Dear Editor,

I read with shock but not surprise the Jamaica Observer editorial ‘The never-ending pain and blood in the Middle East’, published on October 8, 2024.

All well-thinking individuals will agree that terrorism, war, and the loss of lives in any conflict is regrettable and must be condemned. In averting these evils, society, including media must play its role. That role must bring balanced objectivity grounded on law and fact to the fore. Your editorial fails to do so.

You are no doubt au fait with the genesis and recency of this conflict. The conflict is not centuries old. The Palestinian issue is a simple issue of classic settler colonialism. In 1917, the British, through the Balfour Declaration “on behalf of one people (the British), granted to a second people (white European Zionists Jews) the land of a third people (the Palestinians)”. Britain had no legal or moral authority to do so. Its actions were racist and based on white supremacy. Textbook settler colonialism. The editorial ignores this historical wrong, the root cause of the conflict.

Israel, a settler colony, born of terrorism, sustained by terrorism was created by the morally repugnant acts of ethnic cleansing, forced displacement, and murder of the Palestinian people (the 1948 ethnic cleansing of Palestine). Today Israel continues policies of illegal occupation, displacement, terrorism and murder, apartheid, and the taking of Palestinians as hostages (including six-year-olds). As of early November 2024, there are approximately 7,200 Palestinians in Israeli prisons, in addition to 250 children. Palestinians, as is their legal right, continue to resist occupation, oppression, and apartheid.

In referring to a “shock attack” by Hamas, claiming 1,200 people were killed, you ignored the fact that many that were killed were Israeli Defense Force (IDF) personnel and many were killed by the IDF under their Hannibal directive. Prior to October 7, for years Israel continually conducted air strikes on civilian homes in Gaza. Former UK Prime Minister David Cameron described Gaza as the “world’s only open-air prison”.

According to the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, between 2006 to just prior to October 7, 2023, 6,274 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces.

We all agree the taking of Israeli civilian hostages is unacceptable, as is the rape of any human being. Unfortunately, your editorial, while making reference to these acts, failed to be balanced by ignoring the reports which said these incidents were exaggerated and disproved in most instances (Middle East Eye, December 3, 2023, ‘Israel-Palestine war: Israeli personnel gave false information about 7 October attack crimes’).

Portraying Israelis as the only victims of this conflict ignores the gross oppression and injustices Palestinians have suffered for decades, thereby dehumanising them. Have you read the UN report that IDF soldiers, during and prior to the current conflict in Gaza, regularly raped, gang raped, and committed sexualised torture and mutilation (‘The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Including East Jerusalem and Israel’ and ‘Israel/oPt: UN experts appalled by reported human rights violations against Palestinian women and girls’). Has the notorious video of IDF soldiers sexually abusing Palestinian hostages been forgotten?

The editorial posits that Israel has “every right to retaliate and has “unleashed the full force of its defence”, propagating a philosophy of revenge, which has no place in this world. Revenge is not self-defence. No State has the right of revenge; however, at times they have the right of self-defence. Israel, an occupying power over Palestine, has no right of self-defence. This legal position was enunciated by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). (ICJ, July 9, 2004, General List No 131).

Your failure to acknowledge the true legal rights of the parties under international law exposes a bias. If the rights of one party is repeatedly ignored, it allows the other party to act with impunity, as Israel has for decades

In the editorial’s rush to lay blame on one party, it appears oblivious that before our eyes is what Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley called the “world’s first televised genocide”. Israel is facing worldwide condemnation for its disproportionate use of force and breaches of countless humanitarian laws, yet the editorial fails to mention same.

Your editorial seeks to justify Israel’s disproportionate use of force by parroting the Israeli line that Hamas is hiding in schools, hospitals, etc and as such these places need to be bombed to remove Hamas. The Israeli approach of obliterating people and buildings is not new. It is their Dahiya Doctrine, which calls on Israel to wield disproportionate power and cause immense damage and destruction. You should acquaint yourself with same.

In advocating for a two-State solution as a means to bring an end to the conflict, the editorial reveals a naivety of the following:

1) The 850,000 illegal settlers on Palestinian land

2) That Israel’s current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said there will be no two-State solution

3) That every single Israeli Administration has taken steps to thwart the two-State solution

In crafting this editorial one would have expected more awareness of the facts on the issue. The editorial was selective in what was discussed and disclosed.

We trust future editorials will be more fact-based, balanced, and substantive.

Jail Said Dabdoub

jsd_ddc@flowja.com

A Palestinian man collects rocks from a building that was destroyed during the 50-day war between Israel and Hamas-led militants recently. (MOHAMMED ABED)