Selective Condemnations

The South African government has predictably come out with a strong condemnation of Israel following today’s tragic events in Gaza in which at least 18 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes aimed to prevent Palestinian rocket fire into Israel.

The Palestinians seem intent on proving that the decision to withdraw from Gaza was a bad one. Any goodwill that Israel may have earned from the withdrawal gets spent in trying to prevent the increasing terror attacks launched from the very areas from which Israel withdrew.

Other tragedies certainly do not detract from this one and I am glad that Israel has ordered an urgent enquiry into how this happened. Still, one can't help wondering why the loss of life in Gaza gets to the order of magnitudes higher focus than tragedies in Sudan.

Consider some other tragedies this week (and last week) that have not been condemned by the South African government:

Sudanese Militias Kill 63 people - 27 under the age of 12

Militias backing Sudan's government have killed at least 63 people in attacks in Darfur in the past week, African peacekeepers say. At least 27 of the victims are thought to be children under the age of 12. The attacks were on camps for the displaced in the rebel stronghold of Jebel Moon, in West Darfur. The government says it is disarming the Janjaweed militia but a BBC correspondent in Sudan says all the evidence points to the exact opposite.

44 Die in Fresh Iraqi Violence

The attacks included two car bombs set off in busy markets, which killed at least 10 people as they shopped. The latest deaths follow a suicide bomb attack at a cafe in Baghdad on Tuesday, which killed at least 17. In one of the worst incidents, at least six people died in a market in the town of Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad. At least 25 were injured when a car bomb exploded at the popular market.

Update
The world's reaction plays straight into the hands of the terrorists. The terrorists who fire at civilian targets in Israel know that Israel will respond by 'firing at the source.' And the terrorists, by firing from within residential areas, know that the slightest error from the Israeli gunners will result in civilian casualties. They wouldn't do this if they didn't benefit from it. But they do benefit from it. And that is the fundamental problem. The world's condemnation of only Israel encourages the Palestinian terrorists to continue their violence.

The recent Lebanon crisis only confirmed for the Palestinians the value in the strategy of firing at Israeli civilians from behind Palestinian civilians, provoking Israel into a response which inevitably and tragically causes the loss of civilian life. The loss of civilians on both sides plays into the hands of the terrorists.

The knee-jerk condemnations of only Israel are to blame. They are the fuel that feeds the terrorist fire. They create value from a deeply disturbing source where no value should exist.

Comments

[Roland Dodds]

What made me the most sick concerning this recent Gaza offensive is the way “Democracy Now!” played snippets of folks in Palestinian claming this was genocide!

What in the world happened to honest programming? Some random person tells a reporter that this constitutes genocide, and that sticks?

Sad, sad, sad.

[ANTHONY POSNER]

Hi Mike and Roland,
At his "Beyond Victimhood" lecture at Wits, Mr Ronnie Einstein said that a genocide was taking place in Gaza. Of course, he did not mention Darfur.
It is the same language as the Israel/Nazi epithet and I would imagine that we will be hearing a lot more of it.
Re Darfur: the idea that Arab Muslims are systematically wiping out black African Muslims is too much of a "mind f..k" for the South African government. Ronnie, of course, will find it even more difficult to cope with since the Chinese seem to be supporting it. They voted against the UN getting involved in Darfur. That story hardly made the news here. I wonder why? Can you imagine if the USA had vetoed the motion! They would have been described as racist genocidal Nazis in the Mail and Guardian.

[mike]

Antony, the position of South Africa and the international hardcore Left on Darfur is very interesting. I read an article in the M&G a few weeks ago about how it is not really genocide and how the West must stay out. It’s just another excuse for one more country for America to occupy. Cant remember if we blogged about it. I think that is basically there stance.

It’s a non issue here. Its crazy. But the blame doesn’t only lie with Ronnie and the government. The South African Jewish community has also been embarrassingly silent. In America they are at the forefront of the movement to stop the genocide. How many SA Jews even know what Darfur is?

[ANTHONY POSNER]

Mike, is it that the international hardcore left is in bed with Islamic fundamentalism as a reaction to American hegemony?
Re the South African Jewish community and Darfur: Quite a lot of Jews have criticized the SA govt for being quiet on this issue, both in the Jewish Report and main stream media. I am not allied to the SAJBD but perhaps you are being a little harsh?
It should be born in mind that the US Jewish population is much bigger than the South African jewish community and more influential when it comes to foreign policy issues.

[mike]

The unholy alliance between radical Islam and the far Left may certainly explain it.

No I don’t think I am being too harsh on the SA Jewish community. A few letters is hardly sufficient. In London for example there was a huge save Darfur protest and lots of Jews marched. A Holocaust survivor was one of the guest speakers. Why is the Holocaust Museum or the Yad Vashem foundation not doing anything.

[ANTHONY POSNER]

Mike, i am not sure how well it would go down here if South African Jews led a Darfur protest. It might be easily be interpreted as a cynical diversion away from the problems of Gaza. Also it would be viewd as an implicit criticism of the over-emphasis on Israel in the media/ politics.
I think that the situation here is fraught with difficulties in respect of Jews protesting on a national level.
Perhaps the best way would be some multi/inter faith rally.
It is a great pity that Franz Auerbach is not here to get such a ball rolling.

[Steve]

I understand your point Anthoney.
I would suggest an internal event to educate ourselves about what is going on there. So something not designed for public attention. In fact, deliberately keep it out of the public media.
But it is important for us to realise and to fully comprehend what is going on.

[fuzz]

There's also Sri Lanka, where government forces bombed a refugee camp the same day as the Gaza shelling, killing 45 to 65 civilians. In another incident, Sri Lankan shells came within 50 meters of hitting international observers whose presence had been cleared with the government. There's no good way to fight a counterinsurgency.