In its latest unprovoked offensive inside Gaza, Israeli defence Forces have already killed 186 Palestinians, including women and children. Israel has tried to project itself as the victim instead of the aggressor, citing rocket fire from Hamas. Infact Israel has used the pretext of Hamas rocket fire for many years now to justify its bombing of Gaza.
The world community has been criminally silent against this blatant and naked use of violence by the Israeli state. Infact Israels biggest backer, USA has thrown its weight behind them. Other US allies like the UK have also backed Israel in this misadventure. For observers of the Israel-Palestine conflict, this moral bankruptcy by these Western powers hardly comes as a surprise, given that Israel owes its existence to these powers. The UN has also been a silent spectator during this mayhem and Israel has been given a free leash to inflict severe damage on civilians inside Gaza.
This is not the first time that Israel has indulged in this kind of asymmetric violence against unarmed civilians in Gaza. Even in 2012, during the Holy month of Ramzan, Israel had similarly attacked Gaza and killed more than a hundred civilians. Israel often calls such offensive as its right to self defence against the Hamas rockets. This time again, the same story has been sold in the mainstream western media. Going by the one sided coverage of this conflict, one can for sure say that the media in these countries plays an active role in mobilizing public opinion in favor of Israels racist and expansionist policies.
What is refreshing to see is that across many cities in Europe and the US, rallies were taken out by people denouncing Israels policies and calling for an end to this aggression. What was also refreshing is the fact that many Jews showed their solidarity with Palestinians. Disturbingly many so called supporters of Palestine, without understanding the context and history of this conflict, started spreading hate messages against Jews and eulogizing Hitler, on social networks. One would like to believe that such people are a very small minority. While condemning Israels policies in Palestine, people need to make sure that their criticism is backed by the right argument and it is against Zionism.
Apart from the Wests blind support of Israel, what clearly stood out in this conflict that the Arab countries have pushed the Palestine issue on the back-burner. There were no statements or any diplomatic maneuvers from any major Arab States, like Saudi Arabia etc. These states have embraced a conspiracy of criminal silence. It is all right to criticize US and its western allies for backing Israel, but the Arab nations should be condemned for their stand on this issue. Not only were the rulers of these countries silent, but one did not see even one protest in any Arab city. The Arab media has always been regulated and controlled and it is difficult to imagine any worthwhile reporting coming from the media in these countries. On the other hand, Israeli papers like Haretz have been criticizing Israel for its Palestine policy. It seems, Arabs have buried their conscience long back and nothing perhaps is going to stir it. Not even the unimaginable atrocities and violence against Palestinians next door.
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