J’ Accuse! 

Israeli Crimes Against Humanity 
by Jack Random
www.dissidentvoice.org
July 26, 2006



 

If an image is worth a thousand words, the image I cannot remove from my mind is that of a white van utterly destroyed on the streets of Beirut, the gaping hole of an Israeli missile through the heart of the Red Cross on the van’s surface. 

The state of Israel possesses the most sophisticated precision weapons on the face of the earth -- a gift from the United States of America. 

It is absolutely clear that an Israeli gunship, armed drone, or a commander in a remote military installation, used the Red Cross on top of a white relief van as a target in an act of state terrorism so brazen and horrific it rips at the heart of every breathing, feeling, living human being. 

Why would they do such a thing? 

To deliver a warning to every citizen of Lebanon: We will kill you as soon as look at you if you even dream of helping those we have targeted for elimination. 

So when United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan accuses Israel of 
deliberately targeting a United Nations observation post, clearly marked and delineated, killing four neutral observers, after receiving repeated assurances from the Israeli Prime Minister, himself, that they would be safe, forgive me if I do not believe Israel’s explanations. 

How often have we heard the assurance: “We do not target civilians”? 

The gaping hole in the heart of the Red Cross argues that you do. 

How often have we heard the excuse: “Why would we do such a thing?” 

You would only do such a thing if what they were observing was even more difficult to explain than the killing of four innocent observers. 

“What if you knew them and found them dead on the ground? How can you run when you know?” [1] 

Against this backdrop, we are treated to the spectacle of three United States Senators -- Dick Durbin, Harry Reid and Charles Schumer -- demanding a retraction from Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki for his denunciation of Israel’s actions in Lebanon. 

Said Senator Schumer: “To stand with America, you have to stand against terror.” 

He meant to say: If you stand with us, you stand with Israel.  

Asking a Shiite leader to stand with Israel is like asking Yasser Arafat to kiss the boot of Ariel Sharon. 

If Maliki is a true leader, he will stand with his own people. If he complies with the Senators’ request, he will sacrifice every claim to leadership in Iraq.  Either way, the next explosion you hear in Baghdad will not be the sound of civil war; it will be the sound of rebellion against the Zionist masters. 

Israel has crossed the line and America has sanctioned the act. 

The Senators speak of our sacrifices in treasure for Iraqi liberation. Will Maliki have the courage to reply: Your treasure has destroyed our nation. Will he have the spine to say: We did not ask you to invade and occupy our country. We did not ask you to steal our oil. 

The Senators speak of our sacrifice in lives. Will Maliki have the stomach to respond: 2,700 American lives against a hundred thousand Iraqis? Is this what you mean by liberation? Is this what you mean by democracy? Then take your treasure, your liberation, your soldiers, your democracy and your sacrifice and go home. 

We have wasted the last modicum of good will and credibility we had in the most volatile region on the planet. It is time to honor the first law of healing: Do no (more) harm. 

It is time to pack it up and go home. 

Jack Random is the author of Ghost Dance Insurrection (Dry Bones Press) the Jazzman Chronicles, Volumes I and II (City Lights Books). The Chronicles have been published by CounterPunch, the Albion Monitor, Buzzle, Dissident Voice and others. Visit his website: Random Jack.
 
NOTE 
 
[1] Paraphrase of Neil Young’s “Ohio.”

Other Articles by Jack Random

* Liberation Ramble South of the Border
* Haditha, Zarqawi & the Politics of Distraction
* Misconceptions in the Immigration Debate: What Would Crazy Horse Do?
* Requiem for American Democracy
* Paradigm Shift: Embracing the Power of Green
* Remember the Bastille: A Response to Mickey Z
* Designated Fall Guy: Replacing Rummy
* Libertad Y Justicia Para Todo!: Liberty and Justice For All
* Barry Bonds and the Steroids Saga
* Defiling the Grave of an American Hero: The Censoring of Rachel Corrie
* Starving the Beast: Programmed Ineptitude
* Constitutional Suspension: An Abdication of Democracy
* Right and Responsibility Depictions of the Prophet Mohammed
* Open Letter to Cindy Sheehan: Challenging the Pro-War Democrats
* The State of the Union: A Stumbling Illusion of Strength
* The Presidential Power Grab
* Surrealistic Pillow: The West Virginia Mining Disaster
* Pataki & Bloomberg: How to Bust a Union
* The Imperial President and the NSA Spying Scandal
* France and the Burning Embers of Repression
* The Activist Court & the Neoconservative Agenda
* The Agnew Factor: Clearing the Impeachment Path
* Iraq and New Orleans: The ABCs of Police Lawlessness
* The Age of Catastrophe: Preparing for Disaster
* No Tears for Rehnquist: The Legacy of a Chief Justice
* Zero Tolerance: Bush Gets Tough as New Orleans Suffers
* Hugo Chavez and the American Slug: Pat Robertson’s Call for Assassination
* The Lie of a Strong Economy (Beneath the Towers of Avarice)
* Fooled Again: Major Party Turnabout
* The New War Candidate: Major Paul Hackett for Congress
* Free Judy! The Fine Art of Calling a Bluff
* Executive Blackmail: The Betrayal of Democracy in Haiti
* Blame the Democrats & Move On: The Federalist Court
* Against the Wind: The Inevitable End of the Iraqi Occupation
* London and Madrid: Reflections on the War on Terror
* Judith Miller: The Anti-Hero
* Schizo Scherzo: The Last Waltz
* The Last Throes: The Light at the End of the Tunnel
* Impeach Bush -- US Out Now!
* Recall the Governator
* The Gates of Hell: Occupied Iraq
* May Day: The Rise & Fall of the Middle Class
* The Papal Aristocracy: Confessions of a Nonbeliever
* No Citizen Left Behind
* A Marine Comes Home: The Untold Story of War
* The Compassionate Leader -- In a Time of Crisis
* In Defense of Barry Bonds
* Defending Dan? Rather Not
* David Went to Canada...& Johnny Got His Gun
 

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