As time goes by and the list of injustices suffered by the Palestinians at the hands of Israel continues to grow, the psychosis riddling the Israeli state becomes increasingly apparent. Whether the continued violence and abuse can be attributed to malevolence or ignorance, willful or otherwise, a simple truth remains. Until the citizenry of Israel decide that they can no longer abide the continued persecution of the Palestinians, peace will never be achieved in the Holy Land.
Those who recognize the reprehensible treatment of Palestinians at the hands of Israel also recognize that it is the Israeli government’s fault. In some ways this is true: the Israeli government does rain down death and destruction on Palestine. This death can come in the form of rockets fired at the Gaza Strip, or more slowly by the overwrought economic control Israel patently admitted to in a recently leaked cable. The cable describes Israel’s intention to keep the economy in the Gaza Strip at the “lowest level” short of “a humanitarian crisis.” And yet, a government is simply a reflection of its people.
Just as in any democracy, the leadership of Israel can only govern with the consent or silence of their constituents. If a majority is opposed to their actions, cessation is legally required. Even if democratic means are ignored, sheer numbers alone would allow
a majority to overthrow their government in the finest tradition of putting an end to unjust tyranny.
However, there is no popular Israeli uproar over the well documented actions of the Israeli regime, there is no widespread opposition.
see ISRAEL, page 12
At best it can be claimed that the majority of the Israeli population are ignorant of the crimes of their government and that the governing body is not a reflection of their beliefs and values. This is not good enough. Israel’s leadership consistently drags its feet on land negotiations, demonstrating its refusal to accept anything but the borders of 1967, minus the Sinai Peninsula — no one should be surprised when Zionist Israeli politicians pursue this by any means necessary. As for apathy, silence is no deterrent to men like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.
These are not the greatest concerns though, for there is an ever increasing growth of open and unrepentant discrimination within the population of Israel that clearly supports the oppression of those living in Palestine and the Gaza Strip. Recent surveys by the Israeli Democracy Institute show that one third of the population would support the forcible detainment of Palestinians in internment camps in the event of war with a neighbouring Arab state. Eighty per cent believe that only a Jewish majority should decide Israel’s future political arrangement. This survey, the continued expansion of settlement, the economic suffocation of Gaza, and the regular murder of Palestinians by the Israeli military taken together highlight a deeply disturbing trend among the Jewish Israeli population.
The argument can be made that this hostility towards Palestinians as a whole has been brought on to a certain extent by the Palestinians themselves. It would be untrue to say that while Palestinians have suffered during the occupation, Israelis have not. For example, the 2009 Gaza War, in which between 1166 and 1417 Palestinians were killed, resulted in the deaths of 13 Israelis.
The fact of the matter is that the Israeli government and military have no qualms about the continued use of violence and repression as a means to expel Palestinians from their homes. A significant portion of the Jewish Israeli population either openly supports this, as indicated by polls, or does not care enough to oppose it. They fail to recognize the humanity of the Palestinians they persecute.
So long as America continues to provide Israel with weapons, funds and immunity from any legal repercussions, no foreign intervention short of war will end the oppression. Peace could be achieved, however, if the people of Israel ceased to lend their support to their apartheid government.