Israel And Palestine: Where Is The International Community?

Israel is kidnapping members of the Palestinian government, and holding them (purportedly) to be exchanged for an Israeli soldier who was captured/kidnapped in Gaza.

Israel has effectively re-invaded Gaza in the latest offensive which has included massive tank insertion and the bombing of bridges. The Israelis have also captured the airport at Rafa, and sent jets to buzz the Syrian Presidential Palace. Those jets were fired on by Syria.

"In Israel's first military operation in Gaza since disengagement, being called Operation Summer Rain, thousands of troops, backed by warplanes and tanks, moved into the coastal strip. The army knocked out nearly 75 percent of Gaza's electricity supply, destroyed major highways, and struck fields in northern and southern Gaza in a show of force meant to intimidate Palestinian militants. Artillery units also opened fire near Gaza City.

Late Wednesday, Israeli war planes buzzed the home of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who shelters the Hamas leaders Israel blames for orchestrating the kidnapping of Shalit. In response, Syrian forces fired on Israeli planes, Syria's state TV reported." (CSM, 6/29/06)

One might call this the end of the truce that never was. It is an escalation of offensive which was renewed with the January 2006 elections of a new Palestinian government. That government was Hamas which is painted internationally as a terrorist organization. Since that democratic election, the United States and Israel first attempted to shut down the Palestinian government by withholding humanitarian aid to Palestine. By April, the U.S. had convinced the EU to join in withholding aid. While this has lead to massive hardship for Palestinians, it has not forced the ouster of the Hamas centered government from power.

The most recent bloodshed seems to have been a response to the killing of eight Palestinian beachgoers (including women and children) with munitions (assumedly) by Israel.

I am not a specialist in international law, but Palestine held democratic elections and power was transferred from the Palestinian Authority to the new government. That was a choice that was not accepted by Israel, the United States, and ultimately the European Union. So immediate efforts began to undermine and drive out the elected government of Palestine. Israel claims that Hamas is not a government, but a terrorist organization - regardless of elections. Apparently standing on that ground, they have kidnapped/arrested "dozens" of ministers and lawmakers. This is purportedly and effort to force Hamas (the organization - not the government) to return the captured/kidnapped soldier.

Now let's just extend this a bit. A nation, any nation holds elections and some other nation does not like the outcome. So there is an invasion and the government leaders are captured and held to force that government out of power. Let's take Mexico for example. Mexico is preparing for elections right now, and a surprising candidate seems very popular. It is Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador who is labeled by the western press as a "leftist."

Now we know that the U.S. government does not care for populist governments - particularly in Latin America, but hey Mexico is right on the U.S. border, and emotions are already high over undocumented workers from south of the border. One might think that Obrador might be a "bad" choice and against U.S. "interests." So the U.S. invades Mexico, kidnaps the "leftist" president and any "leftist" lawmakers they can get their hands on. Would there be some outrage over this? It seems likely.

Or let's take a real example - Somalia. There has been a transitional government in Somalia supported by the United Nations. That apparently has not been acceptable by the U.S. government, so they have been funding warlords in a conflict with "Islamists" who are struggling for power to be the new government of Somalia. At this point, it looks like the "Islamists" are winning, and seem likely to be the new government. Would the international community respond if the U.S. decided to bypass their proxy forces (the warlords) and sent troops into Somalia to overthrow the "Islamists?" It seems there might be some response.

I know that neither of these scenarios are quite the same as Israel and Palestine, but most nations have recognized Palestine as a nation. Therefore it is surprising that there is not a ripple of issue over what is going on there.

Let's go back for a moment to the purported reason for the massive invasion and the kidnapping of government officials by Israel. That reason is supposedly the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier. I assume that soldier was in Gaza with the rest of the military force that Israel has there. It would seem to me, that as a soldier who is part of an offensive does not get "kidnapped," but "captured." Or was he kidnapped by Palestinian "insurgents?" If so, then why "arrest" Palestinian government officials? The assumption (by Israel and apparently the U.S.) is that the Palestinian government has direct control over all the groups in Palestine. That doesn't seem to be the case any more than the Iraqi government has control over all the groups in Iraq. Both cases are an occupation after all. Perhaps the U.S. should arrest the Iraqi PM and various lawmakers to get the insurgency in Iraq to give up.

I support Israel's right to exist. I also support the right of Palestinians to be a sovereign nation with the right to lands that have been stolen from them - or at least to contiguous space that has some value (access to water and agricultural lands for example). I decry the ongoing violence that leaves so many dead and under control of others. In other words, a sustainable peace that allows the peoples of both nations to pursue lives. That seems further and further away. The response of Israel and the U.S. to the elected government of Palestine does not move in the right direction. The silence of the international community at what appears to be flagrant violation of international law is shameful.

Posted by rowan at June 29, 2006 7:29 AM | [eMail this article!] |