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Reflecting on the massive Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip this past week, which left over 120 dead and scores wounded, I can only sit back in frustration at Israel’s sheer blindness and cruelty. Even as the U.S. House of Representatives arrogantly passes a resolution “strongly defending how Israel has repelled rocket attacks” and even as both Democratic contenders for the Presidential candidacy openly approve of Israel’s aggression by blaming Hamas, Human Rights groups including Amnesty International, Oxfam and Save the Children have issued a report highlighting the dire situation in Gaza—the “worst humanitarian crisis since the 1967 war”.

The data was collated before the recent escalation in Hamas rocket fire and Israel’s incursion, which saw 106 Palestinians, at least half of them civilians, killed in five days alone. One Israeli civilian and two soldiers were killed in the same period.

The situation in Gaza is “man-made, completely avoidable, and with the necessary political will can be reversed”, say the groups. <<< more

The tragic killing of eight Yeshiva students in Jerusalem yesterday was also a horrific event but it is always interesting to observe the media response to Palestinian as opposed to Israeli deaths and this case is no different; a single Israeli death receives roughly equal coverage to one hundred Palestinian deaths. Even the British coverage of the Israeli soldier killed in Gaza yesterday received more attention than (as AngryArab puts it) “dead Palestinian babies”. Moreover, we often read of “joyous crowds” celebrating the recent attack in Jerusalem, but where is the coverage of Israeli celebration of the last week’s slaughter in Gaza?

I am filled with a sense of tremendous sadness at these events in Gaza, especially when Hamas has repeatedly offered to hold direct negotiations with Israel and (before the recent attack in Jerusalem at least) 64% of Israelis supported such a dialog. There is absolutely no way out of this conflict without direct negotiation and for the Israeli government to deprive both Palestinians and Israelis of this opportunity is a grievous crime indeed. In this, Israel is as Milton described Samson in his Samson Agonistes: “Eyeless in Gaza”.

Tags: Israel, Palestine, Gaza, Terrorism, IDF, IOF, Oxfam, Amnesty International, Save the Children, 1967, Occupation, Hamas, Rockets, Sderot, Jerusalem, Yeshiva, Britain, Media