Genocide is the Wrong Question
It strikes me that all the discussion of genocide yes or no in Gaza is actually letting Israel off the hook.
It’s easy to defend a charge of genocide. It’s true that the war with Hamas is still going on. It’s true that Hamas’ network of tunnels is such that it is impossible to imagine military action that doesn’t involve large numbers of civilian casualties. It’s even true that the Israelis are more or less losing the war, because they haven’t significantly reduced Hamas ability to launch another October 7 attack, and they haven’t even made much headway on those tunnels. So it’s not genocide, it’s an ongoing war of self-defense.
But that’s not actually what’s going on. When Netanyahu launched the war he certainly knew there was no chance of completely eliminating Hamas. He may have believed he could do it anyway; he may have just decided it was a good slogan. But early in the war it must have been clear to everyone that it wasn’t going to happen. For Netanyahu himself the war brought its own benefits — so he didn’t have to care — but you can’t fight a war without real objectives. And it must have been clear to everyone what those objectives had to be.
They had to be the same objectives as in the occupied zones: make sure the population knows who is boss and that massive force stands ready to crush any missteps or simply act on whim. For years that had been Netanyahu’s answer to all questions. It had worked to stop blowing up busses. It was the only achievable option for Gaza.
It’s not genocide, but it’s a war against the population. Make sure they never forget what happened to them — and that we can do it again. Absolute hell in every dimension. You don’t even have to try very hard. It’s mostly a byproduct of fighting Hamas and not caring about consequences, although blocking food trucks is a step beyond. It also serves Netanyahu’s other long-term objective — making a two-state solution impossible by hatred.
One hopes against hope there is some way to recover from this mess. That’s another subject. But it’s worth being clear about what is actually going on — and that it’s not new.
Originally published at http://ontheoutside.blog on March 29, 2024.
