“Defenseless missiles get blasted out of the sky by monstrous creations of imperialist powers hell-bent on repressing the legitimate resistance of oppressed peoples to settler-colonialism.”
Credit: IDF
Sderot, August 4 – Human rights and pro-Palestinian activists fumed today at the international community’s continuing refusal to address the phenomenon of the Jewish State using American-funded technology to intercept Palestinian rockets launched at communities over the Gaza border, rockets that lack the means to defend themselves from the interceptor projectiles.
Sunday evening again saw batteries of the Iron Dome system shoot down a missile aimed at a populated area of southern Israel, bringing the total of intercepted Palestinian rockets to 2,400 since the system’s introduction a decade ago. None of those explosive-laden incoming missiles have carried any system to ward off or avoid interception, a fact that Palestinian activists and human rights groups cite in vain to prompt the United Nations and other global bodies to act to prevent the phenomenon, with the futility of the effort an ever-increasing source of frustration for the activists.
“Where is the Human Rights Council?” demanded Ali Abunimah, who runs the pro-Palestinian outlet Electronic Intifada. “They should be all over this travesty. No one in their right mind, no one with an ounce of moral sense, can remain silent as these helpless, defenseless missiles get blasted out of the sky by monstrous creations of imperialist powers hell-bent on repressing the legitimate resistance of oppressed peoples to settler-colonialism. This reeks of betrayal.”
“What stings most is that the UN Security Council and Human Rights Council, which are normally assiduous about condemning Israeli wrongdoing, have said and done nothing,” grumbled Amnesty International coordinator Hugh Minshield. “Palestinian rockets deserve the same protection in the air as they receive on the ground, sheltered as they are in schools, hospitals, homes, and other places where the proximity of noncombatants makes them less likely to be targeted. But once the rockets are airborne, Israel casts off any pretense of adhering to the norms of armed conflict, and just shoots them down, even though the rockets can’t defend themselves. The organizations that Palestinians depend on to advocate for them, to protect them, barely lift a finger. the most you can expect from them is some mealy-mouthed statement urging ‘both sides’ to ‘avoid escalation.’ As if the party that intercepts defenseless rockets heading toward homes, schools, and hospitals can lay any claim to equal moral standing with suffering Palestinian ordnance that might justify the use of ‘both sides’ in such a statement.”
Palestinian activist Issa Amro told reporters he intends to focus on lobbying US legislators to cut funding for Iron Dome to prevent further recurrence.
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