Rogue Israel Shocks, but does not Surprise Civilzed world with its Flotilla Massacre

Anisa Abd el Fattah


When the news first came in that Israel had attacked the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and killed 20 of the human rights activists on board the ship, most people were shocked. The degree of shock perhaps varied depending upon one’s overall impression of Israel.

Those in the United States and Europe who generally support Israel, and who have overlooked all of Israel’s historic crimes, including the routine murder of innocents, were perhaps a bit disappointed and shocked that Israel would rather execute 20 activists than to allow medicines and cement into Gaza. No one imagined that Israel’s hatred of the Palestinians, and the desire to see them continue to suffer without end, was so passionate. Israel has always been very careful to make it appear as if its war against Gaza is based purely upon its desire to eliminate Hamas, who Israel claims is an existential threat. This, along with the insistence by the US that every act of violence committed by Israel is an act of self defense, has created enough intellectual reasoning and argumentation to cloud any attempt at moral or legal judgment in respect to Israel’s addiction to over the top acts of violence and crime.

Many others, people throughout the world, who don’t support Israel unconditionally and who have watched over the years as Israel has been allowed by the US, EU and UN to slaughter Palestinians and their supporters with impunity, even with our own US government’s assistance and support in some instances, saw the flotilla massacre as just another of Israel’s numerous atrocities. The gut wrenching reality that 20 innocent people had been executed; shot at close range in the head and heart may have seemed surreal, and was shocking, yet, it was still par for the course for Israel and no surprise.

In respect to Israel’s repeated atrocities against the Palestinian people, and in fact the entire world, it is important to distinguish shock from surprise. It might be accurate to say that everyone, including Israel’s supporters was shocked by this most recent of Israel’s crimes against humanity, while sadly, almost no one was surprised.

Since Israel’s first attempts to establish itself in Palestine in 1948, it has carried out mind boggling acts of violence that go even further than the type of violence and murder blamed on Adolf Hitler himself who is accused of killing nearly 12,000,000 people from 1939-1945. Even Stalin, who murdered approximately 23,000,000 people from 1932-1939 cannot be condemned for any worse acts of ethnic cleansing and genocide than can Israel, even though Stalin killed millions of more people.

So large is the number of Palestinians murdered by Israel since 1948, that not only can we not find a total number of Palestinians killed by Israel since 1948 published anywhere, it is almost impossible to even find the number of Palestinians that existed in Palestine in 1948. Unfortunately history does not convey accurately the extent of Israel’s ethnic cleansing and genocide in Palestine. History does not even provide the numbers necessary for us to do our own math. What we do know is that between 650 and 750 million Palestinians escaped Palestine during the Nakba , or catastrophe resulting from Israel’s so called war of independence in Palestine.

If we consider the numbers of Palestinians possibly murdered during the Nakba and later through various massacres, including Deir Yassin where pregnant women literally had their unborn babies ripped from their bodies and killed and also the massacre in Jenin and most recently in Gaza, the numbers of Palestinian murdered by Israel in its genocide, could well be in the millions.

It is reasonable to suggest that the numbers of Palestinian murdered during and immediately after the Nakba could at least be as many as were killed by Pol Pot from 1975-79, which totaled 1,700,000. This estimation is based purely on the more comparable sizes of Palestine and Cambodia, which is more reasonable than attempting to compare Palestine’s population to either Russia or China's in respect to the percentage of those populations that were killed. Please note than none of the genocides carried out by the world’s most notorious mass murders lasted for more than 10 years, and they are accused of murdering tremendous numbers of people, reaching totals as high as 78,000,000 supposedly killed by Mao Ze Dong from 1949-50 in Tibet and later from 1958-61, and then from 66-69 in China, equaling only 7 years of genocide. By comparison, Israel’s genocide in Palestine has been ongoing for approximately 60 years with hardly a day that goes by without at least 4 to 5 Palestinians being killed by Israel’s so called Defense forces.

In the book Searching Jenin, Editor Ramzy Baroud, himself a Palestinian, wrote the following,

A question that this book cannot answer is “How many Palestinians were killed in Jenin in two weeks of fighting, bombardment and home demolitions?” He attributed this inability to answer the question to Israel’s purposeful destruction of records. He said,” Israeli soldiers vandalized and destroyed Palestinian records in hospitals, schools and government buildings...this question may never be answered.”


The eyewitness accounts of the Jenin massacre chronicled within the book Searching Jenin are enough to demonstrate Israeli brutality and the shocking lack of humanness that Israel shows in respect to the Palestinians and their supporters. There is nothing within the pages of the book that compels us to imagine that Israel was ever any less brutal or any less interested in hiding the numbers associated with its genocide. A good example of this is the story of Um Siri a 45 year old Palestinian woman. She relayed the following concerning her family’s experience during the Jenin massacre. She said,

The soldiers took the owner of the house (where her family had fled) and started punching him in the mouth. They asked him, “Where are the fighters/” He said “I don’t know.” His denial only made them angrier, and so they forced him to the ground and they stepped on his face. The soldiers had him stand up against a wall and they started firing their guns between his legs. Then they took my son, they had him strip naked and they also stared firing between his legs to terrorize him. I held my mother, she was ninety. The Israeli soldiers started rounding up women and they forced me and my mother outside the house. My mother was barefoot and there was so much shattered glass outside the door. They forced her to walk on the glass. Her feet started to bleed. They also rounded up the men and children. They gathered them in Abu Nizar’s half destroyed home. They hand cuffed and blind folded them and took them to the second floor. They rounded up more men and boys and interrogated them for the rest of the day and the whole night. They were beating them up constantly.

Even worse atrocities were reported following Israel’s most recent massacre which took place in Gaza, in an Operation they called Cast Lead, which took place over a three week period, December 28, 2008 until January 29, 2009. Writing on this incident, Michel Chossudovsky, from the Center for Research on Globalization said,

The aerial bombings and the ongoing ground invasion of Gaza by Israeli ground forces must be analyzed in a historical context. Operation "Cast Lead" is a carefully planned undertaking, which is part of a broader military-intelligence agenda first formulated by the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2001:
"Sources in the defense establishment said Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare for the operation over six months ago, even as Israel was beginning to negotiate a ceasefire agreement with Hamas."(Barak Ravid, Operation "Cast Lead": Israeli Air Force strike followed months of planning, Haaretz, December 27, 2008)

It was Israel which broke the truce on the day of the US presidential elections, November 4: "Israel used this distraction to break the ceasefire between itself and Hamas by bombing the Gaza strip. Israel claimed this violation of the ceasefire was to prevent Hamas from digging tunnels into Israeli territory.

The very next day, Israel launched a terrorizing siege of Gaza, cutting off food, fuel, medical supplies and other necessities in an attempt to “subdue” the Palestinians while at the same time engaging in armed incursions.

In response, Hamas and others in Gaza again resorted to firing crude, homemade, and mainly inaccurate rockets into Israel. During the past seven years, these rockets have been responsible for the deaths of 17 Israelis. Over the same time span, Israeli Blitzkrieg assaults have killed thousands of Palestinians, drawing worldwide protest but falling on deaf ears at the UN." (Shamus Cooke, The Massacre in Palestine and the Threat of a Wider War, Global Research, December 2008).
Chossudovsky’s remarks make the case that Israel’s persistent and never ending violence and massacres in Palestine are not acts of self defense, and neither are they spontaneous actions in response or reaction to the actions of Palestinians. Chossudovsky makes it clear that Operation Cast Lead, known more famously as the Gaza massacre was part of a larger military /intelligence strategy adopted by former Israeli PM Ariel Sharon. Chossodovsky calls it, “Part of a broader Israeli Military-Intelligence agenda.”

Since Israel’s so called war of independence, it has been the focus of at least 114 UNSC resolutions. They include;

Resolution 42: The Palestine Question (5 March 1948) Requests recommendations for the Palestine Commission, Resolution 43: The Palestine Question (1 Apr 1948) Recognizes "increasing violence and disorder in Palestine" and requests that representatives of "the Jewish Agency for Palestine and the Arab Higher Committee" arrange, with the Security Council, "a truce between the Arab and Jewish Communities of Palestine...Calls upon Arab and Jewish armed groups in Palestine to cease acts of violence immediately."
Resolution 44: The Palestine Question (1 Apr 1948) Requests convocation of special session of the General Assembly, Resolution 46: The Palestine Question (17 Apr 1948) As the United Kingdom is the Mandatory Power, "it is responsible for the maintenance of peace and order in Palestine." The Resolutions also "Calls upon all persons and organizations in Palestine" to stop importing "armed bands and fighting personnel...whatever their origin;...weapons and war materials;...Refrain, pending the future government of Palestine...from any political activity which might prejudice the rights, claims, or position of either community;...refrain from any action which will endanger the safety of the Holy Places in Palestine." Resolution 106: The Palestine Question (29 Mar 1955) 'condemns' Israel for Gaza raid. Resolution 111: The Palestine Question (January 19, 1956) " ... 'condemns' Israel for raid on Syria that killed fifty-six people".
Resolution 138: (June 23, 1960) Question relating to the case of Adolf Eichmann, concerning Argentine complaint that Israel breached its sovereignty.
Resolution 162: The Palestine Question (April 11, 1961) " ... 'urges' Israel to comply with UN decisions". Resolution 171: The Palestine Question (April 9, 1962) " ... determines flagrant violations' by Israel in its attack on Syria".
Resolution 228: The Palestine Question (November 25, 1966) " ... 'censures' Israel for its attack on Samu in the West Bank, then under Jordanian control".
Resolution 237: Six Day War June 14, 1967) " ... 'urges' Israel to allow return of new 1967 Palestinian refugees". Resolution 240 (October 25, 1967): concerning violations of the cease-fire. Resolution 248: (March 24, 1968) " ... 'condemns' Israel for its massive attack on Karameh in Jordan".
Resolution 252: (May 21) " ... 'declares invalid' Israel's acts to unify Jerusalem as Jewish capital".Resolution 256: (August 16) " ... 'condemns' Israeli raids on Jordan as 'flagrant violation". Resolution 259: (September 27) " ... 'deplores' Israel's refusal to accept UN mission to probe occupation".
Resolution 262: (December 31) " ... 'condemns' Israel for attack on Beirut airport".Resolution 265: (April 1, 1969) " ... 'condemns' Israel for air attacks on Salt, Jordan".Resolution 267: (July 3) " ... 'censures' Israel for administrative acts to change the status of Jerusalem".Resolution 270: (August 26) " ... 'condemns' Israel for air attacks on villages in southern Lebanon".
Resolution 271: (September 15) " ... 'condemns' Israel's failure to obey UN resolutions on Jerusalem".Resolution 279: (May 12, 1970) "Demands the immediate withdrawal of all Israeli armed forces from Lebanese territory."(full text)Resolution 280: (May 19) " ... 'condemns' Israeli's attacks against Lebanon".
Resolution 285: (September 5) " ... 'demands' immediate Israeli withdrawal form Lebanon".Resolution 298: (September 25, 1971) " ... 'deplores' Israel's changing of the status of Jerusalem".Resolution 313: (February 28, 1972) " ... 'demands' that Israel stop attacks against Lebanon".Resolution 316: (June 26) " ... 'condemns' Israel for repeated attacks on Lebanon".
Resolution 317: (July 21) " ... 'deplores' Israel's refusal to release Arabs abducted in Lebanon".Resolution 331: (April 20, 1973)
Resolution 332: (April 21) " ... 'condemns' Israel's repeated attacks against Lebanon".Resolution 337: (August 15) " ... 'condemns' Israel for violating Lebanon's sovereignty".Resolution 338 (22 October 1973): cease fire in Yom Kippur War. Resolution 339 (23 October 1973): Confirms Res. 338, dispatch UN observers. Resolution 347: " ... 'condemns' Israeli attacks on Lebanon".
Resolution 350 (31 May 1974) established the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, to monitor the ceasefire between Israel and Syria in the wake of the Yom Kippur War.Resolution 425 (1978): " ... 'calls' on Israel to withdraw its forces from Lebanon". Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon was completed by 16 June 2000. Resolution 427: " ... 'calls' on Israel to complete its withdrawal from Lebanon". Resolution 444: " ... 'deplores' Israel's lack of cooperation with UN peacekeeping forces".Resolution 446 (1979): 'determines' that Israeli settlements are a 'serious obstruction' to peace and calls on Israel to abide by the Fourth Geneva Convention".Resolution 450: " ... 'calls' on Israel to stop attacking Lebanon". Resolution 452: " ... 'calls' on Israel to cease building settlements in occupied territories". Resolution 465: " ... 'deplores' Israel's settlements and asks all member states not to assist Israel's settlements program".
Resolution 467: " ... 'strongly deplores' Israel's military intervention in Lebanon". Resolution 468: " ... 'calls' on Israel to rescind illegal expulsions of two Palestinian mayors and a judge and to facilitate their return".
Resolution 469: " ... 'strongly deplores' Israel's failure to observe the council's order not to deport Palestinians".Resolution 471: " ... 'expresses deep concern' at Israel's failure to abide by the Fourth Geneva Convention". Resolution 476: " ... 'reiterates' that Israel's claim to Jerusalem are 'null and void'".
Resolution 478 (20 August 1980): 'censures (Israel) in the strongest terms' for its claim to Jerusalem in its 'Basic Law'. Resolution 485Resolution 487: " ... 'strongly condemns' Israel for its attack on Iraq's nuclear facility".Resolution 497 (17 December 1981) decides that Israel's annexation of Syria's Golan Heights is 'null and void' and demands that Israel rescinds its decision forthwith. Resolution 498: " ... 'calls' on Israel to withdraw from Lebanon". Resolution 501: " ... 'calls' on Israel to stop attacks against Lebanon and withdraw its troops". Resolution 509: " ... 'demands' that Israel withdraw its forces forthwith and unconditionally from Lebanon".
Resolution 515: " ... 'demands' that Israel lift its siege of Beirut and allow food supplies to be brought in". Resolution 517: " ... 'censures' Israel for failing to obey UN resolutions and demands that Israel withdraw its forces from Lebanon". Resolution 518: " ... 'demands' that Israel cooperate fully with UN forces in Lebanon". ... 'condemns' Israel's attack into West Beirut".
Resolution 573: " ... 'condemns' Israel 'vigorously' for bombing Tunisia in attack on PLO headquarters. Resolution 587 " ... 'takes note' of previous calls on Israel to withdraw its forces from Lebanon and urges all parties to withdraw".
Resolution 592: " ... 'strongly deplores' the killing of Palestinian students at Bir Zeit University by Israeli troops". Resolution 605: " ... 'strongly deplores' Israel's policies and practices denying the human rights of Palestinians.
Resolution 607: " ... 'calls' on Israel not to deport Palestinians and strongly requests it to abide by the Fourth Geneva Convention. Resolution 608: " ... 'deeply regrets' that Israel has defied the United Nations and deported Palestinian civilians". Resolution 636: " ... 'deeply regrets' Israeli deportation of Palestinian civilians. Resolution 639 (31 Jul 1989)
Resolution 641 (30 Aug 1989): " ... 'deplores' Israel's continuing deportation of Palestinians. Resolution 648 (31 Jan 1990)[1] The Security Council extends the mandate of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon until July 31, 1990.
Resolution 672 (12 Oct 1990): " ... 'condemns' Israel for "violence against Palestinians" at the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount.
Resolution 673 (24 Oct 1990): " ... 'deplores' Israel's refusal to cooperate with the United Nations. Resolution 681 (20 Dec 1990): " ... 'deplores' Israel's resumption of the deportation of Palestinians. Resolution 694 (24 May 1991): " ... 'deplores' Israel's deportation of Palestinians and calls on it to ensure their safe and immediate return. Resolution 726 (06 Jan 1992): " ... 'strongly condemns' Israel's deportation of Palestinians. Resolution 799 (18 Dec 1992): ". . . 'strongly condemns' Israel's deportation of 413 Palestinians and calls for their immediate return. Resolution 904 (18 Mar 1994): Cave of the Patriarchs massacre.
Resolution 938 (28 Jul 1994): extends mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon until January 31, 1995. Resolution 1351 (30 May 2001)
Resolution 1559 (2 September 2004) called upon Lebanon to establish its sovereignty over all of its land and called upon Syria to end their military presence in Lebanon by withdrawing its forces and to cease intervening in internal Lebanese politics. The resolution also called on all Lebanese militias to disband.
Resolution 1583 (28 January 2005) calls on Lebanon to assert full control over its border with Israel. It also states that "the Council has recognized the Blue Line as valid for the purpose of confirming Israel's withdrawal pursuant to resolution 425.
Resolution 1648 (21 December 2005) renewed the mandate of United Nations Disengagement Observer Force until 30 June 2006. Resolution 1701 (11 August 2006) called for the full cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.
Resolution 1860 (9 January 2009) called for the full cessation of war between Israel and Hamas.

This list of resolutions, few of which have ever been abided by, demonstrates to what extent Israel has become a rouge nation. What they don’t explain is why the civilized world has ignored Israel’s lawlessness and violence for more than 60 years. Why have we allowed genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza and all of Palestine?

The very obvious, and unfortunate result of the world’s unwillingness to bring Israel into compliance with the law, by merely enforcing international law, are the June 4th, 2010 executions of 20 humanitarian aid activists who were killed by being shot in the head and chest repeatedly and at a close range by Israel’s commandos. This is a crime of such tremendous proportion, that it will be interesting to see how Israel’s even most diehard supporters will avoid condemnation of this act without being stained by a lack of condemnation and considered complicit.

Whereas the world is not surprised by Israel’s lawlessness and disregard for the sacredness of human life, we continue to be shocked by its inability to understand that sooner or later it must be called to account for its genocide and other war crimes and crimes against humanity. We can only hope that this most recent Israeli atrocity will be the final straw in a 60 year history of Israeli aggression and mass murder and that it will compel a day of reckoning for Israel and justice for the Palestinian people.