Hamas is wrong to fire rockets at civilians (though few hit their targets), even considering that the villages those civilians live in were once Palestinian villages that Zionist/Israeli forces seized during the 1947-48 ethnic cleansing. The rocketing, however, is a sign of weakness versus Israel, not strength, and must not permit us to overlook this background of brutality against Palestinians. This year Hamas agreed to join the Palestinian Authority’s coalition government (after the Israeli government, again, made a mockery of “peace talks”) signaling an endorsement of the PA’s agenda — including recognition of Israel. Was this a welcome step for the Israeli government? No. It immediately set out to punish the Palestinians for this new unity — it prefers a divided Palestinian community and a Hamas it can demonize. (Years ago, the Israeli government nurtured the emergence of Hamas precisely because it could serve as a religious rival to the popular secular Fatah.)

Hamas, it is true, maintains a charter that calls for the destruction of Israel, but that has not kept it from issuing statements over the years — joining the coalition is only the most recent — indicating a willingness to accept Israel as part of a two-state solution. It is Israel that has broken truces with Hamas. Its soldiers have often killed and injured Gazans minding their own business on their own side of the fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel, while Hamas leaders have been assassinated by the Israeli government following offers of a truce. It is clear that Israeli leaders do not want a Hamas they can make peace with, just as they don’t want an Iran with which they can have normal relations. They need the specter of an “existential threat” to maintain their iron rule. In particular, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must push this intransigent line especially hard to keep the members of his coalition government who are further to the right than he is (yes, further) on the reservation.

Israeli leaders and spokesmen continually say that their only goal in this war is “peace and quiet” for the people if Israel. Maybe a decent goal would include justice for the long-suffering Palestinians. This is not about Hamas, an organization that endangers the innocent people it claims to champion with futile yet criminal activities like the rocket fire. This does not let the Israelis and their brutal response — underwritten by American taxpayers and supporter by their rulers — off the hook, however. Ont the contrary, since Israel created and maintains the open-air prison, it is responsible for all the evils that go on inside. Its hard-line policies embolden the most extreme elements and undercut the moderate voices. Has the “peace process” even slowed the building of illegal settlements on Palestinian land in the West Bank?

No, it’s not about Hamas; it’s about the Palestinians, who do not deserve this punishment at the hands of the Israelis.

For further discussion of the larger context, see Ramzy Baroud’s “Ravaging Gaza: The War Netanyahu Cannot Possibly Win.” Also worthwhile are Nathan Thrall’s “How the West Chose War in Gaza” and Neve Gordon’s “On ‘Human Shielding’ in Gaza.”

Quando qualcuno commette un crimine contro qualcun altro, solo l’autore di questo crimine dovrebbe essere considerato responsabile. Non la famiglia o i compagni di camera, non quelli della sua razza o nazionalità, non quelli che condividono le sue idee politiche, non quelli che vivono nella stessa area geografica. La punizione collettiva è immorale. La Convenzione di Ginevra la considera un crimine, un’aggressione violenta che tutti quelli che tengono ai diritti dell’individuo dovrebbero odiare. Ora, in risposta alla morte di questi adolescenti, il governo israeliano ha deciso di commettere questo crimine.

Soldati israeliani hanno demolito le case di Marwan al-Qawasmeh e Amer Abu Aisheh, sospettati del rapimento e dell’uccisione. Questa punizione è avvenuta senza processo. La demolizione ha terrorizzato membri di famiglie innocenti e vicini di casa, e ha danneggiato i loro beni. Secondo la Reuters, “Prima di far saltare in aria la casa, i soldati hanno mandato in frantumi le finestre e scaraventato a terra i sofà. Hanno fatto a pezzi con una mazza il water e il lavandino, oltre ai gradini della scala uno per uno. Zucchero, yogurt e pane sono stati gettati sul pavimento della cucina.”

Questa distruzione gratuita non è stata d’aiuto alla cattura dei sospetti, né ha risarcito le famiglie delle vittime. È solo una distruzione stupida che terrorizza un vicinato e impoverisce il mondo.

E non finisce qui. Secondo Amnesty International, il governo israeliano “la mattina del primo luglio ha lanciato almeno 34 attacchi aerei in diverse località di Gaza. Ci sono notizie di feriti palestinesi.” Com’è facile immaginare, queste azioni colpiscono innocenti, lasciandosi dietro indiscriminatamente feriti, morti e distruzione.

Amnesty parla anche di persone morte per mano delle forze di sicurezza israeliane da quando è iniziata la ricerca dei giovani rapiti. Secondo il governo israeliano, uno dei morti, Yousef Abu Zagha, lanciò una granata; ma secondo la Associated Press “la famiglia dice che stava portando a casa delle uova per il pasto prima dell’alba, come previsto dal digiuno del Ramadan.”

La punizione collettiva non è una novità per lo stato di Israele. Da tanto tempo costringe il popolo di Gaza alla povertà con un embargo draconiano che divide le famiglie, priva le persone della libertà di cercare cure mediche, e impedisce quel commercio pacifico che potrebbe dare benefici e prosperità ad entrambe le parti. L’Onu ha condannato l’embargo come una violazione dei diritti umani.

Lo stato di Israele, inoltre, arresta arbitrariamente i palestinesi. Secondo Amnesty, sono “almeno 364 i palestinesi attualmente agli arresti amministrativi, un numero che non si vedeva da anni.”

E sono numerosi i posti di blocco che limitano la libertà di movimento dei palestinesi, a molti dei quali Israele demolisce le case per costringerli ad andare altrove e rubare loro le terre.

Lo stato di Israele cerca di giustificare tutta questa violenza nel nome della lotta al terrorismo. Ma è lo stesso stato che fa violenza alle popolazioni civili per terrorizzarle e raggiungere i propri scopi. Terrorismo è semmai la violenza praticata dallo stato di Israele.

Traduzione di Enrico Sanna.

When someone commits a violent crime against another person, the perpetrator should be held accountable. Not the perpetrator’s family or roommates, not those of the same race or nationality, not those with similar political views, not those who live in the same geographical area. Collective punishment is immoral. It is a war crime under the Geneva Convention and it constitutes aggressive violence that all who care about individual rights should abhor. But in response to the deaths of these teenagers, the Israeli government chose to engage in it.

Israeli soldiers demolished the homes of Marwan al-Qawasmeh and Amer Abu Aisheh,  suspects in the abduction and killing of the Israeli teenagers. This punishment was inflicted without trial. The demolitions terrorized innocent family members and neighbors and damaged their property. According to Reuters, “Before blowing up the house, soldiers shattered the windows and threw sofas to the ground. Toilets and sinks, along with every step in the staircase, were smashed with a sledgehammer. Sugar, yogurt and bread were thrown across the kitchen floor.”

This gratuitous destruction didn’t help apprehend the suspects, nor did it provide restitution to the families of the victims. This is senseless destruction that terrorizes a neighborhood and makes the world less prosperous.

The collective punishment doesn’t end there. According to Amnesty International, the Israeli government “launched at least 34 air strikes on locations across Gaza on the morning of 1 July. There have been reports of Palestinian injuries.” Such actions predictably harm innocents by causing injuries, death and property destruction indiscriminately.

Amnesty also reports multiple deaths at the hands of Israeli security forces since the search for the abducted teens began. While the Israeli government alleges that one of the dead, Yousef Abu Zagha, hurled a grenade, the Associated Press reports that “his family said he had been carrying eggs home for a predawn meal before the daylight fast for the Ramadan holiday.”

Collective punishment is not a new practice for the Israeli state. That state has long forcibly kept the people of Gaza in poverty with a draconian blockade which separates families, deprives individuals of the freedom to seek medical care, and forcibly prevents peaceful trade that could produce mutual benefit and prosperity. The UN has condemned this blockade as a violation of human rights.

The Israeli state arbitrarily locks up Palestinians, according to Amnesty, “with at least 364 Palestinians currently under administrative detention, the highest number in years.”

Checkpoints are used to restrict Palestinians’ freedom of movement. Palestinians’ homes are demolished as the Israeli state forcibly displaces them and steals their land.

The Israeli government seeks to justify all of this violence in the name of fighting terrorism. Yet the Israeli state is engaging in violence against civilian populations in order to terrorize those populations and thus achieve their political aims. Israeli state violence is terrorism.

Translations for this article:

• Italian, Punizione Collettiva e Terrore di Stato Israeliano.