Israel has the right to defend itself.
Arguably, so does every nation.
Israel, however, gets a free pass for going well beyond defending itself.
I’ll leave the West Bank alone right now.
Gaza:
- Is an open-air prison, walled off by Israel.
- Is under an economic embargo.
- Is barred from importing and exporting.
- Recently saw its Gaza Ark bombed. Twice.
- Has had its children, hospitals, university, homes, beach soccer-playing teen boys, and hundreds of civilians systemically targeted and bombed/murdered.
- Makes people feel uncomfortable when they see pictures of dead Gazan children in the Twitter. Even though this kind of reality journalism helped end the Vietnam nightmare.
- Is monstrously outgunned by Israel, which is armed by the USA and others.
- Is defined as a terrorist region despite the massive power/economic/military imbalance.
- Is invaded and occupied by settlers.
- Is a daily paradox: Israel wants them gone so they can have the land/resources, but they aren’t allowing the Gazans to leave. So is the goal to kill them all?
- Is the thorn in the side of the quaint, deflecting notion of a two-state solution. Why would Israel seek peace and a two-state solution when it out-guns the Palestinians, gets billions a year in military funding and virtually carte blanche support from many other nations, even when they indiscriminately murder children.
So, don’t expect the Israeli crimes against humanity in Gaza to stop any time soon, unless Israel decides to stop.
And considering all this, Israel is constantly shocked that Hamas fights back.
The nerve of them!