The Gaza Narrative

Over at Al Jazeera, Belen Fernandez has written an opinion piece falling in line with most of what Al Jazerra produces on the Israel/Palestine debate: The seemingly one-sided aggression carried out by the state of Israel on the defenseless occupied territories, in this case Gaza. Her piece, “Terror in Gaza”, follows a narrative that has been read all too often, mentioning the inordinate amount of casualties inflicted on Palestinians in comparison to Israelis and indiscriminate fire that is currently bombarding the small, blocked off enclave of Gaza. Her outcry is justified, there is no denying that. What is unjustified, however, is the singular narrative she presents, as any first-time reader into the conflict would be hard pressed to find any fault pointed at militant factions within Gaza.

Jeffery Goldberg has recently pointed out this media bias in favor of the occupied territories, although he does a good job of pointing some of the blame at Israel for that one-sided story. The brutal occupation of Palestine, the “security” wall, settler violence, West Bank expansion, the prison-like conditions imposed on Gaza, and the heavy handed responses to generally failed terrorist acts lead many people to view Palestinians as the marginalized underdog. And they are, but that’s not the entire story.

What is so often overlooked by supporters of Palestine (and I am one of them, although that support comes from a hope for future peace of an oppressed people, not from an anti-Israeli standpoint) is the ugly side to Palestinian self-defense or retaliation efforts, most notably in violent forms taken on by radical Islamist organizations. The romantic term, “Existence is resistance, and resistance is not terrorism” is plastered on pro-Palestinian t-shirts and bumper stickers, but its logic is painfully short-sighted: Resistance can and many times has taken on the form of terrorism. The Anti-Defamation League has a long list of terrorist actions carried out by Hamas against the citizens of Israel, and these are just major episodes. Regular rocket attacks aimed at Israeli population centers carried out by Hamas and more militant groups such as Islamic Jihad rarely hit their targets, but that isn’t the point. The point is that innocent Israelis living in range of Qassam fire - and as recently seen, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem can now be reached with Fajr-5 rockets – live in constant fear and danger. For as many rockets that fail to hit their mark, it only takes one successful hit to end a life.

The general response when one comes to the defense of Israel is toward the obvious, with the illegal occupation or settler expansion generally taking the front foot. Next up is Israel’s response to terrorist actions, which are generally ruthless and inflict high civilian causalities. These responses are not misguided, and I am certainly no Israel apologist. I can only imagine that an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza, one that is looking increasingly likely, will result in a horrendous amount of civilian causalities, and the civil sector of Gaza will become more than crippled. Fernandez is of course correct when she cities a ratio of 400:1 Palestinian to Israeli deaths during Operation Cast Lead. This negligence, if it is to occur again, should be denounced, and those responsible within the IDF for raining down hell on the citizens of Gaza should face trial for war crimes.

What can’t be left out of the equation, however, is the fact that on a base level, Israel is responding to terrorist actions carried out against its citizens. Decrying the inordinate response by Israel is important, but using it as a justification for continued terrorist acts by Hamas is unacceptable. Regardless of who started the conflict (Robert Write attempts to shed light on this, although I find it to be a fruitless endeavor. Where do you start? A few weeks ago? 1967? 1948? Biblical times?), the reality is that many Israeli citizens, and to be fair their Palestinian counterparts, live in daily fear of attack. As long as radical elements in Gaza place symbolic but strategically negligible terrorist attacks ahead of the citizens that live within their small open air prison, Israeli reprisal attacks will continue unabated. This doesn’t excuse the bombardment of a dense, impoverished enclave, but it does force a narrative into which both Israelis and Palestinians are held accountable.

Fernandez ends her piece with the following:

“Israel's exclusive rights to the term "self-defence" and institutionalised habit of inverting logic have resulted in the construction of a narrative according to which the fatal bulldozing of American peace activists in Gaza and the murder in international waters of Gaza-bound humanitarian workers armed with construction tools, marbles and a metal pail are excused as defensive manoeuvers. 

Unfortunately, for the residents of Gaza who have been warned by IDF leaflets to "avoid being present in the vicinity of… terror organisations that pose a risk to your safety", this does not appear to be possible as long as the Palestinian territory exists in the vicinity of the state of Israel.”

While denouncing Israel’s constructs of history, she creates her own. It is unfortunate that the residents of Gaza have no choice but to pray that their livelihoods are not completely shattered within the coming days, weeks, and months. But her reductionist viewpoint, insinuating that the Israel will not stop its campaign of violence until Gaza ceases to exist, leaves out the narrative of Israeli citizens cowering in bomb shelters. Until light is shed equally amongst both frightened parties, the Gaza narrative will continue to be one-sided, but the citizens of both states will suffer.