As I have stated before, Israel’s UN-documented war crimes in Gaza – mimicking the war crimes of Hamas and Hezbollah – make its claims to be a civilised state difficult to accept.
And in the midst of all this lunacy we have the president of Iran, a country shortly to be nuclear-capable, calling for the complete eradication of Israel from the map. All of this is not only intolerable – it’s ludicrous!
But getting back to the most recent matter at hand: the state-mandated murder of a non-Israeli national outside of the state’s borders is a crime under any circumstances. Hamas and Israel alike have murdered civilians on both sides; men, women and children. This is disgusting, immoral, and deeply shameful, but acting in a reciprocal manner is equally unacceptable. Acting in a ‘third’ country is even worse again.
Israel must realise that it owes its continued existence to the fortitude of its people in the face of extreme hostility from its neighbours. However, even their most die-hard supporters would acknowledge that without the support of the USA, the UK and other friendly states, Israel would have ceased to exist a long time ago.
So Israel thrives, to some degree at least, because of the support of friends. But one cannot continue indefinitely to rely on friends when acting against the interests of those friends, and indeed engaging in hostile acts against them.
Largely because of historical, cultural and political events, there remains some goodwill towards Israel in the west. But in my opinion, that currency is eroding at a rate inversely proportional to the expansion of the West Bank settlements, and the assassination and passport theft certainly doesn’t improve matters.
Israel, like Palestine, has the right to exist; its people have the right to go about their daily lives without the continued threat to their well-being from any force, external or otherwise. But those rights come with responsibilities.
If the UK government started building communities for its citizens in France, the French authorities would not tolerate it for one second. If Germany turned off the flow of natural gas to Belgium, the Belgian authorities would be in uproar. Thus, neighbouring states in particular owe responsibilities to each other, and failing to act on those responsibilities inevitably invites conflict. In other words, Israel must stop expanding its borders at the expense of its neighbours. It must obey international law.
I am not naive; these measures will not ensure peace and will not stop violent attacks against Israel or its citizens. But they are an essential first step in a process that can lead to peace.
Sometimes the cliché of ‘tough love’ is appropriate. Unwelcome news often paints the messenger in an unforgiving light; nobody, individually or collectively, likes being told that their behaviour is unacceptable. But the friends of Israel must tell it as it is, they must deliver the message that is not wanted and Israel must listen – to its enemies, but especially to its friends.
Israel needs a new passport – a passport back into the civilised world, and it can only be issued by friendly nations. Israel’s friends must take the correct and appropriate steps to make her conform, and that time is long overdue.
Dr Shaheed Satardien is imam of the West Dublin Islamic Society, president of the Muslim Council of Ireland, chairman of the European Muslim Council for Justice, Peace and Equality, co-ordinator of the Interfaith Roundtable and the 2006 Visionary of Peace Award winner
sheikhshaheed@gmail.com
