Among anti-Israel activists there’s currently excited talk of Cast Lead round two, Stop the War Coalition are probably already busy drawing up orders for new placards, after all 2009 was a wonderful time for these people. Never before had they got so many people out on the streets marching for their cause and never before had they received so much media publicity. So it must have been welcomed news when Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak announced that Israel would continue its operations against terrorist groups in the Gaza. Better still for those who despise Israel, these Israeli actions will come against a request for a cease fire from Hamas, something we will no doubt be continuously reminded of in the coming days and weeks.
Yet there’s one vital detail missing here, one that will remain missing from the narrative of anti-Israel activists the world over. And that is that on the same weekend that Hamas asked for this supposed cease fire from Israel, no less than 120 rockets were fired into Southern Israel from the Hamas controlled Gaza strip. The Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon has been paralysed by missile attacks with up to a quarter of a million people being forced to take refuge in air raid shelters. Prior to that on Thursday an anti-tank missile was fired directly into an Israeli passenger bus, injuring several including one boy critically. The continuous barrage of rockets has by all accounts made life in Israel’s south intolerable and naturally residents there are demanding their government intercede to protect them, as they are in their rights to expect.
If we do see further Israeli incursions in the Gaza then it is almost certain that this will be accompanied by a rising death toll among civilians there too. So those who truly care about the wellbeing of the Gazans should be equally concerned to see that the rocket attacks that trigger the IDF responses stop also. Indeed those here in Britain and elsewhere who are intending to march at the next opportunity under the banner of non-violence, peace and pacifism better also start protesting the shameful rocket attacks on Israeli civilians. The common claims about the ineffective nature of these rockets are no defence, these missiles are intended to kill civilians and the Islamic militants who fire them are doing everything in their power to try and ensure that they do so. If the Stop the War types wish to be seen to have any credibility whenever they next turn out to march against Israel then they should be marching against Hamas now.
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