A ‘Green Light to Kill, Destroy and Pulverize Gaza’

The silence of the European Union, including especially Germany, whose Chancellor Angela Merkel declared support for Israel’s right “to defend itself,” constitutes a collaboration with Israel’s “journey of destruction and death, waged against the Palestinian people in Gaza,” journalist Amira Hass writes in Haaretz, Israel’s oldest daily newspaper.

“[T]he EU’s original stance, stated on July 22, still resounds,” Hass continued. “It accused the side under prolonged Israeli siege of causing the escalation. This is the side that, despite all the European declarations on its right to self-determination and an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza, is still under Israeli occupation after 47 years.

“EU member states and, obviously, the United States, gave Israel a green light to kill, destroy and pulverize. They placed the brunt of the blame on the people launching the rockets, the Palestinians. The rockets are disrupting the “order” and the “quiet,” endangering the security of Israel, which is so weak and vulnerable, always attacked for no reason whatsoever.

“Basically, the United States and Europe are endorsing the status quo under which the Gaza Strip is severed from the West Bank. The Israeli siege of Gaza and the oppression of the Palestinian population in the West Bank are Israel’s quiet, order and security. Whoever dares to violate this must be punished. In their passionate declarations on Israel’s right to defend itself, EU officials fail to mention the Palestinians’ right to security or protection from the Israeli army.”

Europe and the U.S. gave Israel its green light “to destroy, kill and inflict suffering on an unprecedented scale” not at the outbreak of the present hostilities, but back in 2006, “when they spearheaded the boycott of the Hamas government, elected in a democratic vote,” Hass wrote.

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— Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.