Where life is SO cheap

It will be interesting to hear what the spinmeister-in-chief will say with regard to the IDF's latest atrocity. But an even bigger atrocity is being committed by those countries who refuse to condemn this Rogue State's wanton impunity and belligerence.

All that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing 

It's time for a cultural, economic and sporting boycott

In 1968, the UN General Assembly proposed ending all cultural, economic and sporting connections with South Africa's apartheid government, but because of South Africa's strategic importance to the west given the fact that South Africa had the world's largest resources of uranium, a key ingredient in the manufacture of nuclear weapons, and it was the height of the Cold War, economic sanctions against South Africa were not implemented until the late 1980s - there's a long list of western companies who put profit before morals and continued to trade with the ostracised regime.

South Africa's state sanctioned policy of separate development aka apartheid is no different to Israel's modern day treatment of the Palestinians. The ritual humiliations meted out to the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories is on par with the debasement experienced by black/coloured South Africans under apartheid. The Occupied Territories are the modern day equivalent of the Bantustans. The apartheid South African government was dismissive of international condemnation of its policies just as Israel is dismissive of any international criticism concerning the collective punishment of the citizens of Gaza - what Israel is subjecting the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to is reminiscent of the treatment meted out to Jews in Europe during World War II.

If South Africa's apartheid government warranted a cultural, economic and sporting boycott, isn't today's Israel deserving of one too?

One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter

In the 1960s, Madiba was one of the founders of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the ANC, and his nom de plume was the Black Pimpernel as he managed to evade the state agents of the apartheid South African government until he was betrayed and captured at Rivonia Farm. In 2010, Madiba is the most venerated man alive.

Gerry Adams', longtime spokesman for the IRA, the armed wing of Sinn Féin, Irish brogue was banned from British news' broadcasts until very recently - his words would be voiced by an actor. Following the St. Andrews Agreement, Gerry Adams and Martin McGuiness were elected to Stormont. Here, Gerry Adams details the extent of the negotiating required to bring about a peace settlement.

Which brings me to Khaled Meshal, Hamas' articulate leader (you can listen to him on Al-Jazeera). In the west, Hamas is portrayed as a terrorist organisation. Despite this, the Palestinian electorate gave Hamas political legitimacy by voting them into power in December 2005, in elections that according to international observers were free and fair. Hamas' election victory meant the sidelining of Fatah, which in the eyes of the Palestinian electorate wasn't doing much for their cause and was beset by allegations of corruption.

Hamas' election victory did not sit well with Israel, the EU and the US and efforts to undermine Hamas' political mandate intensified. This culminated in a decisive split between Hamas and Fatah which was portrayed as Hamas seizing power in Gaza in June 2007 - as Hamas had the Palestinian electorate's mandate to govern, I don't see why the events of 2007 should be portrayed as a Hamas coup by the pro-Israeli western media unless of course it's part of well orchestrated strategy to vilify Hamas at every opportunity.

The Israeli Operation Cast Lead, which ostensibly was launched to stop to the firing of rockets into Southern Israel, of December 2008 was yet another opportunity for the Israelis to try and kill as many Hamas members as possible - they failed on both accounts. The Israeli incursion into Gaza saw Gaza's already traumatised citizens subject to the kind of aerial bombardment that the so called good guys inflicted on the citizens of Dresden in World War II. The IDF used white phosphorous (whose usage is banned in densely populated areas - the blatant disregard for international norms and conventions is a recurring Israeli theme). The IDF's attempt to defend the wanton destruction of a UN warehouse stocked with supplies for the Palestinians was seen in another light after Israel paid compensation to the UN. Despite the IDF's considered incursion into Gaza, between 1166 and 1417 Palestinians were killed, including 318 children. No doubt Mark Regev, the Israeli government spinmeister-in-chief, could engineer an plausible explanation as to how those dead children threatened Israel's national security as he did when the IDF bombed the UN facility - a UN report criticising the IDF's conduct was summarily dismissed.

In contrast, 13 Israelis were killed.

Operation Cast Lead strenghtened Hamas politically and morally because they were able to provide material relief to the besegied Palestinians of Gaza, despite the arrest of some of their MPs and attempts on the lives of others. What's more there was an unprecedented chorus of international opinion condemning Israel's heavy handedness.

Russia and Turkey have seized the initiative in the Israeli- Palestinian conflict and Dmitry Medvedev's face-to-face meeting with Khaled Meshal last month has sent a pointed message to Israel, the EU and the US that there can be no solution to the Israeli-Palestinian problem without Hamas.