honeybadgerpress.ca

Terror Dolls of Haifa
(please don't encourage the stone-throwers - they might scratch our tanks)

As published in the Victoria Standard: January 17, 2016

Israeli customs authorities recently seized 4000 dolls at the port of Haifa after declaring that they constituted “incitement to hatred.” These dolls represented a young Palestinian holding a stone and were emblazoned with the Arabic slogans: “Jerusalem for us.” and “Jerusalem, here we come.” An Israeli official defended the move by linking the dolls to the symbolic importance of stone-throwing during the first Intifada in 1987 and the recent violence in Jerusalem.

Of course, Palestinian bureaucrats have no say in Israeli customs policy, in particular; the export of Israel's military technology [that] is marketed as "field-tested" and exported across the world. The fields in question are Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Conversely, American citizens were forced to watch the Israeli state “buy” 29 F35 Stealth jets with public funds donated to Israel by the Obama government. While the jets bore no slogans, their lethality is notable.

According to a 2014 Guardian newspaper story, “In recent years, European countries have exported billions of euros' worth of weapons to Israel, and the EU has furnished Israeli military companies with research grants worth hundreds of millions. Emerging economies such as India, Brazil and Chile are rapidly increasing their military trade and cooperation with Israel, despite their stated support for Palestinian rights.”

These development forces me to question the question the judgement of a nation with nuclear weapons and a military superior to any of Europe’s NATO members. Perhaps the recent casualty score of 109 Palestinians to 19 Israelis was too far below the 2009 Gaza record of 1300 to 14 in Israel’s favour.