GAZA: Is the wind changing? Not really!

In the Bible and the Talmud (and Jesus said something similar), it is said that those who return to the right path are worth more in the eyes of God than 1,000 righteous people. We are therefore delighted that Sinclair, Horvilleur, Sfar and a few politicians (Braun-Pivet, albeit with great caution) have recognised that they were wrong after calling those who saw things clearly a year ago all sorts of names and insults (1). It would seem that politicians are beginning to realise that they risk being accused and judged for complicity if they do nothing (2). There is a wide range of possibilities, from ceasing all cooperation with Israel until this massacre stops, to no longer considering this country as a Western enclave in the East, as this approach is a dead end.

Yet we know that GAZA has been bombed more than Hiroshima and Nagasaki in terms of power,at least 12,000 babies and children have been killed, others orphaned and thousands more seriously injured and amputated; more journalists have been killed than in the Second World War – often deliberately targeted – there must be no witnesses and therefore no foreign journalists, all structures destroyed – hospitals, universities, schools, cemeteries, arable land (GAZA strawberries had a great reputation), everything ploughed up, structures providing drinking water – which Hamas had made the mistake of indicating to Israel – destroyed, including by soldiers who dynamited them on site. Then the population is endlessly moved from one part of Gaza to another, in marches reminiscent of those in the 1940s. Added to this is a medieval approach of starving and thirstening the population (3).

The photos of children furiously reminiscent of young Auschwitz survivors are intolerable (4, 5, 6). The image of a young girl with both legs amputated smiling at the photographer is sad enough to make you cry, as are many other images published on social media, such as the girl who, knowing she is going to die, writes her will (a bracelet, a perfume) (7), or these emaciated children reminiscent of a past we thought had disappeared (8), or those killed in a single Israeli strike (9) and these amputee children (10, 11). Few media outlets have the courage to resist the pressure (the New York Times and the Guardian in particular, with a few rare exceptions in France (L’Humanité and Médiapart, among others); for the others, there is no question of showing a disturbing photo – solidarity with Israel is required. Above all, one must not be accused of anti-Semitism, a formidable weapon used cynically by Israeli politicians since the creation of the state – ’ They – the Arabs – want to kill us even though they have by far the most powerful army in the region (and beyond) and in 80 years they have taken over all of Palestine and beyond (Syria, Lebanon, etc.).

Admittedly, politicians seem to be taking action, but only in a subliminal way. Promising to ‘recognise’ Palestine comes a little late, with 143 countries already recognising it, including five or six European countries… Especially at the rate things are going, it will be a matter of recognising, at best, a country comprising two small towns, Ramallah and Bethlehem (see Plantu’s cartoon, which sums it up better than words (12)! Yet there is no shortage of voices calling for an end to the massacre and genocide: Belgian, British, French, Italian and US parliamentarians, Lula, numerous heads of state, virtually all global bodies and NGOs, and prominent figures (13, 14, 15).

But beware, you will be accused of anti-Semitism, the ultimate insult, and see the far right as one man (or woman) judging that ‘Israel’ is doing what it can (M Le Pen) etc. It is astonishing how easy it is today to erase all traces of anti-Semitism. All you have to do is defend Israel, no matter what it does. Beware of painful awakenings, because in the end it will come to an end. Even in Israel, the population is fed up with these endless wars and the hundreds of soldiers killed or disabled. When we lift the rubble and realise that probably 10% of the population has been killed, including 60% of children, it will be too late.

The Israeli authorities say it all the time: kill as many Palestinians as possible and kick out the rest so that all of Palestine is Jewish. The latest crazy idea from the White House tenant is to kick them out to Libya. War is an excuse, and the hostages are the least of war criminal Netanyahu’s concerns. It is simply a matter of implementing the programme that began 80 years ago. For those who still believe that the massacre of 7/10 and the hostages are the cause of this war, the awakening will be painful. You need to read Ben-Gurion’s diary and his Dalet Plan (D in Hebrew), which resulted in hundreds of villages being destroyed in 1947, with theft, rape, massacres, Oradour-sur-Glane-style massacres, forced marches and, in the end, 700,000 Palestinians being expelled from the land they had inhabited since time immemorial. You must read the chilling testimonies and history books of the new Israeli historians (I. Pappé, in particular) (16, 17, 18) and learn about the desire to hide everything by destroying all traces of mass graves (19, 20).

Only Sunday philosophers like B-H Lévy would pontificate that the Palestinians left of their own free will for the attractive grass of the tents in Jordan and Lebanon. What’s more, ‘the famine in Gaza is fake news’. They are resourceful, they know how to feed themselves without water, without food, without energy! This gentleman could compete with Trump in the field of self-satisfaction and fake news. Denying all this is simply revisionism and amounts to killing the massacred populations a second time, but that requires an effort of honesty that is beyond these dimwitted characters. Israel has become a pro-fascist state, reminiscent of the Nazis before the industrialisation of death with camps and ovens.

I must say that I am at a loss for words to describe the disgust I feel at such cowardice and moral decay on the part of our European leaders. It seems that they have learned nothing from the lessons of the previous century. Furthermore, we must not believe that the weakness of our politicians in Europe and the US, who are so quick to stop any testimony in favour of the truth while allowing fascists with swastikas and all the rest to parade through the streets of Paris, will be without consequences. All this will be paid for, because the absence of any moral compass is accompanied and reflected by a weakening of democracies and heralds the rise of the far right to power, with the right wing, as usual, facilitating the transition.

Fortunately, huge demonstrations in Europe, the US and even Israel – notably the march to Gaza to demand an end to this dirty war (22, 23, 24) – show that there is hope and that pressure from the people will eventually convince politicians that they must finally pluck up their courage and do what is necessary. It is difficult to understand why it is possible to demonstrate in all these countries, including Israel, with Palestinian flags, but not in France! Let us hope that it will not be too late when there are still Palestinians left to defend.

Finally, if politicians are lacking ideas on how to intervene without major difficulties, here are a few suggestions. Stop the preferential agreements that bind Israel and Europe (or France), take into account that Israel is not a European country but de facto completely associated with and dependent on the US. There is no reason why it should benefit from research funding (via Curie grants, ERCs, etc.) or from Eurovision and other events. This will have a beneficial effect, ensuring that Israel ceases to be an advanced expression of the West in the East and becomes a country that must integrate with its neighbours. There will be no solution to the conflict unless Israel engages in discussions with its neighbours to achieve cultural, political and economic coexistence.

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