The Rev. Peter J. Miano
4 March 2024
Almost no one regards the October 7 attack on Israel’s border communities near Gaza as anything but barbaric. Israel claims that its attacks on Gaza in retaliation against Hamas are legitimate self-defense. So far Israel’s self defense has resulted in the deaths of over 31,000 people in Gaza. Israel states that fewer than 8,000 of these deaths are Hamas militants. This means that the rest were not Hamas, which is to say that in self defense, Israel killed about 23,000 people who were women, the elderly and children. Further, in self defense, Israel has destroyed more than 85% of the homes in Gaza. In self defense, Israel has completely or partially destroyed almost all hospitals in Gaza, prevented the delivery of medical and food relief and as of now, 50% of the non-combatant population of Gaza is at imminent risk of starvation. Most recently, in self defense, Israel fired from tanks into a desperate crowd of nearly starving non combatants, resulting in the killing about 100 unarmed people from live fire and the melee that ensued.
Self-defense is an inalienable right. Oddly though, as often as that right is invoked to dignify Israel’s retaliation, I’ve not heard in public speech or seen in written discourse even one person deny that. Have you? Slogans, not even well repeated ones, are a poor substitute for insight. One might start by asking what self defense actually means. After four months of onslaught, is it still self defense? Is it still self defense when 70% or more of the casualties of the self defensive action are women, children and the elderly? Is it still self defense when almost 100% of the population of Gaza has been displaced, their homes, hospitals and vital infrastructure destroyed? Does the appeal to self defense justify reducing the Palestinian population of Gaza to starvation levels and exposing it to imminent health dangers?
But the real problem with the appeal to self defense is not that we don’t really know the difference between self defense and pure, unvarnished revenge. The problem is that everyone, including the Palestinians, have the right to self defense. When all parties to a conflict fall back on a simplistic appeal to the right to self defense, the result is an endless cycle of violence and vengeance. How great is that? Where is the evidence that it works?
Israel’s appeal to self defense is not only a cynical ploy to disguise its own hideous violence and desperate attempt to appear strong after an unprecedented intelligence and military failure. It is also misguided strategy and counter-productive to its own interest in achieving security. Israel has a lot fewer international supporters now than it did on October 6. It is nowhere near its objective of destroying Hamas. Even Prime Minister Netanyahu now calls the idea of “total victory over Hamas” a mere slogan.
Self defense is natural and all people have the right to self defense, including Palestinians. But if you like Israel’s theory of self defense and its results, you should vote for U.S. politicians who are enthusiastic supporters of it. Almost unqualified support for Israel is a bi-partisan foreign policy fiasco. Here is a very partial and very bi-partisan list of U.S. politicians who have stated repeatedly, recently and forcefully that Israel has the right to defend itself even four months after it was attacked and even if its self defense is itself hideous:
Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, Elizabeth Warren (D Mass), Edward Markey (D Mass), Jarod Golden (D Maine), Susan Collins (R Maine), Angus King (I Maine), Ron DeSantis, Niki Haley, Lindsay Graham, Hakeem Jeffries (D NY), John Fetterman (D- PA).
This conflict will resolve only through negotiations. There is no military solution that is also morally defendable. There is no solution without satisfying the legitimate interests of the people of both Israel and Palestine. In the history of humanity, no people have acquiesced in their own subjugation. The expectation that subjugated people will submit is a perverse fantasy based on fevered logic. Without satisfying the root causes of the conflict, these episodes of senseless violence will continue.
Of all the bitter realities over roughly 75 years of unresolved conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, none is more heartbreaking than to ponder the truth that all this violence could have been avoided. Of all the conflicts in the world, none is more studied and more understood than the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We know its roots and its solutions. This violence occurred, because politicians, including and especially U.S. politicians from the top down, have been unwilling to demonstrate moral leadership. This episode of violence is a moral indictment of the bi-partisan political fiasco which is US policy in the Middle East. U.S. policy has been a disaster for Palestinians and Israelis alike. Our own representatives and senators are enthusiastically complicit.
No amount of violence will succeed in producing stability. The misguided politicians who would persuade us otherwise and their media cheerleaders have yet to explain how a continuing cycle of violence and vengeance is the best we can do. Children know better than they do. The results are there for all to see. Why do we continue to tolerate the same pathetic strategies?