Israel’s invasion and devastation of the Gaza Strip is one more illustration of that nation’s barbaric behavior toward weaker peoples and nations. Far from the small beleaguered land represented in its own propaganda and that of its US supporters, nuclearly-armed Israel’s war machine is unmatched in the region, allowing it to attack its neighbors with impunity.

Israel’s invasion and devastation of the Gaza Strip is one more illustration of that nation’s barbaric behavior toward weaker peoples and nations. Far from the small beleaguered land represented in its own propaganda and that of its US supporters, nuclearly-armed Israel’s war machine is unmatched in the region, allowing it to attack its neighbors with impunity. As Palestinian activist Mustafa Barghouti noted as the attacks began: “Israel is the fifth largest military force in the world” (“Palestine’s Guernica and the Myths of Israeli Victimhood, Huffington Post 12/29/08). Proof of that impunity was seen in the 100:1 disparity in the death toll for the Gaza invasion: 13 Israelis and over 1300 Palestinians killed. Among the former, the majority were military; among the latter, the majority were civilians, 400 of them children. All of this met with strong public support inside Israel, with the peace movement almost completely marginalized. Moreover, in the elections that followed the Gaza war, Israeli voters moved even further to the Right, suggesting that most thought the latest invasion had not been brutal enough.