OPINION

Double standards

Even more shocking than the barbarity of Israel’s Gaza raid is the tolerance of the international community. The otherwise rights-sensitive Western governments are applying double standards in this case. Anyone who sympathizes with the drama of the Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian militants also has to sympathize with the drama of the thousands of captive Palestinians, including many women and children. Israeli forces have abducted a third of the members of the Palestinian authority and some 20 deputies. After all, Israel is a state and has to abide with international rules, not act as an extremist organization. The aim behind Israel’s military operation in Gaza is to topple the democratically elected government of Hamas and impose Tel Aviv’s territorial demands. It’s not the first time that Israeli forces have killed Palestinian civilians, demolished homes and destroyed infrastructure in the name of their war on terror. Israel’s ulterior motive is to weaken the Palestinians and drive as many of them as possible away from their homes. It’s the same old, futile strategy: Israel is applying a military solution to a political problem. As a result, it perpetuates a vicious cycle by fanning the flames of discontent. And this at a time when most Palestinian groups have recently agreed on a document which essentially recognizes the 1967 borders. In an ironic twist of history, Israel is resorting to tactics that, on a lesser scale, were once employed against its own people. It is unacceptable that Jews, themselves victims of genocide, now tolerate militant practices by their own state. However, there is a solution. The creation of a real and viable state for the Palestinians will facilitate the containment of terrorist groups and uproot the causes of violence.

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