Do International Laws Only Give Israel The Right To Defend Itself, Not Palestine?
By
Ghulam Ghaus Siddiqi, New Age Islam
25 October
2023
On
October 7, Hamas Targeted Innocent Israeli Civilians, Breaking International
Law And Has Been Condemned Universally. But Where Is The Condemnation For The
Mostrous Acts Israel Has Been Perpetrating Every Day Since. Not Only Has It
Bombarded Homes, Killed Over 7,000 Palestinians and injured 60,000 In The Last Fortnight, But It
Has Been Regularly Breaking International Laws For Decases By Seizing And
Occupying Palestinian Territory, Constructing Unauthorised Settlements,
Maintaining An Apartheid Regime, And Deliberately Attacking And Killing Palestinian
Civilians Almost Daily? Israel Claims The Right To Defend Itself After Each
Attack, Which In Practice Gives It A License To Bomb Civilians, Schools,
Hospitals, And Other Civilian Infrastructure. Despite Numerous Israeli Attacks
On Gaza And The West Bank, No Western Leader Or Representative Has Said Even
Once: "Palestine Has The Right To
Defend Itself". The Question Arises Whether International Laws Can Prevent
Israel From Killing And Torturing Palestinians, Despite Repeated Violations
Main
Points
1. The
Israeli-Hamas conflict has resulted in over 5,000 Palestinian and 1,400 Israeli deaths, with over 500
killed in just one targeted Israeli bombing of a Christian hospital in the Gaza
Strip.
2. The origins
of the Jewish arrival are at the heart of the current persecution in Palestine.
3. Israel is
intensifying its attacks on Gaza, causing significant disruptions to residents'
access to water, electricity, and other essential resources.
4. Leaders and
intellectuals, including Irish Sinn Féin leader Matt Carthy, expressed support
for Gaza and disapproval of Israel in a Dáil Éireann debate, highlighting the
powerlessness of public and political voices in addressing these issues.
5. The strength
of international laws in stopping Israel's violent actions is now in question,
with some questioning if they serve solely as a means of condemnation.
-----
File Photo
------
In the
Israeli-Hamas conflict, countless women, children, and innocent civilians have
perished. More than 4,000 innocent Palestinians have reportedly been martyred,
while more than 1,400 Israelis have also reportedly died. A major Christian
hospital in the Gaza Strip was targeted, and more than 500 people—including
sick women, children, their relatives, and medical personnel—were murdered in
just one targeted attack by Israel.
This bloody
conflict did not originate in Palestine for the first time. It has been going
on for generations. Israel killed roughly 3000 Palestinians in 1948. A tiny
Palestinian village was attacked by ten Israeli bombers in 1956, which resulted
in the deaths of roughly 100 individuals.
Fifty
students were killed in an Israeli attack on a small primary school in Egypt in
1970.
3500
campers were murdered at the Sabra and Shatila camps in 1982. In 1988, dozens of Palestinians were martyred
by military action in Al-Aqsa Mosque. How do the American and Canadian
governments categorise Palestinians as terrorists in the face of all these
facts? Even the UN gives Occupied people right to resist occupation even by
armed struggle.
Initially,
the West claimed that Israelis were subjected to oppression, but as people
become more aware of the reality, they realise that the advent of Jews in
Palestine is the true origin of this catastrophe, what Palestinians called Naqba in 1948.
Jews were
displaced after the First World War.
Europe and Britain believed that the Palestinians had more land than
they needed. The former Palestinian territories were governed by Egypt and
Jordan when Britain was given the order by the League of Nations to assume
authority. The Arab nations were not prepared to host Jews after the First
World War. However, Jews were transported to and settled in the Palestinian
areas as a result of international pressure. This was the beginning of settler
colonisation of Palestine. This was the settler colonialism of the 20th century
by Europeans, not dissimilar to settler colonialisms of America, Canada and
Australia several hundred years ago, in all of which millions of indigenous
people were brutally massacred.
Ghettos
have since been occasionally established in Palestinian territories as a
result. What would the resolution to this case be, then? Most countries,
including the US, believe two separate states should be created. Israel, on the
other hand, is unprepared. Israel doesn't even take into account United Nations
resolutions.
The
leadership of Gaza, Hamas, is reported to be tired of being persecuted by
Israel and has made the decision to take one final stand. In other words, they
attacked Israel in a fashion that made headlines around the world. Israel had
incurred considerable losses by the time they had recovered after two days.
Israel began a retaliation that has not yet halted. The Israeli Prime Minister
seems to want to kill all Palestinians to exact revenge for Israelis who died
in the Hamas attack, and it appears that his plan worked.
Some are
perplexed as to why Hamas felt the need for this attack so urgently. Did it
have the strength to withstand Israel's expected harsh response? Hamas lacked
both tanks and bombs. What then was the competition's preparation like? Where
are the other friendly nations that it might have anticipated would assist it
now? They include those who support Israel's recognition and those who are
prepared to mend fences with Israel. Since numerous nations, notably the United
Arab Emirates, have established diplomatic ties with Israel, it appears that
the United States is also being accused of doing so. Hamas then started a war
to thwart these initiatives.
The fact
that Palestinians are fighting among themselves is another issue. There are two
factions among the Palestinians. Fatah, which is led by Mahmoud Abbas, often
known as the President of Palestine, governs the West Bank. This organisation
favours using discussions to further the liberation struggle for Palestine.
Hamas, however, wants to use force to resolve this issue. The Hezbollah of
Lebanon backs Hamas. The United States has sent its fleet to the area in
anticipation of a potential Hezbollah attack to prevent Iran and Hezbollah from
joining the conflict.
Israel is
currently continuing to strike Gaza, and even the inhabitants of Gaza no longer
have access to water or electricity. Israel intends to seize power in Gaza and
appoint Mahmoud Abbas as ruler. The ironic part is that it was once said that
Israel founded Hamas during a time when it was concerned about al-Fatah.
Additionally, despite the US President's assertion that Hamas does not speak
for Palestinians, Hamas is the party chosen by the residents of Gaza to serve
as their elected representative. Since most Muslim nations are in the process
of forging relations with Israel, it is clear that none of them are courageous
enough to engage in combat with Israel and Hamas.
The Muslim
countries have only condemned Israel's terrible attack on Gaza. Worldwide
protests against Israeli aggression are planned, particularly in America and
Europe, although they don't seem to be very effective.
The
majority of people are powerless to do anything other than pray for the safety
and security of the Palestinian people since they have witnessed that despite
huge protests against NATO forces' wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya in both
the US and Europe, there was little effect on the US or its allies.
Not just
the general public, but also leaders and intellectuals are powerless to do much
more than voice sympathy for Gaza and disapproval of Israel. Several leaders
and politicians attended a Dáil Éireann debate on October 18, 2023, and most of
what they said was simply words of support for Gaza and disdain for Israel.
In his
speech, Matt Carthy, the leader of the Irish Sinn Féin, presented some
convincing points that helped the world hear the voice of truth:
Let us be
very clear. Hamas breached international law on 7 October. It targeted innocent
civilians in the most callous and inhumane manner and its actions have been
rightly condemned by right-thinking people around the world. We should also be
very clear, however, that Israel has breached international law, not just every
day since 7 October, but virtually every single day for decades. Israel
occupies Palestinian land, blockades Palestinian territory, builds and expands
illegal settlements, enforces an apartheid system that restricts the movements
of Palestinians and denies their fundamental rights, and regularly and
systematically attacks and kills Palestinian civilians, all against
international law.
"The
question that must be answered by all of us in political life is this. How does
the world respond to flagrant abuses of international law? When it comes to the
horrendous war crimes of Hamas, the response was very clear and consistent.
World leaders queued up to say "Israel has the right to defend
itself". One after another the great and the good, including our Government,
repeated the words, "Israel has the right to defend itself". That was
repeated in statement after statement and tweet after tweet, despite the full
knowledge that those words have become contaminated. The words "Israel has
the right to defend itself" mean in practice that Israel takes that right
as a licence to bombard civilians and to bomb schools, hospitals and other
civilian infrastructure. It has now been taken as a licence to enforce the
displacement of 1 million people from one end of an open-air prison to another,
to deny food, energy and medical supplies to a besieged civilian population and
to deny them water to ensure that children, and the sick, disabled and elderly,
will literally die of thirst. "Israel has the right to defend itself"
has now become cover for Israel having the right to commit genocide right in
front of our eyes.
"How
come we never hear the words "Palestine has the right to defend
itself"? We did not hear that when a humanitarian flotilla bringing
essential supplies to Gaza was met with a military assault and the murder by
Israel of nine unarmed activists, or when Palestinians marched in peaceful
protest against an illegal blockade and were again met with a military assault
and the murder of 300 of them, or after the countless bombings of Gaza by
Israeli forces. We do not hear that even when Israel targeted and murdered four
little Palestinian boys playing football on a beach or when Palestinians were
dragged from their homes and forced to watch as those homes were destroyed to
allow for new illegal Israeli settlements on lands that are clearly defined in
international law as part of Palestine. Not after the countless offensive
attacks by Israel against the people of Gaza or the West Bank have, we heard
anybody in this House or any Western leader utter the words, "Palestine
has the right to defend itself". Why not?
"I am
not asking the Tánaiste to say those words. In fact, it is just as well he does
not because we all know that the people of Palestine cannot defend themselves
against one of the most powerful military forces in the world that is backed up
by even more powerful military forces. The truth is the people of Palestine,
just like the innocent people of Israel, do not need the international
community to tell them that their leaders have the right to inflict more
bombings, pain and suffering. They need the international community to say
stop, to say release the hostages, and to say stop the bombings, siege and
slaughter. They need the international community to tell Israel to stop the
blockade, the apartheid, the annexation and the genocide. They need countries
to lead the way.
"Ireland
should be one of those countries that leads the way. We know colonialism,
oppression and conflict but we also know conflict resolution, peacebuilding and
nation-building. Due to what we know, and what our history has taught us, our
call must be clear: immediate, full and unequivocal ceasefires and a decisive
international intervention that leads to negotiations, a lasting and just peace
settlement and, at long last, to a free, sovereign and independent
Palestine."
[https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2023-10-18/19/]
Israel
consistently violates all international laws, as this speech demonstrates.
However, it is now questionable whether international laws still possess the
force and strength necessary to stop Israel from acting violently and
monstrously, or if they will only serve to express condemnation of Hamas.
-----
A regular Columnist with NewAgeIslam.com, Ghulam Ghaus Siddiqi Dehlvi is
an Alim and Fazil (Classical Islamic scholar), with a Sufi-Sunni background and
English-Arabic-Urdu Translator. He has also done B. A (Hons.) in Arabic, M.A.
in Arabic and M.A. in English from JMI, New Delhi. He is interested in Islamic
Sciences; Theology, Jurisprudence, Tafsir, Hadith and Islamic mysticism
(Tasawwuf).
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-politics/international-laws-israel-right-palestine/d/130971