As global attention pivots to Iran, Gazas suffering is buried beneath a calculated smokescreen of war, distraction and denial, writesLyn Bender.

FOR ISRAEL and America, bombing and force are a common language.They both claim to solve wicked problems with forceful repression.

U.S. PresidentDonald Trumponce suggested thathurricanes could be nuked.Both Trump and Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahuarefightingfor their survival.

At least they were until their solution of focusing attention on a bigger, old archenemy: Iran.

Trumpspoll ratingshave slumped further since his Iran attacks, ironically.Israels attack on Iran has proven thus far to be a successful look over there strategy for his threat of no confidence.

Trumps reckless strike on Iran has unleashed chaos, emboldened Israel, and brought the world closer to a catastrophic new war.

Just as the recognition of the starvation of Gaza was proving to be a last straw in the worlds denial of Israeli atrocities, Israel resurrected its old claim of theimminent threatof a nuclear Iran.Despite evidence to the contrary, or at least no clear confirming evidence, Iran was portrayed as now being within a hairs breadth of being an immediate nuclear threat.

Meanwhile, Israel continues to commit war crimes, including:

• targeting and killing Palestinians who have struggled to get to designated food delivery points;
• issuing evacuation orders to exhausted displaced Palestinians;
• forcibly removing Palestinians from their homes in the West Bank;
• military and police support of illegal settlers as they attack Palestinians living on the West Bank;
• failing its obligations as an occupying power;
• illegally continues its occupation;
• dominating mainstream media with blatantly false narratives;
• attacking any individual or organisation that criticises the government as antisemitic;
• banning legitimate organisations and setting up its ironically named, in Orwellian speak, theGaza Humanitarian Foundation;
• using U.S. weapons, Israel's bombing of Yemen, Lebanon and Syria; and
• bombinghospitalsand targeting and killing medical staff.

There is now no doubt that Israel is committing genocide.

Before the word was actually coined, there had been a history of denying genocide and clearly articulated genocidal intent.Polish lawyerRaphael Lemkinfounded theconceptof genocide post the Nazi Holocaust todescribethe intent and implementation of the crime of aiming to destroy a particular group and its culture.

Israel has started a war with Iran while continuing its onslaught inGaza andthe U.S. is turning on its own citizens,but our PM didn't get to meet the U.S. despot, so that's just "abject failure".

Lemkinescaped the Holocaust. His awareness of genocide was stirred by learning of the fate of theArmenians. He tried to get international attention for this crime in the 1930s, before the Holocaust. He had input during theNuremberg trials, but genocide was not included in the crimes cited at Nuremberg.

It has been almost comical to hear theABCandBBCdeny the naming of a genocide that is happening before their eyes. They have protested that it is a complex legal term that, therefore, apparently cannot be uttered. It can be perpetrated but not uttered unless with a hasty disclaimer should an interviewee allow the words to escape their lips.

In the U.S., you can be discriminated against for uttering this word or words associated with Palestine. Students can bearrested or expelledfrom university for expressing concern or protesting in support of Palestinians. The ABC firedAntoinette Lattouffor her social media posts supporting Palestine.

But this is such old news that it already seems forgotten.

As the Palestinians in Gaza continue to be exterminated, just for existing and even resisting this, the media has moved on to Iran.Netanyahu has beenwarning of the imminenceof an Iranian nuclear weapon for decades.He is the boy who cried wolf that the U.S. chooses to believe every time.

Iran is a signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).Israel, which actually has nuclear weapons, is not.

WhistleblowerMordechai Vanunuwasgaoled for 18 yearsby Israel for revealing that it had nuclear weapons. Eleven years were spent in solitary confinement.

Old news thats been forgotten is the claim of weapons of mass destruction that Iraq wasaccused of having. These were never found.Hans Blixsearched thoroughly butfailedto find any. This was cited as proof that they were well hidden. TheCoalition of the Willinginvaded Iraq in2003.At least more than amillion diedand Iraq was rendered a political quagmire with the resultantrise of ISIS.

From Vietnam to Ukraine, the real-world record of nuclear deterrence suggests its better at fuelling arms races than preventing bloodshed.

Two crazy male world leaders,Trump and Netanyahu, are playing nuclear chicken.Brinkmanship, ominous, lethal threats and shows of brute strength are toxic masculinity writ large.

Trump dangles his threat of taking out Irans Ayatollah and Netanyahu threatens a massively destabilising war in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, the Genocide continues.

But now the media is discussing Iran ad nauseum.

Im old enough to remember when it wasBut do you condemn Hamas?when there was even a whiff of criticism of Israel.There have been several reports ofbias in the mediaskewed towards Israel.

Even on ABC Australia's prizedRN programs.

As I write this, the media is buzzing with the implications of Trumps claim of having wiped out Irans Nuclear sites. Oh, wait, now Iran has perpetrated a missile attack on a U.S. military base in Qatar. Oh, wait, Trump has declared that there isnow a ceasefirein place. Oh, wait, mission accomplished. The President has declared this the Trump12-Day War. Oh, wait, Israel and Iran have not supported this claim.

Meanwhile, as these political protagonists posture, kill and claim glory and success,ordinary people die and are slaughtered as theinternational lawhas been trashed.

Can we glean any hope from all this?

Despite all the propaganda, there are good sources of information and analysis.The much-maligned internet penetrates even the closed environment of Gaza and the West Bank.

Distraction from the truth has a shelf life.

Lyn Benderis a professional psychologist. You can follow Lyn@Lynestel.

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