The assault on Gaza: A

historic crime
21 July 2014
At least 100 Palestinians were killed Sunday as Israel escalated its savage land, sea
and air attack on Gaza. In a single neighborhood on the east side of Gaza ity,
She!aiya, Israeli bo"bs and artillery shells killed at least #$ %eo%le and wounded
nearly &00 others. A"ong the dead were 1' wo"en, 1( children and four elderly
%eo%le. )he cor%ses of wo"en and children lined the streets of She!aiya as %eo%le
fled on foot and in overloaded vehicles.
)he *nited +ations agency for Palestinian refugees, *+,-A, said "ore than #&,000
%eo%le had sought sanctuary in the (. shelters it has set u% in Gaza. /)he nu"ber has
tri%led in the last three days,0 *+,-A said, /reflecting the intensity of the conflict and
the inordinate threats the fighting is %osing to civilians.0
1os%itals in Gaza were overwhel"ed by the wounded and other civilians seeking
sanctuary fro" the relentless bo"bard"ent. Su%%lies of bandages and basic
"edicines were running out. In large %arts of the besieged territory, water and
electricity were cut off.
)he Israeli "ilitary defended its use of flechette shells against the Palestinian
%o%ulation, saying it was %er"itted under the laws of war. 2lechette shells s%ray out
thousands of tiny "etal darts with shar%ened ti%s, designed to shred hu"an flesh.
1u"an ,ights -atch, a *S3based organization generally allied to the A"erican
%olitical establish"ent, released a re%ort indicting Israel for deliberately targeting
civilian facilities. /Israeli air attacks in Gaza investigated by 1u"an ,ights -atch have
been targeting a%%arent civilian structures and killing civilians in violation of the laws of
war,0 the re%ort stated.
)he Israeli state is carrying out "ass "urder in Gaza. Its troo%s, tanks, war %lanes
and gunboats are %er%etrating a "assacre of defenseless Palestinians tra%%ed inside
a tiny, i"%overished and densely %o%ulated territory. +o one really knows how "any
have been killed in the two weeks of Israeli bo"bing and shelling. 4ut Palestinian
hos%ital officials as of "id3day Sunday %ut the figure at (&#, with "ore than &,000
wounded. )he dead include "ore than 100 children.
If this is not a war cri"e, then what is5
)he lies given out by Israeli Pri"e 6inister +etanyahu to !ustify this atrocity are
beneath conte"%t. Peo%le are told not to believe what they are seeing with their own
eyes in news re%orts and videos, des%ite the grossly distorted, %ro3Israeli coverage
%rovided by "ost of the cor%orate3controlled "edia. Israeli officials have the te"erity
to clai" that their actions are a defensive res%onse to aggression fro" 1a"as. 4ut the
facts s%eak for the"selves7 the civilian death toll is heading ra%idly toward 1,000 on
the Palestinian side, while only two Israeli civilians have died as a result of 1a"as8
crude rockets.
)he "easures taken by 1a"as are the defensive res%onse of an isolated and
besieged %eo%le to a savage onslaught, the cul"ination of decades of unrelenting and
ever3escalating Israeli violence. +early fifty years after the Si9 :ay -ar and seizure of
the occu%ied territories, the ;ionist regi"e has utterly failed to crush the resistance of
the Palestinian "asses. )he current %aro9ys" of violence is an e9%ression of
des%eration rather than confidence in the future. 2or all its cynicis" and brutality, the
Israeli govern"ent gives the i"%ression of a regi"e that has lost its bearings.
In its long and bloody history, Israel in the %ast four days has crossed a funda"ental
line. Its actions in Gaza are those of a society in a state of %olitical and "oral
disintegration<the result of the dead end of ;ionis".
It is now clear that the "urder two weeks ago of 1#3year3old 6uha""ad =hdeir in
>ast ?erusale" by ?ewish fascists, who %oured gasoline down the youth8s throat and
set hi" on fire, was only the %recursor to a far broader cri"e, carried out by the
highest authorities of the Israeli state.
6ore and "ore, Israel is looked u%on around the world as a %ariah state run by a
co"bination of fascists and lunatics. @utrage against it is "ounting a"ong working
%eo%le and youth internationally.
Israel could not carry out such a naked cri"e without the su%%ort, %olitical and
"aterial, of the i"%erialist %owers and ca%italist govern"ents around the world. )he
world is witnessing a globally orchestrated war cri"e, carried out with the enthusiastic
and o%en su%%ort of the international ca%italist class.
2irst and fore"ost is the *nited States, which has su%%lied Israel with the bulk of the
wea%ons it is using to "urder Palestinians. Aast -ednesday, on the eve of Israel8s
ground invasion, President 4arack @ba"a a%%eared before the %ress in the -hite
1ouse and gave Israel his full su%%ort for the i"%ending bloodbath.
@ba"a did not even bother to "outh the usual clichBs about /restraint0 and /li"iting
casualties.0 Instead, he re%eated verbati" the lying Israeli line, declaring, /)here8s no
country on earth that can be e9%ected to live under a daily barrage of rockets.0 )his
was said as Israeli "issiles and bo"bs were killing Palestinians every hour.
1e then bla"ed 1a"as for /%rolonging the conflict0 by refusing to acce%t a %hony
ceasefire that was, in fact, a de"and for ab!ect surrender "ade for the %ur%ose of
creating a %rete9t for launching a ground war.
Interviewed Sunday on A4 )elevision8s /)his -eek0 %rogra", *S Secretary of State
?ohn =erry was asked to res%ond to the state"ent by Palestinian s%okeswo"an
1anan Ashrawi that what was ha%%ening in Gaza was a /"assacre0 and /war cri"e.0
=erry dis"issed the charge as /1a"as rhetoric0 and added cynically, /-ar is ugly and
bad things are going to ha%%en.0
=erry knows full well that he is lying when he defends the Israeli onslaught on Gaza.
1is cynicis" and du%licity were e9%osed on the /2o9 +ews Sunday0 interview %rogra"
when the "oderator %layed a cli% of =erry holding a cell %hone conversation !ust
before he went on air. S%eaking of the Israeli bo"bard"ent of Gaza, he said
sarcastically, /It8s a hell of a %in%oint o%erationC -e8ve got to get over there.0
)hen there are the >uro%ean %owers, all of who" are giving Israel their full su%%ort.
)he Socialist Party govern"ent of 2rance has gone so far as to ban de"onstrations
against the Israeli onslaught on Gaza and "obilize riot %olice to attack %rotesters in
Paris with tear gas.
)he *nited +ations, as always, has fallen into line with the wishes of the "a!or
i"%erialist %owers, calling on /both sides0 to refrain fro" violence, in what is a
co"%letely one3sided slaughter.
)he Arab bourgeois regi"es are either o%enly or tacitly collaborating with Israel in the
attack on Gaza. )he *S3client regi"e headed by the "ilitary butcher >l Sisi in >gy%t
has sealed the border to %revent Gazans fro" fleeing the Israeli "ilitary and finding
sanctuary in >gy%t. >l Sisi brokered the bogus ceasefire %ro%osal to %rovide a %rete9t
for the Israeli ground assault.
)he Palestinian Authority of 6ah"oud Abbas is doing the dirty work for the ;ionist
state and *S i"%erialis", cons%iring against 1a"as while su%%ressing anti3Israeli
%rotests on the -est 4ank.
)here is nothing left of the "yth of Arab nationalis" and unity. All of the bourgeois
regi"es and %arties have been e9%osed as %etty agents of i"%erialis".
1a"as is e9hibiting undoubted courage in seeking to resist the "urderous Israeli
offensive. 4ut it does not have a viable %olitical %ers%ective. 4ased on nationalis", it
seeks the su%%ort of Arab regi"es that are co"%letely subordinated to the i"%erialist
%owers, leaving the Palestinian "asses isolated and virtually defenseless.
)he ho"icidal violence in Gaza that is being aided and abetted by govern"ents
around the world is a warning to the working class of every country. It is %roof of the
co"%lete ruthlessness of i"%erialis". It will not shrink fro" any cri"e to eli"inate
whatever gets in the way of its global econo"ic and geo3%olitical a"bitions.
)he defense of the Palestinian %eo%le is the task of the international working class.
Israeli workers, in the first instance, "ust se%arate the"selves fro" the cri"inals who
run their country. Aarge sections of the Israeli ruling class are i"%licated in vile cri"es.
And there are voices within the Israeli establish"ent who are o%enly talking about the
%hysical e9ter"ination of the Palestinian %eo%le<a +azi3like /final solution.0
)he ?ewish workers "ust o%%ose the slaughter in Gaza. )hey "ust turn to their
natural allies, the Arab workers and o%%ressed "asses.
)he A"erican, >uro%ean and international working class "ust give a lead to the
wides%read outrage and revulsion felt by "illions over what is taking %lace in Gaza. It
"ust de"and an i""ediate halt to the carnage. :e"onstrations of %rotest and
solidarity with the Palestinians "ust be called in every country.
)he de"and "ust be raised to hold accountable the war cri"inals in )el Aviv and their
acco"%lices in -ashington and every other ca%ital around the world. )he struggle
"ust be directed not only against the Israeli govern"ent, but against the i"%erialist
and ca%italist govern"ents that facilitate its cri"es.
Patrick 6artin and 4arry Grey
Posted by Thavam