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Early in Israel’s latest round of hostilities with Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement: “No country in the world [would] agree to suffer relentless missile attacks and infiltration attempts.” His words have since been repeated frequently, usually in support (qualified or un-) of Israel’s operation in Gaza.
There is an inarguable truth here: No country would sit idly by under such circumstances. Every state, and every citizen in those states, has a universally recognized right to self-defense.
But what — the question is almost never posed — of the stateless?
The Palestinian people are routinely expected to suffer precisely what Netanyahu describes as insufferable. They’re routinely expected to tolerate relentless attacks and infiltrations, and do nothing.
Let me be very clear: Hamas is not a defensive force. In its resistance to occupation, Hamas has used terrorism and rocket attacks on civilians; both tactics are not only despicable, but they’re also war crimes. When Hamas engages the Israeli military, it could be argued that such engagement is, at least, legitimate (armed force against armed force), but Hamas was not conceived as nor does it constitute a defensive force.
Furthermore, Hamas’ activities are often the very instigation that draws air attacks and cross-border incursions. Hamas isn’t to blame for the nearly 2,000 Palestinian deaths in the latest paroxysm of violence — because surely the military that does the shelling is to blame when its munitions kill — but neither is Hamas entirely blameless. When you consciously provoke attack, you do so knowing people will die. As Max Fisher recently put it, “Both sides independently bear responsibility for the degree to which their tactics lead to civilian deaths.”
But let’s leave Hamas to the side. Let’s leave all Palestinian movements to the side, down to and including the Palestine Liberation Organization, which, while largely considered “moderate” now, was once considered the worst of the worst.
Let’s look only at today’s reality for Gazans, the vast majority of whom aren’t combatants. (Even if we get carried away and declare voting patterns sufficient reason to deem civilians demi-combatants, let’s recall that most Gazans weren’t old enough to vote in 2006, the last time elections were held.) That’s nearly 1.7 million people who were nowhere safe for nearly a month, and hundreds of thousands who lost or were run out of their homes. They’re still
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