Sunday, July 27, 2014

The Big Lie- How Netanyahu Pulled A Bush/Cheney And Led Israel To War With Hamas


As the war between Israel and Hamas enters its fourth week, much of the debate has been centered on two major issues. 

The first is the horrific shelling of Gaza and the overall humanitarian tragedy that is being inflicted upon the Palestinian people. Heartbreaking images of murdered men, women and, worst of all, children tear at our collective consciousness, forcing us to question just how humans can inflict such pain, heartache and devastation on one another.

The second issue is a more calculated, practical one: When will a peace deal be achieved that puts an end to all the bloodshed?

Unfortunately, despite his admirable, dogged efforts to secure a cease-fire and, ultimately, a resolution to the conflict, Secretary of State John Kerry seems nowhere close to achieving any kind of peace between Israel and Hamas.

In fact, some feel that he's only making things worse. In a devastating rebuke of Kerry's latest cease-fire proposal, Haaretz reporter Barak Ravid called Kerry's judgment into question, saying "it's as if he isn't the foreign minister of the world's most powerful nation, but an alien, who just disembarked his spaceship in the Mideast."

Whether or not the statement is true, it shows how frustrated Israel is with Kerry and how far apart the sides are when it comes to ending the conflict. Combine this setback with the 9-month long failed peace talks earlier this year and it looks more and more like Kerry is a postmodern Sisyphus pushing a boulder up a Mideast hill, only to watch it roll back down each time, forever. 

However, while our attention is split between these two issues- the crime against humanity taking place in Gaza and the effort to end the bloodshed- we must also remember one very important fact. 

The entire premise for war was based on a lie. 


DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN

While it's true that the Israelis and Palestinians have been deadlocked in a bitter feud for generations and, sadly, violence and bloodshed was bound to break out at some point, this particular war currently being waged between Israel and Hamas didn't have to happen. 

Simply put, it was based on a lie.

Nearly a month ago, three Israeli teens were kidnapped and, after an 18-day search, their murdered bodies were found in a grassy field in Hebron, a small town on the outskirts of Jerusalem. 

Before conducting any kind of investigation of the murders, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defiantly blamed the killings on Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist organization that controls Gaza. 

The three teens were "murdered in cold blood by human animals, " Netanyahu said on his Facebook page. "Hamas is responsible, and Hamas will pay." 

In the ensuing days, a chain reaction took place that quickly led to all out war. First, a 16-year-old Palestinian boy was burned alive by Israelis in a revenge-killing for the murdered Israeli teens. Then Hamas began raining down rockets on Israel. Next, before you knew it, Israel began shelling Gaza. Then came the ground invasion.

However, upon further review, the spark that lit the flame for war wasn't true. 

Despite Netanyahu's saber-rattling assurances that Hamas was responsible for killing the Israeli teens, they didn't actually do it. An investigation by Israeli Police proved that the murderers were not part of Hamas, but instead a lone cell that acted on their own "without concern for the repercussions." 

There is no way of getting around it. Netanyahu had pulled a Bush/Cheney- he lied to the public to gain support for war. This time it wasn't about Saddam having WMDs. It was about Hamas having killed the Israeli teens. But in both cases, a blatant falsehood was used to achieve the same goal: whip the public into a frenzy so that the impending war could be not only justified, but backed by popular opinion.


WHERE TO GO FROM HERE

As the bloodshed in Gaza continues and a peaceful resolution seems more and more difficult to reach, it's important to take a step back and remember how we got ourselves into this mess. 

Netanyahu's lie was the straw that broke the camel's back. He should be denounced for pushing his people into a war that was based on a blatant falsehood, just as George W. Bush and Dick Cheney should be denounced for doing the same in the wake of 9/11. 

However, it's also critical to realize that none of this happens in a vacuum. The conditions on the ground in Israel are so inflamed by fear and propaganda- some real, some manufactured- that they make it easy for leaders like Netanyahu to twist facts and incite tensions. 

Through it all, one thing is abundantly clear: the situation on the ground must change.

A peace agreement based on a two-state solution must be reached. Palestine must respect the state of Israel and excommunicate Hamas terrorists from their land. In turn, Israel must respect the state of Palestine and end the prison-like strangulation of Gaza. They must open the borders and allow Palestinians to breathe and move freely. 

Until then, the shared hatred between Israelis and Palestinians will continue, as will the the endless cycle of violence and revenge. And in the process, a public eternally on edge will remain easy pickings for future manipulation by leaders who tell them war is the only answer- even when it's based on a lie.

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