On June 16, 2008, noted Israeli historian Ilan Pappe explained "The Israeli Recipe for 2008: Genocide in Gaza, Ethnic Cleaning in the West Bank." He wrote:
"Not long ago, I claimed that Israel is employing genocidal policies in the Gaza Strip." After re-thinking this highly-charged term, he "concluded with even stronger conviction: it is the only appropriate way to describe what the Israeli army is doing in Gaza" because of its repeated atrocities now greater than ever.
In his January 3 "Israel's Righteous Fury and Its Victims in Gaza" article, Pappe updates his outrage:
Once again, "Israel is engulfed....with righteous fury that translates into destructive policy in the Gaza Strip. This appalling self-justification for the inhumanity and impunity....is based first and foremost on sheer lies transmitted with a newspeak reminiscent of (Nazi Germany). Every half an hour," radio and TV bulletins call Gaza victims "terrorists and Israel's massive (slaughter) self-defense."
Israel is the righteous victim. Gazan men, women, and children "a great evil....There are no boundaries to the hypocrisy....It seems that even the most horrendous crimes, such as the genocide in Gaza, are treated as discrete events, unconnected to anything (from the past) and not associated with any ideology or system."
Today, as Israel slaughters Gazans, "world outrage continues to resonate - on city streets, by solidarity activists, and by human rights groups globally....By connecting Zionist ideology and the policies of the past with the present atrocities, we will be able to provide a clear and logical explanation (to galvanize) public opinion not only against the present genocidal policies in Gaza, but hopefully (to) prevent future atrocities."
Most important is to "puncture the balloon of self-righteous fury that suffocates the Palestinians every time it inflates (and) end Western immunity to Israel's impunity." Without it, "more people in Israel (America and everywhere) will see the real nature of (these) crimes" so their fury will be directed where it belongs.
The Global BDS Movement
The BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions for Palestine) Movement demands: "Stop the Massacre in Gaza - Boycott Israel Now." From Occupied Ramallah, it reported on the bloodbath, "far more ruthless than all its predecessors," the slaughter of innocent civilians, young children going to and from school, "an act of genocide against the 1.5 million Palestinians in the occupied coastal strip. Israel seems intent to mark the end of its 60th (anniversary year) the same way it established itself - perpetuating massacres against the Palestinian people."
More than ever, the BDS Movement calls on international civil society to condemn the massacre, join its efforts to end Israel's impunity, and hold it accountable for its persistent crimes of war and against humanity.
UN General Assembly President, Miguel D'Escoto Brockman agrees, and in a recent address before the Assembly said:
"More than twenty years ago we in the United Nations took the lead from civil society when we agreed that sanctions were required to provide a nonviolent means of pressuring South Africa to end its violations. Today, perhaps we....should consider following the lead of a new generation of civil society, who are calling for a similar campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions to pressure Israel to end its violations."
Israeli writer/activist Uri Avnery founded Gush Shalom ("The Peace Bloc") in 1993 "to influence Israeli public opinion and lead it towards peace and conciliation with the Palestinian people." He calls the killing and destruction in Gaza "a vicious folly of a bankrupt government (that) let itself be dragged by adventurous officers and cheap nationalist demagoguery (into a futile conflict that) will bring no solution to any problem" - either to Israel or "besieged Gaza."
He says Israel, not Hamas, broke the truce, and the IDF followed up with "calculated raids and killings....The war in Gaza is (Ehud) Barak's elections campaign, a cynical attempt to buy votes with the blood and suffering" of Gazans.
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