Sunday, November 21, 2004

Shujaat: So Wrong That He's Right

How embarrassing. Shujaat is just making a mistake here, equating Jenin and Falujah.

Or, maybe he isn't. The actual parallels (grounds troops used to avoid civilian casualties, attacking huge nest of virulent, fanatical killers so cowardly they hide in schools and mosques) between the fake massacre in Jenin and the U.S. attack on Falujah would make an interesting news story. Check this. Or this actual documentary.

So, Shujaat, I'll assume that was irony. You had me going for a minute, tho, pal.

Human Rights Watch's assessment, adapted from the BBC:

Human Rights Watch says at least 52 Palestinians died of whom 22 were civilians. Many of the civilians were killed wilfully and unlawfully the report says.

On the other hand, Israel opted to use infantry rather than aerial bombs...[
thereby saving the lives of thousands of civilians.] Palestinian civilians were used as human shields and the Israeli army employed indiscriminate and excessive force, the report says.

The report gives examples - it says that a 57-year-old Palestinian man Kamil Sagir was shot and then run over by Israeli tanks even though his wheelchair was flying a white flag.

Yes, the troops panicked several times, and also exacted revenge on innocent civilians. The problem is that the "fighters" are dressed like civilians. Israel had to decide if it was going to defend itself. It did. Civilians died, "unlawfully," because it is a war fought by cowards on the Palestinian side. Civilian casualties help that cause; why should they care?

And was Falujah any different? Probably not. Same cowardly fighters, same scared angry troops, same kinds of completely innocent civilian victims dying for their propaganda value in discrediting democracies. So, Shujaat got it right, but for the wrong reasons. To this observer, there really are parallels between Jenin and Falujah.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

What would 'brave' armed Palestinian resistance look like? They all dress up in uniforms with clearly identifiable markers and let the Israelis with their superior fire-power and weaponry just mow them down? Irregular combat has always been, and will always be, a strategic choice for the less powerful side. I seem to recall that it was pretty effective for the American colonialists.

This is not a defense of suicide bombing, etc. But to ignore the power asymmetries in the region is starting off on the wrong foot. And it just ends up with ridiculous equivocations about the death of civilians--something that should never be dismissed or swept under the rug, no matter the circumstances.

Anonymous said...

“… their propaganda value in discrediting democracies…”

which democracies are you talking about?

One that invaded another country for no apparent reason except a BIG LIE, and the other that continues to violate the basic rights of the Palestinians in flagrant breach of the principles of human rights, international humanitarian law, the Fourth Geneva Convention, and United Nations resolutions numbers 194, 242, 383 and 1397.

Hallelujah DEMOCRACY!