Eric Margolis: While Gaza Burns, the World Watches

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Eric Margolis
Posted January 8, 2009 | 08:40 PM (EST)

While Gaza Burns, the World Watches

As of this writing, US-supplied F-16I fighters and helicopter gunships continue to pound Gaza with bombs and missiles. Israeli ground forces appear poised to invade Gaza, unless Israel heeds world calls for a truce.

In the North American press version of events, we are told evil Hamas Islamic terrorists backed by Iran are raining deadly rockets on Israel with the intent of destroying the Jewish state. Israel, goes the mantra heard from our politicians and the media, 'has the right to defend herself.'

True enough. No Israeli government can tolerate rockets hitting its towns. Twenty four Israelis have died from these rockets over the past decade. The firing of these mostly feeble, home-made rockets by Palestinians is both useless and counter-productive: it damages their image as an oppressed people, enrages the Israelis, and gives their right wing extremists a perfect reason to launch more attacks on the Arabs and refuse to discuss peace.

Israel has the absolute right to drop hundreds of tons of bombs on `Hamas targets' inside the 216 sq mile Gaza Strip to 'take out the terrorists,' its supporters insist - which is like shooting fish in a barrel. Civilians must suffer, says Israel, because the cowardly Hamas hide among them.

But, as usual, this cartoon-like version of events omits a great deal of detail and background.

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The tragedy of Palestine will thus continue to poison America's relations with the Muslim world. Those Americans who still do not understand why their nation was attacked on 9/11 need only look to Gaza, for which America is now being blamed as much as Israel.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-margolis/while-gaza-burns-the-worl_b_156446.html