Israeli aggression and Muslim agitation

No army can defeat “resistance movements” without transforming itself into a killing machine. That is why Israel cannot avoid committing war crimes by killing civilians and even children whenever it attacks the Palestinians, as in the case of its latest ground operation in Gaza. We may disagree on whether to define Hamas as a “resistance movement” or a “terrorist organization.” Nevertheless, we can discuss whether calling armed groups that receive considerable social support like Hamas “resistance movements,” even if we may not agree with their use of violence.

The fact that such groups are embedded in civil society, and are so strongly supported by the civil population, means that civil casualties become inevitable in the event of military assaults by regular armies. This is why the only solution is to engage in diplomacy of peace, no matter how difficult it may be. This is also why Israel’s policies concerning the Palestinian question have been a total failure so far, and why the latest operation against Hamas is bound to be another failure with a huge human cost. Finally, this is why every Israeli offensive creates an enormous reaction not only among Muslims worldwide, but also creates outrage among humanists elsewhere.

Nevertheless, it is only the tragedies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that risk justifying one of the worst historical crimes against humanity. There is not a single case of Israeli aggression and injustice that has not been related to a debate on the Holocaust and has not triggered anti-Semitism. It is true that those who react on behalf of the Palestinians claim that they are only critical of Israeli politics, and that they are not targeting Jews in general, so it is not...