Two Wrongs…

And today we have Israel in the process of demolishing Gaza and its population. There can be no justification for the slaughter and kidnapping of innocent Israeli people by Hamas but the catastrophic response by Israel, so unequivocally approved by the West, is also unacceptable with dire implications for everyone and especially the largely ignored, suffering Palestinian population.

Hamas has, in a stroke, has caused even more suffering and dispossession for Palestinians, and has put any thought of peace and a two-state solution in the darkest shade. They cannot be forgiven and should have known that Israel, certainly under this prime minister, would have wreaked havoc on Gaza and its people.

But there is also a separate war being fought, almost unnoticed and unrecognised, the war of public relations - the evil art of spin of which Israel is a master. So much of what has been claimed, including the terrible harm done to Israeli children, has not been fully investigated by the media who are tightly restricted in relation to access and evidence. The press has also been subject to killings and injury by the Israeli army, as was recently the case close to the Lebanese border when a convoy of clearly marked press vehicles and staff were bombed.

Take a look at the headlines to see the devastating effectiveness of the Israeli spin machine. If only they and the powers-that-be had paid attention to the plight of Palestinians whose homes have been destroyed, land taken for Israeli illegal settlements with people killed and injured. If only we could be sure of what is true and what is false…

Israel is right to destroy Hamas for the war they have started and it is acknowledged that to find the terrorists is difficult in the overcrowded and tiny Gaza territory. But nothing can excuse the wholesale destruction of the territory, the dreadful loss of life of adults and children and the supply embargo of water, food, medicine and power. And the forced evacuation of residents by threat of death. Human life seems to have become a cheap currency.

For years, the West and some Arab states looked on as Palestinians suffered, despite several UN resolutions against Israel. The USA has given Israel at least $3 billion each year and right now is sending warships and weapons which will only serve to further enflame a dire situation. We see the results of this devastating complacency today and should be ashamed. And the West should remember the saying - ‘Give them an inch and they will take a mile’.

There is also the imminent danger that other major players could be pulled into this conflict under the guise of East Vs West with the one-sided view taken by especially the USA and the UK. Hamas has started a dangerous fire which only diplomacy, patience and serious thought can extinguish.

I am not hopeful