Palestinian relatives of eight members of the Al Haj family, who were killed in a strike early morning, grieve in the family house during their funeral in Khan Younis refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, July 10, 2014. Khalil Hamra—AP
The Palestinians are always put in the position of being to blame for someone else occupying their land, and for then having the temerity to fight back writes Lindsey German
Operation Protective Edge. I wonder who thought up that name?
It was obviously crafted with more than a nod to public relations and how the Israelis would be seen.
Operation: a limited and no doubt reluctant use of the military in order to deal with a problem that cannot be dealt with in any other way.
Protective: nothing offensive about it at all, but merely the taking up of arms in support of those unable to defend themselves, against a much greater enemy out to kill them.
And Edge? Well that denotes that what is being enforced here is no more than a cordon sanitaire, designed to protect a state which is constantly, in its own rhetoric, under attack from all sides.
Looked at like that, it might seem a reasonable defence operation, triggered by the terrible kidnap and murder of three Jewish teenagers.
Trouble is, that isn’t what is going on in Gaza. Bombing which has now killed scores of people, many of them children, the destruction of houses and public buildings.
We are told these attacks are in response to the killings. But even if they were, they are already massively disproportionate.
We are told they are in response to Hamas rocket attacks on Israel. But there have been no casualties from these attacks since Israel has a highly effective rocket defence shield.
Meanwhile the people of Gaza have no such defence, as one of the most sophisticated air forces in the world rains bombs on them.
The aim of this latest operation is to destroy the Palesitinian unity government, which Israeli prime minister Netanyahu sees as a threat to his interests. It is shameful that he is allowed to do so by useing the most blatant propaganda tactics, and that the BBC continues to report this as though the whole thing is in response to Hamas attacks.
The Palestinians are always put in the position of being to blame for someone else occupying their land, and for then having the temerity to fight back.
This weekend there will be demonstrations across the world in support of the Palestinians. The solidarity movement is the one western voice speaking up for the Palestinians.
Lindsey German
As national convenor of the Stop the War Coalition, Lindsey was a key organiser of the largest demonstration, and one of the largest mass movements, in British history.
Her books include ‘Material Girls: Women, Men and Work’, ‘Sex, Class and Socialism’, ‘A People’s History of London’ (with John Rees) and ‘How a Century of War Changed the Lives of Women’.