WHEN WILL IT EVER END ?

 

We have had 10 days since my last blog about the on-going tragedy in the Middle East. The brutality of the retaliation by the Israeli government, in the guise of self-defence has prompted reaction from some western leaders. In particular the President of the United States and the British Prime Minister have seen the necessity of travelling to Jerusalem to try and extol the current Unity Government whilst bringing them to a more moderate and measured approach to the horrific assault by Hamas on the 7^th October 2023, now known as Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.

There are voices speaking out as a result of the reprisals taking place in Gaza. In the Guardian Newspaper, there is a piece by Owen Jones dated 18^th October 2023 with the subtitle “Tory and Labour reluctance to criticise the Israeli Government could make our leaders complicit in war crimes-the public need to speak out”, as well as an article from Moustafa Bayoumi entitled “Standing up for Palestine is also standing up to save the west from the worst of itself – One can be opposed to Hamas, as I am, and to the indiscriminate bombing and ethnic cleansing of Gaza, as I am”. Indeed a number of columnists have been forthcoming with opinion in effect stating that “Hamas barbarism does not justify the collective punishment of Palestinians.” 

 

Self-defence is a rather curious concept in that it involves emotions over facts. The concept is that one is entitled to defend oneself, but not to retaliate. It is a justification of actions taken rather than and excuse. It is a legal defence permitting reasonable force to be used to defend one’s self or another. There are a number of judicial quotes:

 

A defendant is entitled to use reasonable force to protect himself, others for whom he is responsible and his property. … It must be reasonable.

 

If there has been an attack so that defence is reasonably necessary, it will be recognised that a person defending himself cannot weigh to a nicety the exact measure of his defensive action. If the jury thought that in a moment of unexpected anguish a person attacked had only done what he honestly and instinctively thought necessary, that would be the most potent evidence that only reasonable defensive action had been taken…

 

A man about to be attacked does not have to wait for his assailant to strike the first blow or fire the first shot; circumstances may justify a pre-emptive strike.

 

A person may use such force as is [objectively] reasonable in the circumstances as he [subjectively] believes them to be.

 

In English Law, under Section 3 of the Criminal Law Act 1967:

(1)  A person may use such force as is reasonable in the circumstances in the prevention of crime, or in effecting or assisting in the lawful arrest of offenders or suspected offenders or of persons unlawfully at large.

(2)  Subsection (1) above shall replace the rules of the common law on the question when force used for a purpose mentioned in the subsection is justified by that purpose.

Equally, The Human Rights `Act 1998 incorporates into English law article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which defines the right to life as follows:

1. Everyone's right to life shall be protected by law. No one shall be deprived of his life intentionally save in the execution of a sentence of a court following his conviction of a crime for which this penalty is provided by law.
2. Deprivation of life shall not be regarded as inflicted in contravention of this Article when it results from the use of force which is no more than absolutely necessary: (a) in defence of any person from unlawful violence;(b) in order to effect a lawful arrest or to prevent the escape of a person lawfully detained; (c) in action lawfully taken for the purpose of quelling a riot or insurrection.
   

 

So we come to the matter of just what constitutes reasonable force in the circumstances or just what constitutes a reasonable and measured response to the Hamas attack by the Israelis.. Is it really a subjective test? If that is the case, then the hatred that appears to have warped the clear thinking of the Israeli Government is reason enough for them to do whatever they like and call it self-defence. It is an emotional reaction.

 

On the one hand a brutal attack that goes beyond reason can invite equally unreasonable retaliation, and it seems to have done so in the current climate. On the other hand a democratically elected government should not react with primitive instincts. It must maintain maturity and proceed with such actions as will allow it to use necessary force whilst maintaining the rule of law. A difficult thing to do in what amounts to war.

 

So far as we know, the Ukrainian Government has maintained such a posture. It has concentrated on pushing the invaders out of their country. It has not sought to invade Russia. It has not sought to endanger the civilian population by cutting off its basic utilities, despite the Russian invaders attacking their electrical installations and water supplies (so I am led to believe).

 

Why must we have this additional horror in the world? The Middle East or at any rate Israel, Gaza and the West Bank constitute a small section of the world where two groups of people seek to establish or maintain their own state and sovereignty. Both groups claiming historical ownership of the land they inhabit. They can either come together as one group enjoying the fruits of the desert that it is, or establish two distinct states. One is already established by the grace of a vote of the United Nations in 1948. They have had to fight for their survival in the face of great opposition, and they have since sought to expand their territory to create a buffer against attack to their existing land or to expand in order to accommodate their growing population. They have done this in contravention of the United Nations which has again stated Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory is unlawful under international law due to its permanence and the Israeli government’s de facto annexation policies. A UN-appointed Commission of Inquiry said this in a recent report (October 2022).

 

How long must this feud go on? What possible excuse can the Israeli Government have to refuse to follow the rule of international law, or for the United Nations to continue to allow them to do so? Moses said to Pharaoh “Let my people go”. Is it not time for the Israelis to let the Palestinians go? There can be no more excuses, is it not time to be reasonable?