Insanity Is

06 March, 2008

“Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

– Albert Einstein.

 

Since 27 February 2008, 120 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza.[i]  Israel is invading Gaza once again using the pretext of retaliation for the rockets being launched by Palestinian resistance fighters, which regrettably have killed 14 Israelis since 2000.[ii]  And of course it’s all Hamas’s fault.  And they’re a terrorist organization.  And Israel has a right to defend itself. After all, they were just exercising their US-sanctioned right to impose a blockade on Gaza and only had been doing so since June of 2007.[iii]

 

And the latest Israeli attack, of course, is once again fully backed by the United States Government as confirmed by State Department Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey in his daily press briefing of 29 February 2008.[iv]

 

“As far as Hamas goes we, of course, do not have contacts with Hamas. They’re a terrorist organization. I think you’ve heard from the Secretary (Condoleezza Rice), as well as from others about our clear insistence that these rocket attacks stop.”

 

So Secretary Rice is going to the Middle East to do damage control on the so-called peace process, where “she will meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders to support their ongoing bilateral dialogue.”[v]  How nice, it sounds like a chat over tea.  I’m sure the citizens of Gaza will be relieved and they should be, because Ms. Rice assured the press in a briefing en route to Brussels that “the solution to this situation in the Middle East remains faithful execution of the Annapolis commitments and -- is this working?”[vi]

 

Yes indeed, Madam Secretary, is this working?  What an interesting juxtaposition of words.  In all fairness, the remark seems to be referring to a microphone but I would maintain that these three words, “Is this working,” form precisely the question that is begging to be asked with reference to the peace process but is not.

 

Israel invades adjacent territories and the US sends an envoy, who neither condemns Israeli aggression, nor calls for a cease fire.  Now if this scenario sounds familiar, take heart.  One brave, but perhaps slightly naive unnamed reporter on the airplane thought so as well and had the audacity to ask,

 

“There have been criticisms against Israel and the situation is looking very much like Lebanon in 2006, and again U.S. is not calling for a cease fire. Are you concerned that this can lead to a radicalization of the Palestinian population?”[vii]

 

Radicalization? With 85% of Gaza’s population as of July 2007 dependent on humanitarian aid[viii] according to one Israeli human rights organization, I think that the radicalization has already taken place.  Considering the number of Palestinians killed by the current Israeli onslaught, I would say that the Palestinians have displayed remarkable restraint.

 

And, speaking of restraint, it would be nice if the Israelis could show similar restraint towards the Palestinians.  Or is the Israeli population so radicalized that they would allow a helicopter to fire into a schoolyard and justify it in the name of Israel’s right to defend itself? Or how about firing upon ambulances, or are they now considered as legitimate targets? Of course we already know that electrical generating plants are considered as military targets, since the Israeli Air Force bombed the power plant in Gaza.  Incidentally, the replacement transformers have been held at Karni crossing since June of 2007.[ix] 

 

So no, Madam Secretary, it’s NOT working.  Whether it’s called the Peace Process or the following the Roadmap or the Annapolis commitments it’s not working.  And until the US is willing to address the Israeli attacks in Gaza and condemn them with the same persistence and vehemence that it condemns the Palestinian rocket attacks, it won’t work.

 

Doing the same thing over and over again…

Israel tightens its choke hold on Gaza, a few Palestinians respond with rockets, Israel unleashes its military might with US blessing after which the US dispatches its diplomats with their solutions to the problems in the Middle East.  All parties spout the same familiar rhetoric that contains yet another permutation of the same meaningless phrases such as following a roadmap, bilateral dialog and the peace process.

 

And expecting different results…

Does the word “insanity” ring a bell?

 

Yuram Abdullah Weiler

2008-03-06

Posted by yuram 16:46 | Palestine | Comment(0) | Permalink

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