It’s hard to find any pity for the right-wing government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — and why should we? He has waged a brutal and bloody war on the Gaza Strip, seen his security forces gun down innocent young people, imprison thousands without trial and detail plans for thousands of new colonist homes in occupied East Jerusalem. Domestically, he’s made a complete mess of things. And internationally, he’s fared equally poorly.
Consider the latest move by a string of parliaments in European nations to formally recognise Palestine. While his officials call in foreign ambassadors to issue rebukes, those letters of objection are not worth the paper they are written on. A rebuke from a morally and politically corrupt regime such as Netanyahu’s, should be considered a badge of honour. Last Wednesday, a meeting of signatories of the Geneva Conventions in Switzerland issued a clarion warning to Israel: It must respect the conventions that arbitrate the fine lines between the just and the criminal waging of war. For Israel, its unbridled use of the latest military equipment and US-developed and -sponsored weaponry on a largely civilian population in a limited strike zone — the Gaza Strip — represents a violation of the Geneva Conventions, particularly when it comes to civilian casualties. And guess who missed that meeting in Geneva? Israel and the US predictably — but, shamefully, Canada and Australia, too.
If the diplomatic rebuke to Israel wasn’t enough, on the very same day in Strasbourg, members of the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in support of a motion to recognise Palestine. All across Europe, it seems, patience with Israel has finally run out, with parliamentarians now waking up to the reality that Netanyahu’s administration is racist, bigoted and subjugates Palestinian people at every turn. And while all of this was going on, the European Court threw in its two cents’ worth. Hamas, it ruled, is not a terrorist organisation. Hamas is a partner in the Palestinian government and the group needs to be removed from the list of designated terrorist organisations. A good week for Palestine. A bad one for Netanyahu. Let’s hope he has many more.