Stanisland Magazine

Opinion: Commentators have unsheathed their swords of bigotry following the Israeli pager attacks on Lebanon.

Commentators are—in many ways—calling the pager attack a stroke of genius. The New York Times claims it showcases Israel’s “technical prowess”, while the Wall Street Journal made insensitive remarks, turning its headline into a tabloid pun. The world’s response has reared its ugly head, failing to offer any form of impartiality.

Israel showed a blatant disregard for human life by endangering nearly 3,000 people caught in the crossfire of its operation to disband Hezbollah. If rumours concerning its method of preparing the attack are true, then it is truly a lost cause and securing peace is further away than ever before. Tel Aviv’s leadership frequently claims to direct the “world’s most moral army”, but the facts speak otherwise, with the pager attacks decorating a bloody cherry on top of a murderous cake.

News Outlets Disregard Impartiality…Again

Dan Ignatius of the Washington Post claimed their security services sent a message: “We own you. We can penetrate every space in which you operate”. Ignatius’ remarks are not only out of touch and in line with Israeli rhetoric, but they display a long list of colonial commentaries that support the western devastation of the region.

Sky News’ Australian bureau reported it as a “genius intelligence operation”, which is frightening discourse when considering the impact it has had on civilians.

A lack of critical analysis shows how indolent the news industry can be, and it often prevaricates in discourse regarding the roots of Israel’s assault on the Middle-East.

READ: Lebanon Pager Explosions – What You Need To Know

Fawning over murder and the duplicitous behaviour of the global community regarding its support for the Knesset-led government is out of control. There are no excuses to endorse a country that has never adhered to international law. Similar acts of violence by other states are rarely tolerated—so what’s the difference? Nothing.

Why won’t anyone intervene? The simple answer is that there must be a post-colonial anchor in the Middle-East to act as a Trojan army. But in this case, the horse is transparent—loaded with incendiary motives. Without Israel in the region, how will the United States park its jets, and move their troops in an instant if it seeks to invoke a war, once again?

There is no reality where the indiscriminate bombing of thousands of people, uninterested or uninvolved in a conflict they did not sign up for, is acceptable under the parameters of international law. No place on earth would welcome such an action if the tables were turned. Killing appears to be acceptable depending on who you are. Could it be that Israel is mentally still living in medieval times?

Image credit: Zach Mafa