'Progressives' calling for immediate ceasefire ensure war and death for both sides - opinion

The United Nations Security Council recently voted on a ceasefire resolution to end the state of hostilities in Gaza. This seemingly righteous resolution was fundamentally flawed. It called for the cessation of the war between Israel and the Islamic terrorists including Hamas but did not require the release of 101 hostages now held under dire conditions for more than 400 days. 

The draft resolution (SC/15907) was supported by 14 of the UNSC members but did not pass due to a veto by the United States. Previous resolutions from the UNSC had linked hostage release with the end of the war. Why the change in language?

The Genocide Convention is an International Treaty criminalizing genocide, which as defined in Article II, is the deliberate destruction of a racial or ethnic group by a government or its agents. Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on human rights, and a select UN committee have accused Israel of committing genocide during the Israel-Hamas War in Gaza.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the UN has decided to fire its Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Alice Wairimu Nderitu from Kenya. According to the WSJ, Nderitu was terminated because she defined Israel’s response to the massacre of October 7, 2023, as an attempt to dismantle a terrorist regime.

Moreover, she concluded that Israel has tried to protect Palestinian civilians during the conflict. Thus, in her view, Israel is not conducting a genocidal campaign. When UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed Nderitu, he praised her experience and track record in violence prevention. Why has the UN fired its own expert on conflict resolution at a time when war rages in the Middle East?

IN PARALLEL to these farcical actions by the UN, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant for crimes against humanity and genocide during Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. Notably missing in warrants issued by the ICC are those that name Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Khaled Meshaal, Naim Qassem and Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, leaders of Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, respectively.

These gentlemen have sent hundreds to thousands of missiles and drones targeting civilians. They have held 101 hostages underground for more than 14 months, killing many in cold blood. They have targeted international shipping. They publicly promote the eradication of a UN member state. Yet they remain free to travel the world without fear of being arrested under ICC charges. How does one understand this cynical behavior by a putatively respectable court of justice?

The October 7 massacre by Hamas did not discriminate in choosing its victims. Many women were included among the murdered and kidnapped. Testimony and forensic evidence support the fact that Hamas sexually harassed and raped their victims both on October 7 and during the more than 400 days of detention. 

World has failed to condemn Hamas atrocities 

Nevertheless, the progressive Left and international women’s groups either remained silent or refused to condemn Hamas’s actions against women until confronted with outside pressure. 

What factors prevented progressive women from immediately censuring the brutal criminal actions by Hamas against Jewish women? Are terrorists free to rape and sexually abuse women because they are Israelis?

The West needs to awaken to the challenges that it confronts. The Geneva Convention and Rules of War assume that the parties to the lethal conflict are sovereign states or countries. As such they have responsibility for their citizenry, and they distinguish between soldiers and noncombatants. Terrorist entities like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis are non-state actors who hold little or no allegiance to the people of Gaza, Lebanon, or Yemen, respectively. They do not answer to the sovereign governments of the countries that provide their refuge and feel no responsibility for its citizens.

When Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk was asked why Hamas didn’t build bomb shelters for civilians, he answered that the tunnels in Gaza were built to protect Hamas fighters, not civilians; protecting Gaza civilians is the responsibility of the UN and Israel (interview in late October 2023 translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute). 

Terrorist fighters of Hamas and Hezbollah are free to send rockets and drones against civilians because as non-sovereign entities, they do not feel bound by the Geneva conventions. Often the media believes it is objective to criticize Israel for actions taken fighting to protect its sovereignty while romanticizing brutal terrorist murderers as freedom fighters. What is their justification for this decision?

THE RULES of war should not be misconstrued to enable terrorist groups to fight against sovereign states by embedding themselves in hospitals, schools, houses of worship, and/or civilian neighborhoods. It is the duty of independent observers to criticize, and not to provide excuses, for such actions. An example is the collusion between UNRWA and Hamas during the current conflict.

Although the UN and Israel disagree concerning the extent of UNRWA employees who were members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, there is growing evidence implicating the aid agency of housing terrorists and carrying out terrorist activities in and under their facilities. 

Israeli intelligence has provided information, based on captured documents, that UNRWA employees numbering in the hundreds were in Hamas military positions and that numerous Hamas command centers used its buildings. The curriculum used in UNRWA schools perpetuates the claim that Jews do not have a historical connection with the land of Israel.

Why have the major Western media outlets, both in print and in live broadcasts, refrained from condemning these activities? Future analysts will question these “progressive” institutions for portraying the Palestinians and their terrorist warlords as victims, while Israel is labeled the oppressor.

“‘Progressive” voices advocating for an immediate ceasefire, which will allow Hamas to retain dominion over Gaza, are ensuring continued war, death, and suffering for both the Palestinians and the Jews. The actions of Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, and the plan by Hezbollah to overrun the Galilee, should leave no doubt as to how the Iran-backed Islamic savages would deal with Jews in Israel if they were to gain the upper hand. The hypocrisy of these “progressives” should not dictate the outcome of the current battle.

The writer is a distinguished emeritus professor of biochemistry and chemistry and former provost at the City University of New York. He lives in Rehovot and has two grandsons in the IDF. The opinions in this article are his own.