PRESS RELEASE
LaRouche: Justice After Gaza Atrocity Demands Netanyahu's Defeat
Feb. 1 (EIRNS)—This release was issued today by the Lyndon LaRouche Political Action Committee (LPAC).
Lyndon LaRouche today declared that, if there is to be any justice for the Israeli atrocities against the people of Gaza, Benjamin Netanyanu must be defeated in his bid for the Israeli prime ministership.
Based on eyewitness reports that I have received in the past several days," LaRouche explained, "it is clear that the Israeli invasion of Gaza constituted a war crime that cannot be overlooked by the civilized world. If there is to be justice for the crimes carried out against the Palestinian people of Gaza, a very steep price must be imposed on Israel. Benjamin Netanyahu is, today, the leading representative of the outright fascist current in Israeli political life—the pro-Mussolini Revisionist movement of Sykes-Picot agent Vladimir Jabotinsky.
While some will argue that Netanyahu was not part of the Olmert government that waged the war of annihilation against the Palestinian population of Gaza, no one will dispute the fact that Netanyahu is the candidate who stakes his entire career on denying the Palestinian people their rightful state. To do justice for the war crimes committed by the Israelis, a very large scalp must be taken, and that is Mr. Netanyahu.
LaRouche also endorsed the call, published on Saturday, Jan. 31, by one of Israel's leading peace activists, Uri Avnery, demanding that Israel convene a war crimes tribunal, to prosecute those who were guilty of crimes during the Gaza invasion. Avnery's call covered both the Israeli Defense Force personnel, and top Israeli politicians. LaRouche declared, "Uri Avnery is right. If there is to be any hope for a just peace, Israel must clean its own slate, by conducting a thorough investigation, leading to prosecutions of those who carried out these atrocities. Peace requires clean hands, and the best course of action is for Israel, itself, to clean out those responsible for these crimes."
LaRouche cited reports received in recent days, that the 23-day Israeli invasion of Gaza was not, contrary to Israeli government claims, simply aimed at Hamas. The goal was the extermination of the Palestinian population in Gaza.
Israel had no justification for launching a war of extermination against the Palestinian people in Gaza. There is no excuse, no explanation that can justify the actions taken by the Israeli forces against the people of Gaza. After the first four days of the attacks, any and all so-called 'military' targets were thoroughly destroyed. After that, the ground invasion and subsequent bombing by the Israeli forces aimed at nothing less than the elimination of civil society in Gaza. The death toll of women, children and elderly, the total destruction of the basic infrastructure of Gaza, tells the story, in terms that cannot be denied.
This was an act of weakness. The attempt at the mass extermination of the residents of Gaza—to ostensibly prevent some future attack on Israel—is no excuse. There can be no toleration for the Israeli claims that "We had to do it." If the reports I have received are accurate—and there is no reason at this time to dispute them—then there must be a steep penalty. And I believe that the first step must be the defeat of Netanyahu in the Feb. 10 elections.
