Opinion: Stripping Palestinians of the Right to Self-Defense - Stuart Littlewood

The concerted move against so-called smuggling is intriguing. An illegally besieged people bring in supplies - food and arms - by any means possible. Is that smuggling? A people under siege by an illegal occupier are entitled in international law to take up arms against their oppressor, notes Stuart Littlewood.

Middle East Online, January 28, 2009 - A pre-meditated and carefully planned slaughter binge resulting in 1330 dead, 5450 wounded and the whole place reduced to rubble… And what did the European Union’s 27 foreign ministers just do?

They sat down to dinner in Brussels with Tzipi Livni.

This must have come as a slap in the face for the millions of justice-loving EU citizens who were expecting to see Ms Livni arrested for crimes against humanity the minute she set foot outside Israel.

All is forgiven. Normal poodle service is resumed. Right now Israel's helpmates in Europe are lining up to pay with our tax money for the humanitarian mess and the economic wreckage, and to offer Israel the services of EU member states in helping to turn the screw yet again in the subjugation of a people Israel has terrorized, abused and dispossessed for 60 years.

Never mind that the EU has spent billions over the years on infrastructure projects in Gaza, only to see them wantonly smashed by Israel’s military.

[For example, see Israeli strikes leave Blair project with 140 million pounds in repairs. - Ed]

One of the services on offer is help with stopping the 'smuggling' of arms to the Palestinians, now crushed and stripped of everything amid the ruins of their homes, wrecked utilities, devastated hospitals and schools, and a public health disaster. That's what happens when people have only AK47s, RPGs and ineffective rockets to fend off a ruthless occupying force bristling with all the armour and high-tech weaponry of modern warfare.

Already six European leaders - including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and our very own British Prime Minister Gordon Brown - have pledged to provide ships, troops and technology for anti-smuggling operations....