Why?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s excuse for his continued aggression on Gaza is “security” for his people, but security for Palestinians is never mentioned by him or the international community.

US Secretary of State John Kerry says he “can’t understand” why Hamas did not stop firing rockets at Israel after the ceasefire agreement, but there was no agreement as Hamas had not even been consulted, and only heard about it via the media. The rockets are described as being very dangerous, but nobody mentions the terrifying Israeli air strikes. 

US President Barack Obama and all his spokespersons always blame Hamas for the aggression, but the figures speak for themselves.
Up until last Wednesday, 1,470 Palestinian targets had been attacked; 66 schools and 940 homes were destroyed or damaged; 17,000 Palestinians were displaced and 192 killed. 

Now the number of fatalities is well over 300 Gazans, while one Israeli civilian has died as a result of the rockets. 

Last Wednesday, four boys playing football on Gaza beach were shelled by an Israeli gunboat, which Israel said was “a tragic mistake”.

Netanyahu tries to fool us all by saying he is only targeting Hamas, yet four out of every five Palestinians killed have been civilians, many of them children and women, including whole families. 

His aim is not just to stop rockets, it is to wipe out as many Arabs as possible. 

I must point out that 1.9 million people living in Gaza are not Hamas. They are ordinary human beings who just want to live in peace without road blocks, big walls, a permanent siege, house raids and demolitions. 

All that the West can pathetically say is: “Both sides should show restraint” and “Israel has a right to defend itself.” 

Actually it hasn’t. As an occupying power it should be safeguarding everybody who is under occupation. 

Don’t the Palestinians have a right to defend themselves with what little they have? It is time to end all this aggression, and indeed the occupation itself.
What is Netanyahu gaining by this unnecessary one-sided war? Surely all the massacres he has committed with such hatred amount to genocide? He has always got away with everything with impunity.  Isn’t it time for him to be tried at the International Criminal Court?

Chris Larter

Amman