Israel-palestine Conflict: 2018 Gaza Border Protests

One may suspect that Israel is responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity. However, in order to come to a judgement, one must understand the historical background and comprehend the political, social, economic and moral complexities to a hugely complex conflict. This conflict is hugely intricate - it is not black and white. Moreover, the judgment that Israel may be responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity is not black and white either. There are arguments on both sides that need to be analysed. One thing is apparent though, there is no end in sight to this conflict which has claimed and continues to claim the lives of thousands.

The Gaza 2018 border protests is part of the wider modern Holy Land conflict which began way back in 1897. It began because the first Zionist Congress in Switzerland established the World Zionist Organisation to secure a home for the Jewish people in Palestine (Murphy, 2015, p.411). This was in response, to anti-Semitism throughout the whole of Europe. (Murphy, 2015, p.411). The movement achieved its goal of a homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine in 1948.The state was created when Britain s mandate in Palestine came to an end, enabling the state of Israel to form (Omer-Man, 2011).

It is pivotal to acknowledge that it is not just two countries at conflict, because there are religious connotations too. This is because the lands which modern day Israel and Palestine find itself situated on have been claimed by the Jews as their Holy Lands since the Biblical era. For thousands of years, Jews anticipated the coming of the Messiah who would bring about a final in-gathering of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland. (Cohn-Sherbok and El-Alami, 2015, p.3). The Holy Land is holy for Muslims too, so this conflict is much more intricate then simply two state-nations at conflict. It is two nations, two cultures, two religions and two ways of life that are at conflict with one another.

However, since the formation of Israel, Israel has continued to grow in size - in economic and geographical terms. Israel now controls the vast majority of what was once Palestinian land. Wajahat Ali points this out and argues that Israel has acted as a colonising and oppressive force to native Arab-Palestinians (2018). It is certain that Israel only exists because Western powers enabled the state to be created. This is why Muhammad Shahid Alam argues that Israel could only emerge as the bastard child of imperialist powers and that it could only survive by incorporating Palestine into an apartheid state and acting as a militarist and expansionist force (Dershowitz, 2003, p.13). Naturally, acting as a militarist force requires colonisation. When one examines the definition of colonization, it is clear that to some extent Israel has been colonizing Palestine. Colonization is the action or process of settling among and establishing control over the indigenous people of an area (Oxford Living Dictionaries, 2018). The state of Israel was created in Palestine and over time, Israeli land has grown in size at the direct expense of Palestinian land. This process of colonization is arguably continuing and the existence of illegal Israeli settlements illustrates this.

The protests continue to occur for many different reasons. However, they began on the 30^th of March because Palestinians were protesting for the right of return . This is a social movement, which seeks Palestinians returning to and settling on the land which once was but is no longer theirs (War on Want, 2018). The protest began on the 30^th of March because it is the seventieth anniversary of what Palestinians call the Nakba (catastrophe). Since Nakba, 7.4 million Palestinians have been displaced (Sayej, 2018).

The sheer number of Palestinians that have been displaced is another reason as to why the protests took place. A lot of displaced Palestinians ended up in Gaza which is home to nearly two million people and it is only twenty five miles wide. This makes it one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Another key motive behind the protests was the ever-increasing humanitarian crisis within Gaza. Eleven years ago, Israel and Egypt imposed a blockade on the Gaza strip, due to the terrorist group Hamas taking authoritative control in the area. Not only does Israel block Gaza, it also controls its water and electricity supplies. A study by UNICEF discovered that just 4% of Gazan water was drinkable (Middle East Monitor, 2018). In addition, due to the high levels of poverty, many cannot afford the price of electricity which is set by the Israelis. This means that most businesses and households only have four hours of electricity a day. This has been hugely detrimental to the health service and businesses - causing the economy to suffer greatly. GDP has fallen massively and unemployment currently stands at a staggering 44% (The World Bank, 2018). The situation is so dire that 80% of Gazans rely on foreign aid just too able to survive (Channel 4, 2018). Channel 4 (2018) also discovered that there has been a huge increase in the suicide rate in Gaza. The ongoing crisis in Gaza led to Neil Collier (The New York Times, 2018) claiming that the greatest shortage in Gaza is the acute shortage of hope , leading to many describing Gaza as the world s largest prison . This is a huge reason as to why the protests have taken place. Gazans have seen their land taken over by a terrorist regime and have had all opportunities blocked to them. The protests is a way of demonstrating their anger and frustration at a situation which they have no control over. A logical way to reduce the chances of protesting was pointed out by Alistair Burt (member of Foreign and Commonwealth Office). He argues that Israel s blockade of the Gaza strip does not violate any international law but he does encourage Israel to ease the restrictions imposed on Gaza in order to ease the humanitarian crisis (House of Commons Debate, 2018).

Another big issue in Palestine is the continuation of illegal Israeli settlements. This was yet another reason for the protests this year. Israel refuses to condemn illegal settlements in Palestine. The settlements expropriates Palestinian land and imposes burdens on Palestinians, restricting their access to basic services (Human Rights Watch, 2018). In addition, since the six-day war in 1967, Israel has transferred more than 600,000 civilians into settlements built on the occupied West Bank and Gaza and this number is increasing. Under the Rome Statute guidelines, this is a war crime. This was highlighted by Eric Goldstein (Human Rights Watch, 2018) who points out that that businesses such as Airbnb are operating in the settlements and are taking commission. Goldstein highlights that this is contributing to and benefiting from violating human rights abuses (Human Rights Watch, 2018).

Yet inevitably there is opposition to this view. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to condemn illegal Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory. He argues that settlements help to deepen Israeli roots and it aids the process of strengthening Israel (Berger, 2018). He also claims that there is no evidence to suggest removing settlements helps peace, because Hamas will use the space to fire missiles into Israel (Berger, 2018). Moreover, Israel refuses to acknowledge and accept that settlements are a direct violation of international law. They argue that attempts to define settlements in Palestine as illegal and colonial ignore the complexity of the case and the unique circumstances and complexity of the conflict (Consulate General of Israel in Toronto, 2018). Nevertheless, under the Rome Statute, illegal settlements are a war crime as it is appropriating Palestinian property.

Another reason for the anger directed from Palestinians towards Israel is because of Donald s Trump s comments regarding Jerusalem. In December 2017, Trump claimed that Jerusalem is the rightful capital of Israel and declared that he would move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem (Borger and Beaumont, 2017). Trump did this for his own political gain as one of the first points he laid out in his presidency, was that he was fulfilling the promises of previous presidents which they failed to uphold (Borger and Beaumont, 2017). These comments led to Mahmoud Abbas claiming that Trump neglected his presidential role of being mediator between Israel and Palestine (Borger and Beaumont, 2017). Moreover, Ahmed Tamini a Palestine Liberation Organization official claimed that Trump s remarks reflected the continued American policy that is biased in favour of Israel (Khaled Abu Toameh, 2018).

The transfer of the embassy took place on the 14^th of May (Tibon and Landau, 2018). Protests took place on the same day, leading to the highest number of deaths since the 2014 Gaza war (Tibon and Landau, 2018). Gaza s ministry of health reported that 52 people died and more than 2,400 people were injured. This led to Amnesty International accusing Israel of violating International Law (Holpuch and Weaver, 2018). However, the Israeli Defence Forces insisted they were following protocol, which was backed by Netanyahu who tweeted every country has an obligation to defend its borders (Netanyahu, 2018). He caused international outrage when, he claimed that the 14^th of May was a glorious day on BBC Newsnight (2018), despite the amount of violence that the day saw in Gaza.

As one can see, there have been a range of different socio-political and religious issues that have caused the protests. Yahya Sinwar is the leader of the Gaza strip and he pointed this out and claimed that the protests will carry on indefinitely (The New York Times, 2018).

Israel s response to protestors has raised a lot of concerns. Many claim that Israel has responded excessively and unreasonably. However, many also claim that Israel is only defending itself in the face of terrorism. Nevertheless, there is an ongoing preliminary examination by the International Criminal Court to decide whether Israel is responsible for War Crimes in many different situations including Gaza (International Criminal Court, 2018). Human Rights Watch (2018) have produced a detailed account of events that have occurred in Gaza throughout the year. Within this report, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that Israel is responsible for war crimes and potentially crimes against humanity too.

Firstly, the report stated that Israel has frequently used lethal force in the Gaza strip since the beginning on the protests. Lethal force has often been used against Palestinian protestors that pose no imminent threat (Human Rights Watch, 2018). In addition, on the 6^th of April, it was reported that a journalist who was reporting was shot dead. Israeli forces have also shot dead a female medic who was attending to the wounded and a young child too (Human Rights Watch, 2018). Moreover, there have been frequent reports that Israeli forces have been using live ammunition to shoot protestors in the leg to scare them off (Human Rights Watch, 2018). Surely, there are less-violent ways to scare off protestors? This perspective would be supported by International human rights law. The law states that live ammunition can be used, but only as a last resort, with the aim of preventing the imminent threat of death or serious injury.

However, the Israeli government deny any wrongdoing. Israeli officials have defended the killings of unarmed protestors, despite international challenges from the UN. The Israeli government argue that they have been carrying out a legalised national policy, to use live ammunition on protestors attempting to cross or damage the fences. This particular policy was given the green light by Netanyahu. Nevertheless, any wilful killing of Palestinians in Gaza is a war crime as these civilians are entitled to protection under the Geneva Conventions as an occupied people .

As a nation-state, Israel are well within their rights to defend their nation and their sovereignty. The blame cannot be entirely attributed to Israel and their forces, because Israel faces a continuous threat from Hamas. Hamas are known to have fired rockets into Israel. They are also known for carrying out suicide bomb attacks along border checkpoints. These are war crimes in itself. Moreover, Hamas claim to have organised a lot of the Gaza border protests. Within these protests, Hamas are known to use Palestinian civilians as human shields. This means that the number of Palestinian casualties cannot entirely be blamed on the Israeli forces. Some Palestinian protestors are also known to be armed with rocks and Molotov cocktails. Therefore, it is clear that the issue is not with Israel defending themselves, it is the way that they do it which appears excessive and unlawful.

Whilst one may deduce Israel s responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity, some accuse Israel of genocide. Francis Boyle argues that Israel has been and continues to be guilty of genocide (Dershowitz, 2003). He argues that the Israeli force operates as Zionist agencies. This force operates with the intent to destroy substantial parts of the national, ethnical and racial group known as the Palestinian people (Dershowitz, 2003). It is not just academics that have accused Israel of genocide. Turkish Presedent Recep Edrogan accused Israel of genocide when fifty protestors were killed in just one day (Shugerman, 2018). This for many though is insufficient evidence for genocide. Under the Rome Statute, genocide is the intention to destroy or partially destroy a group of people for discriminatory reasons. Whilst many will not deny Israel s responsibility for responding excessively and unlawfully, this is not enough to consider their actions genocide .

The protests have raised lots of widespread questions and concerns, therefore having a large impact on a global scale. As Sarah Leah Whitson (Human Rights Watch, 2018) highlighted what is pivotal from the recent events in Gaza is that there is a full investigation from the international community to hold Israel accountable. Real costs need to be imposed on Israel, but this cannot happen as the US is currently blocking Israeli accountability (Human Rights Watch, 2018). Ryvka Barnard also coherently pointed out that there needs to be an analysis as to whether it is moral for Britain to continue selling weapons to Israel (Osborne, 2018). For many, this makes Britain complicit in these war crimes.

Furthermore, recent events in Israel has sparked huge debates regarding antisemitism. Reports of antisemitism in Britain is at its highest since 1984 and Maire Claire (2018), pointed out that synagogues even have to have security now. Unfortunately a lot of anti-Semitic people see what is happening in Israel and take the opportunity to spread vile and racist views. In a democratic society, one is free to question and condemn the actions of the Israeli government. However, this should not be in anyway linked to the religion of Judaism. This was pointed out by the co-leader of the Green Party Caroline Lucas (BBC Question Time, 2018). For many, anti-Semitism on the left-wing of British politics has been on the rise because of the ongoing Israeli conflict - so this is a direct effect of the conflict. There are a lot of examples in British politics that illustrate this. Ken Livingstone called Hitler a Zionist , consequently forcing him to resign from the Labour party (BBC News, 2018). Even Jeremy Corbyn said in a speech that British Zionists had no sense of English irony . This led to former Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks calling Corbyn an anti-Semite (BBC News, 2018). This conflict has unfortunately revealed that anti-Semitism is still prevalent in British society.

Israeli forces have been responsible for violating international law. The unlawful killings of many unarmed protestors and the refusal to condemn illegal settlements means that Israel are responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity. In addition, they are largely but not entirely responsible for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza too. The biggest issue with Israel is not defending themselves from terrorism, but the way they go about it. It is excessive and unlawful, which results in the deaths of many innocent civilians. However, Israel should not face charges of genocide in relation to the Gaza border protests. They were not the perpetrators of this specific conflict, but nevertheless, the way they have and continue to respond is unlawful and fulfils the criteria for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

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