Gaza and the Language of Genocide I #2
Of Western Irrationality and Israel’s Criminality
Gaza and the Language of Genocide I #2
Of Western Irrationality and Israel’s Criminality
An example of western irrationality is the schizophrenia of the EU, which pays lip service to “shared values” of democracy and human rights, while ignoring the reality on the ground.
In March 2018 Omar Barghouti told the European Parliament: “Despite Israel’s descent into unmasked, right-wing extremism, particularly with the current escalation of its brutal military occupation and repression and its rhetoric notwithstanding, the European Union (EU) has failed to uphold its legal obligations under international law vs. Israel’s settlement enterprise and remains largely complicit in enabling and maintaining Israel’s occupation and violations of Palestinian rights. Only effective European civil society pressure can bring this EU complicity to an end, thus contributing significantly to the pursuit of a just and comprehensive peace in our region.”[1]
Israel continually ignores international law and gets away with it.
“Israel began construction in 2002 of a physical barrier that encroached deeply into the West Bank and took a sinuous path incorporating the large settlement blocs,” Norman Finkelstein once wrote.
“The UN General Assembly requested that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) clarify the ‘legal consequences arising from the construction of the wall being built by Israel.’ In 2004, the Court rendered its landmark advisory opinion. In the process of ruling that the wall was illegal, the ICJ also reiterated key elements of the juridical framework for resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict. It inventoried these ‘rules and principles of international law which are relevant in assessing the legality of the measures taken by Israel’: ‘No territorial acquisition resulting from the threat or use of force shall be recognized as legal’; and ‘the policy and practices of Israel in establishing settlements in the Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since 1967’ have ‘no legal validity.’”[2]
Twenty years on the territorial acquisitions and settlements remain in place. In fact, the latter have been increasing at a prodigious rate.
B’Tselem reported in May 2017: “As of the end of 2015, there are 127 government-sanctioned Israeli settlements in the West Bank (not including East Jerusalem and settlement enclaves within Hebron).”
“In addition, there were approximately 100 ‘settlement outposts’ located throughout the West Bank. The outposts do not have official government recognition, although many of them were established with governmental assistance. Outposts are generally smaller than recognized settlements.”
“Fifteen large Israeli neighborhoods were built in areas that Israel annexed to the Jerusalem Municipality after 1967. These neighborhoods are also considered settlements under international law. In addition, settler enclaves have been built in the heart of Palestinian neighborhoods in these annexed areas, with aid by the Israeli government and the Jerusalem Municipality.”
“There are an estimated 588,000 settlers in the West Bank. This figure is derived from two sources: According to data provided by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), at the end of 2015, 382,916 people were living in the settlements of the West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem. According to data provided by the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies, the population of the Israeli neighborhoods in East Jerusalem numbered 205,220 people at the end of 2014.”
“According to the CBS, the annual growth rate for the settler population (excluding East Jerusalem) in 2015 was more than two times higher than that of the overall population in Israel: 4.1% and 2% percent, respectively. Furthermore, approximately 25% of the increase in the number of settlers was the result of relocation by Israelis and of the arrival of new immigrants to Israel who chose to live there.”[3]
In March 2024 it was reported that: “There are now around 700,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. These settlers live in 300 settlements and outposts, all illegal under international humanitarian law, as they amount to the transfer by Israel of its own civilian population into the territories it occupies. Such transfers amount to a war crime that may engage the individual criminal responsibility of those involved.”
“The size of existing Israeli settlements has also expanded markedly. During the reporting period, approximately 24,300 housing units, within existing Israeli settlements in the West Bank in Area C, were advanced or approved; the highest on record since monitoring began in 2017. This included approximately 9,670 new housing units in East Jerusalem.”[4]
There is a direct link between the expansion and the surge in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank (who, theoretically at least, had nothing whatsoever to do with the False Flag of October 7th.)
“Since October 7, Israeli forces and settlers have killed 513 people in the West Bank, according to OCHA. The vast majority have been civilians.”
“In comparison, Israeli forces killed 199 Palestinians in the first nine months of 2023.”
“The uptick in Palestinian casualties is tied to Israel’s attempt to accelerate the annexation of the West Bank, according to Mairav Zonszein, an expert on Israel-Palestine for the International Crisis Group.”
“Zonszein said settlers believe Israel’s security depends on building and expanding illegal settlements despite evidence to the contrary.”
“‘Since October 7, the government is more emboldened to carry out attacks in the West Bank, and they are engaged in collective punishment,’” she told Al Jazeera.
“‘They are driven by the idea that they need to keep building [settlements].’”[5]
At the time of writing there is little hope in sight for an improvement in the situation.
[1] Omar Barghouti, Mondoweiss, March 11, 2018
[2] p.29 Gaza An Inquest Into It's Martyrdom, Norman Finkelstein
[3] Statistics on Settlements and Settler Population, B'Tselem, 11 May 2017
[4] https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2024/03/occupied-palestinian-territory-reporting-settlements-and-occupied
[5] https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/7/19/how-israeli-settlements-are-taking-over-the-west-bank-as-gaza-war-rages