconditionally just because we are deeply guilty of a history of anti-Semitism. Our double standards in dealing with Israel will ultimately destroy the reputation of liberal democracy and will destroy us.

The attack on Gaza was a big trap. It brought to light the double standards of the liberal democratic world with regard to Israel and Palestine. It makes our morality untenable. Hatred will grow. The world will be divided. China and Russia can reap the benefits. If Gaza must be made a battleground, the civilians of Gaza must be allowed to leave in safety. To do otherwise would be a massacre.

I feel that if we can do anything about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, it is to put an end to Israel’s impunity for its violations of international law. If we, the makers of international law, the makers of international rules, the promoters of human rights values, turn a blind eye to Israel’s crimes against international law, it shakes not only the Arab world’s faith in liberal democracy, but even my own faith in liberal democracy.

Seriously, this is the first time that my faith in the liberal democratic camp represented by the European Union and the United States has been shaken, and I feel particularly and especially sad and bitter. I realized that there is a problem of structural and systematic oppression of the Palestinian civilian population and a problem of structural and systematic silence on the Israeli Government’s violations of international law. The international community has gone to great lengths to emphasize that it is on Israel’s side, and although there have been government representatives who have criticized the Israeli Government’s violations of international law, the thunder has been loud and the rain has been light. The international community’s longstanding culture of acquiescence, tolerance and impunity for the Israeli Government’s violations of international law is the root cause of the radicalized and terrorist Hamas that enjoys the support of part of the Palestinian people.

How many Hamas have been killed by Israel and how many Palestinian civilians have been killed by Israel after all these days?
Far more Palestinian civilians have been killed by Israel than Israelis have been killed by Hamas, and with such asymmetrical retaliation, Biden is actually going to give military aid to Israel. It is the morally very right thing to do to give military aid to Ukraine, which abides by international law, against Russia, which violates it. Ukraine has killed far more Russian servicemen than it has Russian civilians. Russia kills not only Ukrainian soldiers but also Ukrainian civilians. There is absolutely no comparison between supporting Ukraine against Russian aggression and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Yet Israel is fighting the war on terror in the name of self-defense while imposing collective punishment on Gaza in violation of international law. Several consecutive U.S. administrations (with the exception of the Obama administration) have turned a blind eye to Israel’s seventeen-year blockade of Gaza in violation of international law and its decades-long illegal occupation of the West Bank. Unconditional support for Israel is a huge trap for the liberal democratic camp in the defense of human rights and morality.

Facts:

1. Israel kills far more Palestinian civilians than Israel kills Hamas.
2. Israel has killed far more Palestinian civilians than Hamas has killed Israeli civilians.
   3, Israel has built settlements in the West Bank for decades on end in violation of international law, and has blockaded Gaza for seventeen years on end in violation of international law, and these actions have gone unpunished.
   4, This Israeli blockade of Gaza has constituted collective punishment and is a war crime