The Real Humanitarians

Imagine for a moment that you were unfortunate enough to live in a society dominated by violent men who thought death was better than life.

Imagine that these same men were supported by the majority of the population and that, buoyed by this popular backing, they had attacked a larger and more powerful neighbouring country; slaughtering, mutilating, raping and kidnapping unarmed civilians and conscripts.

Further imagine that you were lucky enough to survive the ensuing chaos as your more powerful neighbour counter-attacked, in the process reducing your neighbourhood to rubble while the violent men who had instigated this war hid in schools, hospitals, mosques, churches and underground tunnels, leaving ordinary people to fend for themselves.

You, your friends and your family had faced danger, death and destruction. You had to abandon your home and live cheek by jowl in a tent city. While the people who started the war and were elected to lead you insisted that your welfare was a problem for the United Nations, or other international organisations, but certainly it wasn’t their problem.

Imagine that even after 15 months of crushing defeat, the violent religious fanatics in charge refused to accept anything other than the surrender of your more powerful neighbour.

You got it (probably from the first sentence). Mazal tov, in this scenario, you are unfortunate enough to live in Gaza.

But your misfortune is not only that you live in Gaza, it’s that the “pro-Gaza” activists- who march weekly through Western capitals- and UN officials who pretend to be champions of humanity demand that you stay there: amidst the rubble and under the oppressive rule of the very forces who brought this calamity upon you.

Throughout the last 15 months we have heard incessantly about the human rights and suffering of civilians in Gaza. Global leaders, UN officials and western activists have told us that Gazan civilians are not the same as Hamas and do not deserve to suffer unduly for the actions of Hamas terrorists. So why do these same people insist on chaining Gazans to their misery?

Over the weekend President Trump suggested that rather than forcing Gazans to live in penury for decades, it might be better to allow Gazans to leave. Almost immediately, Arab govts, European officials and UN agency heads poured cold water on the suggestion, citing international humanitarian law. But isn’t the premise of international humanitarian law to ease human suffering, rather than prolonging it?

Curiously, those in the West who most loudly claim to be champions of Palestinian human rights, international law, and a voice for the downtrodden have a bizarre double standard. The very people who are ordinarily the loudest advocates for the rights of refugees and asylees, are adamant that the right to leave a warzone doesn’t apply to Gazans.

Syrians, Afghans, Iraqis, Ukrainians and others are welcomed with open arms but Gazans? Well, hang on a minute, that’s much more complicated. For Gazans their advocacy is limited to outrage at both the conditions in Gaza and at the suggestion that Palestinians might choose to leave.

The absurd position these so-called humanitarians take is that survivors of what they claim is a genocide, must be prevented from leaving the place of their tragedy. What kind of monster demands that survivors of genocide live in tent cities for decades, and under the iron grip of the same oppressive regime which brought about this disastrous war in the first place?

Yet this is the position these sanctimonious hypocrites take. Instead of supporting Gazans right to rebuild their lives on their own terms, western activists fetishize Gazan suffering so they can display their professed moral virtue.

What then of the “brotherly” Arab nations? Where is their solidarity? Unless you count words, it’s just not there. Egypt, which ruled Gaza before Israel or Hamas and sits on vast tracts of empty land keeps its border slammed shut- refusing to accept any refugees. Gazans speak the same language, have the same religion and many have family ties in Egypt, but even the sick and wounded in Gaza are not permitted to leave for medical treatment unless it is to be treated in a third country. What about Yemen, which boasts of its solidarity with Gaza. Well, it turns out that the Houthi’s solidarity extends only so far as their effort to murder Israelis. They do nothing to save Gazans or reduce their suffering.

Others in the Arab world issue routine condemnations of Israel, but concrete help to Gazans other than dropping aid on their heads, or sending food which they know will be stolen by Hamas and sold for extortionate prices? Forget about it. With the exception of Bahrain and the UAE, the nations which make up the Arab League continue their decades long policy of using the Palestinians as a weapon against Israel, even though everyone knows they couldn’t care less.

Trump’s suggestion that Gazan be allowed to leave and rebuild their lives is a welcome break from the usual hot air, slander of Israel and slavish adherence to policies that have failed Arabs and Jews for decades.

Human rights advocates insist that Gazans leaving Gaza would be “ethnic cleansing”, ignoring the fact that no-one calls it this when refugees voluntarily leave other war zones, or that forcibly expelling Jews from Judea and Samaria is the preferred policy option of most govts. They aren’t humanitarians they are hypocrites.

True compassion for Gazans would be to genuinely free them. Not from Israel which left Gaza in 2005 and only went back to retrieve the hostages stolen by Hamas, but from those who claim to represent them. Hamas and Fatah do not care for Gazans, we saw in this war, and the negotiations to end it, that there is literally no-one on earth who cares less for them.

Certainly no-one serious is talking about forcing Arabs to leave Gaza, but let them leave if they wish. Let them start over in places where their children can grow up without fearing the next airstrike. Let them escape the grip of Hamas and the indifference of their “allies.”

Denying Gazans who wish to leave the chance to rebuild their lives elsewhere is not humanitarianism. It’s cruelty masquerading as solidarity.