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Palestinians are caught between absurd investigations and international impotence

May 31, 2018 at 2:00 pm

Palestinians come together during the Great March of Return at the Gaza and Israel border on 11 May 2018 [Mohammad Asad / Middle East Monitor]

In light of the atrocities committed by the Israeli occupation forces against Palestinians in general and the Gaza Strip in particular, some international voices are calling shyly for an impartial and fair investigation into the bloody events in the besieged territory over the past two months. The investigation is meant to find out what has happened and explain the huge number of Palestinian casualties, as well as to identify the party responsible for the deterioration of the situation. Some countries realised that they could not remain silent about what’s happening, nor accept Israeli conduct in the occupied Palestinian territories, and have refused to accept that its bloody crimes are legitimate self-defence or protection of its borders.

Kuwait, the Arab member of the UN Security Council, led the call for an international investigation, inviting the body to convene more than once. It prepared a draft diplomatic statement that was amended several times to remove everything that angers the US or would encourage it to use its veto. It is known that the US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Hailey, will never agree to any resolution condemning Israel or holding it responsible for what is happening in the Gaza Strip. On the contrary, she absolves the criminal entity and condemns the Palestinian people and the resistance forces, even though they are, in reality, the victims of these bloody massacres committed by Israel.

Despite the many concessions and amendments made by Kuwait to pass its draft statement, it failed to issue anything condemning the State of Israel or hold it responsible for its crimes. The US continued to protect the Zionist entity, covering up for its criminal acts and thus encouraging it to commit even more. Haley accused the Palestinians of provoking the occupation army, attacking the perimeter fence, removing the barbed wire and threatening the security and safety of settlers, which prompted Israeli soldiers to fire at them. She added that the Israeli government had no other option when faced with thousands of protesters but to shoot them. No government would show more restraint, she claimed.

Remote control repression: Israel tested its latest weapons against the Great March of Return 

Palestinians do not have much confidence in the UN Security Council, where Washington is in control of decisions, uses its influence over members and is not ashamed to threaten them with sanctions or depriving them of aid if they don’t toe America’s line. It is obvious that no Security Council resolution or decision that is fair to the Palestinians or condemns Israel and holds it to account will ever be issued. Proof of this is abundant, with many vetoed resolutions over the years. The US places itself against justice and peace by using its veto in support of oppressive nation states.

The US embassy move to Jerusalem - Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]

The US embassy move to Jerusalem – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]

Despite this painful reality and the inevitable result, Kuwait should be thanked, along with other free countries, for making the effort to stand by the Palestinians. We appreciate this very much, despite the inability of international institutions to create a force that protects legitimate rights and make resolutions that are fair to the oppressed and challenge US arrogance. The latter is displayed openly in the Security Council chamber whenever Haley twists reality to portray Israel as the victim and the Palestinians as aggressors who deserve everything that hits them.

What is ironic is that the international community acts as if it needs an “investigation” to understand what happened on 14 May in Gaza, and has been happening since 30 March. It is as if the world has no eyes to see and ears to hear, with all the media, security forces and monitoring agencies at its disposal; as if the international community does not know who the occupier and aggressor is, and who the oppressed victims are; as if it did not see the peaceful protests, in which children, women and the elderly participated; as if it did not hear in advance of Israeli intent, nor see the systematic, intensive and brutal shooting that has killed more than 120 Palestinians and wounded more than 13,000 others, many of them seriously.

READ: Victim blaming after the Gaza massacre 

This is why the Palestinians do not pin their hopes on international commissions of inquiry, of which they have long experience from the 1940s onwards. Most such commissions have failed to issue their reports. When they do, the international community is unable to implement their recommendations, or force Israel to abide by them; it is impotent. Thus, the work of international investigation commissions in occupied Palestine is futile. They’re only there to distort the facts, hide the evidence and enable the oppressor to relax a little before embarking on a new round of violence and brutality.

We have become accustomed to this lack of responsibility, lack of seriousness and immorality from the international community, although there are some honest friendly countries, and seriously eager voices, but they are too weak and too few to impose their opinions and change the general pattern. Palestinians know not to count on them; they only count on God Almighty and then on their own strength, determination, patience, will, awareness and understanding in their quest to return to their holy land.

Translated from Felesteen, 29 May 2018

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.