‘There Is No Limit That Anyone Can Place On Israel’s Violence’

Extracts from this interview with the former Indian diplomat appeared in printIs Israel becoming a rogue state and is the international community totally powerless to rein it in?A rogue state is one that functions with total disregard for international law, norms and values; indeed, it is indifferent to any constraints on its conduct, arguing that it faces such extraordinary threat that for its self-preservation and the protection of its interests and values, it cannot allow any restrictions on actions taken by it. By this yard-stick, Israel has been a rogue state for several years. Since the 1980s, as better understanding of the Israel-Palestine dispute has emerged in the international community, Israel’s actions against the Palestinians have become even more uncompromising and even brutal, and almost entirely against international sentiment. Since the mid-1990s, it has in fact given up all interest in pursuing the peace process, while steadily expanding its settlements in the occupied territories in violation of international law and all norms of natural justice.I must admit that what passes for the international community, which, in our iniquitous world order, means the western countries, has neither the capacity nor the desire to confront Israel and its maximalist agenda. The Europeans, whatever their private views, are silenced by the fear of being labelled anti-Semitic. The American political establishment, the media and academia are either thoroughly compromised or too frightened to raise their voice against the blatant injustices and brutality heaped by Israel upon the Palestinians. So, yes, there is today no power within or outside Israel that can restrain this violent behemoth.Is the Israel???s ongoing military action on Gaza justified? Can it go on killing innocent civilians in the name of dealing with Hamas militants?In seeking to understand Israel-Palestine developments, it is important to get the origin of events and their sequence right. The origins o