I remember the profound shock, revulsion, and moral outrage I felt reading the carnage perpetrated by Hamas and other militants from Gaza- the largest open-air prison under the moon. Unhesitatingly, I recognised the evil of terrorism.
Looking for a definition of terrorism, the best I could find was that of Benjamin Netanyahu, published in 1986: “deliberate and systematic murder, maiming, and menacing of the innocent to inspire fear for political ends.”
An important advantage of this definition is that it applies equally to state and non-state actors. We note that it is rather fashionable these days to argue that the state is above morality. That argument does not hold water, as the power of the state is always exercised through human beings, and no human being is above morality.
The accent is on the word “innocent.” Reflection shows that Netanyahu has been perpetrating acts of terrorism in retaliation since 9 October 2023. How many innocent human beings — children, women, and men — have been killed in Gaza by the IDF and by the denial of food, water, medicine, and other essentials by the state of Israel? The respected NGO Save the Children has estimated that the IDF has killed at least one child per hour since 9 October 2023. Over 21,000 children have been seriously disabled; 97 per cent of schools and 94 per cent of hospitals have been destroyed.
How did humanity permit such state terrorism, crimes against humanity, and war crimes to continue for so long?
Initially, the West, led by President Joe Biden, held that Israel had every right to defend itself. The world, so horrified by what happened on 7 October, condemned Hamas. Such intense condemnation is understandable. However, it should be followed by an attempt to look at the big picture and search for solutions.
How did the redoubtable IDF, Mossad, and Shin Bet fail to foresee the preparations Hamas and other militants like Islamic Jihad were making in that open-air prison?
The New York Times reported that Israel’s intelligence services knew about the preparations and plans for the attack one year in advance. Some junior officials took the report seriously, but they were overruled by seniors who dismissed the plans as “aspirational,” adding that Hamas was “incapable of carrying it out.” The 40-page document was code-named by Israeli intelligence as “Jericho Wall.”
In this context, we need to note an action taken by Netanyahu. He withdrew some troops from the Gaza border to the West Bank, where the far-right, fanatical elements were insulting and provoking the Palestinians near Al Aqsa and elsewhere. As The Washington Post put it, “Israel massed troops on the West Bank. Then Hamas attacked from Gaza.”
The Washington Post report was published on 9 October 2023; Israel has yet to initiate an official enquiry into it. That speaks volumes about the lack of accountability, which is crucial in a democratic polity, and the immunity enjoyed by Netanyahu, who considers himself above the law, national and international.
He has cleverly managed to scuttle the trial for corruption charges against him. The Israeli police commenced investigations in 2016, and he was officially indicted on 21 November 2019. Justice delayed is justice denied. Netanyahu was able to delay the proceedings, claiming the security situation post-7 October.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against Netanyahu on 21 November 2024. The West, especially Europe, which led the move to establish the ICC, has decided to ignore that warrant, whereas in the case of Putin, the West urged the rest of the world to comply with the warrant with alacrity and arrest him.
Sadly, we conclude that the rule-based order the West talks about ad nauseum should not be taken seriously. The West refuses to treat the rest of the world equally. Colonialism might be over, but the colonial mindset continues. By not joining South Africa when it approached the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the current leadership of the Global South has demonstrated that it is willing to accept domination by the West.
Has Israel committed genocide? Anyone who doubts it should read Article 2 of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide:
In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: (a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.”
Why has the ICJ not explicitly concluded that Israel has committed genocide? The ICJ gave a ‘politically correct’ judgement by refusing to say clearly that genocide was taking place. The ICJ found “plausible” evidence that genocide was taking place and ordered Israel to recognise a risk of “irreparable harm” to Palestinians in Gaza. It ordered Israel to prevent genocidal acts, prevent and punish incitement to genocide, and allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The main reason for the equivocation is that under article 4, the signatories are required to Persons committing genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article 3 “shall be punished, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals.”
President Joe Biden would have been legally obliged to ‘punish’ Prime Minister Netanyahu. Equally, Biden would have been obliged to stop arming Israel.
President Trump, a self-nominated candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize, which is due to be announced on 10 October, released a ‘peace plan’ on 29 September. It is rather oxymoronic and moronic to call it a ‘peace plan’. It is an ultimatum to Hamas to agree to cease to exist.
We shall mention only four demerits of the plan.
First: once the Israeli hostages are released in one go, there is no guarantee that the IDF will start withdrawing and complete it within a specified time frame. There should be a time frame and a UN force to monitor the withdrawal.
Second: Gaza is to be administered by a committee that includes outsiders. Why? Aren’t there enough competent Gazans?
Third, that committee will be overseen by a board of peace, including Tony Blair, and chaired by Trump. As the Middle East Envoy of the Quartet (UN, U.S, EU, and Russia) from 2007 to 2025, Blair achieved nothing but successfully promoted his business interests. He actively worked for the fall of Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president.
Fourth, there should have been a clause demanding a stop to Israel’s ongoing plans to annex the West Bank. Otherwise, the rather vague reference to Palestinians’ aspirations to statehood does not make sense.
The alacrity with which the eight Islamic states, received by Trump in the White House (Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, U AE, Qatar, Pakistan and Indonesia) five days before he announced it after consulting with Netanyahu, shows that Trump’s sleight of hand has worked. How come the eight did not seriously ask for a stop to Israel’s ongoing annexation of the West Bank? It seems the matter was raised as timidly as possible, and Trump vaguely promised to take care of it.
Hamas has adroitly responded by agreeing to release the hostages and seeking more talks. Cairo on the 6th will host the talks. The response from Hamas must have bewildered Netanyahu, who had drafted the deal calculated to get it rejected by Hamas.
The two protagonists in this unscripted tragedy are Netanyahu and Trump. Netanyahu wants to remain in office for life and complete his project of Greater Israel extending from the Jordan river to the Mediterranean. Trump wants the Nobel Peace Prize. We may not precisely predict what might happen, but it is pertinent to recall the immortal lines of Robert Burns:
The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry!
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