Israel and Hamas: ‘Finger-Pointing Will Get Us Nowhere’
The appalling events in Israel and Gaza have unleashed unprecedented bloodletting, spawned outrage around the world, and increased the risk of a full-blown Middle East conflict.
They have exposed the international community’s culpability in letting the situation fester unresolved for so long, to the cost of both Israelis and Palestinians. They have also highlighted how extreme and polarised views on the conflict have become, to the detriment of rational debate or common ground.
It’s been shocking to see how many commentators have argued that Hamas’ indiscriminate and barbarous assault on Israeli civilians and seizure of hostages is justified, or even to be celebrated, as a legitimate blow for justice for the Palestinians, given how much they have suffered under Israeli occupation. This is grotesque whataboutery.
Hamas claims to be acting on behalf of the Palestinians, but its actions will do nothing to advance their cause or improve their lives. Instead, as we are already witnessing, it has precipitated an entirely predictable, and devastating, Israeli response, including a massive bombing campaign, the imposition of a complete blockade on Gaza, and (at the time of writing) the cutting off of all food, water and electricity to residents there.
Calls urging Israel to exercise restraint have inevitably fallen on deaf ears. Having failed to anticipate the attack in advance, Israel’s intelligence and military services are under huge pressure to crush Hamas now, and ensure that Gaza can never again become a safe haven from which militants can launch attacks.
It’s also been shocking to see how many people have tried to claim that those who criticise Hamas but support Ukraine are operating double standards – when the methods Hamas has used have far more in common with Russian atrocities, than Ukraine’s behaviour in trying to defend itself.
Yet, it’s been equally disheartening on the other side to see how many supporters of Israel have called for the obliteration of Gaza, no matter what the cost in terms of innocent Palestinian deaths, and cheered the suffering of Palestinian men, women and children, in their desire for revenge.
There is a form of double standards at play, in that while most of the democratic world was quick to condemn Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, and rally to give it support and arms to fight back, the international community has been far more laggardly in terms of addressing years of harsh Israeli behaviour towards Palestinians. This includes Israel’s continuing illegal occupation of Palestinian territory, continued construction of new Jewish settlements in the West Bank, and regular use of collective punishment against the families of militants, all in violation of international humanitarian law…
