EDITORIAL - Israel's impunity, Blair's cynicism

The Jamaican Government is right in its characterisation of Israel's pummelling of unarmed civilians in Gaza as "disproportionate and indiscriminate" and we support the view of the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, that the action of the Netanyahu government could amount to war crimes. Or, put another way, Israel is engaged in a cold, calculated, collective punishment of Gaza's residents because it can, and is allowed to by its powerful ally, the United States.

In that regard, we feel that these claims against the Israeli government and its military, as similar claims against the Palestinian group Hamas, should be investigated. At the same time, we believe that the conflict highlights the cynical incompetence of Tony Blair's stewardship as the Middle East peace envoy and join those who call for his dismissal.

Neither this newspaper, nor, we are sure, Ms Pillay, or the many other people around the world who are concerned about Israel's action in the Palestinian territory, would have arrived at these conclusions lightly. In two weeks of fighting, more than 750 Palestinians have been killed. An estimated three quarters of them, including women and children and old men, are civilians. Perhaps 5,000 others have been injured. The Israelis report 32 Israeli deaths, all but two of whom were soldiers. For every one Israeli death, there are more than 23 Palestinian.

According to Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, his action is in response to Hamas' firing of missiles into Israel. Supposedly, Israel doesn't target civilians, who are advised to move out of neighbourhoods where Hamas infrastructure is to be attacked. But that argument ignores the fundamental point that Gaza is a narrow strip of land 23 miles long and a mere seven miles at its widest point. With every place being bombed, there is nowhere to run to. Israeli bombs have fallen on schools being used as shelters, hospitals, and on beaches where children are at play. International humanitarian law places the onus on Israel, a modern structured state with advanced technology, to protect civilians caught up in the conflict.

While Hamas' missiles and the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli youth may have been the proximate cause of the current conflict, Mr Netanyahu is likely to have also had other calculations, including the solidification of his withdrawal from the Israeli/Palestinian peace talks after the reconciliation of Hamas and the more moderate Fatah, and their creation of a unity government. The shape of a Palestinian state and a broader peace plan is at stake.

Lift economic blockade

Like the Jamaican Government, we support Israel's right to exist within secure borders and that those borders should be what prevailed prior to the 1967 war. Palestine must be a single, contiguous state, rather than Bantustans. In the meantime, the economic blockade against Gaza, which dehumanises its population and drives it deeper into poverty, should be lifted.

These issues, we expect, would be robustly pursued by the peace envoy. Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, was the wrong choice by the Quarter. Mr Blair's overly pro-Israeli stance in the conflict rules him out as an honest broker, and his pursuance of war in Iraq on faulty intelligence worsened the instability in the Middle East, while his craven pursuit of personal wealth is a distraction.

The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.