Re: <nettime> silence on Palestine?

[Keith Sanborn via nettime-l <nettime-l@lists.nettime.org>]

Checked out Rahul’s references. I guess the bot is or is using isn’t too good of a reader in English German or French. None of them say what he purports them to say. 




> On Oct 16, 2023, at 5:44 PM, Brian Holmes via nettime-l <nettime-l@lists.nettime.org> wrote:
> 
> Rahul, first of all, I too am thankful that we can actually discuss these
> issues on nettime, because in the world at large, the space for discussion
> is narrow, while the space for bitter animosity seems almost infinite.
> 
> As stated in an earlier post, I think we are before a tragic situation
> which ensnares all participants in a trap not of their own making. This is
> why I don't justify one population over the other in this conflict. To me,
> what would be important is not that one side wins. What's important is to
> get out of the trap.
> 
> Anyway, there is a point which needs to be clarified. I think we all
> understand that under the norms of international law, Hamas is a terrorist
> organization, whereas the IDF upholds, or at least claims to uphold, the
> humanitarian rules of military engagement.
> 
> However, the analysis of the people who disagree with you - including
> myself on this point - is that since 1987 at least, the disproportionality
> of Palestinian deaths compared to Israeli deaths indicates a failure of
> humanitarian law as applied by the IDF. In the previous conflicts involving
> Gaza, the Palestinian death toll is on the order of twenty times higher, at
> least. This is due to the vast inequality in terms of weaponry,
> institutional structure, international support and logistical resources -
> exactly the inequality that has made it possible for Israel to hold two
> million people in an open-air prison, and to pursue the takeover of
> Palestinian land on the West Bank. It is impossible to see the humanitarian
> character of military operations that result in such large numbers of
> civilian deaths.
> 
> The disproportion is well known and can be seen in the chart on this page:
> 
> https://today.lorientlejour.com/article/1352614/how-many-people-has-the-hamas-israel-war-killed-so-far.html
> 
> A humanitarian law that allows a country to slaughter civilians at that
> level of disproportionality appears first of all to contradict its own
> tenets, and more importantly, it looks like a transparently false
> justification for violent domination. Already in the current conflict, we
> are seeing twice as many Palestinian deaths. If the number rises to ten or
> twenty times as many, the trap will be complete. Not only the Arab world
> will look on Israel and the US as mortal enemies, but the entire Global
> South will come to see the Western alliance system as a hypocritical force
> of bloodthirsty domination. And so we will fight wars until the flames of
> climate change consume us.
> 
> Despite the grief and rage, Israel should exercise restraint now, before
> the situation becomes terminally polarized. As the more powerful party, the
> country should analyze its own role in producing the conflict - just as the
> US should have done after 9/11. Not to do so is a failure on every level,
> including that of military strategy. Netanyahu's government is directly to
> blame for this strategic failure, and it looks very likely that he will be
> blamed for it by a majority of Israelis. Supporting them does not imply
> anti-Semitism, nor even less, justification of Hamas. It's just being
> against the war party.
> 
> Anyway, in terms of the discussion here, I wanted to clarify what looks to
> me like a fundamental point of disagreement.
> 
> best, Brian
> -- 
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