Salim Nazzal

October 16, 2009 will be remembered by many as the day Palestinians finally saw some justice when the UN Human Rights Commission endorsed the Goldstone report which found Israel guilty of committing genocide against the Palestinians.

After 61 years of continuing injustices the world has finally made it clear that the time of Israel committing crimes against the Palestinians, without accountability, is over. Zionists can no longer fly in the face of international law by committing genocide with impunity.

The extent to which this genocide has been perpetrated in the towns and villages across Palestine is expressed well by journalist, Christopher Hedges when he says:

'Children have been shot in 40 other conflicts I have covered. Death squads gunned them down in El Salvador and Guatemala, mothers with infants lined up and Massacred in Algeria, and Serb snipers put children in their sights in Sarajevo. But I've never watched soldiers entice children like mice into a trap and murder them for sport like in Gaza'

Since 1948, the Zionists, who have had an expressed a policy for expulsion of Palestinians, have committed atrocities, and murder against the peaceful nation of Palestine. The plea from the Palestinians for the world to listen and take action against the Zionists has, until now, fallen on deaf ears. Israel has employed every crafty disguise to conceal its crimes and has resorted to lies to garner world support.

Over the past 61 years the arrogance of Zionism has been emboldened by the indifference of the suffering of the Palestinians. They had started to believe their own propaganda, that they really are chosen above all men, and therefore justified in their actions. Today, they have been told that they are not. They are accountable for their actions, and they can no longer commit genocide against the Palestinians, because they have superior weaponry.

The world community needs to remain vigilant. Israel's resistance will be predictable. They will stoop to any level to evade further investigation and punishment.

No Palestinian, or people who support the Palestinian fight for justice, should rest until the Zionist murderers are behind bars. This decision in Geneva is not the end, but rather the beginning, and cause for great hope. It is a decisive victory, not only for Palestine, but the best news for humanity since the Nuremberg trials.

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Dr. Salim Nazzal is a Palestinian-Norwegian historian in the Middle East, who has written extensively on social and political issues in the region. salim_nazzal@yahoo.com