More war

Israel’s brutal airstrikes in Gaza have led to the UN warning of another all-out war between Israel and Palestine. We recently saw a return to militarised conflict in the troubled region. In response to Israeli fire, Hamas launched over 200 rockets across the border. This was swiftly followed by the passage of the deeply controversial Jewish ‘nation state’ law which removes Arabic as an official language of Israel and argues that only Jews have the right to self-determination inside the country. One-fifth of Israel’s population is Arab. They have been relegated by law now to second-class citizens by Israel’s legislature. It is high time the international community threatened Israel with serious consequences over its unchecked militarism in Palestine and racist policies inside Israel. The EU has joined the chorus of condemnation of the law, which has included liberal politicians inside Israel.

Some within Israel have called it the ‘death of Israeli democracy’ and ‘apartheid’ within the country. Neither of this is new, but Israel has been emboldened by the fact that no international action is taken against it. Israel continues to retain powerful protectors in the morally bankrupt political order. No UN investigation into the killing of over 80 Palestinians around the time of the opening of the US embassy in Jeruselum has yet taken place. 

Some semblance of peace had returned to the Gaza Strip after another ceasefire brokered by Egypt. But the use of rockets, aircrafts, and guns is all designed to keep the status quo in place: Israel continues to make new settlements, while Palestinians continue to resist. The ceasefire itself remains shaky. Low-level conflict remains the norm in the region – and the choice belongs to Israel to intensify the conflict when it suits its political designs. It is also little surprise that the air raids coincided with Israel’s domestic decision to ban critics of the Israeli armed forces or state from entering schools and speaking to students. The growing atmosphere of repression against criticism at home is what Israel continues to mask by bombing Palestine. The fact is that Israel only knows how to respond through military action – but it also knows that its internal control inside Israel is being shattered rapidly. Its response stays the same: more war and more racist laws. The international community will have to take a strong stance.