Sudan: The two F-16s caught the trucks deep in the northern desert. Within minutes, the column of vehicles was a string of shattered wrecks burning fiercely in the January sun. Surveillance drones spotted a few vehicles that had survived the storm of bombs and cannon shells, and the fighter-bombers returned to finish the job.
Reports by international human rights groups and from within Israel in recent weeks have revealed the massive scale of war-crimes and other violations of international humanitarian law, committed by Israeli forces during their three-week offensive against the Gaza Strip earlier this year. Despite this, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has steadfastly stood by her insistence that the U.S.-backed Israeli government has no legal or moral responsibility for the tragic consequence of the war.
The Obama administration’s choice to head the National Intelligence Council (NIC) recently withdrew in face of a concerted right-wing attack. Veteran diplomat Chas Freeman would not have had to face Senate confirmation. Instead, he had to face attacks in the right-wing press and blogosphere. His withdrawal was a victory for Bush-era neoconservatives and their allies regarding intelligence and broader Middle East Policy.
Waltz with Bashir might not change Israeli politics, but it is a powerful antiwar movie nonetheless.
The outcome of Israel’s extensive air, artillery, and ground assault on the Gaza strip from December 27 — January 17 illustrates Israel’s wrong-headed approach to Hamas, the religiously grounded organization that has controlled the territory since it ousted the rival Fatah faction in June 2007. It exposes the bankruptcy of the theory of reprisals and the flawed notion that inflicting hardship on the Palestinian people will lead them to choose more “moderate” leaders. And it highlights the urgency of the resolution of Israel’s longstanding conflict with the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. How Israel proceeds from this point will reveal whether it has learned from the results of its assault. How the United States addresses the underlying conflict will determine whether it will be resolved.
The collapse of the Israeli Left may be the latest casualty of last month’s war in Gaza. The fighting appears to have scuttled what remains of the Israeli-Arab peace process, as a nationalist bloc of parties opposing territorial compromise with the Palestinians now occupies the majority of Israel’s parliament. The right-wing Likud party will lead the governing coalition, to which they have pledged to invite parties that openly traffic in anti-Arab rhetoric.
In the wake of Israel’s massive assault on heavily populated civilian areas of the Gaza Strip earlier this year, Amnesty International called for the United States to suspend military aid to Israel on human rights grounds. Amnesty has also called for the United Nations to impose a mandatory arms embargo on both Hamas and the Israeli government. Unfortunately, it appears that President Barack Obama won’t be heeding Amnesty’s call.
Obama’s appointment of George Mitchell as special Middle East envoy may signal a step in the right direction regarding U.S. policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But there remain questions as to whether Mitchell is up to the task and whether the Obama administration is willing to put some muscle into the process.
Noam Chomsky is a noted linguist, author, and foreign policy expert. Sameer Dossani interviewed him about the conflict between Israel and Gaza. This is the first of two interviews between Chomsky and Dossani.
In Gaza, children,
you learn that the sky kills
and that houses hurt.
You learn that your blanket is smoke
and breakfast is dirt.