Source of shame for 'free world'

June 7, 2008

Source of shame for 'free world'

WITH every military operation against Palestinian resistance, Israel is gaining more confidence that it would get away with anything and need not worry about killing any Palestinian, including women and children. That is what was underlined when Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Friday referred to a full-scale military operation in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip even as Egypt sought to mediate a truce.
According to the Yediot Aharonot daily, a major military operation in Gaza would take place within days. Perhaps, it could be launched over this weekend even as Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is visiting the US for talks with President George W Bush. It is even more ironic that the US is finalising a military aid package to Israel,, including advanced F-35 stealth fighter jets and radar system.
In the meantime, there is little chance of a truce in and around Gaza because of the almost impossible conditions laid down by the two sides.
Israel is demanding an end to Palestinian rocket attacks while Hamas insists on an end to the blockade of Gaza which Israel says is aimed at forcing Palestinians to stop firing mortars across the border at Israeli towns.
Israel also wants an end to arms smuggling from Egypt's Sinai peninsula, as well as progress in negotiations for the release of an Israeli soldier captured by Palestinians in 2006.
It is highly unlikely that Israel or Hamas would step back from their demands. The cycle of violence will continue, with the Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip paying the price with daily suffering.
The international community does not seem to be bothered that the government of a country is unleashing its military power on a people who have no means of defending themselves and are exercising their legitimate right to resist foreign occupation.
It is already a blemish in world history that the international community has allowed the situation to continue unchecked and it should be s source of shame for world leaders that they are not doing anything realistic to put an end to what is nothing less than state-sponsored terrorism against a people under occupation.