June 4, 2008
Each American claim to moral authority becomes a foul excretion in light of U.S. complicity in Israel's barbaric and illegal treatment of the Palestinians. Washington deploys its superpower apparatus to smother dissent against its Middle East policy in Europe and elsewhere, leaving former president Jimmy Carter and Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu as lonely defenders of Palestinian human rights. No change in American policy is on the horizon, as "the rot in America goes beyond this administration, and so does the rot in Israel." The "abomination," as Desmond Tutu describes it, against 1.6 million people in Palestine shows the hypocrisy of American and Israeli pretenses to civilization.
"The Europeans seem to be quite satisfied acting as America's puppet states."
How would the
civilized world
react if 1.6
million people
were kept
imprisoned,
denied access to
food, clean
water,
sanitation
facilities and
electricity? If
those people
were also
prevented from
fleeing their
oppression,
would Americans
and Europeans
speak out in
protest?
If those
aforesaid people
lived in Gaza,
and were
oppressed by
Israel, then the
civilized world
would say and do
absolutely
nothing. Israel
is the Untied
States' number
one client
state, and fear
of American
power has
silenced
everyone on
earth who has
the power to
stop this
atrocity.
While Tibet and
Darfur are the
subjects of
selective cause
celebre
condemnation,
there are almost
no voices raised
publicly on
behalf of
Palestinians,
who live in
danger of
indiscriminate
shelling and
gunfire, whose
homes are
destroyed by
Israeli tanks,
and who are
literally denied
an exit from
their hellish
existence. While
they suffer,
Israel continues
to build
settlements on
what is
rightfully
Palestinian
land.
It is not
surprising that
Washington takes
no action
against Israel,
but silence from
the rest of the
world community
is the most
shocking aspect
of this
continued
violation of
human rights.
Former president
Jimmy Carter and
Nobel peace
prize laureate
Desmond Tutu are
alone among
world leaders
who openly
condemn the
Israeli
government and
the complicit
silence from
other nations.
Gaza's woes
began in 2006
when its people
voted for a
government
headed by Hamas,
the Palestinian
group that
Israel and the
U.S. didn't
like. The United
States then
demanded a
blockade of Gaza
and the rest of
the so-called
Quartet
(European Union,
Russia, the
United Nations)
went along.
Carter has
revealed the
ugly truth about
this
decision."The
Quartet's final
document had
been drafted in
Washington in
advance, and not
a line was
changed."
"Former
president Jimmy
Carter and Nobel
peace prize
laureate Desmond
Tutu are alone
among world
leaders who
openly condemn
the Israeli
government."
Carter called
the blockade
that has
imprisoned more
than 1 million
people a "human
rights crime."
He has called on
the other
Quartet members
to break with
the United
States and end
the blockade and
he has tried in
vain to
encourage the
Europeans to
oppose American
policy. "Why
not? They're not
our vassals.
They occupy an
equal position
with the U.S."
Apparently
Carter has given
Europeans more
credit than they
give themselves.
They seem to be
quite satisfied
acting as
America's puppet
states.
Archbishop
Desmond Tutu has
joined Carter in
calling for
international
action to
end Gaza's
suffering. He
recently led a
United Nations
Human Rights
Council
delegation to
Gaza
specifically to
investigate the
2006 killings of
19 members of a
Palestinian
family whose
homes were
destroyed by
Israeli rocket
fire in the town
of Beit Hanoun.
The Israeli
government made
no pretense of
showing Tutu the
respect that he
receives
everywhere else
on earth. The
government
refused to grant
him and the
other members of
his party entry
into Israel, and
they were forced
to enter Gaza
through Egypt.
Tutu's
conclusions
about the
situation in
Gaza were
inescapable and
obvious. Yet the
words may seem
odd to American
ears, who never
hear a
discouraging
word about their
government or
Israel's.
"This is not
something you
want to wish on
your worst
enemy," said
Tutu. He called
the situation in
Gaza
"abominable" and
condemned the
"silent
complicity" of
the world
community. He
called the
killings at Beit
Hanoun a "massacre"
and in a
diplomatic
understatement
said that
Israel's
explanations of
the killings
"fell short of
accountability."
"Gazans have
nothing to look
forward to
except more
suffering."
The situation in
Gaza is of
course a result
of America's
support of
Israel. In the
past that
support was at
least tacitly
criticized by
the world
community, but
now shows signs
of being
accepted in much
the same way
that all of
America's
aggression has
become accepted.
America is
feared like a
bully on the
playground and
European nations
have decided to
be quiet and let
Bush have his
way. Jimmy
Carter said they
should not be
"supine" but
they are, and so
they acquiesce,
living in denial
and inertia
while running
out the clock
until January
2009 in hopes of
getting a better
deal.
They won't. The
rot in America
goes beyond this
administration,
and so does the
rot in Israel.
Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert may
be forced to
resign because
he has been
caught taking
bribes from a
rich American.
United States
foreign policy
will not change
with a new
administration.
Only Jimmy
Carter and
Desmond Tutu
will have
anything to say
about the crime
being committed
in Gaza, but
neither of them
are in power, so
their words
won't matter at
all. Gazans have
nothing to look
forward to
except more
suffering, more
Beit Hanouns and
more silence
from the rest of
the world.
Margaret
Kimberley's
Freedom Rider
column appears
weekly in BAR.
Ms. Kimberley
lives in New
York City, and
can be reached
via e-Mail at
Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgandaReport.Com.
Ms. Kimberley
maintains an
edifying and
frequently
updated blog at freedomrider.blogspot.com.
More of her work
is also
available at her
Black Agenda
Report
archive
page.
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