Show Me the Pressure

We keep hearing that Israel is under increasing pressure to halt its operations in Gaza, but there is never an explanation as to what pressure is being asserted. The best the international community could do was gather in a hot sweaty UN room and bang out a ceasefire agreement after several days only to have it ignored. Sorry, there are no marks allotted for effort. Israel has now (at least) shelled a UN school, shelled a home they asked Palestinian civilians to hide in, shot at the UN contractors picking up humanitarian aid during the three hour "humanitarian corridor", and the next day shot again at a medical team trying to retrieve the body from that said attack on humanitarian workers. All in two weeks. What pressure has there been?

One story today really sums up what is going on. A CNN reporter standing atop a building in Egypt reports Israeli fighter jets passed over head, to which the Israeli officials said, "no". What is the recourse? Israel is a child with Oreos all over his face and denying he got into the cookie jar. "Eye witnesses be damned," he is saying, "I'm not lying, trust me. Don't trust the bias of the Red Cross and UN, trust me to follow my God given moral code of war."

The world's reaction so far has been to condemn the incursion into the metaphorical cookie jar, but watching and allowing the child to continue to gorge himself. Naomi Klein calls for a boycott of Israel, and although she is correct in her assessment, world leaders will certainly not take such a stance, and the continued "world pressure" we see peppered throughout articles will remain vacuous. There is no pressure because there are no repercussions, and they know that. Indeed, this is a sprint to next month's elections, which – unlike the Palestinian elections – will be recognized by the international community no matter how hegemonic the elected leader is, and will yield an abundant reward for the seeds sown with Palestinian blood.

Israel: Bombing Its Own People

A majority of pro-Operation Cast Lead talking points revolve around protecting the citizens of Israel, but what are the people of Gaza? Are they not under the "care" and control of Israel? True, Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005, but it retains control over its borders (both land and sea) and airspace. It is not a sovereign nation. Is it completely separate from the West Bank? With established (and a continuation of the establishment of) Israeli settlements in the West Bank, it is clearly not an independent state and Israel does control it.

So, when Israel is bombing/shooting Palestinians in defense of Israelis, they are really bombing/shooting Israelis in defense of Israelis. You cannot defend your sovereign state from itself, and as long as Palestine is not granted sovereignty over its own borders and airspace, how can this argument of defending its people stand?