Against the Grain

Preamble 

The United States is an empire. Among its primary exports are weapons and violence. The U.S.,  through acts of war, has caused the dislocation and refugee status of an estimated 38 million people since September 11 2001, commonly known as 9/11 (Carnegie corporation report, 2022). 

War, often characterized as ‘conflict’, is an extension of U.S. foreign policy. This is, in part, why the U.S. finds it easy to support Israel at any cost. 

Consider this:

• The U.S. invaded Iraq based on fake intelligence reports that claimed that Saddam Hussein was shipping poison gas in rail cars and sourcing uranium to build an atomic bomb. The narrative was constructed around Operation Iraqi Freedom. The U.S. was supposed to be saving Iraq from a brutal dictator and near term danger.  From January 2004 to December 2009, the U.S. killed or caused to be killed 87,215 civilians, and between 280,771 to 315,190 individuals, depending on sources. In fact, Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, an Australian citizen, is still being imprisoned in England by the U.S. for publishing films of U.S. marines shooting and killing innocent citizens of Iraq (Watson Institute, Brown University, 2023).

• U.S. forces invaded Afghanistan and spent twenty years fighting under the rubric Operation Enduring Freedom. It was the longest war in U.S. history and cost the U.S. $2.3 trillion dollars, without inflation, the deaths of 2,324 U.S. military personnel and 3,917 U.S. contractors. In 2017, the U.S. ‘relaxed rules of engagement’ because the U.S. military was losing. This caused a massive increase in civilian casualty rates of 330%. Over 70,000 civilians were killed, 1.5 million men were left with physical disabilities, 2 million widows, and 3 million malnourished children. The deaths from war were estimated at 243,000 (Watson Institute, Brown University, 2023). 

What were the results of spending over $8 trillion, 20 percent of the federal deficit, bombing, killing, social and economic dislocation? The Taliban are back in power in Afghanistan, and Iraq is plagued by tribal and political warfare. Terrorism is growing throughout the region. 

This evidence of failure seems to be lost on our government and military leaders. Israel is asking for a blank check for more weapons and surveillance. It is being opposed by Bernie Sanders, to mention one representative. Combatting terrorism with more violence has failed.  

Framing the war

Israel has framed its war as Israel versus Hamas; as light versus dark, as Israel versus ISIS. While this narrative has been adopted by most of the Western press, it covers only a small part of the actual conflict. According to the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Israel has spent $7.1 million on social media, particularly YouTube, to generate over 1 billion impressions to shape public opinion. Each country in Europe and the U.S. is targeted with a specific ad campaign, images and messages to support the war and level of violence. 

This ad campaign is being used to sell the world on the killing of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank in the name of fighting terrorism. According to Finance Minister Mr. Smotrich,  Palestinians should leave Gaza now, and make room for Israelis to ‘make the desert bloom’. Israel should ‘level Gaza’. He and other ministers are supplying weapons to settlers in the West Bank which, according to the UN, is illegal.   

The U.S. supports Prime Minister Netanyahu who has overseen the military response to terrorism. This response has killed over 22,000 Palestinians, 7,500 children, excluding uncounted dead under rubble, and destruction of over 60 percent of Gaza infrastructure. 

According to Save The Children, at least 10 children are losing limbs from bomb explosions every day. They are being operated on without anesthesia. Medical supplies are often blocked by the IDF and have made it virtually impossible for doctors to provide services to patients. 

The President of Turkey,  Mr. Erdogan, has recently nicknamed Mr. Netanyahu the ‘Butcher of Gaza’. Netanyahu comes by his antipathy to Palestinians through his father, who was an Israeli historian, and stated that the military, in another context, should ‘withhold food from Arab cities, prevent education, and terminate electric power—they won’t be able to exist’ (Netanyahu, Wikipedia, 2023).  

Mr. Netanyahu has aggressively opposed a two state solution for years, as well as actively promoted settlements in the territories. He considers himself ‘like a brother’ to former President Trump. Currently, much like Trump, he is on trial for crimes against the state brought by the Israeli police. This war, as a diversion from legal challenges, might help keep him out of jail. 

The number of Hamas members killed is, according to the IDF,  roughly 8,000. This is unlikely to work as a measure of success; much like it failed for former Robert McNamara’s, Secretary of Defense under Kennedy and Johnson, who measured success in body count in Vietnam. The communists came to power, and an estimated 2 million Vietnamese were killed in the process. 

Genocide

South Africa has filed a case against Israel for genocide in Gaza with the International Court of Justice. This is not a criminal court, but investigates individual actions. Genocide is not easy to prove due to the specifics of its legal use. These restrictions were generated by the U.S. at the end of World War II. 

South Africa, for example, must prove that Israel had intent to kill individuals based on identity, cultural affinity or religious practices. The U.S. State Department has already released a statement that denies evidence of genocide, and states that bringing a case is ‘unproductive,’ although hearings aren’t scheduled to begin until January 11 and 12, 2024.  

The restrictions on the legal findings of genocide came about because the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the morning of August 6^th, 1945. This killed between 110,000 and 200,000 people, depending  on sources (List of wars by death toll, web, 2023). Both cities had zero strategic or military value. The bombings were used to make an impression on the leadership of Japan to surrender immediately or face more bombs.  

The Nuremberg Trials, which established individual responsibility for killing civilians, were not held until November 20^th, 1945. Mr. Benjamin Ferencz, the American lawyer, and Chief Prosecutor at Nuremberg noted that this put the U.S. in an awkward situation of bombing and killing civilian populations for demonstration purposes, yet the U.S. wanted to be free from legal prosecution. So, the bar was raised for litigants to demonstrate intent to commit genocide. This fit the killing of Jews in Europe.

The ideal situation for justice in Israel would be to place the leaders of Hamas, Israel, and the U.S in the docket at Nuremberg and try them for war crimes and genocide based on individual responsibility. The choices could be similar to those faced by Nazis at Nuremberg, prison time or execution, depending on the severity of the crime. 

What you can do 

Following are actions that I take weekly to demand an unconditional ceasefire in Gaza and West Bank and no more money for Israel’s war:  

1. Call your elected officials in Congress or Senate and support an unconditional ceasefire in Gaza and West Bank.  State clearly ‘No more money for Israel’ war’. Call Bernie Sanders and thank him for the courage to stand up. Call governor Newsom. 
2. Email President Biden, and Anthony Blinken  
3. Send email letters to the editor in newspapers, including Jewish newspapers 
4. Write university presidents and support a multiplicity of views, not just those of wealthy donors who want pro-Palestinians silenced.