False Equivalencies
Two developments this week have underscored the inability or unwillingness of governments and institutions to label things as they are.
Unless you define things properly, it is almost impossible to deal with them effectively. And many governments and multilateral institutions are making the mistake of treating Hamas as a responsible government that respects international law and supports human rights and international borders.
On Monday, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued warrants for the Prime Minister of Israel and his defense minister as well as the leaders of Hamas.
One of the most effective ways to promote fake news is to create false moral and legal equivalencies and to tarnish one party with the sins of the other.
By issuing joint warrants to the leader of a democratically elected government and a recognized terrorist organization, the ICC has painted both with the same brush, although their essence is very different, and their actions had fundamentally different objectives.
The Israeli government has not practiced genocide as the ICC accuses. Israeli Arabs constitute 20% of the population, and occupy senior positions in parliament, the supreme court, the military and police, and other institutions. They share equal rights with Jewish Israelis and enjoy freedoms and rights unknown to their brethren in Arab states.
Meanwhile, there are no Jews living in Gaza.
The Israelis seek to end Hamas and its determination to engage in global jihad with their primary objective to eliminate Jews from the face of the earth.
Hamas and its supporters around the world are the genocidal group, and they have proven it time and again in many countries and in many ways.
The ICC has accused Israel of trying to starve the population of Gaza.
The facts show this to be a blatant lie.
Israel has supplied water and food to Gaza, much of which has been stolen by Hamas and sold on the open market at high prices, thus fleecing the people of the territory. Observers calculate that the billionaire leaders Of Hamas have pocketed over $500 billion using this scam.
By establishing a moral and criminal equivalency between Israel and Hamas, the ICC has capitulated to and emboldened global antisemitism and is promoting a false narrative – fake news.
Its credibility is now in question.
In another example of false equivalencies, the governments of Norway, Ireland, and Spain just announced their decision to recognize the Palestinian State.
This is the wrong decision at the wrong time.
The wrong decision because one wonders which Palestinian State is being recognized.
Is it the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank under the PLO, hated by Hamas, and possibly one of the most corrupt entities on earth? Or is it Hamas that governs Gaza, a vicious and cruel terrorist organization that rules by terror, intimidation and violence and that is equally corrupt?
A state is judged by its institutions, and the state being recognized by these three countries is morally and politically corrupt.
In addition, to recognize the State of Palestine in the wake of October 7th is to declare terrorism as a tool that should be rewarded.
I support a two-state solution as the best long-term solution to establishing peace in the region. But this solution cannot come without conditions or be based on recognizing a corrupt and divided Palestinian government, bent on eliminating Israel and all Jews, in the process.
It remains to be seen how Israel reacts.
It is true that over 140 countries recognize the so far undefined Palestinian State, that the United Nations General Assembly approved its full membership request and that the United States will likely veto it when it gets to the Security Council.
One possibility for Israeli political retaliation is to recognise the independence of Basque and Catalan regions of Spain as their separatist movements seek.
The Spanish government should realize that those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. Both Spanish pro-separatist regions can now legitimise their demands based on Spain’s recognition of a state that doesn’t really exist.
Those on the left of the political spectrum are now caught in a web of support for a terrorist organization, intifada, and jihad, at the expense of a strong democracy and a technological leader that celebrates free elections and guarantees equal rights for all its citizens including Arabs. One may disagree with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government, but this government can and will likely be replaced democratically.
Can the same be said about the Palestinian governing groups, who have never faced a free election and won’t likely do so in the foreseeable future?
As was the case with Neville Chamberlain and his appeasement of Nazi Germany in Munich in 1938, history will judge.
Excellent, Eduardo. False Equivalency is so very true. I’m not so sure a two- state solution, is possible. Maybe in 100 years when the west goes in to reeducate the population- about how to behave, but that in itself will cause disputes. And omg the ICC, is as ridiculous as the UN. It reminds me of the Wizard of Oz. Lol! Love your articles!
Israel is not being accused (yet) of genocide, but of war crimes, including directing attacks on civilians and starvation.
The “false equivalence” argument is irrelevant. The world has watched with horror as Israel has failed to value Palestinian civilians’ lives sufficiently highly in its prosecution of its war against Hamas. There is certainly ample evidence to support charges being made and for the evidence to be tested in an ICC case.
In the UK, the Daily Telegraph has been a strong supporter of Israel and its retaliatory action, but even it noted re. the ICC that “Israel’s right to prosecute a war with Hamas does not absolve them of liability before the law”.
To much of the world, Biden’s and others’ turning on the ICC when it acts against an ally reeks of hypocrisy. Certainly, the US, Canada, the UK and western countries generally would be wiser to stand behind the international order…even at uncomfortable moments. After all, the demise of international law would harm us far more than our opponents.