[Peace-discuss] Gideon Levy, Anguish from Israel.

[Morton K. Brussel]

It is also worth reading the comments, at http://www.commondreams.org/ 
view/2009/01/10-4


The Time of The Righteous
by Gideon Levy
  This war, perhaps more than its predecessors, is exposing the true  
deep veins of Israeli society. Racism and hatred are rearing their  
heads, as is the impulse for revenge and the thirst for blood. The  
"inclination of the commander" in the Israel Defense Forces is now  
"to kill as many as possible," as the military correspondents on  
television describe it. And even if the reference is to Hamas  
fighters, this inclination is still chilling.

The unbridled aggression and brutality are justified as "exercising  
caution": the frightening balance of blood - about 100 Palestinian  
dead for every Israeli killed, isn't raising any questions, as if  
we've decided that their blood is worth one hundred times less than  
ours, in acknowledgement of our inherent racism.

Rightists, nationalists, chauvinists and militarists are the only  
legitimate bon ton in town. Don't bother us about humaneness and  
compassion. Only at the edges of the camp can a voice of protest be  
heard - illegitimate, ostracized and ignored by media coverage - from  
a small but brave group of Jews and Arabs.

Alongside all this, rings another voice, perhaps the worst of all.  
This is the voice of the righteous and the hypocritical. My  
colleague, Ari Shavit, seems to be their eloquent spokesman. This  
week, Shavit wrote here ("Israel must double, triple, quadruple its  
medical aid to Gaza," Haaretz, January 7): "The Israeli offensive in  
Gaza is justified ... Only an immediate and generous humanitarian  
initiative will prove that even during the brutal warfare that has  
been forced on us, we remember that there are human beings on the  
other side."

To Shavit, who defended the justness of this war and insisted that it  
mustn't be lost, the price is immaterial, as is the fact that there  
are no victories in such unjust wars. And he dares, in the same  
breath, to preach "humaneness."

Does Shavit wish for us to kill and kill, and afterward to set up  
field hospitals and send medicine to care for the wounded? He knows  
that a war against a helpless population, perhaps the most helpless  
one in the world, that has nowhere to escape to, can only be cruel  
and despicable. But these people always want to come out of it  
looking good. We'll drop bombs on residential buildings, and then  
we'll treat the wounded at Ichilov; we'll shell meager places of  
refuge in United Nations schools, and then we'll rehabilitate the  
disabled at Beit Lewinstein. We'll shoot and then we'll cry, we'll  
kill and then we'll lament, we'll cut down women and children like  
automatic killing machines, and we'll also preserve our dignity.

The problem is - it just doesn't work that way. This is outrageous  
hypocrisy and self-righteousness. Those who make inflammatory calls  
for more and more violence without regard for the consequences are at  
least being more honest about it.

You can't have it both ways. The only "purity" in this war is the  
"purification from terrorists," which really means the sowing of  
horrendous tragedies. What's happening in Gaza is not a natural  
disaster, an earthquake or flood, for which it would be our duty and  
right to extend a helping hand to those affected, to send rescue  
squads, as we so love to do. Of all the rotten luck, all the  
disasters now occurring in Gaza are manmade - by us. Aid cannot be  
offered with bloodstained hands. Compassion cannot sprout from  
brutality.

Yet there are some who still want it both ways. To kill and destroy  
indiscriminately and also to come out looking good, with a clean  
conscience. To go ahead with war crimes without any sense of the  
heavy guilt that should accompany them. It takes some nerve. Anyone  
who justifies this war also justifies all its crimes. Anyone who  
preaches for this war and believes in the justness of the mass  
killing it is inflicting has no right whatsoever to speak about  
morality and humaneness. There is no such thing as simultaneously  
killing and nurturing. This attitude is a faithful representation of  
the basic, twofold Israeli sentiment that has been with us forever:  
To commit any wrong, but to feel pure in our own eyes. To kill,  
demolish, starve, imprison and humiliate - and be right, not to  
mention righteous. The righteous warmongers will not be able to allow  
themselves these luxuries.

Anyone who justifies this war also justifies all its crimes. Anyone  
who sees it as a defensive war must bear the moral responsibility for  
its consequences. Anyone who now encourages the politicians and the  
army to continue will also have to bear the mark of Cain that will be  
branded on his forehead after the war. All those who support the war  
also support the horror.

© 2009 Haaretz
Gideon Levy is a reporter and commentator for Haaretz.
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