‘Democratic’ Israel tries to wipe out elected Palestinians

Every self-righteous excuse for the U.S. bankrolling of Israel’s endless aggressions against the Arab and Muslim people was shredded this week—and not for the first time.

New York protest June 30 hits Israel's assault on Gaza. WW photo: Deirdre Griswold

Think of the claim that Israel represents the only true “democracy” in the Middle East. Yet here were Israeli tanks and planes attacking the Palestinian Authority in Gaza, sending missiles into the office of the prime minister (fortunately, he wasn’t there) and arresting most of the top government officials.

Yes, elected officials. The Palestinian people went to the polls in January and chose the party they wanted to represent them. Nobody disputed the results of the election, which Hamas won. Wasn’t that a triumph for democracy? Especially since the people voted for the party that promised to fight hardest to defend their national identity and regain the lands that Israel took from them. That was a difficult thing to do, since they knew Israel, with the U.S. behind it, would find a way to strike back.

And it has. Its tanks swept into Gaza on June 28. Its fighter planes have been pounding away at power plants, the water supply and other essential elements of the infrastructure, leading to a major humanitarian crisis. Some 750,000 people in Gaza now have no electricity and no running water—during the hottest part of the year. It is a wonder that they survive.

One thing is sure. After such a horrendous experience, they will hate not only Israel but the U.S. for the rest of their lives.

Israel’s commandos have gone after the very people the Palestinians elected to represent them. To be precise, they have kidnapped 64 Palestinian governmental ministers and politicians since Israel began its assault on Gaza. Israeli planes also bombed the home of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismael Haniyeh.

All this is supposed to be in retaliation for the capture of one Israeli soldier. But in the weeks before that happened, the Israeli military had killed more than 30 Palestinian civilians, including three children and a pregnant woman.

There is speculation that Israel was trying to provoke a response in order to derail an agreement just concluded between the two major Palestinian parties, Hamas and Fatah, that could move forward negotiations for a peace settlement with Israel. Certainly, the Israeli people want peace, too—but their government is doing everything it can to keep such a thing from happening.

Even inside Israel, the government’s assault is being heavily criticized. Com mentator Gideon Levy of the newspaper Ha’aretz wrote, “A state that takes such steps is no longer distinguishable from a terror organization.”

Who really keeps this horrible war and occupation going? The answer is not just Tel Aviv but the U.S. government, which has built Israel into a military fortress to protect imperialist interests in the Middle East, especially the overweening lust of U.S. big business for the fabulous profits to be made from oil.

The U.S. government spends $3 billion a year on this small country—which comes to more than $8.5 million each day. Of course, that money comes from U.S. taxpayers. On the other hand, the profits from selling military equipment and oil products don’t go to the U.S. people—they go to the big corporations that find ways to pay practically nothing in taxes. So war or peace, it’s a win-win situation for the super-rich.

Instead of rescuing Jewish people from Nazi-occupied Europe during the Holo caust, Washington’s Machiavellian policy was to instead wait until after the war and then throw them into Palestine, where they were told by the Zionist political move ment that no one lived there anyway. The growth of this racist, settler state, which fought several wars with neighboring countries to expand its territory and treats the indigenous Pales tin ians as less than human, has only inflamed the whole area.

Throughout the Middle East, where for centuries Jews and Muslims lived amicably side by side, there is now the deepest animosity because of Israel’s aggressions.

What the U.S. government is doing to the Palestinians is not only cynical, vicious and reprehensible, but it is illegal, too. Under the U.S. Arms Export Control Act of 1976, military hardware sold by the United States can only be used for defensive purposes or to maintain internal security. Nevertheless, Israel has used U.S.-supplied F-16 fighter jets, “Apache” and Cobra attack helicopters, 15mm howitzers, M-16 automatic rifles, M50 machine guns and many other weapons and ammunition to attack Palestinian towns and cities.

There is growing sentiment inside the U.S., expressed especially in progressive youth culture, to support the Palestinian cause and stop the bankrolling of Israel. It’s an issue that should be taken up in every union, every community organization, every school.