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Shame on you Mr Netanyahu

Shame on you Mr Netanyahu

It takes a certain kind of person to sanction the killings of tens of thousands of people, never once show any empathy or mercy towards innocent victims of any age, and never waver in their belief what they are doing is right.
History is full of such people, who carry out the most monstrous wickednesses by day and yet still seem to be able to sleep at night.
The world is currently lumbered with two particularly high-profile leaders whose monstrous behaviour needs to be stopped somehow.
In the Kremlin we have Russian President Vladimir Putin, still leading everyone a dance when it comes to sitting down and working out a ceasefire and peace plan for Ukraine, which his forces invaded more than three years ago.
Some 3600km south of Moscow in Tel Aviv we find Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu busy promulgating a ground invasion of Gaza and doing effectively nothing to stop the deaths of Gazan Palestinians through bombing and starvation.
There is one significant difference between the two — Netanyahu did not start the latest dreadful conflict in the region. That was done by the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza, which invaded Israel in October 2023, killing 1200 people and taking hostage more than 250 people.
The Israeli government believes 24 people held captive are still alive in the Gaza Strip. In its efforts to liberate all hostages, and eliminate Hamas, it has killed more than 55,000 Palestinians.
From such a distance, it is almost impossible for us to fully grasp the depth of hatred between some Palestinians and Israelis.
That distance also allows a certain naivety to creep in, one which makes it seemingly simpler for us to judge actions on both sides because we fail to understand just how complicated, emotional and historically deep-rooted the situation is.
However, even from our far corner of the world, we know right from wrong. We know what terrorism is, we know what is tantamount to war crimes. and we know what evil looks like.
And while we may not boil over with anger and engage in tit-for-tat violence and killing, we quite rightly seethe, and feel helpless and ashamed, when we see each night and read of the continuing atrocities Netanyahu's far-right military machine is carrying out on the children of Gaza.
To even raise the spectre of the Holocaust in which six million Jews were murdered by Nazi Germany in World War 2 is to invite anger and provoke bitterness.
Yet it beggars belief that this most persecuted group of people, who know more about oppression and tyranny, and about living in ghettoes, than we ever will, would allow its leaders to pursue such relentless terrorising of others, actions which see Israel stand accused by some of genocide and ethnic cleansing.
Finding out the truth about what is happening in Gaza has been made increasingly difficult because more than 160 journalists have been killed reporting on events. We can't say that they have been deliberately targeted, but their loss, and the loss of their work, is convenient for the Israeli military.
More than 1400 aid workers and medical staff have also been killed trying to do their jobs and bring some succour and comfort to the Gazan people. The attacks have been highly questionable, abhorrent and a further stain on Israel's international reputation.
Not that it seems to care. Or want to change. There has been a sense of helplessness around the world at the plight of the innocent in Gaza, a feeling of "why isn't someone doing something about this?".
Finally this week, there are signs of some international pressure to stop Netanyahu's megalomaniac drive to take over Gaza. The United Kingdom, France and Canada say they will take "concrete actions" if Netanyahu and his ilk do not stop its invasion and also allow in humanitarian aid.
There are also rumours that even United States President Donald Trump has had enough and told Netanyahu to clean up his act in the face of imminent famine due to his blockade. The Israeli government has now finally allowed some aid in, but a pathetic amount.
Just how many thousands of starving children is the world prepared to see from its comfortable living rooms each night before it holds Netanyahu and his monsters to account?

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