My thanks to the admins and moderators of nettime, who have given the
space for this discussion which - so far as my limited knowledge of net
cultures extends to - is not a core subject for the list.
During the last 3-4 days there have been comments on my posts by Allan
Siegel, Ted Byfield and David Opp. What links their comments is the
legitimacy of the state of Israel and the presence of the Jewish people.
There is undoubtedly a historical record that stretches back to remote
antiquity. Insofar as it can be telegraphed, the Hebrews entered the
land of Israel about 1300 BCE, living under a tribal confederation until
being united under the first king, Saul. The second king, David,
established Jerusalem as the capital around 1000 BCE. David’s son,
Solomon, built the Temple soon thereafter. Of all the people who lived
in the area at that time - such as the Phoenicians, Moabites, and
Philistines - only the Jews remain today.
To better understand the Jewish attachment to the land, this is a
passage from a fairly recent volume.
"In 1921, the Jewish National Fund had purchased large tracts of land in
the Valley of Jezreel known as the Emek. The region was swampy and
ridden with malaria and blackwater fever. It had to be drained and
cultivated. Merhavia, the kibbutz which Golda chose because some
Americans who had come over with the Jewish Legion had settled there,
was one of the oldest cooperatives in the Emek. Originally founded in
1909 by members of the legendary Second Aliyah, it had proved to be a
difficult spot. After ten years most of the marshland was drained, but
the original group had been physically broken in the process." (From
'Golda Meir, Israel's Leader', Marie Syrkin, G P Putnam's Sons, 1969.)
Keith Sanborn has asked: "What is the difference between an attack and a
terrorist attack? Wholesale vs retail?"
Reliable sources are to be found in the legal texts on International
Humanitarian Law. Hamas, even if taken to be a non-state entity or part
of a non-state entity, is considered by all accepted criteria to be
fully accountable under International Humanitarian Law for its actions
in terror attacks (it is a listed terror organisation by the European
Union and by the USA) against Israeli civilians and using its own
civilians (Arab Palestinians) as human shields. Its leadership,
commanders, and fighters are therefore punishable for crimes against
humanity and war crimes. The indiscriminate firing of more than 3,300
rockets into Israel’s towns and villages violates the rule of
distinction in international humanitarian law, which requires combatants
to limit attacks to legitimate military targets, and there is the
difference about which you ask.
Furthermore, also consult (a) Yoram Dinstein, 'The Conduct of
Hostilities Under the Law of International Armed Conflict' (Cambridge
UP, 2004), (b) Jean-Marie Henkaerts and Louise Doswald-Beck, 'Customary
International Humanitarian Law' (ICRC, Cambridge UP, 2005). (c) First
Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions (1977), W J Fenrick, 'The
Rule of Proportionality and Protocol I in Conventional Warfare' (98 Mil.
L. Rev., 1982).
Sanborn: "No one has ever tried to sanitize this."
What happened on 7 October 2023 was the biggest massacre in one day of
Jewish civilians since the Holocaust, and it is the second highest death
toll because of terrorist action after the events of 11 September 2001
in USA. The death toll is now above 1,300, the count of the injured is
much higher than that number, and there are nearly 200 hostages still
held by Hamas. No amount of academic and activist justification can
obscure or distort these facts.
In a previous post I had written, "In a number of cities in Europe,
North America and Australia, later on 7 October and during the days
following, 'celebrations' for the attack were on public display by
supporters in those cities of Hamas, the Palestinian Authority and the
Palestinian "resistance"." Sanborn asked "I wd like to see some
references substantiating this."
Here they are:
https://news.sky.com/story/london-protest-thousands-attend-pro-palestinian-march-amid-escalating-israel-hamas-conflict-12984380
https://www.dw.com/en/berlin-police-break-up-banned-pro-palestinian-rally/a-67104373
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/12/scholz-pledges-zero-tolerance-as-antisemitic-incidents-rise-in-europe
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/german-police-ban-palestinian-solidarity-rallies-in-berlin/3015651
https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/baden-wuerttemberg/israel-palaestina-konflikt-bw-100.html
(protets forbidden in German cities)
https://www.politico.eu/article/france-gerald-darmanin-aims-to-ban-all-pro-palestine-protests/
https://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/les-enseignants-en-premiere-ligne-face-a-la-terreur-islamiste-20231015
(Teachers on the front line of Islamic terror)
https://www.lefigaro.fr/vox/societe/barbarie-islamiste-mecanique-mortifere-20231015
https://www.dutchnews.nl/2023/10/10000-demonstrate-in-amsterdam-in-support-of-palestine/
https://www.profil.at/oesterreich/judenhass-im-herzen-wiens-wer-hinter-den-demos-steckt/402631148
(Jew hatred in Vienna)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2023/10/12/hamas-attack-harvard-students-blame-israel/71152750007/
Rahul Goswami
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