Israel’s holocaust of innocents in Gaza has not sated the blood lust of its Zionist rulers, with the death toll rising to over 110 and the injured numbering more than a thousand — less than six days after the latest murderous offensive began.
Preparations for a ground offensive involving up to 75,000 troops threaten a repeat of the slaughter carried out by Israel four years ago in Gaza when more than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during a three-week killing orgy.
Then as now, most of the victims are children, their bloodied bodies pulled out from rubble, piled up in morgues; their innocent eyes in a frozen stare at the moment of horror visited on them in their homes.
How can the world tolerate such barbarity? Well, the majority of the world is not tolerating it. Humanity is horrified and aggrieved by these atrocities. All across the world, civic society and a good many governments are mobilizing, condemning Israel’s crimes against humanity.
But the seeming helplessness of the world to put an abrupt end to the holocaust is down to one simple, irrefutable fact. The perpetrators of such evil are supported by the government and ruling class in Washington. In a secondary support role to mass murder are the despicable governments in London, Paris, and Berlin. But the ultimate author of this barbarity is Washington.
The massacre of civilians in Gaza and elsewhere in Palestine could be stopped right now with one phone call from US President Barack Obama. One phone call telling the Israeli criminals-in-office that the USD 3 billion annual lifeline of economic and military aid from American tax-payers is being terminated would bring this killing machine to a halt.
But there will be no such phone call. Because the Israeli killing machine is an integral part of Washington’s criminal hegemony in the Middle East and beyond. Washington’s imperialist exploitation of other nations’ resources is predicated on its terrorist foreign policy that is embodied by the Zionist regime.
The latter criminal entity cannot be dismantled without first and foremost dismantling the terrorism of Washington, which in turn mandates the overthrow of the American empire of global capitalism.
The blood being spilled, splattered in Gaza is a crime of indelible proportions. It is also a sickening sacrifice that bears important truths about our world.
For a start this criminal entity of Israel is exposed once and for all as an abomination of international law and humanitarian justice. Its continual Holocaust invocation as a carte blanche to commit any atrocity at will and with impunity against Palestinian people and many others is a veil of deception that should now be torn asunder. How dare the terrorists in Tel Aviv forge such a badge of impunity.This criminal, hypocritical regime of Israel has lost all its claims for legitimacy to exist. For too long, the world has tolerated Zionist apartheid under the cynical cover of “peace process” while Palestinians are robbed off their homeland and their basic material means of existence. This latest onslaught is but the final step over a red line to oblivion; a final step in a long march of atrocities and violations.
To hell with Israel. Through its relentless crimes, Israel has forfeited any right to exist. Those who want to live in peace should do so in the historic land of Palestine. A two-state solution is an affront to international norms and justice. The artificial illegal borders of Israel bequeathed by colonialists and expanded by colonizers should be henceforth rejected and, yes, wiped off the map.
The Western government sponsors of this criminal war machine that is the entity of Israel are exposed in the latest holocaust in Gaza. As condemnations ring out around the world in support of the Palestinians, Washington and its Western allies sit idly, shamelessly, on the UN Security Council.
Both Washington and London cannot bring themselves to utter a word of condemnation against the killing of children and civilians in Gaza. Both pointedly uphold the “right to self-defense” by an Israeli regime that is crushing millions of people under a five-year genocidal siege and which has wiped Palestine off the map for more than six decades.
The United States this week blocked a UN Security Council statement condemning Israel’s violence. US ambassador Susan Rice — who is tipped to become the new foreign secretary replacing Hillary Clinton — used the most twisted logic to say no resolution would be permitted which undermines a ceasefire. However, this nauseating display of hypocrisy is a good thing, for it exposes the cynical, corrupt nature of US government and its Western lackeys.
For months, the US and its Western allies have been denouncing Russia and China for blocking a UN Security Council resolution to sanction the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad. Moscow and China have been lambasted for turning a blind eye to violations in Syria – even though much of the violations in that country have been committed by Western-backed mercenaries. All the while, the Western governments have been trumpeting their concern for human rights and international law.
Yet when a clear case of mass murder and human rights violations is now being witnessed in the concentration camp that is Gaza, those same Western governments are silent on the atrocities and the victims. Indeed, they show themselves as the vocal apologists and material supporters of the killers — consistent with what they are actually doing in Syria, despite their fraudulent claims.
Ironically, some commentators claim that the re-election of America’s terrorist-commander-in-chief Barack Obama was a huge snub to Israel’s storm-trooper commandant Benjamin Netanyahu. The claim that the White House and Pentagon global terrorist complex is somehow beholden to Tel Aviv against its better, moral judgment is a dangerous delusion that is now, thankfully, laid bare by the horror unfolding in Gaza and the American government support of that.
To claim that Washington’s nefarious foreign policy is all down to the machinations of Zionist lobbyists and bankers is to fundamentally fail to understand the root cause of violence as a function of the capitalist imperialist system for which the US is the executive power.
The holocaust in Gaza and the sacrifice of innocents spotlights more Western corruption. The Western-dominated United Nations and its puppet general secretary Ban Ki-Moon — also refusing to condemn Israel or to even visit the suffering victims of Gaza — is an organization that is clearly way past is expiry date. This institution under Western control is a disgrace to the vision of a democratic, mutual world.
Its inability to reflect the majority concerns of the world — from the recent overwhelming call by members to put an end to the illegal US six-decade trade embargo on Cuba, to the latest genocide in Gaza — demonstrates beyond any doubt that this world body in its present form must be abolished and replaced with a forum more closely resembling the Non-Aligned Movement.
The holocaust in Gaza also exposes the moral cowardice and bankruptcy of Western mainstream media. These institutions through their sanitizing banalities and affectations of balance are complicit in covering up crimes against humanity, and by doing so, prolonging the genocide committed by Western governments and their Israeli war machine.
Voice of America reports how “Israel and Hamas are slugging it out”. The BBC decries how “civilians in Israel and Gaza need a ceasefire”. Reuters reports: “Israel bombed dozens of suspected militant sites in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip… as Palestinians kept up their cross-border rocket fire.” While the New York Times lamented: “Israel and Hamas brushed aside international calls for restraint and escalated their lethal conflict over Gaza.”
Finally, what the Gaza holocaust highlights is the corruption and illegitimacy of Arab leaders. Hezbollah’s secretary general Sayed Hassan Nasrallah has rightly called on the oil-rich Arab rulers to use the world’s number-one commodity as a weapon to demonstrate solidarity with Palestinians and to protest Western-backed Israeli aggression.
But as with so many previous occasions of crimes against humanity on the Palestinians and other Arab people, the venal, corrupt dictators of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Persian Gulf remain shamefully indolent and silent. They are congenitally on the side of the oppressors. These despots are too busy supplying weapons and funding to mercenaries to kill other Arabs in Syria. So is it any wonder that they are indifferent to the murder of Arab women and children in Gaza?
There will be a day of reckoning for the crimes in Gaza. That day is soon arriving.
• Initially published at Press TV.
The US-Israeli Attack on Gaza
The Western media in chorus has described the Israeli attack on Gaza as an ad hoc IDF-led counterterrorism operation, launched on the grounds of “self defense” in response to Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel.
While reports acknowledge that president Obama, in the wake of the November 6 elections, had granted a “Green Light” to Tel Aviv, the central issue does not pertain to Washington’s support but rather to the direct involvement of the US government and military in the planning and implementation of the attack on Gaza.
There is evidence that Operation “Pillar of Cloud” was implemented in close liaison with Washington in the context of the broader process of allied military planning. Senior US military officials were on location in Israel working with their IDF counterparts in the days leading up to the attack.
Operation “Pillar of Cloud” was launched on the 14th of November, exactly one week after the US presidential elections. It was slated to be launched irrespective of the outcome of the US elections. The first action was the targeted assassination of the leader of Hamas’ military wing Ahmed Jabari. The operation has since evolved towards a generalized bombing campaign and ground invasion involving the announced deployment of some 75,000 Israeli troops.
US- Israeli War Games
What is significant in assessing US involvement in Operation “Pillar of Cloud” is the fact that in the month prior to the attacks, the US and Israel were involved in the conduct of the largest joint war games in Israeli history. The objective of the war games was to test Israel’s missile air defense system against attacks from far and near, namely from Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas.
US Defense Secretary Leon and Israel’s Minister of Defense Ehud Barack had established a process of close consultation. Panetta was in Israel in early August. He returned to Tel Aviv two months later on October 3, two weeks before the launching of the US-Israeli Austere Challenge 12 military exercises.
On October 18, the US and Israel launched within Israel the first phase of the joint war games. The military exercises were conducted over four weeks overlapping with the US elections (November 6) and culminating with the commencement of the Gaza bombings (November 14).
The joint US-Israeli war games, in a sense, “went live” on November 14 with the launching of Operation Pillar of Cloud.
It should be understood that the joint US-Israeli war games were intended to lead towards an actual military operation. Pillar of Cloud was planned well in advance. It had been “embedded” into the structure of the joint US-Israeli war games.
The joint war games dubbed “Austere Challenge 12” involved the active participation of some 3500 US and 1000 Israeli troops. The US contingent was made up 1000 US troops stationed in Israel including military advisers and special forces together with 2500 US personnel under the jurisdiction of the US 6th fleet in the Eastern Mediterranean and US European Command (EURCOM). UPI
The joint US-Israeli war games were jointly coordinated by U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General Craig Franklin and IDF Brigadier-General Shachar Shohat. The stated objective of these military maneuvers was to “create “stress situations” in Israel’s airspace and off its Mediterranean coast that test the ability of both countries to act against attacks” from near [Hamas, Hezbollah] and far [Iran]“.
The conduct of these games was overseen by Admiral James G. Stavridis, commander of the United States European Command (EUCOM). Reports point to the establishment of US command posts within Israel operating under the jurisdiction of EUCOM.
Admiral Stavridis has acknowledged in this regard that:
“the two sides [US and Israeli command structures] had worked hard to create real intelligence during the exercise, The drill is meant to simulate an extensive war in the Middle East that would require the United States to intervene and provide Israel with further defense to intercept missiles.” (Haaretz, October 24, 2012)
The drills involved the deployment of Batteries for the Patriot Pac-3 missile system, “stationed across Israel”. The US Aegis guided missile cruiser “was anchored off the coast of Israel as part of the drill”.
The missile interception drill is considered an integral part of the general exercise. The Israeli and American forces will practice identifying targets heading toward Israel, in order to decide which means should be used to intercept them and to activate the defense system as quickly as possible, before they can land on Israeli territory.
Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak underscored the fact that “the joint exercise reflected the profound cooperation with the Americans” as a means to confront the ongoing threat from Hamas. This statement was made on November 12, two days before the onslaught of the attack on Gaza:
“These are very important times for advancing our missile defense coordination in the face of future tests, and also for ongoing activity against Hamas and the terror organizations in Gaza, which is likely to worsen and expand,… The Gaza Strip constitutes a significant challenge, at whose center lies firepower, including the threat of rockets that can reach the Dan region.”(Haaretz, November 12, 2012, emphasis added)
In the context of the war games, Hamas and Hezbollah are identified as “nearby enemies” and allies of Iran:
The joint exercise is simulating the possibility of wide-ranging rocket fire on Israel, both from nearby enemies and more distant ones, and the possibility of a war with Iran and Hezbollah.
Defence Minister Barack also confirmed that
“After the firing exercise, the defense establishment will conduct another round of tests, simulating the possibility that more advanced defense systems, including the Arrow 3 and Magic Wand systems, which have not yet been used in combat, would take part in confronting rocket barrages.”(Ibid)
The Insidious Role of Qatar
October 18, the joint US-Israeli war games are launched
On October 23, the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani visits the Gaza Strip for meetings with the Hamas government and promises of financial aid.
October 24, Israel’s President Shimon Peres insinuates that Qatar, a staunch ally of the US, is not only providing military aid to Hamas but is encouraging Hamas to increase the rocket attacks on Israel:
No sooner had he [The Emir of Qatar] departed, than the Islamist group ruling Gaza let loose with salvoes of rockets against Israel. …
Peres commented Wednesday [October 24] said that it is intolerable for the rulers of Gaza to receive millions of dollars form the Emir of Qatar and shoot rockets. Nowhere in the world, whether London or New York, would it be acceptable for money awarded for building materials to be spent on rockets. Israel cannot put up with any more of this, said the president. “It is up to Gaza to choose between development and terror and murder.”
October 24, Israel launches a bombing raid on Gaza killing four civilians in retribution for rocket attacks out of Gaza, which resulted in the wounding of four foreign workers. The press reports acknowledge that the Israeli air raids coincided with the onslaught of the joint US-Israeli war games:
The mock military maneuvers and computer war simulations … coincided with actual Israeli air raids 70 kilometers (44 miles) to the south on the Gaza Strip in response to Palestinian rocket attacks. Four Gaza residents were killed by the Israeli strikes as Palestinian militia groups launched at least 75 missiles into Israel, wounding three foreign workers, two seriously, and damaging property, according to police. (Bloomberg, October 25, 2012, emphasis added)
What the above suggests is that the October 24 air raids on Gaza were already ongoing in the course of the joint US-Israel war games. Everything indicates that the attack on Gaza officially launched on November 14 was a sequel to the joint US-Israeli war games which had in fact already “gone live” in late October.
Covert Op?
The visit of the Emir of Qatar to Gaza at the very outset of the US-Israel joint war games has all the appearances of a US-led covert operation. Qatar is a US sponsored puppet regime It has a close relationship to both the US and NATO in both intelligence and military affairs, while also channelling financial aid to Hamas.
According to one report: “the Emir of Qatar provided intelligence to the Israelis which was used in the targeted bombings of key Hamas government buildings.” (Fars New, November 17, 2012)
Beyond the scope of this article are the broader implications of the war on Gaza in relation to ongoing US-NATO military and intelligence operations in the Middle East.
Complicity in War Crimes. The Issue of “Command and Control”
US Command Posts have been established in Israel.
Military command and control directed against the people of Palestine are under the jurisdiction of the US European Command, which works in partnership with Israel’s IDF.
While US troops are not directly involved in the invasion of Gaza, the US military is exercising military command functions in liaison with Israel.
With regard to the joint US-Israel war games which culminated with the attack on Gaza, Israel is visibly the junior partner.
The United States is not “supporting” an Israeli military endeavor, it is major actor in the attack on Gaza. The US is therefore a perpetrator of war crimes together with Israel. 619 145 137 1537