Human Rights, and the Politics of Immediate in the Palestinian Intifada - Literature review Example

Israel and Palestine Martyr Bodies in the Media: Human rights, aesthetics, and the politics of immediation in the Palestinian intifada From the very beginning of this article, Allen clearly states her goal to demonstrate how ‘suffering’ has become both the focal point of Palestinian socio-political discourse and a major international support-gathering tool, especially after the second intifada (163). Having drawn the attention of the audience to the significance of suffering, along with the “immediating forms” of its representation ever since the second intifada, Allen elaborates on its aspects, or as she calls them, “entwined elements of the puzzle”, namely human rights, visuality, and affect (163). In turn, these elements are further decomposed into their constituents, as follows – human rights as comprised of an ideology, language and institutional system, visuality – a sensory perception, aesthetic system and range images, produced and circulated in the media, and affect – the way of feeling, experiencing, and reacting to certain experiences (Allen 163). All taken together, the three major aspects, or dimensions, are considered to constitute the “politics of immediation” (Mazzarella as cited in Allen 162). Allen explains ‘immediation’ as the “necessarily covert denial” of mediation, which, as a rule, takes place in the formal system of institutions, or structure, and social interactions (162). Thus, either due to the incompetence of the Palestinian authority or because of lack of place in the world, i.e. state, which, according to Arendt, “makes opinions significant and actions effective”, the Palestinians relied heavily on the ‘politics of immediation’ (Arendt 296 cited in Allen 162). In Allen’s view this projection of images of war and suffering is not unique at all, and actually is being employed in many places across the world marked by political violence, including Iraq, Northern Ireland, etc. In an attempt to make the world governing authorities and international organizations involved with them, hence to seek relief, Palestinians too continually present their wounded bodies to the international public opinion (Allen 163). Besides representing themselves to the international community, Palestinians have used the very same appeals, most notably for human rights, as a means of self-identification, namely via “the universalizing idiom of violated human rights” (163). Insofar as Palestinian have long been in a dialogue with the international audience, including the UN, the international public opinion, the Arab, as well as the Muslim world, their national aspirations were logically shaped by international humanitarian, human rights, and other legal formations (Feldman cited in Allen 164). Understandably, in that regard, the print and broadcast news media has become a platform for their performance and proclamation on an international stage ever since the 1900s (Allen 164). The development of human rights economy as a significant sector of employment in the occupied territories, with per capita foreign aid at about 300 USD per year, additionally reinforces that impression (World Bank, Lasensky and Grace, cited in Allen 164). On the one hand, Allen points out that without national government, or being in a state of statelessness, the Palestinians are not only deprived of a representative authority, but also of international legitimacy; on the other hand their word and image are not to be trusted according to many observers, and perhaps with reason (173). Thus, having acted as cause-and-effect issue in regard to Palestinians’ image as “a synonym for trouble”, the politics of immediation is not that productive when the Palestinian cause is concerned. Therefore, Palestinians should seek a kind of “socially acceptable narrative to absorb, sustain, and circulate” their political, economic and social realities (Allen 173). The Destruction of Destruction This chapter could be considered the epitome of the politics of immediation, as described above, with projection of outrageous images of war, destruction and suffering that, according to the author, constitute the Gaza Strip’s past, present and probable future. The article is focused on an archive compiled by the Hamas-run Ministry of Public Works and Housing as of the spring of 2009, after the Israeli winter attack on Gaza (Weizman 139). Being considered an instance of forensic architecture, the “book of destruction” – the very name of this archive unequivocally states what an unbiased observer is about to deal with – presents the dire consequences of Palestinian struggle for survival and self-determination. Although the archive was apparently intended to clear up the chaos and confusion, the detailed records of how the damage was being inflicted on each building, along with the use of the building prior to its destruction and the names of the people who owned or lived in it, has actually told another story (Weizman 140-141). The parallel between the “book of destruction” and Israeli military’s “book of targets in Gaza” (Weizman 141) evidently act as a powerful means of persuading the international public opinion that Palestinians as a whole, and those residing in Gaza in particular, deserve sympathy, while Israel should be condemned for these war crimes and blatant violation of international law (human rights). Having referred to Mahmoud Darwish’s poem, “The House Murdered”, the author magnifies Palestinian plea, as “the house murdered is also mass murder, even if vacant of its residents” (Weizman 143). Thus, everyone committed human rights activist and/or international observer should have no doubt who is the transgressor in that war. On the other hand, to add insult to injury, the force that destroyed Gaza, i.e. Israel, sought to supervise – in terms of affecting, or limiting – its reconstruction; the latter is being exercised by regulating the import of steel, cement, grave, and other construction materials through the Gaza fence’s terminals (Weizman 145). All in all, the article demonizes Israel for inflicting destruction, hence suffering on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and seeks the “arrival of international organizations and state donors” that would reconstruct Gaza, as well as definite support for the Palestinians’ political rights and continuous struggle (Weizman 146-7). Only the Criminal Can Solve the Crime The author has gone to great lengths to substantiate the major role of forensic science in the investigation of war-crimes, atrocities, human rights breeches, etc., stipulating that war-crimes investigations are considerably more complex than those addressed by criminal law (Weizman 108). Thus, from the Roman rhetorical technique endowing inanimate objects with a voice, through the ‘devil’s advocate’ practice employed by the Church, to the forensic anthropology teams working in the context of human rights, aka ‘grave diggers’, Weizman eventually got to the point where forensic science is summoned to transform the built environment, which is ruined by shelling, aerial bombardment, etc., into a source of knowledge concerning interpretation and reconstruction of controversial events (106-111). The end product of that evolution is being called ‘forensic architecture’, which, according to Weizman, is supposed inter alia to gradually invade the grounds previously reserved for witnesses’ testimonies (112). Another theme, simultaneously explored in this chapter, is the narrowing distance between the work of human rights organizations, like Human Rights Watch, and the military; this collaboration trend is exemplified by the phase of “humanitarian interventions”, including instances in the Balkans, Africa, etc. (Weizman 116). Weizman points out that the relationship between human rights organizations and the military has entered a new phase, where the former attempt to influence the conduct of war on the tactical level – weapons capabilities and their proportional application, counterinsurgency, occupation, etc.; which inevitably necessitates the employment of military advisors by many humanitarian and human rights organizations (117). Both themes merged and culminate into the “Garlasco affair” – having used forensic architecture technique, the ex-US Defense Intelligence Agency analyst, Marc Garlasco, who became Human Rights Watch’s ‘expert on battle damage assessment’, conducted an investigation and produced a report revealing the “set of events” that took place in Gaza during the Israeli attack and the trail of destruction, which appeared the “signature of Israeli aggression in the last decade” (Weizman 100, 118-120). Garlasco’s analysis of the destruction clearly pointed to war crimes having been committed by the Israeli military, while his suspension of working for HRW and his consequent resignation were considered the result of alleged anti-Israel bias (Weizman 127). Garlasco’s explanation of these accusations, according to Weizman, should be taken seriously – his interest in Nazi memorabilia is being determined by fascination with militaria “that drove him to become a forensic analyst, and to be good at his work” (Weizman 127). Thus, Weizman concludes that present-day investigators of violence inevitably and even purposefully would move alongside the perpetrators, “morphing into them” (136), hence the end justifies the means. The Best of All Possible Walls The chapter deals with issues of proportionality between security requirements for Israelis and Palestinians’ livelihood in regard to the “authority of the Israeli state to build a wall on the occupied West Bank” (Weizman 66). The two major court cases, presented within the chapter, namely in the International Court of Justice in The Hague and the Israeli High Court of Justice, reveal the conflicting - and perhaps largely unfeasible to conciliation – points of view of the Palestinians and Israelis as a whole. Weizman argues that the doctrine of proportionality, as illustrated by the ruling of the Israeli High Court of Justice, is actually tool legitimizing the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories; hence, the High Court of Justice has also become an instrument “in regulating the occupation by slightly alleviating the worst effects of military violence” (76). The very essence of the wall is defined as the embodiment of Israeli conception of colonial, territorial and demographic security; which however, being “forensically engineered” in order to give the principle of proportionality a material and spatial dimensions, failed to embrace Palestinians’ concerns of livelihood. Having drawn a parallel between the West Bank wall and the system of fortifications around the Gaza perimeter, the author expands his argument against Israel-caused humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, hence continued suffering and systematic violation of human rights of Palestinians by Israeli authorities; which, according to Weizman, logically culminated in 2008-2009 Israel’s bombing and invasion of Gaza. In conclusion, according to the author, the Gaza Strip is seen as a laboratory where is being tested the limits of what can be done to oppressed people in the name of doctrines, including such as the ‘war on terror’. Works Cited Allen, Lori A., “Martyr Bodies in the Media: Human rights, aesthetics, and the politics of immediation in the Palestinian intifada”, American Ethnologist Vol. 36, No.1 (2009). Pp.161-180 Weizman, Eyal. The Least of All Possible Evils: Humanitarian Violence from Arendt to Gaza. London: Verso, 2011. Print. Read More