ON Tuesday evening Iran fired 200 ballistic missiles into Israel. The headlines said: “Iran attacks Israel”, when it’s more accurate to say “Iran responds to Israel’s aggressions” or, to use Israel’s perennial excuse, “Iran fires in self-defence”.
• In April, Israel bombed the Iranian consulate in Damascus, killing seven people including a top Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps commander and his deputy.
• In July, Israel killed chief Hamas negotiator Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, a guest of the Iranian government who was attending the inauguration of the Iranian president, proving that Israel isn’t serious about a ceasefire in Gaza.
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• Two weeks ago, Israel detonated thousands of electronic pagers and walkie-talkies used by civilians in Beirut, killing hundreds and maiming thousands, including medical personnel and children. Not
only did Israel launch an indiscriminate attack on civilians – a war crime – it violated the Geneva convention which prohibits the use of booby traps disguised as harmless portable objects such as electronic devices.
• Last week, Israel dropped 86 2000-pound US-supplied bunker-buster bombs on an entire block in the Dahieh suburb in the south of Beirut, killing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and hundreds of civilians.
In response to these provocations, Iran targeted Israeli military and intelligence sites, not apartment buildings, schools or hospitals. But if it had, Israelis have the luxury of bomb shelters – the Palestinians in Gaza don’t.
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A child could see who the aggressor is. Israel is like a psychotic toddler and its doting and equally psychotic parent, the US, rather than restraining its mad child, encourages its murderous behaviour.
The US says it doesn’t want a wider regional war. If that were true, it would stop sending weapons to Israel. Without US support, Israel couldn’t execute its genocide in Gaza, terrorise West Bank Palestinians or incinerate apartment buildings in Beirut. But the psychotic child is impervious to reason.
The flow of weapons to Israel will continue because the Israel lobby owns the US government. Netanyahu’s July address to Congress, where he received 58 standing ovations, and his incendiary tirade to the UN General Assembly show that he’s confident of unconditional American backing.
Apart from South Africa, the Houthis, Hezbollah and now Iran, no-one is standing up for the Palestinians and against the genocide.
Leah Gunn Barrett
Edinburgh
SO according to the mainstream media, Iran fired rockets into Israel in response to Israeli attacks all across the region.
The useless Western politicians like Genocide Joe Biden are calling on everyone else to restrain themselves but willingly offering up more weapons to allow Israel to continue its terrorist attacks and invasions of neighbouring countries. And now we hear that not only has the USA provided a missile defence system for Israel but also that the RAF were involved in shooting down Iranian rockets!
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So where the hell was the RAF when Israel was firing missiles into Gaza, the West Bank and all the other countries under attack by Israel? Why does the UK seek to protect Israel, which is the main aggressor in the area, and willingly sell further arms to enable it to commit its war crimes? Where was the RAF when Israel was bombing schools, hospitals and refugee camps? Where was the RAF when Israel was blockading essential aid getting in to reach the desperate civilians in Palestine? Yet again the UK state chooses to ignore its own public and side with an extremist, terrorist country which the world sees is committing genocide!
Hopefully, sooner rather than later, Israel will be held to account for its war crimes, and so too should all Western politicians who have enabled them to commit these atrocities.
Alex Beckett
Paisley
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