Roadkills On The “Road Map” For Peace

 

The murderous Israeli onslaught of Gazans continues unabated and with impunity as Israel unleashed thousands of its ground troops to foray further into the densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip killing hundreds of civilians most of whom are children, women, and non-combatant men. Hamas commanders have elected to engage the incursive Israeli forces employing Guerrilla warfare. Conventional force on force attacks on the well-equipped and better supported Israeli ground forces would have been suicidal. Instead, Hamas fighters dissolved into the Strip ’straggling cities sporadically attacking Israeli forces with anti-tank missiles and mortars; their tactics, so far, resulted in the killing of eight Israeli soldier, far less than what Israeli strategists predicted. The Israeli show of force is yielding limited results; Hamas’ mortar attacks on southern Israeli cities, albeit drastically reduced, remain a threat. Israeli military commanders are tempted to push deeper into Palestinian cities, but they are concerned that close quarter urban skirmishes will result in a higher casualty rate not among the Palestinian civilians, but the Israeli forces.

The targeting list of the Israeli army seems to be quite inclusive. Private dwellings, markets, mosques, shelters, and hospitals have been shelled just as frequently as known government and military installations. Ambulance drivers have been sniped; International relief organizations and medical personnel have been denied entry into Gaza to provide a much needed humanitarian assistance to the growing number of affected civilians. A United Nations school in the Jabaliya refugee camp sheltering mostly children, women and the elderly was shelled killing forty people. Israeli officials accused Hamas of firing missiles from the school. The accusation was categorically denied by the director of Gazan operations for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, John Ging.

There are no safe havens

in Gaza;

there is

no food,

no water,

no relief.

On most faces,

there is no hope;

only a raging grief

peers through the mask

of resignation;

only the wailing of the bereaved

could be heard at night

over the barking of the guns.

Only the stench of decaying bodies

under reddened concrete slabs

covers the cordite.

 

The international community’s intense efforts to broker a cease-fire were stymied by the unwillingness of Israel and the Bush administration to commit to a cessation of hostilities with Hamas remaining in power. Hamas’ leadership, bound by its 1988 charter, pledged to continue its missile attacks on Israel and its weapons smuggling operations from Egypt.

On Thursday 8^th, 2008, the Arab nations, led by Libya, a revolving non-permanent member of the Security Council, were able to garner enough votes at the United Nations to guarantee a Security Council binding resolution for an immediate cease-fire that offers the Gazans a respite and alleviates from their horrendous suffering. The resolution was approved with a vote of 14 – 0, with the US, uncharacteristically, abstaining. The US initially objected to the resolution citing its failure to address Israel’s concerns about Hamas’ weapons smuggling and missile attacks. The unequivocal support the Bush administration smothered Israel with allowed anti-US hardliners such as Iran to gain popularity while alienating pro-US Arab governments which are now seen as enablers of Israel.

The Security Council’s favorable vote on an Arab proposed resolution that was not vetoed by the US is a clear indicator the said resolution offers Israel a strategic lead and will be detrimental to the Palestinians in their future peace negotiations. The resolution, far from condemning Israel’s criminal massacre of non-combatant Palestinians in flagrant violation of international laws, gives it a diktat to inflict, with reinforced confidence and without fear of international incrimination, more violence on Gaza when the latter is deemed a security threat to the Jewish state. Considering Hamas’ radical 1988 charter, the symptomatically reckless and short-sighted policies of its leadership, Israel’s proclivity to excessive violence, and the bubbling militancy of the Palestinian population that Israel did much to exacerbate, it will only be months, if not weeks, before the butchery carries on. It is clear that Israel’s “road map” for peace is paved with Palestinian bodies.

A. T. B. Copyright © 2009