I attended the rally for Gaza a couple of weeks ago, and came back hopeful. Hopeful not because of our government’s actions, but because there are so many people, from all walks of life, ethnicity and religion, who can differentiate right from wrong, and stand up and say alongside Palestinians enough bloodshed, “Ceasefire now.” There were some 25,000 of us in Toronto, and hundreds of thousands more in other cities in Canada and around the world. War is not law, and international law is useless if it is applied selectively.
In spite of Israeli forces targeting news and medical staff and their families, Palestinians have been able to tell their stories of loss and grief, and reassert their humanity, thanks to social media. Had they printed posters of their loved ones killed by Israel, there wouldn’t be a wall big enough to paste them. To date, more than 9,000 civilians, 3,900 of them children, have been killed, and thousands more have been maimed for life, physically, emotionally and psychologically.
Israel has been operating in Gaza according to its Dahiya doctrine during Operation Cast Lead (2008-2009), Operation Returning Echo, Operation Pillar of Defense (2012) and Operation Protective Edge (2014) and the civilian Great March of Return (2018-19). It is at it again now, with a vengeance, holding 2.5 million Palestinians hostage. Beyond the destruction of Palestinian infrastructure – schools, churches, mosques, ambulances, water and sewage systems – Israel is also imposing collective punishment on all Gaza civilians: no food, water, electricity, or fuel allowed in Gaza.
Netanyahu translated the Dahiya doctrine for the zealots, using Palestinians, not Germans like he and Menachem Begin did before, as an iteration of Amalek: “You must remember what Amalek has done to you, says our Holy Bible. And we do remember.” In the biblical text, God’s command is to “totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys,” in other words a genocide. This irresponsible call for a holy war will only galvanize his diehard Christian end-of-time, messianic and extremist settler supporters.
The killing of Palestinian children, the blowing up of whole families is never Israel’s fault, or so the Israeli forces say. They insist that the deaths were unintentional, or that Hamas was hiding behind the civilians. Gaza is so densely populated that it is ridiculous to think that the 25,000 tons of bombs dropped to date would not translate into a massive number of civilians killed and maimed. The claim that the killings were unintentional is no more than a cynical evasion of responsibility.
The current monolithic stand of Western countries shows clearly the double standard, the willful amnesia and the gaslighting that dominates the Palestinian issue. Palestinians are seen as a threat. They have been denied their rights and freedoms by Israel with the complicity of Western democracies, and forced to live under a system where Jewish Israelis have full citizenship and resources, and are “more equal” than Palestinians.
The irony is that while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau paid “special tribute to the members of our Canadian Armed Forces who have risked their lives to serve in defense of peace, security, the rule of law, and democracy around the world,” he supports a state that is not a state to all its citizens, as a democracy should be. A state that flouts international law, and ultimately helps the oppressor silence the oppressed.
The curtain that protected the discriminatory policies imposed by successive Israeli governments, Likud and Labour alike, has finally been lifted. It has become difficult to cover up or deny the racist, hateful and de-humanising statements by extremist settlers, some of them members of the Israeli government. No amount of hasbara can explain or excuse the damage to the environment, the devastation, the horror and the unbearable tragic scenes on our various screens.
Race and ethnicity play a big part in shaping, not only Israeli policies, but policies in Western countries. These policies are out of sync with the majority of people around the world. Still, Canada public messaging towards Israel is heavily biased: there is no criticism of Israeli military actions or treatment of Palestinians, whether in Gaza or in the West Bank, and our own Ministry of Global Affairs Canada website calls for “Support for Israel and its security” but only for “Support for the Palestinians.” Clearly, for the Canadian government, Palestinians have no need or right to their own “security.” The gap between the Canadian government’s public attitude towards Palestinians and the massive rallies in Canadian cities is untenable, both morally and legally, given Canada’s role as Gavel Holder for the Refugee Working Group of the Middle East.
Should Canada continue to stand up for a state that is the antithesis of what we, Canadians, are supposed to be, all equal under the law?
The Canadian streets have spoken loud and clear. Did Prime Minister Trudeau listen? Ceasefire now!
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