I wrote a letter today to the UK National Union of Teachers magazine in response to its blatantly one-sided coverage of the situation in Gaza: I write regarding some of the assertions made in your International article on Gaza in the September/October issue. I would be more than a little concerned if Christine Blowers calls for Israel to desist in the bombing of Gaza were not accompanied by parallel calls for Hamas to stop targetting civilians in Israel. Failure to do this would suggest that any attempt by Israel at self-defence was illegitimate. Similarly, Rifat Odeh Kassis highlights the hateful comments of the fringe extremist MK Ayelet Shakedin without mentioning that genocidal anti-Semitism lies at the heart of the Hamas constitution and by extension, at the heart of the government of Gaza. Of course it is true that civilian locations should not be used for military purposes, but shouldnt this fact be stressed to the Hamas leadership before it sets up command and control centres in hospitals and schools? It is also interesting that many commentators on this issue highlight discrimination in Israel without mentioning the corrupt and venal authoritarian regime in Gaza. Make no mistake, if the IDF is proven to have deliberately targetted civilians, it must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. It must however also be cautioned that revulsion at civilian deaths in the Israel-Palestinian conflict can easily turn into what sounds like uncritical support for a violent terrorist group which has for seven years diverted much needed international aid into building tunnels and launching rockets at civilians.
Posted on: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 13:09:48 +0000
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