Genocide is a crime—not just a “war crime,” but a crime against humanity. No genuine friend of Israel could support the carpet bombing of Gaza, the order for more than a million Gazans to leave their residences on territory Israel, for decades, has either illegally occupied or isolated as an outdoor prison.
Yes, the Hamas attack on Israel was horrifying atrocity. It has given rise to the most passionate emotions, which we see displayed by the actions and words of the Israeli government and by Palestinians around the world. A true friend would restrain the Israeli government from committing crimes against humanity in retaliation—already thousands of Gazan civilians, many of them children, elderly or infirm, have been killed.
Morality and legality aside, Israel’s current course is going to backfire. The Israeli government has set an impossible goal—to eliminate Hamas. That is going to be an impossible task. The more Palestinians are killed, the more resentment will be stimulated in those that remain, and there are millions in surrounding countries and the West Bank that will make living in Israel a security nightmare. What kind of life will that be?
Obviously, passions on both sides, Israeli and Palestinian, are so high today that immediate reconciliation is quite impossible. The only way to stop the slaughter and to prevent an Israeli crime against humanity would be an immediate cease fire without conditions. (Negotiations over hostages could then proceed.)
This latest atrocity should make clear that Israel will never be safe until it creates conditions for the Palestinians to live in a state that grants them the full rights of citizenship and does not try to force them to leave. That could be one state, two states, or a confederation. That will require a different Israeli administration and a different Palestinian leadership. It will not be easy and, at best, will take a lot of time.
To its shame, the United States has not used its power to prevent the genocide in progress in Gaza. Most of the world is insisting on a cease fire; the United States vetoed such a resolution in the United Nations Security Council and is actually supporting Israel’s genocidal activity. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu—whose policies did much to create conditions that led to the Hamas atrocities—has even refused a temporary humanitarian corridor, a direct insult to America’s secretary of state and the country he represents.
