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Hamas, Gaza and Bush’s Legacy

By Ralph Seliger

One would have to have a heart of stone not to be appalled by the mass suffering visited upon the Gaza Strip by Israel’s punishing assault. If blame is to be assessed, however, it does not belong to Israel alone. The Gaza war between Israel and Hamas is but another legacy of George W. Bush’s disastrous presidency. After Israel withdrew its… return to article

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    There was a time when the killing of hundreds of children – particularly by a claimed democratic state - would cause an international outcry.  In the case of Israel, in Gaza, this has signally failed to happen because the Israeli Foreign Affairs Ministry has disseminated propaganda that insists that the killings were the fault of Hamas who allegedly used the Palestinian children – four hundred of them – as so-called ‘human shields’ to prevent the IDF killing their mothers and fathers!

    It is difficult to accept that the public would be so gullible as to accept this fabrication.  These children, and many women, and civilian men – all of whom posed no threat whatsoever to the mighty Israeli army - had their lives abruptly ended by a US-supplied cluster bomb or missile fired from an F16 bomber, tank or helicopter gunship – or just from being brutally shot through the head by an Israeli soldier.  These are the documented facts. Witness after witness will attest to the inhumanity of the Israeli army and to the atrocity that was carried out a few short weeks ago.  Yet, incredibly, there is little outcry or condemnation of this terrible war crime.

    If the perpetrators are not brought to justice, there will be little hope that democratic societies will continue to exist. Democracy depends on the rule of law and the upholding of human and civil rights.  Today, in Israel, these essential cornerstones of the democratic system have been cynically thrown overboard in a desperate attempt to maintain its illegal occupation and control of Palestinian lands in the knowledge that the US will vote against any resolution of the UNSC to take action. Is this democracy? 

    That the world stands by, blind and uncaring, is an example of moral cowardice rarely seen before in the last half century. A travesty of justice that, when the historiography of the 21st century is written, will question why ordinary people around the world, chose to condone such barbaric acts against innocent children - acts reminiscent of WW2.

    United Kingdom Posted by Rachel Pine on Feb 8, 2009 at 6:46 PM
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