Palestine-Israel: We tell the same old lies, time after time

“The first casualty of war is the truth”, and this well-known warning by Hiram Johnson (though slightly misquoted) certainly applies in the case of Palestine’s 75-year struggle against the Zionists’ armed intrusion and takeover.

It isn’t strictly a war, it’s the nasty, vicious suppression of peaceful and civilised people by alien thugs with an army, navy, and air force equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry largely financed or supplied by the American taxpayer.

Their blatantly illegal aggression is met with occasional small-arms fire and sporadic garden-shed rockets launched by so-called Palestinian “militants” or “terrorists”. Never do we hear those terms applied to the murderous invading Zionists.

But even the UK Government, where Zionist tentacles reach right to the top, appears shocked at the latest atrocities carried out by its darling racist friend Israel against Palestinian towns in the West Bank. Those crimes were the handiwork of the new government cobbled together by Netanyahu and comprised of extremists, lunatics, and criminals who are even more deranged than before.

To hide their embarrassment Whitehall has issued a collection of responses to the situation from themselves and some of their buddies in the international community, in a dishonest attempt to mask the smell of corruption and win over uncritical members of civil society. This is what they’re feeding us:

What is Britain saying?

The UK’s political coordinator at the UN, Fergus Eckersley, says the UK urges the parties to de-escalate, restore calm and rebuild trust and opposes all unilateral actions that make Israeli-Palestinian peace harder to achieve. It calls on Israelis and Palestinians to demonstrate “a genuine commitment to peace and security…. and a two-state solution”. This, he says, is the only way to end the conflict, preserve Israel’s Jewish and democratic identity, and realise Palestinian national aspirations. But this same tosh has been spouted for the last 25 years to no avail. Only a nitwit would keep saying it. And he misuses the term “democratic identity”; Israel is an unpleasant ethnocracy.

What will his “two-state solution” look like, given that Israel has been allowed to create so many irreversible ‘facts on the ground’? Eckersley doesn’t say. Besides, Israel’s continued illegal presence on Palestinian territory shows the regime’s utter contempt for both international law and peace, so how can there be progress until that presence is removed? Why are law and justice not even mentioned?

As I suggest, Eckersley and his masters are committed to prolonging the strife until their ‘friend’ Israel has grabbed all the land and resources it wants. Then they can claim, sorry there’s no way back. It’s looking that way already.

Last May Eckersley was telling the UN Security Council:

“The fact that Russia is trying to distract us with disinformation suggests that they know, as well as we do, that none of their other excuses for invading Ukraine has any solid foundation whatsoever. The simple truth is that Russia is responsible for this horrific war, in breach of the Charter, and for the needless deaths of thousands of men, women, and children.”

Equally, we can say that we’ve been ‘snowed’ with disinformation for decades and we know, as well as Westminster and Washington know, that their excuses for supporting and prolonging Israel’s slow and violent annexation of the Holy Land have no legal or moral foundation whatsoever. The simple truth is that the US and the UK are responsible for this horrific war, in breach of the Charter, and for the needless deaths of thousands of men, women, and children.

Eckersley was awarded an OBE “for services to British foreign policy”.

In a statement, at the UN Security Council on 20 February the UK ambassador and permanent representative to the UN in New York, Barbara Woodward, said that while facilitating dialogue between Israel and Palestine the UK remained firm in its belief that a negotiated two-state solution was the only way to ensure lasting peace, security and prosperity between the parties.

Poppycock. No amount of dialogue and negotiation has so far achieved anything approaching peace, for the simple reason that it doesn’t suit Israel’s plans nor does it suit the Palestinians to permanently suffer under the heel of Israeli military occupation and terror.

On 14 February the UK issued a joint statement alongside the US, France, Germany, and Italy responding to Israel’s plans to expand so-called settlements in occupied Palestinian territories:

“We continue to support a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in the Middle East, which must be achieved through direct negotiations between the parties.”

It is obvious by now, even to a blind man, that direct negotiations between two unequal sides – the cruel and grasping nuclear-armed occupier and the unarmed, trampled, and impoverished indigenous residents – will never bring a just and lasting peace.

“Israelis and Palestinians both deserve to live in peace, with equal measures of freedom, security, and prosperity,” say those 14 February comedians.

“We reaffirm our commitment to helping Israelis and Palestinians fulfill the vision of an Israel fully integrated into the Middle East living alongside a sovereign, viable Palestinian state.”

No way is that the Palestinians’ vision, and it’s their land after all. And if Israelis and Palestinians deserve equal measure why is the statement so tilted? Let’s instead hear about a secure, self-determining Palestine being fully integrated into the Middle East and an Israel that’s merely “viable”.

They talk about closely monitoring developments on the ground which affect the viability of the two-state solution and stability in the region, but if they truly want stability they must first take action to remove the injustice – like imposing stiff sanctions on Israel until it complies with international law. But there’s still no sign of that.

What says the United Nations?

The UN has made several appeals to Israelis and Palestinians to de-escalate the violence. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk in February urged Israeli and Palestinian leaders to “end the illogic of escalation” and work towards resolving the conflict urgently. And UNICEF says that children are paying the “highest price” given the numbers killed and injured and many others in need of psychosocial support.

The UN envoy in Jerusalem, Tor Wennesland, told the BBC last month that increased violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories had brought the situation to “the brink”, but “active diplomacy” was now taking place involving the US, UN, and Israeli and Palestinian officers.

So what can possibly go wrong?

And after the latest violence, Wennesland urged both sides to address core issues that were fueling the conflict. He said the UN remained committed to supporting Palestinians and Israelis to achieve peace. What “support” is that? The joke is that the core issues fueling the appalling situation in the Holy Land were manufactured by the cack-handed UN in the first place.

The UN’s Secretary-General António Guterres is saying that regional and international partners need to work together to help Palestinians and Israelis “break cycles of violence”. The acceleration of violence during 2022 and so far this year means that preventing further escalation, reducing tensions, and restoring calm must be top priorities. What he didn’t say, of course, is that the violence will never end as long as Israel is permitted (by the UN and the international community) to remain in illegal occupation of the West Bank, including the Old City of Jerusalem, and Gaza. It’s up to them, not the Palestinians who are powerless to do anything except resist as best they can, which they are legally entitled to do without being slandered as terrorists.

United States pearls of wisdom

The US has committed itself to encouraging cooperation between Israel and Palestine, as well as promoting a “comprehensive and lasting solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. How long have they been saying that, to no effect?

During a call between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on 18 February, Blinken was reported to have repeated the US’s support for a negotiated two-state solution and opposition to any measures that could endanger it. Note how the conspirators are all singing off the same hymn-sheet word for word, sounding like it was composed by Israel’s ‘hasbara’ unit in Tel Aviv.

And Ned Price, the spokesperson for the US Department of State, said at a press briefing that recent issues showed the urgent need for both sides to work together to improve the security situation in the West Bank. Whose security would that be? Never the Palestinians’ – they’re not allowed to feel secure.

Additionally, he said the US called on all parties to “desist from” actions that could inflame tensions, such as incitement of violence. What, like desisting from establishing all those hundreds of Israeli squatter colonies on Palestinian territory which are considered a war crime? How about telling Israel bluntly to immediately remove them and get the hell out of the West Bank altogether?

Price, who incidentally is Jewish, said the US and its regional partners would continue working with the parties to advance the commitments made in Aqaba. But Israel reneged on the Aqaba agreement the very next day – that’s how far they can be trusted. Price then emphasised that Israelis and Palestinians “equally deserve to live in safety and security”. OK, then use your power and authority, O Mighty America, to implement international and humanitarian law, instead of talking endless nonsense.

And the EU…

EU Ambassador to the UN, Olof Skoog, told the Security Council on 18 January about his concern for the deteriorating situation in the West Bank, saying the EU was committed to a “just and comprehensive” resolution of the conflict. The EU’s support for a two-state solution, he said, would result in “the State of Israel and an independent, democratic, contiguous, sovereign, and viable state of Palestine, living side-by-side in peace and security and mutual recognition, and with Jerusalem serving as the future capital of both states”.

He said the EU opposed the Israeli government’s settlement expansion and called on Israel to halt it in a bid to prevent an escalation of violence. Nothing about Israel’s terror attacks on Palestine or the obvious need for Israel to end its illegal and violent military occupation.

The EU urges all Palestinian factions to “engage in good faith in the reconciliation process, to adhere to previous agreements, renounce violence and terrorism, and recognise Israel’s right to exist and to commit to democratic principles, including the rule of law”. Nice to hear the rule of law finally mentioned (which immediately raises questions about Israel’s right to exist) but when is the EU going to implement it? Good faith, if they hadn’t noticed, died long ago; and what reconciliation process is the EU talking about now? As for renouncing violence and terror, Skoog should re-direct his remarks to apartheid Israel.

It’s plain to see…

For 70+ years the Palestinians have struggled valiantly to resist expulsion and to remain in their homeland. Unfortunately, they are at the mercy of so-called civilised powers that ought to have known better but continue weaving a web of lies and deceit to hide their foolish support for the Zionists’ aim to permanently rob the indigenous people not only of their right to self-determination but also their lands and resources.

They have jettisoned the interlocking international laws and conventions that were supposed to guarantee a fair and decent future for the nations of the world. There can no longer be any doubt about who is culpable…. and why.

©Stuart Littlewood, 11 March 2023

Stuart Littlewood

After working on jet fighters in the RAF Stuart became an industrial marketing specialist with manufacturing companies and consultancy firms. He also “indulged himself” as a newspaper columnist. In politics, he served as a Cambridgeshire county councilor and member of the Police Authority. Now retired he campaigns on various issues and contributes to several online news & opinion sites. An Associate of the Royal Photographic Society, he has produced two photo-documentary books – Paperturn-view.com.

Also, check out Stuart’s book Radio Free Palestine, with Foreword by Jeff Halper. It tells the plight of the Palestinians under brutal occupation.

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