To Open The Sky
A Look at the Permanent Conflict Between Israel and Palestinians
Created in response to the Holocaust perpetrated by Hitler's Third Reich upon the Jews of Germany and the other nations of Europe conquered by the Reich, the nation of Israel was founded in 1948.
It was established within the regions of Palestine and Transjordan, both conceded by the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I. The League of Nations gave Britain a Mandate to create a homeland for the Jewish people alongside the land of Palestinian Arabs, then the largest group occupying the region. Tranjordan, under a different Mandate, became the Emirate of Transjordan. Britain controlled Mandatory Palestine for three decades — a period marked by unrest between Jews and Palestinian Arabs. This culminated in the 1936-1939 Arab revolt in Palestine and the 1944-1948 Jewish insurgency in Mandatory Palestine. The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, passed on 29 November 1947, envisaged the creation of separate Jewish and Arab states operating under economic union, and with Jerusalem transferred to UN trusteeship. A 1947-1949 Palestine war brought about the failure of the UN plan; it ended with Mandatory Palestine divided among Israel, the Jordanian annexation of the West Bank and the Egyptian All-Palestine Protectorate in the Gaza Strip.
The proposed plan, giving 56% of the land to the Jewish state despite a Palestinian Arab population twice the Jewish population, was called pro-Zionist by its detractors and accepted with misgivings by the Jewish Agency for Palestine. Zionist leaders viewed the acceptance of the plan as a tactical step and a stepping stone to future territorial expansion over all of Palestine. The Arab Higher Committee, the Arab League and other Arab leaders and governments rejected it on the basis that in addition to the Arabs forming a two-thirds majority, they owned a majority of the lands. They also indicated an unwillingness to accept any form of territorial division, arguing that it violated the principles of national self-determination in the UN Charter which granted people the right to decide their own destiny. They announced their intention to take all necessary measures to prevent the implementation of the resolution. Subsequently, a civil war broke out in Palestine, the plan was not implemented, and the British Mandate was set to expire on 15 May 1948.
David Ben-Gurion, head of the World Zionist Organization, led a meeting of the People's Council on 14 May 1948, the day the last of the British forces departed from the port of Haifa. This meeting drafted a Declaration of Independence for Israel, defined the form of its government, and would soon choose Ben-Gurion as its first Prime Minister. The new nation was immediately recognized by Harry S. Truman for America, and by Josef Stalin for Russia. However, Arab League members Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq proclaimed the right of self-determination for Arabs across all of Palestine and marched their forces into it, starting the Arab-Israeli War. Czechoslovakia violated the arms embargo the UN had placed on the region, giving Israel heavy weapons. On 11 June a month-long truce took effect, and by 1949 Israel had signed armistices (not peace agreements) with the five Arab nations and Israel's borders (the Green Line) were established (but not recognized by the Arab nations.)
Between 1947 and 1949, according to UN figures, 726,000 Palestinians had been expelled by Israel or had fled to Arab nations. Records show 80% of the Arabs living within the territory of Israel fled or were expelled. The Knesset later passed laws forbidding them and their descendants the right to return.
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What has happened in the 75 years since Israel became a sovereign state can be summarized as oppression of the Palestinian population and obstruction — by both Arab and Israeli factions — of all attempts by the world community to resolve the conflict.
A notable exception was begun by Egypt's President Anwar Sadat in November 1977. He recognized Israel's right to exist and was invited by Israeli Prime Minister Menachim Begin to address the Knesset. This led to the Camp David Peace Accords which established peace between Israel and Egypt and a procedure for giving the Palestinians full autonomy. Anwar Sadat was assassinated by Islamic fundamentalists in 1981 and the Arab League suspended Egypt's membership. Another exception occurred with the election of 1992, when the Labour Party attained a majority in the Knesset. Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat signed an interim agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 1995. Rabin was assassinated by a radical Zionist in November 1995. Amid suicide bombings by Hamas and other terrorist groups, Benjamin Netanyahu became Prime Minister in 1996.
Paragraph 13 of the Declaration provides that the State of Israel would be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex. However, the Knesset maintains that the Declaration is neither a law nor an ordinary legal document. The Supreme Court has ruled that the guarantees were merely guiding principles, and that the Declaration is not a constitutional law making a practical ruling on the upholding or nullification of various ordinances and statutes.
Life in Israel, and in the West Bank—which Israel captured from Jordan in 1967—provides plenty of evidence that Israel's leaders appreciate this lack of binding legal restraints.
This was an IDF action in Gaza that took place in summer 2014. It was described for Democracy Now! by Avner Gvaryahu, a former IDF paratrooper, in 2015. He testified that the general policy then was to shoot indiscriminately and to choose your targets at whim — a sharp contrast from the rules of engagement in 2000 during the second Intifada.
The IDF operates with similar shamelessness in Gaza today. Veterans of the IDF are touring the US and Canada to explain how damaging this is to Israel.
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| A ruined building in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip |
It sent some 1,000 fighters in. Some breached the fences and went in on foot or in ground vehicles; some hit the beaches in motorboats; and some flew down in motorized parasails. They attacked in the early hours of a Jewish holiday, brutally killing 1,200 people in the south of Israel and taking 250 hostages. These atrocities were quickly condemned by most nations. In the Middle East, Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia urged restraint: Iran and its coalition officially remained silent.
Troubling aspects of this are that Israel's leaders, inchuding Netanyahu, knew of Hamas's plans for this invasion and discounted them; that Egypt's intelligence professionals warned Israel three days in advance; and that Netanyahu had supported Hamas for years to stave off a two-state solution for Palestine.
- Middle East leaders praise and condemn Hamas attacks against Israel
(Cara Tabachnick & Khaled Wassef, CBS News, 8 October 2023) - Is the Arab coalition's refusal to condemn Hamas contributing to an extended war in Gaza?
(Justin Klawans, The Week, 15 November 2023) - How Hamas built a force to attack Israel on 7 October
(Abdelali Ragad, Richard Irvine-Brown, Benedict Garman & Sean Seddon, BBC Arabic & BBC Verify, 27 November 2023) - Israeli officials repeatedly dismissed warning signs before Hamas attack, report claims
(William Brangham & Dan Sagalyn, NPR, 1 December 2023) - Israel Knew Hamas's Attack Plan More Than a Year Ago
(Ronen Bergman & Adam Goldman, New York Times, 2 December 2023) - 'It Would Be a Terrible, Demoralizing Blow' | In 2014, Netanyahu Forewarned of a Hamas Massacre Plot. Nine Years Later, Oct. 7 Happened
(Gidi Weitz, Haaretz, 26 January 2024) - Arab nations in Hamas-Israel conflict: What you need to know
(Cathrin Schaer, DW, 5 August 2024)
Israel quickly mounted a counteroffensive, ordering Palestinians to evacuate the northern part of Gaza where it assumed Hamas forces were concentrated. It began bombing there (also in the south) and in a matter of weeks had destroyed or damaged 56% to 60% of the buildings in Gaza. The Palestinian death toll continues to mount; as of this date it has exceeded 41,000. Women and children make up two-thirds of that number. Much of Gaza looks like that devastated building in Rafah shown above.
In addition, Israel has disabled most of the 36 hospitals in Gaza, leaving the remainder overwhelmed with casualties. Israel inspects every truck bringing aid into Gaza, and if it objects to any items in a truck, the whole shipment is refused entry. Supplies of most medical supplies ran out long since, and food and water are in short supply. Disease and starvation are of mounting concern.
Here are some other troubling aspects of Israel's campaign in Gaza:
White Phosphorus
| Use of white phosphorus munitions in populated areas risks death or severe injury to civilians. There is evidence that Israel used it in this current conflict in Gaza and in Lebanon. Such use would be a war crime. | Sources:
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2,000-pound bombs
| In urban warfare, 500-pound bombs are commonly the largest used. A 2,000-pound bomb's wide radius of destruction makes it too hard to avoid massive collateral damage. It is, literally, overkill. Israel routinely uses 2,000-pounders, many of them unguided. | Sources:
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"Power Targets"
Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham has written of being told by unnamed members of the IDF that Israel relaxed the rules requiring using leaflets or other means to warn Palestinian civilians of imminent attack on public buildings and private residences. Abraham was told this use of "power targets" was intended to shock the population and incite them to drive out Hamas — and, not incidentally, to salvage the reputations of senior military personnel who were caught off guard by the brutal Hamas incursion of 7 October 2023. Abraham provides this quote: "The emphasis is on damage and not on accuracy," said IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari on Oct. 9. And he notes that, at least in the early days of bombing, Hamas military resources had suffered only minor damage. |
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Supplies Blockade
CNN reports that Gaza "has gone without any fuel deliveries for almost three weeks since the Israeli government ordered a 'complete siege' on October 9 and halted food, fuel, water and electricity supplies" in retaliation for the Hamas attack. The rationale is that Hamas would use the fuel to power its vehicles, and would steal the food and other supplies. This may be happening, but fuel is also vital to keep hospital generators running with normal power from Israel cut off. With hospitals unable to operate, treatment of injuries becomes challenging and diseases can spread. Also, lack of food and water brings starvation. There is evidence that Israel has kept Gaza's economy near subsistence levels for decades. After the Hamas attacks of 2023, Israel's leaders declared their intent for a siege and stepped up measures to further limit the supplies flowing into Gaza. Officials of the United Nations have condemned this as a "campaign of starvation." "Even before the war, two out of three people in Gaza relied on food support, Arif Husain, the chief economist at the World Food Programme (WFP), told CNN. Palestinians have lived through 17 years of partial blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt." |
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Impediments to Food Distribution and Other Aid
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) was created by the United Nations to support Palestinians expelled by the 1948 Nakba — the first Palestinian War. It has become the main source of food aid and other support in Gaza, receiving praise from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and from representatives of the European Union, the United States, the Netherlands, Japan, Bangladesh, Cyprus, Jordan, Ghana, and Norway. In 2007, Iceland's representative praised the agency's ability to "deliver substantial results" despite "often life-threatening conditions". UNRWA operates under life-threatening conditions today in Gaza. In addition, it faces hostility from Israel over alleged support for the 7 October 2023 attacks by Hamas. Based on these unproven charges, the United States, Germany and other nations have suspended funding of UNRWA. In addition, UNRWA workers have been killed by Israeli air strikes. In the first month of the current conflict, 79 died. Other organizations have been providing food deliveries in Gaza, and have also been targeted by the IDF. Notable among them is World Central Kitchen. On 1 April 2024, an IDF drone struck three vehicles carrying WCK workers on the coast road in Gaza, killing six foreign WCK workers and their Palestinian driver. Israel admits responsibility for these deaths, but calls them unintentional — unconvincing, since WCK coordinates with the IDF. Human Rights Watch has documented eight attacks on aid workers by Israeli forces. In total, 250 aid workers have been killed in Gaza since the conflict began. |
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Dismantling Gaza's Health Care System
Of the 36 hospitals in Gaza at the start of the conflict, only 15 are able to perform any care at all — and those are severely limited. Medical supplies are scarce, buildings are in poor condition, and staff are exhausted. Israel consistently justifies its attack by claiming Hamas fighters have infiltrated the hospital it attacks. But medical staff seldom report the presence of any terrorists, and Israel seldom provides evidence. In addition, the IDF typically attacks with overwhelming force: bombs, missiles, and artillery shells fired from tanks. There are reports of snipers targeting those who try to leave hospital buildings, and at least one claim that doctors were summarily executed in front of witnesses. The flagship of Gaza's health-care system was al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Early in the conflict, Israel claimed Hamas had a command center under it. The evidence they presented was not convincing. They raided the hospital during the night of 15 November 2023 with 100 commandos going room to room and forcing all men aged 16 to 40 to leave the building, except in the emergency rooms. The IDF reported killing a number of Hamas members inside. However, a doctor said there were only civilians present at the time of the raid. Months after pulling most troops out of the north of Gaza, the IDF returned to al-Shifa with greater force, devastating the complex and killing as many as 300 people. The result of all this is death. The official toll reported by the Gaza Health Ministry exceeds 41,000. But this does not account for bodies buried under the rubble, perhaps as many as 10,000. Nor does it take into account indirect causes of death such as disease or malnutrition. The British medical journal The Lancet has estimated a count as high as 186,000; other estimates reach 300,000. That would be 13 percent of Gaza's pre-war population. |
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Erasing Gaza's Cultural Heritage
IDF air strikes have demolished some Palestinian historic sites previous to the current conflict in Gaza. But the major impact has come during these past six months. The Al-Omari Mosque dates to the seventh century. An IDF air strike on 9 December demolished most of it, leaving only the minaret standing. The Saint Porphyrius Orthodox Church is the third oldest church in the world, dating to 425 CE. An air strike hit the church on 19 October while 500 worshippers were sheltering there. Other notable sites lost are: Rafah Museum; Al-Qarara Museum; Anthedon Harbor World Heritage Site; Saint Hilarion Monastery. In all, some 200 libraries, mosques, and archaeological sites have been targeted. This destruction goes hand-in-hand with eradicating Gaza's education system. Gaza City's main public library, the Central Archives of Gaza, and all 12 of its universities lie in ruins. |
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Information Restrictions
Israel keeps most foreign journalists out of Gaza, and those it admits have IDF "minders" who limit what they can see. Palestinian journalists can operate without minders, but they have to stay alive. They are dying at an unprecedented rate — 110 so far — and there is evidence they are being targeted by Israel. In a recent case, two Al Jazeera journalists killed by the IDF were accused of being in a car with a terrorist operating a drone — a charge their families dispute. Also, telephone and internet services have been intermittent, making it harder get news out — or to warn civilians of imminent bombing. |
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Charges of Genocide
Israel's actions in pursuit of its stated goal of crushing Hamas — collective punishment of Palestinians by indiscriminate bombing, blocking delivery of supplies and flow of information, restricting aid workers, targeting journalists — add up to a case for genocide. South Africa has brought such a case against Israel before the International Court of Justice. Experts say there is a good chance they will win. Israel's intent is the crucial matter, and officials including Netanyahu have gone on the record with incriminating statements. (As Israel never fails to point out, Hamas also has genocidal intent. But Hamas is not a nation and cannot be tried before the ICJ.) The director of the New York office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights resigned, saying his organization appears powerless to stop Israel. United Nations experts have said Palestinians are at "grave risk of genocide," and 800 scholars have signed a letter to "sound the alarm about the possibility of the crime of genocide." |
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Murders Done by IDF Troops
Five men walk down a street in an area of Gaza the IDF has told them to evacuate. They are unarmed, and they proceed cautiously, hands raised. One man carries a white flag. Their aim is to help other family members leave the area. Suddenly there is a burst of gunfire. The man with the flag falls, mortally wounded. As the others carry him away, the white flag draped over his chest reddens with his blood. A British film crew from ITV, working in Gaza, caught this event on video, and you can see it starting at 16:45. But watch the whole video for background. Earlier, the IDF killed three Israeli hostages who had escaped from Hamas. They were unarmed and shirtless, to show they had no suicide vests. They too had a white flag, and were shouting in Hebrew. Still they were gunned down. And two Christian women were shot by snipers inside a church the IDF had surrounded and kept under surveillance for days. Note how Israeli spokespeople take a defensive posture when questioned about all these well-documented events. On 29 January 2024, six members of the Hamada family driving north in Gaza City, and two paramedics in an ambulance headed to rescue the family, were killed by firing from IDF troops. The Palestine Red Crescent Society coordinated the rescue mission with Israel's COGAT. The IDF denied involvement in the killings. Analysis published by the Washington Post revealed several pieces of evidence that IDF weapons were used on both vehicles. |
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Lies by Israeli Officials about the War
When it comes to the threat posed by Hamas, Israeli officials are apt to take extreme positions, often claiming the terrorist organization is "an existential threat to Israel." They have claimed that every other building in Gaza is connected to the Hamas tunnel network, and that most of the hospitals have hidden a Hamas command center — with scant evidence for either claim. But when questions of Israel's own actions arise, they typically deflect by saying the matter will be investigated after the war ends. In some cases — as with the killings of two Christian women mentioned above, or with the May 2022 murder of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh — they lie. One more example: A 15 March story in the Jerusalem Post is headlined, "IDF releases video of armed Palestinian shooting at Gazans while waiting for aid". The story refers to what's become known as the flour massacre and quotes an IDF claim that this was an attempt by Hamas to blame the IDF, which did not fire on civilians wanting food from the convoy. I've watched the 23-second video in the story multiple times. I see only one gunman. He may be shooting at civilians, but he doesn't seem to hit any — and some are quite close to him. |
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Attempts To Expand the Conflict
Shortly after the Hamas attacks, Hezbollah forces in Lebanon began firing rockets into northern Israel. These ongoing attacks have displaced some 60,000 Israelis from their homes in the north of Israel. The IDF responded by striking targets in Lebanon, risking an escalation of the conflict. On 1 April 2024, Israeli warplanes destroyed Iran's consulate in Damascus, killing senior commander Mohammad Reza Zahedi and Brig. Gen. Mohammad Hadi Haj Rahimi, along with five other officers. This attack followed a drone strike on a military base near the southern Israeli city of Eilat, which caused no casualties. On 13 April, Iran responded to the consulate bombing by firing 300 missiles and drones from its own territory into Israel. Most of these were destroyed by Israel and its allies; a Bedouin girl was killed and an Israeli air base took some damage to its runway. But Israel vowed revenge, and the following months killed Hezbollah commanders Taleb Abdallah, Mohammed Nasser, and Fuad Shukr. Shukr was killed in Beirut with an air strike. On 31 July 2024, the chief negotiator for Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was killled in Tehran where he had gone to attend the inauguration of Iran's new president. This resulted in hardliner Yahya Sinwar taking over the negotiations and arguably delayed any return of hostages held by Hamas. Thousands of handheld pagers exploded at once in Lebanon and Syria on 17 September 2024. The next day, walkie-talkies and other devices exploded similarly. Thousands were injured, overwhelming local hospitals; 37 have died so far. No one has taken credit, but it is thought that only Israel has both the means and the motive to have gimmicked so many devices in this way. International experts warn that a wider war grows more likely. There has been much speculation about whether Netanyahu wants that wider war. Plausible reasons for this are:
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IDF Progress Toward Defeating Hamas in Gaza
Gaza's tunnel system, constructed over many years, is what makes this conflict such a challenge for Israel. The IDF estimates it may be as much as 350 miles in extent, with 5,700 shafts as access points. The IDF claims to have destroyed as many as 400 shafts. The Times of Israel reported in late January that 80% of Gaza's tunnel system could still be intact. Largely unmapped by Israel, and often at depths unreachable by ground-penetrating radar, the tunnel system lets Hamas operate much as if it had Star Trek transporters. Its fighters can pop up in areas the IDF has cleared, as they did at al-Shifa Hospital in March 2024. The obscurity of the tunnel system also has put the IDF in a public-Relations bind. It claims it bulldozed the Bani Suheila Cemetery because it had found a Hamas tunnel underneath it. But it would not let a CNN reporter see the tunnel it claimed to find, and the entrances he was allowed to see, when mapped by CNN, proved to be outside the cemetery. Another video, made by the IDF in November 2023, claims to show tunnels under al-Shifa Hospital. The question that arises is: If they found and mapped these tunnels in November, why were they unable to prevent Hamas from using them to return to al-Shifa the following March? There may be good reasons for these apparent lapses. But what I have heard from the IDF makes it hard to avoid the conclusion that they are flailing and trying to cover it up. With Netanyahu's final push into Rafah imminent, mounting pressure on State to confirm IDF war crimes, and President Biden withholding 3,500 bombs until he sees a credible plan for civilian safety, there may be more setbacks for Israel in the offing. |
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Israel Under Fire for Lack of Post-War Plans
It was always apparent that Israel had no plan for who would govern Gaza once the conflict had ended. That situation has now brought it under extensive criticism, both from allies including the US, and from dissident members of its own leadership. Netanyahu has remained adamant that neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority will be in charge, but announced no plan beyond that. Now he is doubling down and denies there is a lack of planning. (When the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports on Israel, be concerned.) |
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Negotiations for a Cease-fire and Return of Hostages
There is doubt about the sincerity of both sides in the Gaza conflict. Hamas demands a permanent cease-fire and IDF withdrawal from all of Gaza. Netanyahu keeps trying to free more hostages by military action, against the advice of his generals and the wishes of hostage families. His track record is not good: only 7 hostages rescued by the IDF, versus 105 released by negotiation. Hamas killed six hostages at the end of August, apparently as IDF rescuers closed in on their location. Chief negotiator for Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed 31 July 2024 in Tehran. Israel has not taken credit but is wildely held responsible. Haniyeh was no angel, to be sure, but his replacement Yahya Sinwar is considered more of a hard-liner. Netanyahu insists on maintaining security control over Gaza and recently added the Philadelphi Corridor at Egypt's border to his demand, saying Hamas has been smuggling weapons through it. If Hamas was able to bring weapons through Egypt over 11 months of war, it seems a bit late to close the door now. |
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The Rest of the Story
The world's attention is on the current conflict in Gaza, and on Israel's attempt to spark a wider war in the Middle East. This will hold true for some time. But Israel's long domination of what started as a majority-Palestinian territory, as well as its abuses of democracy at home, deserve attention too. I will devote some attention to these matters here.
Hamas, Netanyahu, and Palestinians
Since he first won the Prime Minister position, Benjamin Netanyahu has opposed the two-state solution. He supported Hamas covertly and played it off against the Palestinian National Authority which now governs the West Bank. He has boasted about being able to block progress toward a two-state solution. Meanwhile, life for Palestinians in Gaza has not been pleasant under Hamas; after they won an election in 2006, there have been no elections. A recent survey showed support of Hamas at only 42% in Gaza.
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- Gaza: Palestinians tortured, summarily killed by Hamas forces during 2014 conflict (Amnesty International, 27 May 2015)
- Blowback: How Israel Went From Helping Create Hamas to Bombing It ( Mehdi Hasan & Dina Sayedahmed, The Intercept, 19 February 2018)
- Palestine, Israel and the Oslo Accords: What you need to know (Middle East Eye, 13 September 2018)
- Whispered in Gaza: Palestinians expose life under Hamas (Maayan Lubell, Reuters, 25 July 2023)
- For years, Netanyahu propped up Hamas. Now it's blown up in our faces (Tal Schneider, Times of Israel, 8 October 2023)
- How Hamas won and kept control in Gaza (Sam Kiley, CNN, 9 October 2023)
- A Guide to Palestinian and Other Anti-Israel Factions (By Alexandra Sharp & Rishi Iyengar, Foreign Policy, 10 October 2023)
- Palestinian poll shows a rise in Hamas support and close to 90% wanting US-backed Abbas to resign (Karin Laub, AP News, 13 December 2023)
Netanyahu's push for judicial immunity
Before all this started, Netanyahu was facing charges of corruption. He began to push for changes in Israel's Supreme Court — changes that would reduce his chances of conviction. Israel has no constitution, and there is less separation between its executive (the Prime Minister) and its legislature (the Knesset) than in the United States. Thus, the judiciary has a more important role in reining in excesses — and the right-wing Netanyahu is trying to weaken it, both by limiting its powers (the new law) and by packing it with like-minded jurists. Israelis noticed, and thousands of them protested in marches that tied up Tel Aviv and other cities. Some members of the IDF refused to serve. With the homeland under threat, all that is out the windows, and it is not unreasonable to think Netanyahu will prolong that threat as long as he can.
Sources:
- What Israel's new judicial law reveals about its democracy ( Zack Beauchamp, vox, 24 July 2023)
- Israel judicial overhaul: What is the new law and why is it causing upheaval? (Maayan Lubell, Reuters, 25 July 2023)
- What we know about Israel's Supreme Court ruling on Netanyahu's judicial overhaul (Christian Edwards, CNN, 2 January 2024)
Israel's dual system of justice
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- Israel's Other Justice System Has Rules of Its Own (Haaretz paywall)
- Israeli law in the West Bank settlements (Wikipedia)
- Israel's military courts 'humiliating charade' for Palestinians (Jaclynn Ashby, Al Jazeera, 26 February 2018)
- Inside Israel's torture camp for Gaza detainees (Yuval Abraham, +972 Magazine, 5 January 2024)
Israel's suppression of speech and dissent
For families of Palestinian prisoners released by Israel, celebrating in public earns them new charges of terrorism. At one point, even using the colors of the Palestinian flag was prohibited. When Defense for Children International reported the rape of a Palestinian prisoner in Israel's custody in 2021 to the US Department of State, the IDF raided its offices, seized its computers, and declared it a terrorist organization. Foreign journalists in Gaza have Israeli "minders" who let them see only what Israel wants them to see (though they do not always succeed). Palestinian journalists have been killed under suspicious circumstances. And in May 2021, the building housing offices of AP and Al Jazeera was bombed with only one hour's warning.
Just this month (April 2024), Israel passed a law declaring the Al Jazeera news service a terrorist organization. Netanyahu promptly expelled its offices from the country.
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- Israel destroys Gaza tower housing AP and Al Jazeera offices (Reuters, 15 May 2021)
- UN experts condemn raid on West Bank NGO, urge Israel meaningfully probe child deaths (UNOHCHR, 13 August 2021)
- Death threats, doxxing and suspensions from school: Concerns grow over free speech in Israel (Chantal Da Silva, NBC News, 19 October 2023)
- Hadash party says police broke into Nazareth office amid crackdown on anti-war protesters (Times of Israel, 11 November 2023)
- Is the right to free speech being curbed in Israel amid the war with Hamas? (Haley Ott, CBS News, 16 November 2023)
- Israel-Palestine war: Israel shut down NGO for reporting rape of teenager, ex-US official says (Katherine Hearst, Middle East Eye, 5 December 2023)
- Israeli Police Tries to Prevent Left-wing, largely-Arab Hadash Party Convention (Jack Khoury, Haaretz, 7 December 2023)
- Israeli police attempt to block Hadash convention, claim progressive group 'endangers public' (Zo Haderekh, People's World, 11 December 2023)
- Israel clears way to expel Al Jazeera. Channel says Netanyahu's incitement claim is a dangerous lie (Josef Federman, AP News, 1 April 2024)
Organ Harvesting
The 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, which Israel has not ratified, requires combatants to respect the dignity of the dead, including preventing despoiling, mutilation, or any disrespectful treatment of their bodies. However, Israel's 2008 Organ Transplant Act forbade the trade of organs in exchange for money or any other benefit.
Israeli doctor Meira Weiss claimed in her book Over Their Dead Bodies that organs taken from dead Palestinians between 1996 and 2002 were used in medical research. Israeli pathologists confessed in 2009 to harvesting skin from dead Palestinians and Africans to treat Israeli burn victims. A TV station reported that in the 1990s, specialists at Abu Kabir Forensic Institute near Tel Aviv harvested skin, corneas, heart valves and bones from the bodies of Israeli soldiers, Israeli citizens, Palestinians and foreign workers, often without permission from relatives. The report was based on an interview recorded in 2000 by Nancy Scheper-Hughes, professor of anthropology at the University of California Berkeley, with Dr Yehuda Hiss, former head of the Institute. The Israeli military confirmed the practice, but added: "This activity ended a decade ago and does not happen any longer." A controversial 2014 Israeli television program said that skin had been harvested from dead Palestinians and Africans to treat Israeli burn victims.
The 2009 report surfaced again after Hamas invaded southern Israel on 7 October 2023, often alongside unsubstantiated rumors and out-and-out lies. These include concerns about possible organ theft from Palestinian corpses exhumed from mass graves at al-Shifa Hospital and other locations in Gaza.
Sources:
- Doctor admits Israeli pathologists harvested organs without consent (Ian Black, The Guardian, 21 December 2009)
- Israel even criminalizes dead Palestinian bodies (Hebh Jamal, Mondoweiss, 2 September 2021)
- Int'l committee must investigate Israel's holding of dead bodies in Gaza (Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, 26 November 2023)
- Is Israel stealing organs from dead Palestinians? (Middle East Monitor, 27 November 2023)
- Israel 'stealing organs' from bodies in Gaza, alleges human rights group (Euronews, 27 November 2023)
- Israel Organ Harvesting Allegations Explained (Tom Norton, Newsweek, 27 November 2023)
Previous IDF incursions into Gaza
These include Operation Cast Lead, and Operation Protective Edge in 2014. There seems to have been a marked relaxation of discipline between 2000 and 2015. Former members of the IDF are speaking out on Operation Protective Edge, as they are about the current conflict in Gaza.
Sources:
- "Kill Anything": Israeli Soldiers Say Gaza Atrocities Came from Orders for Indiscriminate Fire (Democracy Now!, 6 May 2015)
Religion in Israeli politics
While the majority of Israeli Jews are largely secular, parties representing the ultra-orthodox minority have often wielded considerable political power.
Sources:
- A look at Judaism's place in Israeli politics (Ilan Ben Zion, Times of Israel, 19 September 2019)
Second-class citizenship for non-Jews in Israel
Sources:
- The Myth of Coexistence in Israel (Diana Buttu, New York Times, 25 May 2021)
- What to Know About the Arab Citizens of Israel (Kali Robinson, Council on Foreign Relations, 26 October 2023)
- Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem (International Court of Justice, 14 November 2023 and before)
Legal status of Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories
Sources:
- Israel's 55-year occupation of Palestinian Territory is apartheid — UN human rights expert (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 25 March 2022)
Treatment of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails
Recent reports have shown Palestinian men captured by the IDF in the recent conflict. But Israel has held Palestinian prisoners for a long time, and reports of abuses are common. Elsewhere I note the reaction to a prisoner's rape being reported to the US.
Sources:
- Statistics on administrative detention in the Occupied Territories (B'Tselem, 20 November 2023)
West Bank settlements
There is a long history of abuse by Jewish settlers in the West Bank of Palestinian communities there. Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was murdered by the IDF in the West Bank city of Jenin while reporting there in May 2022. These incidents have intensified since the Hamas attacks. In January 2024, a Palestinian-American teen who had moved there with his family early in 2023 was shot in the head in an incident that Israeli sources say involved "rock-throwing activities." What's known about the incident makes it unlikely the teen was throwing rocks. Another Palestinian-American teen was killed under similar circumstances about a month later. Many of the West Bank settlers are Americans, and private American dollars flow to these illegal settlements.
In April 2024, after a fourteen-year-old Israeli shepherd disappeared, West Bank settlers rampaged through local Palestinian villages. Numerous houses and 100 vehicles were torched. Several Palestinians were shot. The shepherd's body was discovered later by a drone. It has not been reported how he died and who might have been responsible.
Late August 2024 saw the beginning of "Operation Summer Camp," which Israel described as a campaign to rout Arab militants from West Bank refugee camps. In reality it involves the destruction of infrastructure in Palestinian cities, mass detainment of civilians, IDF occupation of medical facilities, and harassment and attacks on journalists.
Sources:
- Conviction rate for Palestinians in Israel's military courts: 99.74% (Noam Sheizaf, +972 Magazine, 29 November 2011)
- Israel's military courts 'humiliating charade' for Palestinians (Jaclyn Ashly, Al Jazeera, 26 February 2018)
- Born Without Civil Rights (Human Rights Watch, 17 December 2019)
- Jailbreak shines light on mass incarceration of Palestinians (Joseph Krauss & Jack Jeffrey, AP News, 24 September 2021)
- Charges Are Pressed Only in 4% of Settler Violence Cases (Hagar Shezaf, Haaretz, 7 February 2022)
- Exposing the Systemic Injustice of Military Courts in the West Bank (New Israel Fund, 28 April 2022)
- Political row underscores different justice systems for Palestinians and Israeli settlers (Rosie Scammel, The National News, 13 June 2022)
- How a Campaign of Extremist Violence Is Pushing the West Bank to the Brink (Jeffrey Gettleman, Rami Nazzal & Adam Sella, New York Times, 4 November 2023)
- Settler violence is erasing Palestinian communities in the West Bank (Louisa Loveluck, Washington Post, 9 November 2023)
- 'If you don't leave, we'll kill you': Hundreds flee Israeli settler violence in Hebron area (Imad Abu Hawash, +972 Magazine, 22 November 2023)
- Revealed: how US residents are funding illegal settlements in the West Bank (Jason Wilson, The Guardian, 23 December 2023)
- American teen killed in West Bank, leaving mosque 'devastated' back home (Heidi Pérez-Moreno, Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff & Sufian Taha, Washington Post, 21 January 2024)
- A witness says the fatal shooting of an American-Palestinian teen in the occupied West Bank was unprovoked (Julia Frankel, AP News, 24 January 2024)
- Family grieves after American teenager shot dead in West Bank (Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff & Niha Masih, Washington Post, 13 February 2024)
- US Investigators Visit Homes of 2 Palestinian-American Teens Killed in West Bank (Associated Press, 15 February 2024)
- West Bank sees biggest settler rampage since war in Gaza began as Israeli teen's body is found (Nasser Nasser & Jack Jeffrey, AP News, 13 April 2024)
- West Bank village counts losses after settler attack, and fears more (Ali Sawafta, Reuters, 21 April 2024)
- The Unpunished: How Extremists Took Over Israel (Ronen Bergman & Mark Mazzetti, The New York Times Magazine, 16 May 2024)
- How Israeli settlements are taking over the West Bank as Gaza war rages (Mat Nashed, Al Jazeera, 19 July 2024)
- Israeli settlers accused of using cover of war to build more settlements (Channel 4 News, 27 August 2024)
- Israel's deadly and destructive operation in the West Bank | The Listening Post (Al Jazeera English, 7 September 2024)
- "The Brutality Is Truly Unprecedented" in West Bank: Mariam Barghouti on Israel's Deadly Incursions (Democracy Now!, 9 September 2024)
Here is the pattern of behavior I've seen Israel demonstrate:
- They falsely claim Hamas is "an existential threat" to Israel.
- They needlessly exaggerate the savagery of Hamas actions during the 7 October attacks.
- They insist they are doing everything possible to avoid harming civilians.
- They systematically cripple Gaza's health care system, causing a humanitarian crisis.
- Arbitrary restrictions on food and medical supplies bring the risk of famine and foster the spread of disease.
- They lie about their findings in Gaza — as with the "Hamas tunnel" that was really a hospital cistern.
- Faced with evidence of a serious mistake, they promise a thorough investigation — after the war.
- They try to equate international criticism with demands to stop fighting Hamas, or with antisemitism.
- Privately (and now publicly) they defy the wishes of their primary ally, the United States.
This leads me to conclude that Israel's actions are achieving three things, none of which will redound to its benefit:
- Hamas (or whatever replaces it) will find plenty of willing recruits to continue the struggle.
- Netanyahu and the entire Likud Party will be turned out of office when the war ends, if not before.
- Former allies and supporters, including the US, will turn against it, providing evidence for South Africa's case, withdrawing aid and possibly imposing sanctions.
And all of this will, in my opinion, be well deserved.
But what does the future hold? After tensions die down, the world will have to move the Arab nations toward a new modus operandi with Israel. This thoughtful conversation with Thomas Friedman leads us toward an understanding of what that might entail:
(Thomas Friedman, Amanpour&Co, 25 January 2024)
