As soon as the news of Hamas’s aggression in Israel broke, the unconditional support of the United States, Canada and other countries allied to Israel was as immediate and radical as a bomb. Immediately, warlike media propaganda came into action and crystallized the Western powers: attack the “terrorists”! Easy shortcut. This armed, senseless and suicidal volcanic eruption led by Hamas results from a strong feeling of revolt among the Palestinian people. But there is more.
This outburst was predictable. The laissez-faire attitude and willful blindness of the Israeli government, Western countries and certain Middle Eastern countries have allowed the situation to deteriorate. Gazans are being held hostage by both Israel and Hamas. The iron and fire straitjacket to which the Palestinian people are subjected is not a myth.
During all the years of occupation and colonization of the Palestinian territory, all concerned allied governments of Israel have chosen to let it happen. Israel is described as a democratic country, therefore on the right side of history, the one that the so-called developed Western countries say they are writing. One-sided perception, because we see Israel as a country with strong potential for economic development, consistent with the credo of economic liberalism; everything his government does is good in the eyes of the businessmen in power in the so-called developed countries.
Despite numerous failures to establish two states of law (Israel and Palestine), diplomatic efforts in the search for lasting peace should have been continued. Naive position? Perhaps, but what has been done to defuse the potentially explosive reactions of an oppressed Palestinian people? What has been done to guarantee Israel’s security other than through the din of bombings? Very little. Instead, we tolerated the Palestinian people being dominated militarily within an enclave that generates inequalities, poverty, unemployment and… deep frustrations.
We were content to demonize the reactions of Palestinians subjected to the yoke at gunpoint. The principles of developing a culture and policies of peace have been omitted. We voluntarily agreed to play the armed violence card in an unequal balance of power. In the name of economic and geopolitical interests, the combination of multiple internal factors in Israel and Palestine under the umbrella of the indolence of Western countries has fueled the radicalism and fanaticism of Hamas.
And today, we are surprised by the widespread derailment of the situation which is leading to the massacres of innocent civilians on both sides of the wall… There are so many tragic pages of this history left to write. In the meantime, the escalation of violence should stop now. It is unacceptable that the American president calls for revenge and that the Canadian Prime Minister and the leader of the official opposition speak in every tone of Israel’s right to defend itself. We seem to have learned nothing from the application of the principle of revenge practiced by the American army in Iraq, to cite only this example. The waste was absolute.
Today, as in the past, war propaganda builds public opinion’s acceptance of the fatal spiral of war violence. Fortunately, voices are being raised in the opposite direction: thus, “OXFAM Quebec strongly urges all parties to immediately cease all military offensives and to show restraint to prevent a new escalation of violence which would only harm innocent civilians on both sides. This rise in military escalation underscores the continued failure of the leadership to address the prolonged occupation and blockade of Gaza without any significant action being taken.”
Many other peace organizations also offer similar positions. Armed confrontation can only lead to an even more destructive bloody drama; This observation should be enough to convince us to resist the sirens of armed violence as a solution to the current tragedy.