Chaghouri is a third-year political science student.
By Michel Chaghouri
It has become a rather tired and overused cliché that
Jewish people all over are helpless victims in a hostile world. One
need look only at the long list of Jewish notaries to realize that
in the United States, and in the rest of the world, Jewish people
contribute greatly to the global community.
We must, however, always remember that no matter how integrated
or accepted any group of people may seem to be, we must always
guard against racial hatred and violence. Having said all that, it
is high time to chastise Israel for its disproportionate use of
force against Palestinian rioters in the occupied territories and
Israeli Arabs who no longer wish to be treated as second-class
citizens.
By now, everyone has seen images of Muhammed al-Durah, the
12-year-old boy who was killed in a crossfire and has come to
represent the gross asymmetry in firepower between Palestinians and
Israelis.
Such accidental deaths are tragedies that should never occur.
But when bullets are flying in both directions, accidents like this
are bound to happen (for, surely, no person ““ Israeli or
Palestinian ““ would deliberately kill a 12-year-old boy
cowering in fear). Indeed, I fully understand (not agree, mind you)
that Israelis “need” to use live ammunition and
“rubber” bullets (steel bullets that are wrapped in a
thin layer of rubber) to disperse large crowds of people who are
throwing rocks.
 Illustration by JARRETT QUON/Daily Bruin I do protest,
and you should too, at the use of tanks, helicopters, gunships and
snipers by Israeli “defense” forces to disperse rioters
and destroy Palestinian authority buildings.
The statistics are telling: nearly 100 people are dead, the vast
majority of them Palestinian. Don’t think that this is the
only time that Israel has reacted with inappropriate force. The
most galling example in recent times happened about three years ago
at a U.N. compound based in Qana, Lebanon. Some 800 people sought
shelter there from the fighting between Hezbollah and Israeli
forces. As many of you may remember, 102 of them died, and hundreds
more of them were injured by Israeli anti-personnel mortar
fire.
Although to this day, the Israelis have claimed it was an error,
the U.N. found this to be highly unlikely. Amnesty International
went a step further, concluding after a separate investigation that
the Israelis deliberately attacked the U.N. compound at Qana. Why
the Israelis would do such a horrific thing is beyond even my
comprehension.
Most Israelis that I have met and befriended are, for the most
part, kind and caring people, just like any other group of
people.
The blood-letting must stop, the blaming must stop. For the
first time in my life, I was nearly brought to tears by the news
wires. Too many people are dying, because they desire a life
slightly better than the one they have now. They live in refugee
camps where their main source of income, embarrassingly enough, is
building gleaming new homes for Israeli “settlers,” and
where the desire for a homeland is in stark contrast with the
economic realities of unemployment.
It is a pity to see that Palestinians have been completely
forsaken by the United States in their fight for a homeland. Had
any other country other than Israel used such repressive and overly
aggressive police tactics against people, the United States would
have been quick to react with horror and, perhaps, to call for
economic sanctions.
Indeed, recently the United States was the only U.N. Security
Council member that did not vote in favor of a resolution
condemning Israeli actions. Thankfully, they abstained from voting,
and the resolution passed.
I would hate to think that the United States has let Israelis
get away with their violent and repressive acts because of a
Holocaust that happened over 50 years ago. As hard as that was for
me to say, none of us are responsible for what happened. We
shouldn’t feel guilty for that atrocity, nor, on the same
token, should we turn a blind eye to naked aggression, whoever the
perpetrators may be.
Reporters in this country, as well as many prominent Jewish
organizations (the Anti-Defamation League and FLAME leap to mind),
have created the perception, albeit with the help of Palestinian
terrorists fighting for a homeland, that Israel can do no wrong.
Israel, a state formed in the aftermath of the Holocaust, could
never act inhumanely against any other people.
How could Israel inflict any sort of wound upon another nation
of people after experiencing a vicious genocide? Forget that the
Palestinians are being marginalized like the Native Americans were
in this country, and forget that whenever they protest at being
occupied by a foreign invader they get slaughtered.
Israel can do no wrong. Believe what you wish about who owns the
land. Remind me constantly that the Jewish people were the victims
of a horrible Holocaust and need a nation to protect themselves
from that sort of massacre ever happening again.
Explain away their constant human rights violations as reactions
to the acts of the evil Arab hordes. Tell me the Middle East needs
civilized nations like Israel to stabilize the region.
In the end, the ugly truth still remains: Israelis are no better
than their opposition. They are just as brutal, just as brutish and
just as violent, only they have better weapons. What a pity too. I
have always hoped that Israel, the invaders they might be, would
lead the way in showing Arabs living in neighboring autocratic
regimes that there is a better standard of living if they just set
their minds to it and push for democracy.
After all, as many Jews proudly proclaim, Palestine was but a
desert wasteland long before they came along.