Lets not mince words.
Israelis are committing genocide in Gaza. But the United Nations is loath to use the
“G” word and it us using the “C” (condemn) word instead. Why?
Money talks. The top financier of the United
Nations is America with a whopping 22.00% in direct funds (followed by
Japan 10.83%, Germany 7.14%, France 5.59%, and GB 5.18%), if the United Nations called out the genocide
in Gaza, its top financier would have to be punished for its complicity.
According to Article 3 of the Convention
on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, persons committing
genocide or complicity in genocide shall be punished
“whether
they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private
individuals.” The United States not only
supports and funds the ongoing genocide in Gaza, replenishes Israel with more
funds and weaponry, but it also uses its political clout to enable Israel to
continue its ruthless crimes against humanity.
While
many have not been shy about calling these crimes genocide, they have
come under attack for using the “G” word. Is genocide an appropriate term to use? Well, it is if one has respect for
international law and the rules of the genocide convention. Article 2 of the Convention clearly spells out:
“In the present Convention, genocide means any [emphasis added]of the following acts committed with
intent to destroy, in whole or in part
[emphasis added], a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
•
(a) Killing members of the group;
•
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
•
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated
to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
•
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
•
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.”
There is little argument and ample evidence that Israel’s actions
against the people of Gaza in particular, and Palestine as whole, constitute the
term genocide.
While the pro-Israel Western
media has been unable to conceal the daily, indiscriminate killing of anything that
breathes and moves in Gaza (Article 2a) and the terrorization of children, the
young and the old (mental harm) with the constant bombardment, bulldozers, and drones
(Article 2b), the media has been apt at hiding the horrific effects of the
blockade – the deliberate infliction of condition of life calculated to bring
about physical destruction in whole or in part (Article 2c).
In 2010, Amnesty
International’s report Suffocating Gaza - the Israeli blockade's
effects on Palestinians detailed the reality of life in Gaza including restricting
the entry of basic goods, food and fuel. On January 28, 2014, the daily Haaretz ran an
article entitled “In Gaza, water - and time
- are running out; Experts say Gaza water shortage likely to bring about illness.” The situation has only exasperated.
Yet, in spite of the evidence, the United Nations Secretary General
Ban ki-Moon, ignoring all other atrocities, calls an attack on a UN school
which killed innocent civilians “outrageous”.
Perhaps he ought to be reminded of, and heed his predecessor, Kofi Annan
who acknowledged responsibility for not having done more to prevent or stop the
Rwanda genocide.
In his July 2004 address
to the Commission
on Human Rights, Mr. Annan said:
“If we are serious about
preventing or stopping genocide in future, we must not be held back by
legalistic arguments about whether a particular atrocity meets the definition
of genocide or not. By the time we are certain, it may often be too late
to act. We must recognize the signs of approaching or possible genocide,
so that we can act in time to avert it.”
Ban
ki-Moon must have missed the speech and the memo; although in July 2012, he
did appoint Adam Dieng of Senegal
as his Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide – only to refrain from the “G” word it would
seem.
The American government is
not alone in its complicity in genocide or in its incitement. Mainstream media networks and commentators
who paint a picture of an Israel “self-defense” to give room to the continued
genocide are complicit and must be punished.
But in the opinion of this writer, the vilest partners in this crime are
the Egyptian and Saudi leaders committing fratricide.
Egypt’s military coup
leader and the illegitimate president of Egypt, al-Sisi, whom the Israel
ambassador called a ‘hero for all Jews’ , has trapped the Gazans so that Israel can eliminate them all. Genocide will prove to be lucrative business
for the Egyptians. Piping Israeli gas (stolen from Gaza) to liquefaction
plants in Egypt to beconverted into LNG and exported across the world.
[SIDE BAR: In 2009, David
Wurmser writing for the Jewish policy
Center opined “Israel
and its neighbor now sit atop roughly two years' worth of European consumption”. He further suggests “even modest amounts of
Israeli gas exports can carry significant strategic leverage”. Citing Europe’s
gas vulnerability, Wurmser wrote “Europe's grim reality could represent a
unique window of opportunity for Israel to nail down long-term agreements and
align export policy with a broader effort to reset Israeli-European relations.”
The MH 17 was brought down four hours after Israel’s ground invasion of
Gaza. Europeans reluctant to enforce
further sanctions on Russia was no longer so reluctant. END SIDE BAR.]
Israel’s interest in Egypt and its opposition to the elected president
of the Egyptian people, Mohammad Morsi, went beyond a gas transit and the Palestinians. On
May 30, 2013, The Times of
Israel reported that the
construction on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (on the Blue Nile) had
sparked a major diplomatic crisis with Egypt – a concern shared with Saudi
Arabia and its plans to divert water from the Nile. In 2012, it was reported
that Saudi Arabia had claimed a stake in the Nile.
The Saudi regime showered the coup government with aid after the
overthrow of Morsi. In January, Egypt
received a further $4 billion to Egypt, and in May, Saudi Arabia showered the Egyptians with another
$3billion
while Egypt trapped Gazans to be slaughtered by Israel.
Never has the world witnessed so much impunity. The
United Nations refuses to acknowledge genocide and takes no part in preventing
or punishing it. The silence of those
guarding our rights and our laws makes them
the silent partners in this crime against humanity. As Jonathan Swift said: ““I never wonder to see men
wicked, but I often wonder to see them not ashamed.”
No comments:
Post a Comment