| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Please think of Gaza | |
| Posted by: | Jeremy Parkinson | |
| Date/Time: | 29/12/23 12:27:00 |
| I suspect the reason the question was asked is that it would be normally be expected that someone with such strident and confident opinions would have direct and personal knowledge of what was happening. Other than a few stop overs in the Gulf States I've never been to the Middle East so I hesitate to jump to one side of the argument over this horrific situation. I think I won't be alone in being slightly irritated with your implication that anyone who doesn't share your point of view lacks compassion or hasn't considered the situation with some care. To use the term genocide in this context seems to be deliberately provocative and doesn't really stand up to any close scrutiny. Certainly there are people in Israel including those in government whose views could be interpreted as genocidal but the actions of the IDF, while arguably barbaric and excessive are not genocidal. They would claim that civilian deaths are a regrettable but unavoidable outcome of an entirely proportionate and justifiable military action against a territory which is one of the most densely population in the world and against an enemy which effectively uses the people living there as human shields and is continuing to fire rockets at Israel. Whether this is the whole truth I can't say. On the one hand there is no doubt that the destruction wrought on Gaza is appalling but if it is genocidal in intent it has to be said that the IDF are extremely inefficient. According to Hamas health ministry figures the death toll is over 21,000. This is about the same number as the amount of explosive rounds fired into the strip since the start of the assault. The IDF says it gives warnings to occupants of buildings to be attacked and there is testimony of residents receiving calls from Arabic speakers warning them to move. Buildings are 'double tapped' i.e. there is a low explosive charge shell dropped on the top floor of a building before the high explosive round. The IDF says all missiles fired are subject to pre-approval from a team of lawyers independent of the army who must receive evidence that the target is a legitimate military one. Are these rules and guidelines always followed or are they implemented in a way that errs on the side of vindictiveness? I don't know, I've never been to the region so don't have enough knowledge to have a firm opinion. What is undeniable is that the IDF claims it follows rules of engagement and proportionality which are exactly the same used by the RAF in conflicts. This regards anyone within the proximity of a military target as effectively not being a civilian. Our armed forces have killed lots of people on this basis over the past few decades. This is deemed legitimate in the way we interpret the rules of conflict. Obviously, I would like the violence to stop now and no more innocents to be killed and I'm sure everyone feels the same. However, two questions need to be asked. Firstly, in the aftermath of a 7 October-like incident affecting this country would you be backing similar action on the territory of the perpetrator to that currently being carried out by the IDF on Gaza? Shamefully, I suspect I would. Secondly, were the UK in the same situation as Israel, do you think any government could accept a ceasefire and not immediately be booted out of power? My view is that this would be inconceivable. Our ability to impact events in this situation is very limited and any satisfactory solution is going to be very hard to achieve. However, the most effective way for any individual to further inflame conflict is take a simplistic, unnuanced view of what is happening and condemn one side in terms that they are likely to find unjustified and highly offensive. As I will keep stressing, I don't have enough knowledge of the situation to reach a fixed view. What I can say with some confidence is that, after 7 October, Hamas, or any similar successor organisation, cannot have any involvement in government in Gaza. If we want Israel to stop killing innocent women and children, a solution needs to be offered to them that involves a future without Hamas. I really don't have the faintest idea what that might be. |