[syndicate] Gideon Levy in HAARETZ.com

[Aliette Guibert-Certhoux]

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1054158.html

Last update - 03:24 09/01/2009
By Gideon Levy


This war, perhaps more than its predecessors, is exposing the true
deep veins of Israeli society. Racism and hatred are rearing their
heads, as is the impulse for revenge and the thirst for blood. The
"inclination of the commander" in the Israel Defense Forces is now "to
kill as many as possible," as the military correspondents on
television describe it. And even if the reference is to Hamas
fighters, this inclination is still chilling.

The unbridled aggression and brutality are justified as "exercising
caution": the frightening balance of blood - about 100 Palestinian
dead for every Israeli killed, isn't raising any questions, as if
we've decided that their blood is worth one hundred times less than
ours, in acknowledgement of our inherent racism.

Rightists, nationalists, chauvinists and militarists are the only
legitimate bon ton in town. Don't bother us about humaneness and
compassion. Only at the edges of the camp can a voice of protest be
heard - illegitimate, ostracized and ignored by media coverage - from
a small but brave group of Jews and Arabs.
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Alongside all this, rings another voice, perhaps the worst of all.
This is the voice of the righteous and the hypocritical. My colleague,
Ari Shavit, seems to be their eloquent spokesman. This week, Shavit
wrote here ("Israel must double, triple, quadruple its medical aid to
Gaza," Haaretz, January 7): "The Israeli offensive in Gaza is
justified ... Only an immediate and generous humanitarian initiative
will prove that even during the brutal warfare that has been forced on
us, we remember that there are human beings on the other side."

To Shavit, who defended the justness of this war and insisted that it
mustn't be lost, the price is immaterial, as is the fact that there
are no victories in such unjust wars. And he dares, in the same
breath, to preach "humaneness."

Does Shavit wish for us to kill and kill, and afterward to set up
field hospitals and send medicine to care for the wounded? He knows
that a war against a helpless population, perhaps the most helpless
one in the world, that has nowhere to escape to, can only be cruel and
despicable. But these people always want to come out of it looking
good. We'll drop bombs on residential buildings, and then we'll treat
the wounded at Ichilov; we'll shell meager places of refuge in United
Nations schools, and then we'll rehabilitate the disabled at Beit
Lewinstein. We'll shoot and then we'll cry, we'll kill and then we'll
lament, we'll cut down women and children like automatic killing
machines, and we'll also preserve our dignity.

The problem is - it just doesn't work that way. This is outrageous
hypocrisy and self-righteousness. Those who make inflammatory calls
for more and more violence without regard for the consequences are at
least being more honest about it.

You can't have it both ways. The only "purity" in this war is the
"purification from terrorists," which really means the sowing of
horrendous tragedies. What's happening in Gaza is not a natural
disaster, an earthquake or flood, for which it would be our duty and
right to extend a helping hand to those affected, to send rescue
squads, as we so love to do. Of all the rotten luck, all the disasters
now occurring in Gaza are manmade - by us. Aid cannot be offered with
bloodstained hands. Compassion cannot sprout from brutality.

Yet there are some who still want it both ways. To kill and destroy
indiscriminately and also to come out looking good, with a clean
conscience. To go ahead with war crimes without any sense of the heavy
guilt that should accompany them. It takes some nerve. Anyone who
justifies this war also justifies all its crimes. Anyone who preaches
for this war and believes in the justness of the mass killing it is
inflicting has no right whatsoever to speak about morality and
humaneness. There is no such thing as simultaneously killing and
nurturing. This attitude is a faithful representation of the basic,
twofold Israeli sentiment that has been with us forever: To commit any
wrong, but to feel pure in our own eyes. To kill, demolish, starve,
imprison and humiliate - and be right, not to mention righteous. The
righteous warmongers will not be able to allow themselves these
luxuries.

Anyone who justifies this war also justifies all its crimes. Anyone
who sees it as a defensive war must bear the moral responsibility for
its consequences. Anyone who now encourages the politicians and the
army to continue will also have to bear the mark of Cain that will be
branded on his forehead after the war. All those who support the war
also support the horror.