The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com.
In October 2023 I unequivocally denounced the Hamas slaughter of about 1,200 Israelis as a war crime. Moreover, it was reprehensible that many anti-Israeli campus protestors, marching under foreign flags, did not denounce that mass murder. However, one war crime does not justify another: Israel’s blockage of food and other humanitarian aid to Gaza, except for a trickle, has resulted in starvation of Palestinian civilians.
The Geneva Conventions governing the rules of war are clear: “Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is prohibited. It is prohibited to attack, destroy, remove or render useless objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, such as foodstuffs, agricultural areas for the production of foodstuffs, crops, livestock, drinking water installations and supplies and irrigation works, for the specific purpose of denying them for their sustenance value to the civilian population or to the adverse Party, whatever the motive, whether in order to starve out civilians, to cause them to move away, or for any other motive.”
Over 60,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have died during the Hamas-Israel War. Israel has won the battle but lost the war. American and international public opinion has turned against Israel because of a growing awareness of Palestinian civilian deaths and now starvation. Horrifying, but not genocide. However, Israel’s actions and inaction constitute war crimes. Don’t avert your eyes.
“For nearly two years, Israel has accused Hamas of stealing aid provided by the United Nations and other international organizations. The (Israeli) government has used that claim as its main rationale for restricting food from entering Gaza. But the Israeli military never found proof that the Palestinian militant group (Hamas) had systematically stolen aid from the United Nations, the biggest supplier of emergency
assistance to Gaza for most of the war, according to two senior Israeli military officials and two other Israelis involved in the matter” (NYT).
However, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu defends the aforementioned lie and claims “that there is no starvation in Gaza.” Moreover, Israeli Heritage Minister Eliyahu said: “There’s no hunger in Gaza. … we don’t need to be concerned with hunger … . Let the world worry about it.” Outrageous and repugnant. Worse, the Israeli far-right wants to annex Gaza, with the Palestinians forced out. Permanent war. But, what is urgently needed is release of all hostages and negotiations toward a two-state solution,
including a demilitarized Palestine without Hamas. Europe and the Arab League support this.
Wisconsin Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin had enough, courageously voting against more military aid to Israel: “The starvation and suffering that we are watching unfold in Gaza is unimaginable and heartbreaking. There is simply no way to defend it, and it has to stop. … This vote is about sending a loud and clear message to Netanyahu and the Trump administration that they must urgently act to end this war,
surge food and aid to innocent Palestinians, and finally bring all the remaining (Israeli) hostages home.” What will Netanyahu and Trump do? The whole world is watching in horror.
– Kaplan wrote a guest column from Washington, D.C., for the Wisconsin State Journal from 1995 – 2009.
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