We are witnessing a depraved, rogue nation which perhaps believes that every act of violence and horror it perpetuates is justified in the name of… what?
What could possibly justify the horrific maiming of women and children and innocent men in a foreign country who were going about their daily lives? It is a sick mind that conjures up the idea of deadly pagers as weapons of mass mutilation. And we awake another day to read that they have now targeted people with lethal walkie-talkies. Dystopian doesn’t come close to describe what we are witness to in 2023/24.
Does Israel think the whole world will cheer that a few Hezbollah operatives were possibly killed along with the almost 3,000 innocents injured? When a maniacal leader starts to rant that all actions of violence are justified because he says so, we are in dire straits. It is remarkably similar to other world catastrophes when hatred and racism brews the “rational” murder of the innocent – the “other”.
What horror are we witnessing that a nation can get away with this? There seems to be no limit to the depravity Israel will stoop to in order to show that might is right and everyone else can just get out of the way of their violent agenda. Have you seen the footage of children with eyes gouged, legs and arms blown off? Have you seen the images of women and men blown to smithereens? Where is the outrage and the condemnation and sanctions and the full force of international objection to Israel tipping the Middle East (and possibly further) over the edge and redefining monstrous acts as justified.
Just when we think that Benjamin Netanyahu and his murderous cronies have reached a level of violence that makes us draw a sharp intake of breath, we learn of their escalation of depravity; the act of blowing limbs off children in another country in the name of revenge and deterrence. All this bloodshed and violence because Israel refuses to release captives over seven decades. All this horror because Israel refuses to give an inch of freedom or unfettered land back to the Palestinians or compensation for the decades of misery and dispossession. Netanyahu is inflicting misery on his own people as well.
Those families in Lebanon who have had their loved ones maimed and burnt and blinded will not stop and think “Well, we’ve been warned”. No. They will seek out those who have destroyed their lives. And so the cycle of violence continues.
When Hamas perpetrates violence, the US is very, very quick to condemn and demand that they pay for what they’ve done. When Hezbollah perpetrates acts of violence the US is very, very quick to instantaneously condemn and demand justice. (Would Hezbollah or Hamas exist if Israel had shared the land in 1948 instead of stealing it?). Where is the demand for justice and a condemnation of Israel’s violence? Israel struck three foreign nations – Iran, Syria and Lebanon. (Calling them “military strikes” is a euphemism for “we will strike without legitimate justification”). Imagine if Australia struck any of our surrounding nations, we would be castigated by the international community. Yet, not a word from Joe Biden as to the gross violation of international law that Israel commits on a daily basis. It feels like an alternative universe where violence and brutality are the norm and we should all just get with the program set by Israel and the US.
What is so staggering is that the hypocrisy of the US and Israel is like water off a duck’s back. “Democracy” and “moral” are words they both throw around, but they simply don’t care what the rest of the world thinks of them and their false narratives. Their reputations are in tatters, yet they shrug it off and pass the ammunition.
When and how will this all end? It will end with negotiations – all wars do. So why can’t we skip the war bit and go straight to the negotiations? Most nations understand that peace, diplomacy and justice are the only way forward for a world where each person can live and let live, so why have Israel and the United States misunderstood the lesson?
Reb Halabi
Reb Halabi focuses on the intersection of religion and geopolitics.
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