The Great Experiment: Israel's starvation of the Palestinians.

[shergald]

You can be cynical about US-Israeli propaganda concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but no one is as cynical as Uri Avnery, the Israeli peacenik who founded Gush Shalom. His latest article is about starvation in the Gaza Strip.

The Great Experiment

Uri Avnery
14-10-2006

"IS IT possible to force a whole people to submit to foreign occupation by starving it?That is, certainly, an interesting question. So interesting, indeed, that the governments of Israel and the United States, in close cooperation with Europe, are now engaged in a rigorous scientific experiment in order to obtain a definitive answer.The laboratory for the experiment is the Gaza Strip, and the guinea pigs are the million and a quarter Palestinians living there.

IN ORDER to meet the required scientific standards, it was necessary first of all to prepare the laboratory.

That was done in the following way: First, Ariel Sharon uprooted the Israeli settlements that were stuck there. After all, you can't conduct a proper experiment with pets roaming around the laboratory. It was done with "determination and sensitivity", tears flowed like water, the soldiers kissed and embraced the evicted settlers, and again it was shown that the Israeli army is the most-most in the world.

With the laboratory cleaned, the next phase could begin: all entrances and exits were hermetically sealed, in order to eliminate disturbing influences from the world outside. That was done without difficulty. Successive Israeli governments have prevented the building of a harbor in Gaza, and the Israeli navy sees to it that no ship approaches the shore. The splendid international airport, built during the Oslo days, was bombed and shut down. The entire Strip was closed off by a highly effective fence, and only a few crossings remained, all but one controlled by the Israeli army.

There remained a sole connection with the outside world: the Rafah border crossing to Egypt. It could not just be sealed off, because that would have exposed the Egyptian regime as a collaborator with Israel. A sophisticated solution was found: to all appearances the Israeli army left the crossing and turned it over to an international supervision team. Its members are nice guys, full of good intentions, but in practice they are totally dependent on the Israeli army, which oversees the crossing from a nearby control room. The international supervisors live in an Israeli kibbutz and can reach the crossing only with Israeli consent.

So everything was ready for the experiment."

The rest of the article can be read here:

http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1160914974

[xchrom]

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:popcorn:

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[Bok_Tukalo]

3. What is the Bison population in North America?

The answer to the original question is "yes."

[Porcupine]

5. Well they're sure making a solid attempt of it.

Israel is well beyond mere apartheidt and is reaching for Genocide. The US is/will be seen as enforcing their program. Israel could not stand without big Uncle Sam and his atomic club guarranteeing it's safety.

We will pay for this.

[cali]

8. God knows there's plenty to criticize Israel about;

the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, the recent war with Lebanon, but they are not committing genocide. In case you don't fucking know what genocide looks like, here's a couple of examples: Sudan now and Rwanda 10 years ago. The Palestinians are indeed suffering, but the Palestinian population is growing, and that just doesn't happen when genocide is occurring.

[breakaleg]

10. What in your estimation prevents the Gaza situation from being

classified as genocide? Is it the numbers of deaths? Because the intent to wipe out the Palestinians is certainly there in many aspects and I don't think there is a minimum number of deaths required.

[cali]

11. If the intent is there than

the Israelis are miserable failures at achieving the goal of wiping out the Palestinians. There is no way that you can state that the intent to commit genocide is there. That is an opinion; not remotely a fact. It's far easier and more logical to conclude that the Israelis are punishing the Palestinians for electing Hamas. Is that wrong? Indeed it is. Is it repugnant? No doubt. Is it genocide? Not even close. Oh, and yes, the number of deaths counts. And a few thousand, tragic and grievous as those deaths may be is not the same as the wholesale slaughter that takes place when genocide occurs.

[breakaleg]

13. I've read many articles that predate the Gaza elections that

conclude Israel is participating in a small scale genocide against the Palestinians.

Check this out:

http://www.mediamonitors.net/francis1.html

[geek tragedy]

18. No such thing as small-scale genocide. eom

[shergald]

17. It is part of the old, misguided principle that punishment

will dimish or stop rebellion, but it never worked in the past. In this particular case, it is probably used to stimulate the Palestinian people to rise up against Hamas.

That's the problem with negative reinforcement: sometimes it backfires and increases the behavior it was intended to diminish. Look at what happened in Lebanon. As I understand it, the Lebanese PM now wants Hezbollah to defend the country. Maybe Hezbollah fighters will be incorporated into the Lebanese Army. Wouldn't that be the mother of all backfires.

[Englander]

19. It's not genocide, or Genocide, even.

It's not even ethnic cleansing, with regard to Gaza. I would classify what's happening in the West
Bank/East Jerusalem as a form of ethnic cleansing, as houses/orchards are demolished & the intent is
to remove the Palestinian occupants.

But what is happening in Gaza isn't genocide, I'd describe what's happening as ongoing war crimes, &
collective punishment, & the deliberate & disproportionate targeting of a civialian population & the
civilian infrastructure. It's not anywhere near genocide.

[pelsar]

21. i'm impressed.....

some words that have a basis in facts with an interpretation that can be agreed with or disagreed with.....

[Tom Joad]

14. I don't think this is an attempt at genocide as it is a method of control.

and that indeed has been very successful.
The whole idea is to limit Palestinians to as little land as possible, with as little resistance as possible, with as little repurcussions from the world community as possible.

[IntiRaymi]

20. Agreed.

You read about things like this in history texts, and react to reading them in a pretty academic manner - but to see it happening in the here and now is quite a gut wrenching experience.

No, to repudiate Israel for this is not antisemitism. It is the right reaction to this scandal.