Ibrahim Nafie lauds the efforts of a new agency that highlights the trials of the Arab world The carnage of Beit Hanoun, where 20 people were killed, mostly from one Palestinian family, shocked the world. The impact on world public opinion would have been even greater had it not been for the divisions between Hamas and Fatah. And the Arab reaction has lacked cohesion and savvy, as usual. One Arab organisation that decided to meet the challenge and document the carnage was Arabs Against Discrimination (ADD). The ADD is providing international organisations with ample information on this and other Israeli atrocities. One article the ADD recently compiled was published by Gideon Levy in Haaretz last Tuesday. In the article, entitled "No one is ever guilty in Israel," the Israeli writer calls for justice for the victims. "Twenty people were killed in Beit Hanoun, and it was a premeditated act. There is no other way to describe the circumstances of their death. A person who threw a lit match in a forest cannot possibly plead not guilty to arson. Likewise, a person who bombed a residential area with artillery cannot possibly plead not guilty to the killing of innocent civilians... It is silly and insulting to say that the Israeli army didn't intend to kill the citizens of Beit Hanoun. Even if the aiming was inaccurate or the radars stopped to work, the mistake in guiding the bombs was a human mistake, and the evidence is undeniable that the Israeli army was shelling innocent inhabitants." Levy thus refuted army claims that the carnage happened due to an error in bomb guidance. "No one is ever guilty in Israel. It is the same old story. The prime minister designed the brutal policies towards the Palestinians. The defence minister approved of the artillery shelling. The chief of staff, the commander of the southern zone, and the battalion commander ordered the bombing. The officers carried out the orders and the soldiers fired. And yet none of those is guilty. None of those bears any responsibility... Such men will continue to kill as if nothing has happened. They will maintain their routines and they will stay in their posts, despite the blood on their hands. A few hours after horror struck in Beit Hanoun, when Gaza was still in shock and mourning, the air force carried out a new assassination attempt, thus demonstrating its arrogance and indifference to what happened in Beit Hanoun... A day or two later, the matter was totally forgotten and we moved on to other things. But this is not something that should be left alone. The crime was not accidental, but premeditated. There are guilty people around who must be brought to account. The International Criminal Court in The Hague seems too far from Israel, but this doesn't mean that war crimes are not being committed right here," the Israeli writer added. "The Israeli army is responsible for large- scale premeditated murder, as we've seen in the past few months in Lebanon and Gaza. This army is dangerous as it is incompetent and it needs to be reformed without delay. The Israeli army doesn't only kill Arabs in cold blood, but it also undermines Israel's security, tarnishes the country's image around the world and gets us in trouble repeatedly," Levy stated. This article is only one of many the ADD has compiled since the Beit Hanoun carnage. Now why don't we do something with the documents we have, including the testimonies given by the Israelis themselves? What are we waiting for?
