Thursday, January 19, 2006

Call for Embargo of Israeli Goods

Generally speaking I find the Palestine Chronicle to be a fairly moderate and fair media source from the Palestinian side of conflict. Thus I was surprised to find their lead story calling for an economic boycott of Israeli goods.

But after reading the article, while I must admit that I believe some of the facts are exaggerated to make the Israelis seem worse then they are, the premise is definitely accurate. By the basic definitions put forth by the United Nations, Israel is guilty of a number of human rights violations, and if these violations were committed by any other country, there would be stiff penalties.

The article sites illegal killings, torture, and house demolitions as the three main human rights violations. Generally speaking, I believe that most of the killings referred to are targeted strikes at terrorists and self defense in situations where troops have been attacked, but that certainly does not account for all the killings. Still, I would take issue with lines like saying Israeli soldiers "entice children like mice into a trap and murder them for sport."

Torture was outlawed in 1999, and considering the stink over the torture case then, I doubt that torture is still being used today. How much it was used in the past may be in question, but that it was used is no question at all. And the house demolitions have been disgraceful. Between the demolition of houses of anyone associated with terror strikes and the demolition of homes in order to build the fence, that practice of destroying everything a person has worked for in one fail swoop is just horrible.

I do believe that Israel does what it needs to do to survive, and that a huge part of the reason that Israel gets a free pass on many of their atrocities is because people recognize the extreme difficulty of Israel’s plight. People know that between the terrorism and the multiple countries looking to attack Israel at any time, Israel needs to find ways to protect itself. But that doesn’t account for everything, doesn’t excuse Israel for all it’s done to the Palestinian people.

I certainly hope there’s no embargo against Israel, but I’m biased. If I was on the other side of the table, I’m sure I would be calling for the embargo, and would be justified asking for it. Still, I hope it doesn’t happen.

Posted by Scottage at 1:04 AM / | |