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<span class="post_date" title="2015-07-24">July 24, 2015</span>
<h1 class="headline" itemprop="name"><a
href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/07/24/israel-and-self-defense/"
rel="bookmark">Israel and “Self-Defense”</a></h1>
<p class="post_meta"> <span class="post_author_intro">by</span> <span
class="post_author" itemprop="author"><a
href="http://www.counterpunch.org/author/robert-fantina/"
rel="nofollow">Robert Fantina</a></span> </p>
<b><small><small><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/07/24/israel-and-self-defense/">http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/07/24/israel-and-self-defense/</a></small></small></b><br>
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<p>Occasionally, this writer will read an article from an Israel
publication. Often, there is a survey which pops up when he
clicks on the article, and the question often is this: ‘Do you
believe Israel has the right to defend itself?’</p>
<p>The question is not a valid one. Any nation, one supposes, has
such a right, but Israel has not had to defend itself for
decades, if ever. Responding to ineffective ‘rocket’ fire from
the Gaza Strip is not defense. An occupied nation has the
internationally-recognized right to resist with violence the
occupation. The occupier is not ‘defending’ itself; it is merely
enforcing the occupation.</p>
<p>So why ask the question? Let’s look at the two possible answers
that may shed light upon that reason.</p>
<p>A ‘yes’ response indicates that Israel is justified in its
periodic carpet-bombing of the Palestinians. The publication
issuing the survey can proclaim, therefore, that X% of its
survey respondents support Israel.</p>
<p>A ‘no’ response, on the other hand, will be seen as
anti-Semitic, denying Israel its basic right of existence. Why,
the publication can ask, do Y% of respondents deny Israel its
right to self-defense? People would only respond in this way if
they hate Jews.</p>
<p>The question, in many ways, is reminiscent of the old political
question, ‘Do you still beat your wife?’ ‘Yes,’ is wrong for
obvious reasons. ‘No’, however, is still wrong, since it would
indicate <img class=" alignright"
src="cid:part3.05040309.01010109@freedomarchives.org"
alt="fantina" height="262" width="175">that spousal abuse was,
at one time in the past, something the responder did, but no
longer does. So a man who never beat his wife would have no
right answer for that question.</p>
<p>So in answering the question about Israel’s right to defend
itself, the thoughtful respondent has no right answer. ‘Yes’,
gives Israel more ammunition to say that the world supports it,
and ‘no’ is dismissed as the response of an anti-Semitic bigot,
showing again, in Israel’s view, the great existential threat
that it faces.</p>
<p>Israel and the people and publications that support it must
resort to such deceitful tactics, since they are without a moral
leg to stand on. Reviewing a few facts of international law
relating to occupation, and Israel’s blatant and constant
violations of them, may be helpful:</p>
<p><em>Law: An occupying power must not move its own citizens
permanently onto the occupied nation’s land. Temporarily
housing soldiers on a short-term basis there to maintain peace
and the safety of the occupied people is allowed.</em></p>
<p>Israeli violations: Israel has moved over half a million
Israelis into the West Bank, and Israeli Prime Murderer Benjamin
Netanyahu has stated categorically that not one of them will be
removed.</p>
<p><em>Law: The people of the occupied lands must not be displaced
permanently.</em></p>
<p>Israeli violations: Millions of Palestinians have been forced
from their homes to make room for illegal Israeli settlers.</p>
<p><em>Law: The culture of the occupied land must be respected.</em></p>
<p>Israeli violations: Israel has done much to destroy and
obliterate the culture of Palestine. The destruction of entire
towns and villages, mosques and historical sites is ongoing. In
one particularly egregious example, Israel bulldozed the ancient
Ma’man Allah cemetery, dating at least to the 12<sup>th</sup>
century and possibly earlier, and constructed a ‘Museum of
Tolerance’ on the site.</p>
<p><em>Law: The occupying power must ensure the safety of the
occupied peoples.</em></p>
<p>Israeli violations: Bombing the Gaza Strip, breaking into the
homes of Palestinians in the West Bank at all hours of the day
and night, arresting men, women and children without charge,
shooting peaceful protesters in the back, cannot be seen as
ensuring their safety, and protesting these atrocious crimes
does not make one anti-Semitic.</p>
<p>The list is long; a short, representative sample is all that
has been given here.</p>
<p>In addition to this, Israel refuses to cooperate with any
investigation into its ‘alleged’ war crimes. If, as Israel
continually proclaims, it has the most moral army in the world,
why would it not welcome such investigations, to prove the
falsehood of such allegations? Why not assist the United
Nations, and the International Criminal Court, in thoroughly
examining each charge, if Israel is confident that each is
false?</p>
<p>Of course, Israel knows it is guilty of war crimes, and labors
under the mistaken belief that it can continue to commit them,
because the United States will always protect it.</p>
<p>Although it can’t be said that anyone has neglected to advise
Israel that the rules of the game have changed, for some reason,
the information has not been received. Transmission, obviously,
does not equate to reception. Today, Israel continues to destroy
entire Palestinian villages to make room for illegal
settlements; IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) terrorists continue to
shoot and kill innocent men, women and children in the West
Bank, and arrest without charge men, women and children. None of
this is new; what is new is that the world is now aware of it.
The news media, which now actually gets paid by organizations
and individuals to run ‘news’ stories that are written by
lobbyists, corporations, and other major advertisers, has not
seen fit to report this information. Massive demonstrations in
support of Palestinians in major cities in the U.S., Europe and
the Middle East are not seen on the evening news, but that is no
longer the only venue for information. Social media gives
everyone with a camera and an internet connection a worldwide
audience, and that audience is seeing atrocities it never knew
existed. As a result, the ostracization of the rogue state of
Israel is ever growing, as more churches and businesses divest
from Israeli companies, and performers and academics refuse to
appear in that apartheid nation.</p>
<p>This writer always ignores the question, ‘Does Israel have a
right to defend itself’, and will continue to do so. A ‘yes’
only gives Israeli atrocities a false veneer of legitimacy which
is untenable.</p>
<p>Apartheid Israel is a world power in decline, and therefore
very dangerous. Yet despite the mad behaviors it may still
indulge it, its decline is snowballing, and cannot be stopped by
anything but justice for the Palestinians, and the Arabs,
Africans and other people living within its much-disputed
borders. That day cannot come soon enough.</p>
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<p class="author_description"> <em><strong>Robert Fantina’s</strong> latest
book is <a
href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0692252355/counterpunchmaga">Empire,
Racism and Genocide: a History of US Foreign Policy</a> (Red
Pill Press).</em> </p>
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