Dear Mr Cameron,
As an expatriate British citizen
now living in Israel, I feel the need to write to you to express my feelings about
the on-going crisis between Israel and Hamas-controlled Gaza.
Life in much of Israel is, in
many ways, almost identical to life in Britain. People get up in the mornings,
send their children to school, go to work, try to earn a living and give their
families as comfortable a life as possible. Much like your government, the Israeli
leadership comes in for regular criticism on a whole barrage of issues, from
the cost of cottage cheese to the number of hours a week forced on newly
qualified doctors and the general state of healthcare provision. All this
sounds familiar to you, I’m sure, although cottage cheese is probably not as
high on the staple-diet list in England and Wales but you get the idea.
We even complain about the cost
of fuel.
We have a society that is finding
its feet socially and becoming more open and accepting of people from all walks
of life. All religions are respected, there is a freedom to choose any religion
or none and there are representatives thereof in every single walk of life,
including the higher echelons of political power. This too, I’m sure, sounds
familiar to you.
Equal rights for all, the
backbone to an open, accepting and tolerant society, is the mainstay of Israeli
society too. Colour, creed, gender and sexual orientation all comfortably find
their place within our society, as they do in yours.
We are also both at war.
Britain is fighting a war against
a shadowy enemy whose main goal is the destruction of the British way of life.
Israel is fighting a similar war.
Britain is fighting to keep
terror away from its shores and its people - so is Israel.
Britain is fighting a war
thousands of miles from its own borders - Israel is not.
It is the one ‘luxury’, if one
can ever describe any aspect of war as a luxury, which Israel does not possess.
Our war is on our very own border; our enemy sits within spitting distance of
our towns, villages and civilians and directly threatens not only our way of
life but our very lives.
Israel is battling not only for
its identity, but for its very survival. It is fighting to allow its citizens
the ‘luxury’ to live their lives without having to spend time thinking how far
away they are from the nearest bomb shelter; not to have to worry about whether they will
finish their important phone call before yet another air-raid siren shatters
the air; not to have to keep the children at home for yet another day, as
sending them to school is just too dangerous.
War is evil, at least in the eyes
of any person who respects life more than he dreams of death. No right-thinking
person wants to go to war. No normal society wants to go to war. Yet war has
been thrust upon this tiny land time and time again over the past decades. Israel
does not seek war – it seeks peace, however, just as in Britain, if war is
forced upon us, then we must fight.
We must fight because our very
existence depends upon it. You and your
government are doing the same. The war
in Afghanistan is a war which you claim is just, is defensive and is necessary
to protect your way of life thousands of miles away.
Britain and her allies use aerial
bombardment of enemy forces, inflicting casualties not only on the militants,
or, if you prefer, terrorists, but also on civilians. According to United Nations figures, over
3,000 civilians have been killed by coalition forces in Afghanistan and this,
in a country where the enemy hides and is engaged in mountainous, sparsely
populated areas.
Israel, while fighting a similar
enemy with similar ideology, is fighting in a densely populated area where
civilian casualties are almost totally unavoidable. This is particularly true as it has been
proven time and time again that Hamas and the other militant, or, again, if you
prefer, terrorist organisations, specifically hide behind human shields in
order to raise the tally of those killed and use them as ammunition in a
propaganda war.
William Hague, your Foreign
Secretary, issued a rare statement placing the blame for this latest escalation
squarely on the shoulders of Hamas. That recognition is appreciated. It is
proof that someone is hearing our voice for a change. However, as if to soften
the blow to Hamas, an organisation that Britain, the United States and the
European Union have all placed on a blacklist of terrorist groups, you have told
Israel that not only do you not support a ground offensive, but that Israel in
so doing would lose any worldwide support it currently, for want of a better
word, enjoys.
What is it, Mr Cameron, that
gives you the right to dictate military policy to Israel, to decide what is or
isn’t acceptable to the rest of the world, whilst your troops are carrying out
identical operations (and with far worse civilian casualties) in a land
thousands of miles from your borders?
Why is it, Mr Cameron, that you
feel that Israeli operations must come to a halt after days, whilst your troops
are fighting a similar war for years?
How is it, Mr Cameron, that you
feel you can allow for only a partial victory against terrorism in Gaza, whilst
striving for complete success in Afghanistan?
It’s easy to call for Israel to
sit down for talks with Hamas. It isn’t so easy to defend that position. There
have never been calls for talks between Britain, the USA and Al Qaeda, neither
have there been calls to show restraint towards them. There has never been
condemnation from any part of the Western world for the assassination of Osama
Bin-Laden. In all likelihood, there never will be such a call or condemnation.
One cannot discuss peace arrangements with a foe whose entire dogma is based
around the very destruction of one’s way of life or of life itself.
Mr Cameron, I can guarantee that
Israelis do not want a ground offensive. We would rather know that there is no
need to risk the lives of our soldiers as well as the lives of the innocent
civilian population in Gaza but we have to end the risk that the terrorists
pose to our very own people. If it can be done by agreement, then so be it.
However, if a ground offensive is what is required to destroy that threat, then
I’m afraid that not only will it go ahead but it will do so with the blessing
(and no small amount of fear) of the vast majority of Israel’s population. It will happen despite your hypocritical threats of a loss of world support;
support for following a course of action identical to the one in which you are
yourself equally as guilty.
