US definition fits perfectly By Stuart Littlewood
28 December 2008
Stuart Littlewood calls on Western leaders to pull the plug on Israel until it conforms to international law and the will of the United Nations, pulls back behind the 1967 border and strictly observes the principles of universal human rights. Otherwise, they “risk a mighty moral backlash from ordinary people, who are beginning to learn the awful truth”.
The patience of all decent men must surely be exhausted.
Today’s [27 December] slaughter of innocents in Gaza, with at least 230 reported killed in raids on “Hamas terror operatives” (as the Israeli military put it), amounted to “a mass execution”, said Hamas.
Can there now be any doubt who the real terrorists are?
The killing spree couldn’t have happened without the tacit approval of America, Britain and the European Union. The political pea-brains that direct the pro-Israel Western alliance were partying, gorging themselves on Christmas fare or binge-shopping while this massacre of hungry women and children and their despairing menfolk in Gaza was being planned and executed.
According to the US's own definition of terrorism Israel is squarely in the frame. Under Section 3 of Executive Order 13224 "Blocking Property and prohibiting Transactions with Persons who commit, threaten to commit, or support Terrorism", the term “terrorism” means an activity that:
(i) involves a violent act or an act dangerous to human life, property, or infrastructure; and (ii) appears to be intended
* to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; * to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or * to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, kidnapping, or hostage-taking.
The order and its definition of terrorism, signed 23 September 2001 by George W. Bush, is used to outlaw and crush any organization, individual or country the US doesn’t like. The Israeli regime’s "amoral thugs", as a British MP branded them, have plainly been terrorizing the Palestinians for the last 60 years.
Israel's massacre of Gazans no doubt took place with the tacit approval of America, Britain and the European Union
The long drawn-out siege and blockade of Gaza, and the numerous military assaults on its people and their legitimate government, are only the latest crimes in a catalogue of torment and terror. They are clearly attempts to "intimidate and coerce", while the mass destruction of Gaza's infrastructure, the withholding of humanitarian aid, the assassinations, the abductions, the bulldozing of Palestinian homes, and the many violent and dangerous acts, including indiscriminate bombing and shelling (and the use of cluster bombs in Lebanon), ensure Israel’s ugly head is a perfect fit for America’s terrorist hat.
How does the world feel about Obama pledging to “forge an unshakeable bond” with the "miracle" of terrorist Israel?
How do we feel about the EU rewarding Israel for its terrorist acts with enhanced benefits under the EU-Israel Association Agreement?
How do we Britons feel about our Intelligence and Security Committee being chaired by a Friend of Terrorist Israel and 5 out of its 9 members also being the Zionist regime’s devoted Friends? How do we feel about our Foreign Affairs Committee being chaired by a Friend of Terrorist Israel – and our Defence Committee too?
Britain’s prime minister, Gordon Brown, and his predecessor, now peace envoy Tony Blair, both self-confessed Zionists, have given their undying support to a terrorist state and steered Britain’s foreign policy on a course that has earned the opprobrium of civilized people.
The best Brown could do today was urge “restraint”. He called on Gazan “militants” to “cease all rocket attacks on Israel immediately”, but didn’t urge his bosom pals to end the siege and their illegal occupation which, as every sane person knows, are the cause of the strife. Our Foreign Office went so far as to say they were “deeply concerned” then spouted the mantra: “The only way to achieve a lasting peace is through peaceful means”.
The only peaceful means of achieving a lasting peace is for Western leaders to pull the plug on Israel until the regime conforms to international law and the will of the United Nations (without whose misguided generosity there would never have been a state of Israel), pulls back behind the 1967 border and strictly observes the principles of universal human rights.
If they don’t shoulder their responsibility, they risk a mighty moral backlash from ordinary people, who are beginning to learn the awful truth. Stuart Littlewood is author of the book Radio Free Palestine, which tells the plight of the Palestinians under occupation. For further information please visit www.radiofreepalestine.co.uk.