What does Israel have to do for the United States to punish it in the Security Council? Must the Jewish state wipe Palestine and all its inhabitants off the map? Wasn’t last week’s butchery in Beit Hanoun sufficient cause for Washington to censure Tel Aviv? The answer of course is a resounding negative. On Saturday the US vetoed a UN Security Council resolution which condemned the Israeli attack in Gaza that killed 18 civilians, including women and children. The US apparently decided that the Beit Hanoun savagery was not enough to warrant a resolution of condemnation. The US stand should surprise no one. The country has a history of vetoing resolutions condemning Israel, and this was the second time this year the it has used its veto on a draft resolution related to Tel Aviv’s military operations in Gaza.
Nor should anyone be in doubt about the reasons why the US did not vote against Israel: Because, it seems, the draft resolution was “biased against Israel and politically motivated,” that it does not display “an evenhanded characterization of the recent events in Gaza, nor does it advance the cause of Israeli-Palestinian peace.” Biased against Israel? No, the draft resolution was not. A section was added demanding the Palestinian Authority take immediate action to bring an end to violence, including the firing of rockets into Israel. It also called for the UN secretary-general to establish a “fact-finding mission” about the attack in Beit Hanoun — this is a step below ordering a full investigation. In addition, it backed off on calls for UN observers to be placed on the Gaza-Israeli border, which Israel refuses, and asked instead for the possible establishment of an international mechanism for the protection of the civilian populations.
Gaza is a place Israel should not be in. Instead of being allowed to live independently and peacefully, Gaza is being demolished bit by tiny bit and its people killed randomly left and right, ostensibly because one lone Israeli soldier was kidnapped. That’s the current situation. As for peace prospects, what kind of Palestinian government, led by Hamas or Fatah or any other, will sit down with Israel and discuss peace when what occurred in Beit Hanoun was state terrorism whose perpetrators should be held accountable under international law for war crimes?
Israel’s reply to the attack was that it was a mistake, one of those surgical operations that went awry. It was a cold and merciless response that could have been at least coupled with a decision to desist from further Gaza operations. But Israel has refused to end the siege and, what is more, according to the prime minister, another Beit Hanoun could happen again. The US veto sends all the wrong signals. It means Israel literally gets away with murder, that the US has granted legitimacy to the massacre and is sending a green light for Israel to carry out even more massacres.
Beit Hanoun ensures that many children in that village will want to be suicide bombers when they grow up. At the same time, the attack also seems to suggest that not many children in Beit Hanoun will ever have the chance to grow up.
