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SENSE OF MORAL CLARITY WITH ONGOING ISRAEL POLICIES IN THE ONGOING MIDDLE EAST CRISIS
I have just finished listening to William Scott Ritter Jr. video on Israel military engagements with Hamas and the opening of her second corridor to face Hezbullah that could lead to direct military confrontation with Iran.
It is a well-researched, and one could say part-participant’s account of the strategic and studious feat on geopolitics displayed by Mr Ritter who speaks from an informed point of view, considering his involvements in the region during the Iraq invasion of Kuwait and as a member in the (UNISCOM) UNITED NATION SPECIAL COMMISSION on weapon inspection in Iraq.
He provided a detailed account of what the war between Iran and Israel might produce not just within the Middle East but its effect to the whole world both socially, economically and demographically.
His analysis also provided a useful insight into a number of other scientific and technological feats recorded by Iran in the short-lived Islamic Republic by people operating under extremely difficult circumstances but challenged to improvise for her survival under imposed economic sanctions.
The retaliatory attack at Nagev in Israel by Iran using drones has demonstrated the effort of their scientific teams, which were saddled with the arduous responsibility of manufacturing weapons from the grossly limited resources.
Frantz Fanon wrote extensively on race and the evils of colonialism, so also people like Kwame Nkrumah, Seko Toure and the likes. What was the lesson inherent in their treatise?
We know there is something unusual about the Palestinian predicament. It isn’t the rough boundaries, historical contingencies, and overlapping identities inherent in the definition of the Palestinian people. Could it then be that the history invoked in the Palestinian people’s creation is one-sided and part mythical?
We know that the Palestinians are weak. Logic suggests that they should not fight, since we recognised the odds are against them and are most likely going to lose. BUT must they just accept their fate under a very harsh conditions/subjugation? How long would it take the UNSC to respond to the Palestinian desire to have their state in order to address some of their concerns as a sovereign state enjoying similar recognition as other countries within the UNO.
But what we always noticed was punishment meted to the Palestinians thereby worsening their position, which was always based on the fear of encouraging more senseless resistance.
This logic is clearly faulty. All that’s required for an insurrection is the belief that you would rather die than live like they do. Furthermore, most revolutions start from desperation, as hopeless causes. Most fail militarily, but even so often result in beneficial reforms.
Let me reiterate what I wrote in my article titled POLITICS UNDER ATTACK IN THE MIDDLE EAST dated 27th October 2023. I asked “Why must Israel allow itself to fit the description of Historian Richard Hofstadter who famously described it as “the paranoid style”, an outlook animated by “heated exaggeration, suspiciousness, and conspiratorial fantasy” and focused on perceived threats to “a nation, a culture, a way of life.”
Let us for the sake argument postulate the following and measure whether or not Israel is guilty of same charges as Hamas. Which is why a sense of moral clarity in this conflict is so important.
If Hamas is evil so also Israel unprovoked attack of Iranian Embassy in Damascus, Syria
Hamas could end the war it started by surrendering its cadres and releasing its prisoners. So also Israel should not bomb civilian targets, killing women and children as well as start a war with Iran whose ending she can not predict.
Hamas would rather sacrifice the civilian population of Gaza on the altar of its desire for independence. Israel would often sacrifices her people through indiscriminate ambition and suicidal desires to continue its occupation of Gaza.
Hamas committed war crimes. Israel is also guilty of war crimes and her attack on the Embassy compound in Syria is a war crime.
In America and Western Europe, the response to the October 7 attacks has largely been one of hostility toward Hamas. There are many reasons why this is so, one of which was the refusal to accept that Hamas was fighting against the perceived injustices of Israel occupation.
And lastly, it is always the correct thing to try to redress injustice. Even if some of the victims have resorted to violence (failed or otherwise). If other countries had demanded real actions to alleviate the injustice, we might not be in the terrible place we are now.
Mohammed Kabir Ilyasu a retired foreign affairs officer writes from Kaduna Nigeria. 16th April 2024
