|
CounterPunch
December
10, 2002
Striking with Impunity
by JOSH RUEBNER
As part of its ongoing brutal military occupation
and collective punishment of the Palestinian people, Israel invaded
the refugee camp al-Bureij, in the Gaza Strip, in the early morning
hours of Friday, December 6. The avowed goal of the invasion,
dubbed "Real Games," was to arrest or kill Aiman Shasniyeh
and destroy his family's house--a brazen violation of international
law and a callous act of inhumanity. Shasniyeh is accused by
Israel of daring to fight for the right of his people to live
in freedom. In March, he allegedly took part in an attack on
an Israeli tank in which three soldiers were killed. However,
even if Shasniyeh is responsible for this act, it in no way justifies
Israel's disproportionate and indiscriminate response.
According to eyewitnesses, between 40-50
Israeli tanks, with aerial support from U.S.-provided AH-64 Apache
helicopter gunships, entered the hapless refugee camp and surrounded
the Shasniyeh home. There, an unexpectedly pitched battle ensued
with local Hamas members who were armed with rifles, grenades,
and anti-tank shells. Israeli tanks and helicopters shelled and
fired missiles on a densely populated area of the refugee camp,
destroying the Shasniyeh home and others along with it. Hassan
Safi, who witnessed the attack, told Yediot Aharonot, an Israeli
newspaper: "I ran, together with my son, to the destroyed
house and extricated two people. The helicopters fired on us
and it was almost impossible to evacuate the injured."
Although many of the details of this
lopsided battle remain murky, some facts are clear. When an army
fires tank shells and missiles into an over-crowded refugee camp,
it is likely to inflict a heavy toll on the people who reside
there. Ten Palestinians died in this invasion, six of whom were
apparently Hamas fighters, and four of whom were apparently civilians,
including two employees of the UN. Twenty Palestinians were injured
as well, including five from the Mansour family whose home was
struck directly by a tank shell.
What is also clear is that Israel again
used U.S. weapons to injure and kill Palestinian civilians and
destroy their homes. Unfortunately, many Americans are completely
unaware that their tax dollars are being spent to fund these
brutalities. If they were aware, then maybe Israel would not
have the leeway it needs to commit these war crimes.
Many Americans also are unaware that
the use of U.S. weapons in this manner violates a morally compelling
law called the U.S. Arms Export Control Act. According to this
act, countries can use U.S. weapons for the very limited purposes
of "legitimate self-defense" or "internal security"
and certainly can never employ them against civilian populations.
Only a sophist could argue that an offensive Israeli attack on
Palestinian civilians in a refugee camp could constitute self-defense
or fall under the rubric of internal security.
No country is entitled to a carte blanche
to violate the law, whether it is domestic or international.
If Israel's use of U.S. weapons violates our laws, then it would
logically follow that the United States should enforce the Arms
Export Control Act and refuse to provide Israel with more weapons
until it stops using them to attack civilians and thereby implicate
the United States in the commission of war crimes. Yet, instead
of stanching the flow of death machines to the Israeli military,
the Bush Administration is reportedly considering favorably an
Israeli request to provide it with an additional $4 billion of
military assistance!
This ludicrous and tragic U.S. policy
was highlighted by the State Department just hours after Israel's
murderous attack on al-Bureij. In his daily press briefing, a
reporter asked spokesperson Richard Boucher if Israel would suffer
any consequences for using U.S. weapons in this manner. Here
is Boucher's escape artist response to which Harry Houdini would
have shown great reverence: "We have made our policy quite
clear. We have made quite clear the violence has to stop. There's
no way to get to peace, there's no way to get a Palestinian state,
if the violence and terrorism continue. And we've repeatedly
called on the Palestinians to do everything they can to stop
the violence, and yet, despite this, we've seen bombings and
terrorism continue."
When the State Department has the audacity
to blame the victim and calls on Palestinians to halt Israel's
violence, this is a sure-fire sign of a morally bankrupt policy.
But just because the State Department cannot conceive of any
consequences of Israel's use of U.S. weapons against Palestinian
refugees, this does not mean that they do not exist. How many
more Twin Towers need to fall before we realize that there are
indeed consequences of the action (or inaction) that our democratically
elected government takes in our name?
Martin Luther King, Jr. once wrote: "We
will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic
words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence
of the good people." How much longer will it take for Americans
of good conscience to hold our elected representatives accountable
to our laws and ensure that Israel doesn't kill anymore Palestinians
in our name?
Josh Ruebner
is co-founder of Jews for Peace in Palestine and Israel (JPPI)
and a former Analyst in Middle East Affairs at Congressional
Research Service (CRS). He can be reached: jruebner@hotmail.com
Yesterday's
Features
Alexander Cockburn
American
Journal: Berrigan, America's Greatest Arms Inspector
Michael Neumann
Who Hates
Ya, Baby?
The Baffling Patriotism of Daniel Pipes
Kevin Gray
Clinton and Blacks:
Soul Brothers?
Will Youmans
Israel's Demographic Obsession
Ron Jacobs
Berrigan: Blessed are the Peacemakers
Walt Brasch
Jackass: the People
William Cook
World Wide Intifada?
John Stauber / Sheldon
Rampton
Flashback: How PR Sold the Gulf War
Terry Jones
Bombs Away!
Ralph Nader
The Robo-Candidate
Anis Shivani
Information Prozac
Harvey, Engel, Alam
Poets' Basement
CounterPunch Available Exclusively
to Subscribers:
- CounterPunch Special:
The Persecution of Gershon Legman by Susan Davis: Smut, the Post Office, Commies
and the FBI;
- Reeling Democrats: Is Pelosi the Answer?
- Gandhi v. Hitler: the Secret Race for the Nobel
Prize;
- Sullying Mario Savio's
Memory;
- Lynching Then and Now;
- Earn While You Learn: Chris Whittle and Child Labor;
The Case of the Pompous
Professor;
- The Class Struggle in
Boston: All that
Effort, But What Did They Get?
Remember, the CounterPunch website is
supported exclusively by subscribers to our newsletter. Our worldwide
web audience is soaring , with about seven million hits a month
now. This is inspiring, but the work involved also compels us
to remind you more urgently than ever to subscribe and/or make
a (tax deductible) donation if you can afford it. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe
Now!
Or Call Toll Free 1 800 840 3683
home / subscribe
/ about us
/ books
/ archives
/ search
/ links
/
|
December 1,
2002
Alexander
Cockburn
American
Journal
Gabriel Kolko
Another
Century of War?
Jeffrey St.
Clair
Rockets,
Napalm, Torpedoes & Lies: The Attack on the Liberty Revisited
Steve Perry
Spank
the Democrats
M. Shahid
Alam
A Predatory
Orientalism
Kurt Nimmo
The Murder
of Iain Hook
Ali Abunimah
Death
& Lies in Palestine
Anthony Gancarski
The
Return of Al Gore?
Joanne Mariner
In Defense
of the Filibuster
Ahmad Faruqui
The Apocalyptic
Vision of the Neo----Con Ideologues
Dave Marsh
Eminem's
Body & Soul
David Vest
On the Lam
from Uncle Sam
Julian Samuel
Bowling
for Columbine
Adam Engel
Piss Off,
NSA!
Behzad Yaghmaian
The Grassroots
Challenge to Iran's Theocracy
Wayne Saunders
This
Mad, Limitless War
Dan Brook
Celebrate
Genocide!
Uri Avnery
"Likud
Has Failed"
Philip Farruggio
Turkeys
Resources:
100s of Links
About 9/11
CounterPunch:
Complete
Coverage of 9/11 and Its Aftermath
Five
Days That
Shook The World:
Seattle and Beyond
By
Alexander Cockburn
and Jeffrey St. Clair
Photos by Allan Sekula
(Click Here to Order from CounterPunch
Online at 20% Off Amazon.com's price!)
Read
Whiteout and Find Out
How the CIA's Backing of the Mujahideen Created the World's Most
Robust Heroin Market and Helped to Finance the Rise of the Taliban
and Osama bin Laden
Whiteout:
CIA, Drugs & the
Press
by Alexander
Cockburn
and Jeffrey St. Clair
|