Media Bulldoze Bulldozer Attack Story, Ignore Gaza’s Water Catastrophe
The New York Times and world press covered today’s bulldozer attack in Jerusalem, the second in a month. The frame was typical: enraged Palestinian used construction equipment to attack Israeli civilians. The extra spice in the article is that it occurred “near” where Obama will be staying soon. Wow, what a news hook!
Of course, he is staying at King David hotel, which apparently has no other historical significance other than the fact that Bush stayed there. For those who don’t know, it was the site of the first major bombing – note: terrorism – by “non-state actors” in Israel-Palestine. The bombers were Zionists, however, which makes mention of it outside the bounds of their reportage.
The attacker injured two dozen before he was shot dead by either a policeman or an armed civilian. The Times article finishes off with a dab of historical context. The driver:
was a resident of Sur Baher, an Arab neighborhood of East Jerusalem, which was captured by Israel in 1967 and then annexed.
As a footnote to the story, we are not to know whether this is relevant or not. Is the Israeli occupation and active colonization even relevant?
Pundits were alarmed by the last bulldozer attack, saying Palestinians were finding new ways to try to destroy Israel – yet Palestinians are in the stone age compared to Israel’s advanced killing technology. The bulldozer is now the Palestinian Merkava.
The difference, Israel lovers will point out, is that Palestinians target civilians. As the recent B’tselem video shows (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7516477.stm), that is a myth. The most recent footage is of an Israeli soldier shooting a detainee in the foot with a rubber-coated bullet. It was captured by 14-year-old girl who filmed the incident from the window of her home in the town of Nilin, which has been the scene of protests against Israel’s West Bank apartheid wall.
MSM are ignoring phenomena of much more far-reaching public health consequences. The Christian Science Monitor ran a report that makes the horrific attack today look quaint. Though less dramatic than an attack, Israel’s stranglehold on Gaza has created “a severe shortage of potable water” that puts “the population at risk for a range of illnesses.” Gaza’s seawater “registered levels of bacteria two to five times greater than the amount deemed safe.”
The environmental degradation in Gaza is the direct historical outcome of Israel’s establishment – which forces Palestinians into cramped refugee camps there – and subsequent occupation and now embargo.
Israel denied “the raw metals, plastics, and spare parts needed to maintain Gaza’s sewage and plumbing infrastructure and waste-water treatment centers.” Israel was afraid they would be used to manufacture rockets – as if such materials cannot be transported officially, regulated and certified. This is clearly part of their collective punishment logic. These policies prevented the development of three additional treatment centers, which were funded by international donors.
The logic of collective punishment must be condemned.
Without global action against it, Palestinians will continue to fight it in their own ways. While the people of Nilin rise up, nonviolent protesters stand against the occupying forces, other choose to fight violence with violence. The only way to end this dynamic is by bringing Israel’s ethno-religious supremacy and belligerent occupation to an end.
