Bill's Comment Page

ISRAELI / PALESTINIAN CONFLICT

The propaganda war continues; now that Secretary of State Colin Powell has left the region, it appears as if things are getting back to ‘normal’ – not, of course, the kind of normality that most of us (certainly not me) would want to live with – it is reported that IDF troops have now moved out of Jenin, but are surrounding the town ‘to prevent suicide-bombers from Jenin travelling to Israel to cause more damage’.

Here in the UK, prominent politicians in both major political parties have been expressing differing views; it appears that amongst those senior politicians who happen to be Jewish, there is a split along political lines – whatever one may think of their individual views, I think that none of them can be considered ‘anti-Jewish’, although apart from their Jewishness, it is not absolutely clear that their views are any more relevant than anyone else’s – except for the fact that one of the three I mention below, by virtue of his senior position within the British government, undoubtedly has access no intelligence material not generally available to ordinary citizens. The other two are senior politicians in the governing Labour Party and the official opposition, respectively.

Some weeks ago, Gerald Kaufman spoke publicly of his growing disquiet about what the IDF was doing in the West Bank; he claimed that Israel was losing its rightful spot on the moral high-ground by conducting what he described as ‘brutal’ policies against ordinary Palestinians. This view has been echoed, in spades, in the past few days by Jack Straw, the Home Secretary – in the light, from the little he felt he could reveal publicly, of visits made by British diplomats based in the region to some of the major areas of conflict in the area, amongst which Jenin.

Last evening, as last week, ‘Question Time’ on BBC1 devoted a large part of the hour to discussing the current Israeli/Palestinian conflict, with vociferous support from both sides in the audience. Last evening, Michael Howard, Shadow Chancellor, expressed his views on the matter, the first time I have heard him speaking about it in recent times. His view, to paraphrase (I hope fairly), is that whilst he deplores terrorist activities perpetrated by Palestinian ‘suicide’ bombers and others, he regrets equally some of the more heavy-handed treatment that the Israelis appear to have been engaging in – whilst he made the additional point that if Israel did not now, and in years past, make strenuous efforts to defend itself against such ‘terrorism’, there would probably be no State of Israel today.

All these points of view have some validity, I think, but I repeat what I have said before – if Israel wishes to live peacably with its neighbours, it must change its current policy of bulldozing the homes of mainly innocent people; undoubtedly amongst those who have been rendered homeless recently in places such as Jenin there were Palestinians who have, or who would like to, conduct terrorist activities against Israel and its citizens, but unless Israel plans to eliminate physically all Palestinians (which I can hardly believe, even of Ariel Sharon in his wildest fantasies, surely – I hope), such policies will not be conducive to bridge-building and eventual peace.

Much is made of the offer about 18 or so months ago by the former Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, of a peace settlement to the Palestinians which would have offered them ‘95%’ of what they want; this is hotly-disputed by the Palestinians, from what I can gather. The trouble with conflicts like this is that there is propaganda on both sides, which tends to obscure the ‘truth’, whatever that may be – and I do not pretend to understand the different arguments in detail.

Anyway, after all this rambling, some recent BBC reports have highlighted the following:
The Israeli army says it is has left the West Bank town of Jenin and its refugee camp, but will continue to surround them to prevent "terrorist attacks". The withdrawal from Jenin - scene of the fiercest fighting during Israel's military operation in the West Bank - began on Thursday, as a UN envoy visiting the camp described the situation there as "horrific beyond belief". In other developments, a Palestinian suicide bomber exploded his car near the entrance to the Israeli settlement block of Gush Katif in the Gaza Strip on Friday, killing himself and injuring a soldier. Read more by clicking here.

Confessions of an Israeli reservist -
The killing of 13 reservists in an ambush on 9 April in the Jenin refugee camp shocked Israelis. Parents of the dead soldiers complained that their sons were sent unprepared into "a hornets' nest of terrorism". Yoni, a reservist serving in the West Bank, told BBC News Online: "We have become cannon fodder. We are reservists. Many people are asking why we don't just go in and carpet bomb the place." Yoni did not advocate the bombing of refugee camps because of the civilian casualties. But he said that even regular Israeli soldiers, let alone reservists, should not be sent into the alleys and tightly packed buildings of the Palestinian camps. Yoni, who is probably in the minority in Israel, argued that he saw no military solution to the conflict because "it is about people". "Take this for an example," he said. "There is a village where we have intelligence that someone is planning a terrorist attack. We surround the village and move in but there is a 17-year-old shepherd in a field on the edge of the village. He could be a terrorist, or he might warn them. Do I arrest him, blindfold him, tie his hands? Do I tell him to get inside quick. We are trained to fight armies and soldiers, and yet we have to deal with people in this situation." The whole principle of Operation Defensive Shield was questionable, Yoni said. Later he says: "We are serving here because it is our duty. But I don't know where it is leading and we would all rather be at home." Read more by clicking here.

Jenin 'massacre evidence growing' -
Israeli tanks have begun to pull out. A British forensic expert who has gained access to the West Bank city of Jenin says evidence points to a massacre by Israeli forces. Prof Derrick Pounder, who is part of an Amnesty International team granted access to Jenin, said he has seen bodies lying in the streets and received eyewitness accounts of civilian deaths. The Dundee University expert said the Amnesty investigation has only just begun but Palestinian claims of a massacre were gaining foundation as the team continued its analysis. He said: "The truth will come out, as it has come out in Bosnia and Kosovo, as it has in other places where we've had these kinds of allegations. I must say that the evidence before us at the moment doesn't lead us to believe that the allegations are anything other than truthful and that therefore there are large numbers of civilian dead underneath these bulldozed and bombed ruins that we see." He said post mortems on two bodies had "given cause for suspicion" and there was "extensive damage" to Jenin. Read more by clicking here.

Some people, such as Andrew Sullivan (see link at right), believe things are much simpler – that the Palestinians are ‘thugs’ and that anyone who criticises Israel has ulterior motives – he does not quite come out and say that they are ‘anti-semites’, but there is a clear undercurrent in his rantings that seems to imply this. Of course, Arabs are Semites too, so any claim of ‘anti-semitism’ in this particular context is nonsensical.

I am no supporter of Gerald Kaufman and Jack Straw (I can imagine few worse futures that a future under ‘socialism’), but their views on the current conflict at least merit some respect, just as do those of Michael Howard of course – and I recently resigned from the Conservative Party, when its current leader was elected to that position, because of what I see as the bigoted and homophobic views of far too many Conservatives (although I agree with much else that Party says).

As with all internecine squabbles, outsiders need to keep a level head and avoid become partisan to one side or the other – and we need to look at further ‘evidence’ of what has occurred over the past few weeks fairly, when it becomes available.