THERE are few angels in the Middle East.
The state of Israel has been the focal point of hatred, militancy, and violence in the region for 75 years. What was supposed to be a safe haven for Jews after the Holocaust today is a more dangerous place than ever.
The world is waiting to see how Israel will respond to Tuesday’s missile attack by Iran. Will they bomb nuclear installations? Will they target Iran’s government leaders? Will America be drawn in, and will this further internationalise the conflict?
The government of Benjamin Netanyahu has remained silent on what they are planning, but one of his predecessors, Naftali Bennett, has pleaded on Twitter that nuclear installations must be destroyed “to fatally cripple this terrorist regime". He wants Israel to “completely change the face of the Middle East".
Hamas’ attack on October 7 2023 qualifies as terrorism by every definition: The massacre of civilians and the taking of hostages. And yet, it cannot be judged without recognising the right of the Palestinians to resist Israel’s decades-long oppression and occupation.
Similarly, Israel’s response qualifies as ethnic cleansing, war crimes and even genocide. No one can deny Israel the right to respond to Hamas’ aggression, but the reaction was demonstrably disproportionate.
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There were about 2,1 million people in Gaza a year ago. Here are the shocking facts as recorded a few days ago and accepted by the UN: 41,615 are dead, 16,795 of them children; 96,359 have been injured; 70% of the dead were women and children and by definition not Hamas fighters; 174 journalists and 222 UN employees have died in Gaza.
More than 700 Palestinians have died in Israeli attacks in the West Bank in the past year, and 10 800 Palestinians are being held in Israeli prisons without trial, many of them children under 18.
Olive groves destroyed
A large number of Palestinians have been driven off their land in the West Bank by illegal Israeli settlers in the last 12 months, and their homes and olive groves have been destroyed.
Despite Israel and its allies’ formidable global propaganda campaign, there is overwhelming evidence that Israel drew little distinction between military and civilian targets; hospitals, schools, universities and mosques were bombed; electricity, water, medical aid and food were deliberately withheld; and Israeli government and military leaders made statements classifying the Palestinians of Gaza as “animals” while declaring that all Palestinians are terrorists.
It is absolutely horrific.
The Shia militia in neighbouring Lebanon, Hezbollah, the strongest military force in the world not belonging to a state, began firing missiles at Israel in solidarity with Hamas shortly after October 7.
Had Israel listened to the overwhelming majority of the international community and halted its war on Gaza, Hezbollah would have had no reason to continue its attacks, and the current escalation could have been avoided.
Israel ultimately dealt Hezbollah, a proxy of Iran, a severe blow by causing thousands of pagers and two-way radios in Hezbollah’s possession to explode, by killing their leader, Hassan Nasrallah and by bombing military installations. An Israeli ground assault was launched earlier this week.
And on Tuesday, Iran fired 181 ballistic missiles at Israel. Most were intercepted by Israel and America’s air defence systems, causing minimal damage.
These are our hypersonic systems, catch them if you can! pic.twitter.com/VrIZsNcW25
— Iran Military (@IRIran_Military) October 1, 2024
So how should we as South Africans react to this?
The party dominating our government of national unity (GNU), the ANC, has an instinctive disdain for America and the West and almost holds the attitude that if you are an enemy of the West, you must be our friend. This manifests in the ANC’s warm friendship with dictatorships as in Russia, China, Cuba, and, yes, Iran.
The second-largest party in the GNU, the DA, takes the opposite stance: America, Europe, and Britain can do no wrong, and their interests are our interests.
We, the citizens, should take a more nuanced approach and compel our political representatives to put our constitutional principles and our own national interests above historical prejudices when responding to the Middle East conflict.
From December 1 this year, South Africa will be the president of the influential Group of 20 most powerful states and will host a G20 summit in 2025.
This is a good platform to enhance South Africa’s international prestige, but if we react irrationally to the current conflict in the Middle East, it will sabotage us.
South Africa was, in my opinion, correct and brave to refer Israel to the International Court of Justice, and the case was presented in a worthy and credible manner: Let the highest court in the world decide. We were correct to ignore the hysterical objections of Israel, America and Jewish organisations here and elsewhere.
However, our case is somewhat undermined by the ANC’s reluctance to unequivocally condemn Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine and by fostering a warm relationship with Moscow and Tehran.
Apartheid imposed on women
Israel is indeed guilty of a form of apartheid in its treatment of Palestinians, but Iran enforces a more blatant apartheid: on women. It is a cruel, oppressive theocratic dictatorship that South Africa should shun.
But I believe it is also correct to hold America, and to some extent Britain and Germany, partly responsible for Israel’s abuses.
Without America’s generous financial and military aid, Israel could not afford to be so aggressive. It will forever be a stain on Joe Biden's administration that it, for example, gave Israel a large number of 2 000 lb bombs, “dumb” bombs, with which Gaza’s civilian infrastructure was flattened.
It is an undeniable fact that if America and other Western countries wanted to stop the genocide in Gaza, they could have done so in a very short time by ending material and military support and diplomatic protection.
It was within America’s power to ensure that the people of Gaza had enough food, water, electricity and medical aid. They didn’t; they merely mouthed platitudes at press conferences.
Nothing in this conflict is simple.
It is immoral and against international law to kill civilians. But it is not immoral for Israel to kill the leaders of groups that threaten its existence, such as Hamas’ Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah. It may be reckless and provocative, but ethically acceptable.
The pager attacks on Hezbollah members would also have been ethically acceptable had all the victims been Hezbollah fighters.
Iran is a wicked regime, yes, but in its latest missile attack on Israel, it was much more cautious than Israel in not killing large numbers of civilians. It targeted three air force bases and Mossad’s headquarters, and only one person was killed, but had the missiles been aimed at residential areas and apartment blocks, as Israel often does, hundreds of Israelis would have died.
Few outside the American and Israeli orbit failed to notice that America reacted with shock, outrage and severe threats against Iran’s attack on Israel as a violation of international law, while Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, Syria, and Iran were condoned, if not glorified.
New diplomatic dynamic
The killing of Nasrallah, a highly charismatic and influential figure and the destruction of large parts of Hezbollah’s military capacity, were massive blows to Iran’s influence in the region, which should be seen as a positive development. Arab states are suddenly not as afraid of Iran anymore either.
This paves the way for a new diplomatic dynamic around Israel and the Palestinians and may also help Lebanon to free itself from Hezbollah domination and become a proper democracy and open society again.
The world must now direct its energy towards the ultimate creation of an independent and viable Palestinian state alongside Israel, and if the GNU has a role to play, it would be to further this cause.
Countries in the region such as Jordan, Qatar and Egypt are ready and eager to make this happen, said Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, in the presence of his colleagues at a press conference this week.
If this doesn't happen soon, the lives of 17 000 children from Gaza will have been sacrificed in vain.
♦ VWB ♦
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