The Hypocrisy of the High and Mighty – by Michael Lagan

America used the ‘defence’ excuse to exert its influence after 9/11, the UK used it to justify sweeping changes and the continuation of the ‘war on terror’ and realistically, any powerful country can and will use  massive force on another country, nation or state.  However, what we’ve seen in the recent past, especially in the Middle East, is that the ‘defence’ excuse cannot be used by states and countries out of favour with, for instance, NATO or the big 3 of America, the UK and the EU.  

The pocket of land known as the Gaza Strip is a prime example of preferential treatment being afforded to those in favour of the big 3.  Israel, on a regular basis, bombs the Gaza Strip.  Its fighter bombers level entire neighbourhoods and offer no reason for doing so.  There are videos of Israeli armoured cars spraying raw sewage into Palestinian neighbourhoods in a bid to provoke a response and when those Palestinians come out to DEFEND their homes and neighbours, they are met by armed Israeli soldiers shooting at what they refer to as terrorists.  If an Israeli settler decides they want a Palestinian’s home, soldiers go in and remove the Palestinian family and hand the keys to the Israeli.  If that Palestinian family responds in a violent manner, and they have every right to – after all, an invader just took their home –  they are shot and killed.

Palestinian men, women and children are shot and killed almost every day by Israelis, whether they are military or civilian.  Israelis are permitted to carry weapons, Palestinians aren’t and those who dare to are shot dead.  The world treats Palestinians differently from other human beings.  Even the President of the EU, Ursula von der Leyen made a distinction when speaking on the Ukraine/Russia war and the Israeli/Palestinian war.  Not so long ago, when Russia was firing artillery rockets and shells into Ukraine and targeting civilian infrastructure, President von der Leyen stated – “Russia’s attacks against civilian infrastructure, especially electricity, are war crimes.  Cutting off men, women and children of water, electricity and heating with winter coming – these are acts of pure terror.”

So what’s the difference between Russia attacking Ukraine, a country which has had the full, unwavering support and backing of NATO and the West against Russia, and Palestinians in Gaza being attacked by a militarily far superior aggressor, Israel?  Well, for a start, America has to do what AIPAC says.  The Israeli lobby in America is one of the most powerful in the country.  It gets what it wants.  It has infiltrated universities, news networks and every facet of the US government.  Russia simply doesn’t have those assets in place and quite honestly never will.  Israel is regarded by many to be the 51st state of the USA and is treated as such.

Additionally, Israel controls every single facet of life in Gaza from food supplies to energy.  As we’ve witnessed in the past week, with the flick of the proverbial switch, Israel can shut down Gazan water supply, electricity, sewage and food.  Sadly, Gaza is in the grip of Israel which brings us to this point.  Why is it acceptable (to some) for Israel to use overwhelming firepower and military might in ‘defence’ while it’s unacceptable for Palestinians to fight back in defence when their neighbourhoods are demolished, when their olive trees are torn up or when an Israeli settler takes their home?  Why is it acceptable for Israel to shoot a Palestinian dead for daring to defend their home or better yet, return to their own land which is promised to them under the Geneva Convention?

Israel claims it has no intention of hurting or killing civilians in the coming invasion of Gaza, telling Palestinians earlier they had 24 hours to move from the North of Gaza to the South.  That’s over 40,000 Gazans per hour moving South – good luck with that, Israel.  Israel also claimed it was very responsible and was warning Palestinians when their homes were about to be bombed…oh, thanks for that Israel.  The only problem was that when Palestinians did indeed leave their homes to flee for safety, Israeli bombers were targeting them and bombing them on the highways as they fled in cars.

Israel gets away with murder on a daily basis, it gets away with human rights abuses, war crimes and theft of land on a daily basis and no one other than an ordinary everyday person with basic morals has the balls to stand up to them.  Indeed we hear the likes of US Senator, Lindsey Graham saying that Israel should flatten the Gaza Strip…a US Senator?  I’ve seen social media posts saying Israel should wipe the Gaza Strip off the face of the earth and kill every Palestinian there.  I’ve heard people say all Palestinians are terrorists which clearly isn’t true, to people celebrating the death of Palestinian children claiming it was “karma” for Hamas attacking Israel.  Hamas attacked Israel, Gaza didn’t and in collectively punishing the entirety of the Gaza Strip Israel is committing a clear war crime and is in violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

It just highlights the stranglehold Israel has on the rest of the world when if any other country, nation or state on the face of this earth carried out what Israel is doing now, at this very minute, America, NATO and more would be bombing seven shades of shite out them.  Israel is going into Gaza to bathe in Palestinian blood, make no mistake about that, and war crimes will be hidden from view as I fear they have already.  God help Palestine tonight.