THE ISRAELI PRINCIPLE OF COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT
The blockade of the Palestinian people unleashed by Israeli state
terrorism under the medieval principle of collective punishment is
outrageous. After the disgusting spectacle of Peres
and Clinton grandstanding at Sharm el-Sheik against the so-called
terrorism of Iran and others; the Israeli state, fully supported by
U.S. imperialism, pounced on the entire Palestinian population and
unleashed collective punishment. They even demanded that the
Palestinian Authority act against the Palestinian populace under
the pretext of arresting "Hamas and Islamic Jehad" suspects.
As soon as it became clear that the Israeli state was
hell-bent to punish the Palestinian population and that U.S.
imperialism was going to reward the Israelis to the tune of 100
million dollars, cracks began to appear amongst the "peacemakers."
The Egyptian newspaper El Gamhuria on March 24, demanded that Peres
resign and accused him of betrayal: "You have strayed from every
principle, you have disregarded every value, you have violated
every commitment, usurped every right, distorted and twisted every
fact...We misjudged you, we thought you had changed, we believed
some of your writings and plans for a Middle East project and for
peace...Then you opened the gates of hell in revenge....You took
off your sheep's clothing and behaved like a wolf...."
This editorial retained the illusion that a just peace can be
achieved with an Israeli state that remains a thoroughgoing lackey
of U.S. imperialism and refuses justice for the Palestinians. The
editorial continued: "Why should it not be with Netanyahu that the
peace process continues,...Why stick with you, when every
achievement on the road to peace was made with (assassinated Prime
Minister) Rabin?...Go, you advocate of force and militarism. Go,
you advocate of a false peace. Go and let someone else try, someone
who might be able to save what is left. Go before the region turns
into hell...."
On March 25, Egypt launched an attack on the U.S. criticising
it for supporting Israel's principle of "collective punishment."
This time al-Akhbar accused the United States of undermining the
Middle East peace process by cheap hypocrisy and pandering to
Israel: "It is no secret how disappointed Arab and Egyptian public
opinion is as a result of the pampering and cheap hypocrisy which
Israel scandalously receives these days from the U.S.
administration....The outcome will be a serious setback to the
peace process....It is a laissez passer for Israel to pursue its
aggressive policies and put obstacles in the way of peace."
On his part, Yasser Arafat condemned the blockade of
Palestinian territories: "They are punishing the Palestinian people
collectively. The blockade imposed on our people...is provoking
terrible consequences. It's madness, it's pushing our people
towards a big explosion...."
Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa, alluding to the millions
of dollars awarded to the Israeli military and expressing implicit
criticism of U.S. policy, said on Monday that Palestinians also
needed financial help following the "Summit of Peacemakers." Hesaid
that, "Egypt does not think one party alone should benefit....The
Palestinians need material support, in the same way as the Israeli
side has been supported....The measures which Israel is now taking
are leading to economic and political frustration, whether through
the suspension of the peace process or the blockade."
Yossi Beilin from Shimon Peres' office, in a visit to Jordan
conferred with Crown Prince Hassan, Prime Minister Abdul
Karim-al-Kabariti and Planning Minister Rima Khalaf. According to
news reports, "The Jordanian side asked that Israel lift its
closure of the Palestinian territories and we (the Jordanian side)
expressed our alarm at what is happening in terms of Palestinian
suffering and the high unemployment rate the closure is
causing....We believe that the closure and the unemployment it is
causing in the West Bank and Gaza will only lead to more
violence....Beilin told reporters the border closures were 'only
temporary....We understand the difficulties the Palestinians face
and we will do all we can to ease the situation under the
circumstances of the closure....This policy is not long-term, but
the move had to be made to prevent further violent activities'."
Despite all the declarations, editorials, confessions and
tears of sympathy, these governments have taken no action of their
own against the state of Israel or against U.S. imperialism. Are
these statements merely made for home consumption? Is this a total
sham, this public indignation? Has everything already been agreed
upon in private, that the Palestinians should be punished? If this
were not the case, would not the fact that literally every Arab
government opposes the Israeli blockade of the Palestinians have
forced the Israeli state and the U.S. to have reversed this brutal
principle of collective punishment?
This continuing tragedy for the people of the region must be
denounced by the working class. This is not civilized
behavior. The people in the Middle East must be encouraged to
eliminate the scourge of foreign interference, mainly U.S.
imperialism, and take united action to find a just solution to the
problem. Neither Israeli state terrorism can be accepted, nor the
killing of Israeli and Palestinian civilians can be condoned.
Clearly, it is the Israeli state, U.S. imperialism and their
collaborators who are responsible for the perpetuation of this
dismemberment of the nation of Palestine. Unless this historic
injustice is rectified, with the guilty punished and victims
compensated, there will be no peace in the region. Down with the
barbaric line of collective punishment! U.S. imperialism, Get Out
of the Middle East!
Shawgi Tell
University at Buffalo
Graduate School of Education
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
