Obama's Hopelessly Lopsided Humanity

"Obama: What if this happened to your girls?"

Posted by Helena Cobban
February 4, 2009 4:33 PM EST | Link
Filed in Gaza08-09 , Obama presidency

When he was on the campaign trail, Pres. Obama gave Israel nearly "carte blanche" to act as it wanted against Gaza by saying-- in southern Israel-- that if his daughters were threatened by rocket attack in the same way that kids in southern Israel were, then he couldn't imagine what he would do in response.

So I hope he reads this piece by Ethan Bronner and Sabrina Tavernise in the NYT today, about what happened to Sabah Abu Halima's family in Atatra, Gaza during the recent war:

The phosphorus smoke bomb punched through the roof in exactly the spot where much of the family had taken refuge — the upstairs hall away from the windows.

The bomb, which international weapons experts identified as phosphorus by its fragments, was intended to mask troop movements outside. Instead it breathed its storm of fire and smoke into Sabah Abu Halima’s hallway, releasing flaming chemicals that clung to her husband, baby girl and three other small children, burning them to death.

But that's not all. Later on,

Omar Abu Halima and his two teenage cousins tried to take the burned body of his baby sister and two other living but badly burned girls to the hospital on that Sunday.

The boys were taking the girls and six others on a tractor, when, according to several accounts from villagers, Israeli soldiers told them to stop. According to their accounts, they got down, put their hands up, and suddenly rounds were fired, killing two teenage boys: Matar Abu Halima, 18, and Muhamed Hekmet, 17.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said that soldiers had reported that the two were armed and firing. Villagers strongly deny that. The tractor that villagers say was carrying the group is riddled with 36 bullet holes.

The villagers were forced to abandon the bodies of the teenage boys and the baby, and when rescue workers arrived 11 days later, the baby’s body had been eaten by dogs, her legs two white bones, captured in a gruesome image on a relative’s cellphone. The badly burned girls and others on the tractor had fled to safety.

Matar’s mother, Nabila Abu Halima, said she had been shot through the arm when she tried to move toward her son. Her left arm bears a round scar. Her son came back to her in pieces, his body crushed under tank treads.

Bronner and Tavernise's piece is tragic. (Though the NYT gave it an inappropriate headline, I think.)

It's also notable because they make a point of noting how many Palestinians were killed by Israel's security forces in the 39 months between the IDF's supposed withdrawal from Gaza in September 2005, and the outbreak of the hostilities last December: about 1,275.

Israeli hasbaristas have argued throughout this time that the siege the Israeli government has maintained around Gaza has been the main (or sometimes, the only) Israeli "response" to the rockets launched against Hamas and other militants in Gaza over this time. I have always argued that this was never a simple situation of "rockets versus siege" but that during this period, in addition to the siege, the Israelis maintained very lethal military ops against Gaza, as well.

Also, few if any of Israel's actions against Gaza have been undertaken solely "in response to" Palestinian rocketings. There has always been a cycle of violence; and very frequently (including, most notably, last December 27) Israel has been the one to initiate a new round or significantly escalate an existing round. The number of Israelis killed by the Gazans' for the most part extremely primitive, home-made bottle rockets has been very low. Certainly, far fewer than 100 killed over that same time. (Though Bronner and Tavernise somehow omit to mention the number. I believe it's available at B'tselem's site.)

But anyway, main point of post: Pres. Obama, what would you do if your family members got treated the same way Sabah Abu Halima's family got treated? I am assuming, of course, that you and everyone else agrees that a Palestinian life is every bit as valuable as an Israeli life...

(Helena Cobban - JUST WORLD NEWS )

-mr