7th Oct, marking the anniversary of Hamas’s unprovoked, horrific terrorist attack: killing over 1200 innocent, unarmed civilians and taking over 200 hostages, was a somber affair in Israel. The national flag was flying at half mast, relatives of the remaining hostages were clinging on to the hope that they will soon be released and pressing the Govt to work for that.
Most of Western TV channels and some Indian TV channels gave extensive coverage to reminiscing about what happened on that fateful night and interviewing survivors and their relatives about how they had coped with their loss and sorrow in the last one year. There was unmistakable outpouring of anger, bitterness, frustration regarding loss of innocent lives and widespread sympathy for emotional sufferings of the relatives of the victims. This appeared natural & understandable.
But what disappointed many was the fact that barring a handful of Channels (Al Jazeera, BBC, Wion etc.)there was hardly any coverage of how has been the last year for the Gazans: elderly, women & children included who had lost not only their dear and loved ones but also their home and hearth and have been herded like cattle from one direction to another with no food, water and shelter and nowhere to go; fear of getting killed by Israeli bombs, missiles and drones gripping them all the time. While there was visible sympathy and milk of human kindness flowing for the Israelis, most anchors showed virtually no interest in probing & understanding what it meant to lose 42000 human lives including 20,000 children and leaving behind thousands of children with one leg. Al Jazeera and Wion showed the picture of Gaza on 6th Oct 2023, it looked a bustling, vibrant area filled with teeming citizens. On 7th Oct 2024, there was no building in sight; they were all brought down by intense Israeli bombing; Gaza was reduced to a vast wasteland, miles and miles of rubbles. Instead of lighting candles and placing flowers at the graves of the deceased, one could see surviving Palestinians struggling to dig out dead bodies from the debris with bare hands! Not only the UNSG & WHO Chief but most of aid agencies have likened Gaza to a grave yard! Nobody hoisted half-mast flag for them. It seemed, their loss of lives, incalculable sufferings and dark future meant nothing to the world; they were not human beings! Two pictures were real but looked as if taken on two different planets!
What Hamas did on Oct 7th 2023 was blatantly wrong and unacceptable in a civilized society notwithstanding Palestinians’ pent-up bitterness, anger and hatred of 75 years against Israel for continuing to occupy their land and subjecting them to intolerable humiliations and insults on daily basis. They might have a just and legitimate cause to flag but the method they chose was wholly wrong. It criminalized the cause!
By the same yard stick,while Netanyahu’s anger and urge to punish/ take revenge is quite understandable, the reckless manner in which he has destroyed entire Gaza, killed more than 42 000 Palestinians, made 1.5 million of them homeless and subjected them to incalculable sufferings can’t be condoned. Can he claim any higher moral ground?
When Hitler ordered the Jews to be gassed, he had no remorse, no regrets, no pangs of conscience. He won’t have been bothered about the feelings and sorrow of the relatives of the victims of his horrific Holocaust. Netanyahu behaves as if he has a license to kill any number of Palestinians & other Arab nationals anywhere. He orders bombing with Hitleresque callousness about the loss of innocent Palestinian lives and destruction of their home and hearth. Several world leaders feel, in killing thousands of innocent people, destroying their homes and displacing 3 million people (1,5 million in Gaza and 1.5 million in Lebanon) and turning their lives in to a virtual hell, Netanyahu has committed genocide and war crimes. Shouldn’t it be probed?
Netanyahu knows Biden is, now, the lame duck president and the two candidates Trump & Harris can’t afford to take an anti-Israel stance during the presidential race.
Shamefully, the World community, has become mere bystander while thousands of innocent people are being killed in Gaza and Lebanon with impunity. They have means to stop the carnage but they don’t. Mahatam Gandhi said: if an act of violence is being committed before your eyes and you have means and power to stop it but you don’t, then you are as much guilty of committing violence as the perpetrators. One year is a long time, the US could have stopped Israel but it didn’t for its domestic political reasons. Not Surprisingly, it is accused of playing a duplicitous role: publicly claiming to be working for a ceasefire but, at the same time, supplying more weapons and ammunitions which Israel uses against the Palestinians! Doesn’t Biden’s repeated declaration of unstinted support of Israel encourage Netanyahu to continue his onslaught against Palestinians?
Yes, the Hamas, Hezbollah’s and the Houthis, Iran supported Axis of resistance, have been attacking Israel provocatively. Isn’t it time to revisit Obama’s painstakingly negotiated JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) under which Iran had pledged to cap its nuclear enrichment plan and not pursue the nuclear weapon track? It brought a degree of thaw in US-Iran relations and calmed down Iranian proxies. But by walking out of the nuclear agreement, Trump destroyed that thaw. The killing of Iranian Scientists, Generals and attack near Iranian nuclear facilities done with tacit US nod killed whatever trust was developing between the US-Iran. After Iranian attack with ballistic missiles (Oct 1st), Biden-Netanyahu phone conversation (Oct 9th) allegedly about Israeli attack against Iran leaves little doubt that the US & Iran are engaged in a proxy war.
Netanyahu knows, Biden is, now, the Lame Duck President and the two candidates: Trump & Harris can’t afford to take an anti-Israel stance during the presidential race. So, he seems exploiting the situation and hitting on 7-8 fronts including Syria; he thinks he can bomb the entire region into submission.
Sooner or later, Netanyahu will have to realize that there is no military solution of the Israeli -Palestinian conflict. Israel hasn’t achieved peace and security despite military superiority in the last 75 years! Indiscriminate killing of Palestinians is also killing the peaceful future of Israel for generations to come.
Well-wishers of Israel & Palestinians must encourage them to shun violence & opt for mutual respect, understanding, accommodation and sustained efforts to generate trust and confidence. Freezing the settlements on the West bank and full implementation of UN resolution 242 & Oslo Accords leading to establishment of a sovereign and independent Palestinian state side by side Israel is the only path for long term peace and security in the region.
Isn’t PM Modi’s sage advice to the Russian President Putin that it wasn’t an era of war & “no conflict can be resolved on the battle field “equally applicable to Netanyahu?