Brian O'Leary
DANGER CLOSE: Pretty Lousy at Genocide
Anatomy of a voluntarily inefficient military offensive
Since its founding in 1948, Israel has gotten really good at a lot of stuff.
The Jewish state has excelled in the fields of higher education, cybersecurity, and agricultural technology. It has also emerged as a leader in areas as diverse as renewable energy and the film industry.
However, though it’s often referred to as the “Startup Nation,” there’s one enterprise for which Israel hasn’t exactly shown much of an aptitude.
Genocide.
You would think that, given the countless, relentless, and widespread accusations of war crimes against it, Israel must be quite skilled at intentionally destroying a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.
(That’s a pretty tight paraphrase of the UN’s definition of ‘genocide.’)
Anyway, from where I’m sitting, if that’s what Israel is trying to accomplish —genocide, that is— it’s doing an incredibly shitty job. Like, cluelessly, spastically bad.
And, for the record, the UN’s language makes no mention of a nation defending sovereign territory, protecting its citizenry or defeating an enemy intent on its destruction, which is what Israel has been doing since October 7 — well, more like since May 14, 1948.
Moreover, the operative words in the UN document are intent, deliberately, and destroy.
Article II:
In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group, as such:
- Killing members of the group
- Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group
- Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
- Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
- Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
The Geneva Convention of 1948 says that “the crime of genocide requires that a perpetrator’s [acts be] calculated to bring about the destruction of a group, in whole or in part, with the intent to destroy the group as such.”
So, just to set the stage, I want to point out that neither Israel’s Declaration of Independence nor its Basic Laws (its constitution), nor any of its statutes or policies calls for “destroying” any “nation or group”.
Hamas’ charter, on the other hand, is exceedingly clear about the terror group’s desire to do just that. The document’s preamble reads, in part, “Israel will exist and continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it…”
So, there’s that.
Article 28: The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said: ‘The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews).'”
Now, that all sounds pretty straightforward, doesn’t it? You might even be forgiven for thinking that they were calling for —dare I say?— another Jewish Holocaust.
(In case you missed it, that’s precisely what they’re calling for.)
And yet, the global anti-Israel cabal continues to to point the finger of blame at the Jewish state, rather than at a notorious terror group that actually put their religiously-inspired mission to kill Jews in writing!
Barely two months after Israel commenced its ground operation into Gaza, South Africa —the eternal paragon for human rights—introduced allegations to the UN’s International Court of Justice that Israel had committed, and was committing, genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including what it described as Israel’s 56-year occupation, 75-year apartheid, and 16-year blockade of the Gaza Strip.
If you’d like to read a piece I wrote about the now-fashionable abuse of those three vocabulary words, I discussed it back in November, here:
On March 24, Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, told the Human Rights Council, “It is my solemn duty to report on the worst of what humanity is capable of and to present my findings.”
Her findings are contained in the document she submitted to the council, entitled, “Anatomy of a Genocide.”
So as not to bury the lead here, I’ll tell you upfront that the first sentence of the report includes the phrase, “Israel has destroyed Gaza.”
She cites Palestinian casualty numbers, but doesn’t bother to disclose her source which, in case you don’t know, is the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, whose word seems beyond reproach in the eyes of the UN and most of Western media.
She goes on to conclude that, “Israel’s assault on Gaza and the destructive conditions of life it has inflicted reveal an intent to physically destroy Palestinians as a group.”
Okay, then, case closed. After all, Ms. Albanese is a duly appointed professional who conducted her investigation in a dispassionate and entirely non-partisan fashion.
Wait a minute, what’s that? Come again?
Yeah, well, it turns out that Albanese has been running a side hustle called the Global Network on the Question of Palestine (GNQP), which aims to knee-cap Israel by orchestrating lawfare campaigns, whitewashing Hamas atrocities, and manipulating nations into funding the scandalous UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
A report by UN Watch found that the network, based in Jordan, operates under the auspices of the Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development.
GNQP’s membership includes several individuals and organizations with distinctly close ties to Palestine, including PLO alumni.
Seriously.
One of the member organizations is the London-based Palestinian Return Centre (PRC), which Israel classifies as an “unlawful association” due to its direct ties to Hamas.
While the PRC calls itself a “consulting firm,” it serves as a factory for anti-Israel propaganda, strongly opposes the Oslo Accords, and denies Israel’s right to exist.
In addition to its association with Hamas, PRC is also closely aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood, and its leadership cadre includes Hamas terrorists who have taken refuge in the UK.
The GNQP’s rolls also include Kjersti G. Berg, a UNRWA “expert” who served as a leader of the “independent” review of the corrupt agency, earlier this year, and is staunchly opposed to holding it accountable for its ties to terrorism.
It’s also worth pointing out that Albanese’s investigation assignment wasn’t to look into “allegations” of crimes committed by the Jewish state, but rather “to investigate Israel’s violations of the bases and principles of international law.”
So, why bother with the investigation if the UN had already determined that Israel had committed violations?
If this were a court case, it might as well be called World v. Israel.
But, Albanese didn’t wait until she was officially assigned the investigation to begin her campaign of anti-Semitic libel.
As early as July 2014, she posted an article accusing Israel of “incremental genocide.”
Last March, —seven months before Israel initiated its response to Hamas’ October 7 atrocities— she labeled the Jewish state “an oppressive regime that threatens the right of an entire people to exist.”
In July, she said that Israel had transformed Gaza into an “open-air prison.”
It’s perhaps fitting that Albanese got her law degree from the University of Pisa, since she leans more than the town’s iconic tower.
(Sorry.)
Anyway, keep all of that nonsense in mind as you read on.
Now, in response to the unspeakable acts of barbarity committed by Hamas on October 7, there are a few things that Israel could have done, from the get-go, were its leaders either hell-bent on genocide, or even just apathetic to the fate of Gaza’s civilians.
One option would have been to take a cue from King David who, 3,000 years ago, cut off the water supply to the city of Jebus —which is present-day Jerusalem— in order to force the surrender of the Jebusites.
Following the October 7 massacre, Israel could’ve just indefinitely cut off Gaza from outside supplies, in an effort to starve Hamas out.
Hell, if Israel’s aim were truly genocide, that woulda been a great call because it also would likely have averted the deaths of some 267 members of the IDF and the wounding of 1,549 more.
Of course, that’s not what Israel did.
Instead, after initially imposing a total blockade on the strip following the Hamas attacks —for obvious security reasons— within two weeks, Israel was allowing the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Sorry, but that doesn’t strike me a the best way to achieve a genocide.
And, considering the fact that the IDF was aware that Hamas had established military strongholds and tunnels throughout Gaza, one could argue that Israel would’ve been within its rights —per the laws of war, mind you— to simply carpet bomb the place, again, whether compelled by genocidal tendencies or sheer indifference regarding civilian casualties.
Yeah, the Israelis didn’t do that, either.
No, instead, the leaders of the Jewish state opted to send their nation’s sons and daughters into harm’s way, subjecting them to the particular perils of urban warfare.
However, before initiating the ground invasion on October 27, Israel —who, not three weeks earlier, had lost the lives of 695 civilians, including 36 children— went to extraordinary lengths to protect the lives of innocent Palestinians. In fact, most military strategists would likely consider Israel’s measures to be decidedly foolish.
John Spencer, chair of urban warfare studies at West Point’s Modern War Institute, asserts that, “Israel has done more to prevent civilian casualties in war than any military in history—above and beyond what international law requires and more than the US did in its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan— setting a standard that will be both hard and potentially problematic to repeat.”
Again, that doesn’t sound to me like a very solid recipe for genocide.
And, just to be clear, the reason there was a ground offensive to begin with was that Israel opted not to pursue those courses of action I mentioned earlier, either of which would’ve been a pretty effective means of carrying out a campaign of genocide.
In an effort to minimize Palestinian civilian casualties, the IDF has taken unprecedented measures, essentially tying (at least) one hand behind its back in order to protect innocent Gazans.
In The Art of War, Chinese master strategist Sun Tzu encourages military leaders to maintain the element of surprise.
Attack him where he is unprepared. Appear where you are not expected. The place where you intend to fight must not be made known. Military devices leading to victory must not be divulged before hand.
I’m sure most IDF officers have read Sun Tzu and would love to be applying his lessons to the current offensive against Hamas, both to inflict maximum damage on the terror group, and to protect its own troops, as well.
However, the IDF has willing surrendered the advantage of surprise in order to alert civilians in areas it intends to assault. They’ve gone so far as to distribute maps to the civilians of Gaza, informing them both of safe areas, as well as the areas they intend to strike.
Sorry, but that’s just not how you conduct a military operation, never mind a genocide.
Spencer points out that, in an effort to protect Gaza’s civilians, the IDF “has telegraphed almost every move ahead of time so civilians can relocate, nearly always ceding the element of surprise.”
Remember, Israel waited 20 days before initiating the ground campaign, while it inundated Gaza with information intended to help civilians protect themselves from what was about to come. The IDF established safe routes and humanitarian zones to assist in the effort, and stationed soldiers along the routes in order to protect Palestinian civilians.
Hamas countered by preventing the fleeing civilians from utilizing the routes, attacking and even shooting refugees. The terrorists also placed rocket launchers in the humanitarian zones and along the safe routes as a way of enticing the IDF to strike the targets which, of course, were surrounded by Palestinian civilians.
Prior to launching the ground element of Operation Swords of Iron, Israel made over 79,000 direct phone calls to Gazans, sent over 13.7 million text messages, left over 15 million voicemails, and dropped over 7 million flyers, as well speakers that broadcasted evacuation instructions.
Before the first Israeli boot set foot in Gaza on October 27, the IDF successfully evacuated upwards of 75% of the civilian population from areas near Hamas strongholds like Beit Lahia, Beit Hanoun, Gaza City, and the Jabalia Camp in the north, and from Khan Younis, in the central part of the strip.
Hey, do you know what a “roof knock” is?
No, neither did I until recently, despite having served in three combat zones.
Anyway, “roof knocking” is when the Israeli Air Force drops a small, non-lethal munition on the roof of a Palestinian building, as a means of prompting the inhabitants to evacuate the structure before a strike.
That sure is a strange way to achieve a genocide, ain’t it?
It’s also not all that easy to eradicate an entire people if you have a conscience. Check out this radio conversation between an Israeli pilot and his operations center.
Now, how the hell do we intend to deliberately destroy these people if we’re not allowed to kill the kids?
And again, after 30 years in the Marine Corps, this next one also elicited a WTF from me. It’s called the IDF Civilian Harm Mitigation Cell, and it’s commanded by a brigadier general!
The agency tracks the presence of civilians in real time using cell phone signatures, satellite imagery, drone footage, and street-by-street battle damage assessment. The data is then used to produce color-coded military maps that dictate where the IDF can and can’t operate.
While the modern military trend, particularly since 9/11, has been to push decision-making authority as far down the chain of command as possible, in its current fight, the IDF has done an about-face.
Though control measures such as restricted fire zones and no-fire areas are nothing new, most are typically controlled and enforced at the brigade or regimental level.
In the IDF’s current fight, altering or waiving many of those restrictions requires the approval of the Chief of the General Staff, the counterpart to the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
No doubt, the soldiers on the ground are pissed off that all the red tape from higher headquarters is just gonna slow down the genocide.
And —wouldn’t you know it— just yesterday, those nasty, genocidal Jews announced that the IDF would pause its daytime offensive operations along a route in southern Gaza, to allow for the delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinians living in and around Raffa.
Yes, the very same Palestinians that the Israelis intend to deliberately destroy.
The UN’s Francesa Albanese described Israel’s response to Hamas’ brutal murder of 1,200 people, and the abduction of 251 hostages, as “the worst of what humanity is capable of.”
It’s hard not to wonder why she wasn’t so quick to submit a report about Hamas’ indisputable crimes against humanity back in October. It would’ve been a much easier assignment, and wouldn’t have even required an investigation.
Hamas handed the verdict to the world on their GoPro videos.
I can’t decide if I want to conclude that these people are all anti-Semitic or just plain dumb.
I’m inclined to believe it’s at least a bit of both.
On a lighter note, I’m happy to close by relating a refreshing bit of sanity. The University of Minnesota recently withdrew an offer it had made to some schmuck named Raz Segal, to serve as director of the school’s Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, after the Israeli Jew referred to his own nation’s war against Hamas as “a textbook case of genocide.”
Well, he go bye-bye now.
Go Gophers!
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