Why didn’t the One and Only-Jewish State accept Hamas’s Surrender?
The formation of a Palestinian Unity Government.
A number
of commentators have presented a common outline of the events that led to one
and only-jewish state’s massive military attack on gaza and have apportioned
blame for the devastation according to this sequence.[i]
There is no reason to dispute the facts they have presented but their analysis
fails to bring out the full implications of these events leading them to a less
critical condemnation of those responsible for the massacre in gaza.
After the saudi-funded,
military coup in egypt, president sisi set about destroying the tunnels between
egypt and gaza that had enabled hamas, and thus the palestinians in gaza, to
escape the most crippling effects of the jews-only state’s old testamentary
siege of the territory. For the first time since their democratic rise to power
through palestinian national elections in 2006, hamas were facing a complete
cessation of their smuggling activities. This would lead inexorably to economic
collapse, increasing levels of starvation and political turmoil that would almost
certainly result in their being swept from power. Hamas might have considered
hanging on to power as gaza sank into misery and desperation, perhaps leading
gazans in a mass hunger strike in the hope of forcing the international
community to end the inhuman and illegal jewish blockade. But, instead of
engaging in such a high risk, suicidal option they acted quickly before living conditions
collapsed and sought a peace agreement with their rivals, and former enemies,
the palestinian authority to produce a palestinian unity government. This shows
that hamas is not a group of militant fanatics who couldn’t care less about the
people they are supposed to represent and protect. On the contrary, they were
willing to sacrifice their political power by surrendering to the palestinian
authority because they didn’t want gazans to suffer the consequences of an
economic collapse.
For many
years mahmoud abbas had worked closely with zionist leaders to police the west
bank to ensure that no palestinians posed a security threat to the jews-only
state. Many regarded him as a collaborator because his security forces ruthlessly
suppressed palestinian political activism in the west bank.[ii]
Nevertheless he responded positively to hamas’s call for the creation of a
unity government. But for abbas this new government wasn’t going to be a merger
of two equal sides in which both compromised their opposing principles and tactics
in order to meet in the middle. Abbas had no intention of adopting hamas’s
tactic of military resistance. He agreed to the formation of a unity government
on his terms and hamas had no other choice than to accept those terms. This
wasn’t an alliance of equals but rather hamas’s political and military capitulation
to the palestinian authority.
The
process of hamas’s absorption within the palestinian authority was overseen by members
of the obama regime, “a process worked out with input from the American
government which included terms that would not automatically trigger a US ban.”
(William James Martin ‘The War between Gaza and the Zionists’ http://www.palestinechronicle.com/the-war-between-gaza-and-the-zionists/#.U-1BAyhy_8s
August 01, 2014). Kerry would not have given his blessing to a unity government
in which hamas predominated, “Faced with growing Israeli condemnations,
Secretary of State John Kerry defended the US decision to work with the
Palestinian unity government, saying the US would “closely monitor” them. Kerry
cited assurances from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that none of the
ministers were actually members of Hamas. The unity government, between Fatah
and Hamas, is made up of bureaucrats holding the positions pending a new election.
Though the administration is desperate to avoid the appearance of public ties
with Hamas, recent reports have confirmed months of secret US-Hamas talks in
the lead up to the unity agreement.” (Jason Ditz ‘Kerry Defends US Decision to
Work With Palestinian Unity Govt’ http://news.antiwar.com/2014/06/04/kerry-defends-us-decision-to-work-with-palestinian-unity-govt/
June 04, 2014).[iii]
Kerry had worked
for nine months trying to pressure the netanyahu government into forging a
peace agreement with the palestinian authority but, in march 2014, netti found
the opportunity to wriggle out of the peace process when he refused to carry
out his side of the agreement and release the last batch of palestinian
political prisoners. Netti then terminated the peace process altogether the day
after hamas and the palestinian authority announced the formation of a unity
government. It seems as if kerry must have known, like everyone else, that he
was never going to succeed in pressuring netanyahu into concluding a peace
agreement with the palestinian authority so he’d been working secretly on a
back up plan involving the formation of a unitary palestinian authority.
The
conditions for palestinian unification revealed the scale of hamas’s sacrifice
to the palestinian authority. “It offered Hamas’s political adversaries a
foothold in Gaza; it was formed without a single Hamas member; it retained the
same Ramallah-based prime minister, deputy prime ministers, finance minister
and foreign minister; and, most important, it pledged to comply with the three
conditions for Western aid long demanded by America and its European allies:
nonviolence, adherence to past agreements and recognition of Israel.” (Nathan
Thrall ‘How the West Chose War in Gaza’ http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/18/opinion/gaza-and-israel-the-road-to-war-paved-by-the-west.html?_r=1
July 17, 2014); “Hamas endorsed the new government even though it was given no
cabinet posts and the government’s composition and political programme were
virtually indistinguishable from its predecessor’s. With barely a protest from
the Islamists, Abbas repeatedly and loudly proclaimed that the government
accepted the Middle East Quartet’s demands: that it recognise Israel, renounce
violence and adhere to past agreements. He also announced that Palestinian
security forces in the West Bank would continue their security collaboration
with Israel.” (Mouin Rabbani ‘Israel mows the lawn’ http://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n15/mouin-rabbani/israel-mows-the-lawn
July 18, 2014).[iv]
Hamas knew
the return of the palestinian authority to gaza would lead to their political
demise and to the disarming of their military wing thereby ending the firing of
rockets at the pariah state. Hamas’s political surrender to the quisling palestinian
authority was a prelude to their militarily surrender. Hamas politicians had
chosen to surrender to the palestinian authority because they couldn’t
countenance doing so to the racist state but, given the quisling nature of the
abbas government, this was in effect what they were doing. Hamas’s role in the
unity government was so negligible it verged on the non-existent.
Nathan thrall
is the only commentator who has mentioned what the implication of this unity agreement
was for hamas – capitulation. “Thus far, the downside to this strategy has been
borne entirely by Hamas. In the days following the agreement, Fatah was quick
to take credit, and most Palestinians saw the deal as an act of capitulation by
a greatly weakened, financially depleted, and politically isolated Hamas. Two
weeks ago, Fatah could claim Hamas’s resistance project was all but finished.”
(Nathan Thrall ‘Whose Palestine?’ http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2014/jun/19/whose-palestine/?insrc=rel
June 19, 2014).
Netanyahu terrorized by the prospect of a Unity Government.
Netti denounced
the idea of a new palestinian authority with volcanic fury and insisted that the
international community should follow his churchillian lead and reject it too.[v]
Such an implacable rejection seemed strange for a number of reasons. Firstly, the
unified palestinian authority would gradually disarm hamas in gaza as it had
disarmed the organization in the west bank. This meant the demilitarization of
gaza and the end of rocket fire into the apartheid state. In essence gaza would
be as pacified as the west bank. This could open the way to peace between
palestinians and the jews-only state. Secondly, netanyahu would not have been
politically compromised by having to negotiate with hamas members in the unity
government because hamas had no members in that government.[vi]
Thirdly, the new palestinian authority had the political backing of america and
the international community. And finally, the formation of a unified
palestinian authority was tantamount to hamas’s surrender.[vii]
Despite
these huge political benefits, netti could find no reason for joy in this new
enlarged palestinian authority and the dramatic improvement in the prospects of
peace. On the contrary, he denounced abbas as a terrorist for negotiating with
hamas. Whilst abbas believed the agreement would enable the palestinian
authority to replace hamas in gaza, netanyahu insisted it would only allow
hamas into the west bank. Netanyahu’s biggest fear seemed to be his oldest - that
once the palestinians were united under a single authority it would be much
more difficult for him to block their demands for a palestinian state.[viii]
So, despite the fact that he had continually bullied abbas, insulted and
humiliated him for years, and had forced the palestinian authority into becoming
little more than a corrupt quisling organization that protected the interests
of the jewish state instead of the palestinian people, netanyahu feared abbas would
be in a stronger position to press for a palestinian state.[ix]
According to many commentators, netti “is absolutely obsessed with keeping the
Palestinians divided, and his stated refusal to even consider a two-state
solution means he is obsessed with good reason.” (Mitchell Plitnick ‘Is Hamas
Winning?’ http://www.lobelog.com/is-hamas-winning/ July 24, 2014).
Netanyahu’s
vehement rejection of the proposed palestinian unity government should not have
been surprising. Given that he’d evaded kerry’s efforts to bring about a peace
agreement with the quisling palestinian authority it was absurd to believe he
was going to negotiate with it after it had absorbed hamas, controlled both the
west bank and gaza, and unified the palestinian people. Netti doesn’t want to
negotiate with the palestinians because he doesn’t want palestinians living on
jewish land.[x]
He’ll only negotiate under political pressure and only does so until he can
find a way of evading the political pressure without causing an international outcry.
And he’ll only negotiate as long as he is allowed to continue stealing
palestinian land. What he, his racist cabinet, and his racist society, want is
a palestinian free palestine. Like all the jewish leaders before him, two of
them former terrorists, netti was intent on avoiding peace at all costs for the
sake of jewish expansionism.
On this
occasion, however, there was one additional factor that netti may have found
irresistible when considering his response to a unity government - hamas’s
weakness. Hamas seemed on the point of collapse. Firstly, it had lost most of
its regional backers from egypt, iran, syria and even hezbollah.[xi]
Secondly, after president sisi of egypt destroyed the tunnels between egypt and
gaza, hamas was in a crippled state. The gazan economy began to collapse; hamas
could no longer replenish its armaments; and it was losing authority over gaza
because it no longer received any taxes on the smuggling trade through the
tunnels and thus had no money to pay its workforce. Thirdly, the racist state knew
hamas must be in terminal decline because of its capitulation to the
palestinian authority.
Netti may
have concluded that since hamas was on the verge of collapse then it could be
made to capitulate to the squatter state and not merely its quisling
representative. This would enable him to stay in control of political
developments keeping the palestinians in abject submission rather than having
to respond to palestinian initiatives that might necessitate him making
compromises. “When Israeli began its bombardment campaign of Gaza on July 6,
and a day later with the official launch of the so-called Operation Protective
Edge, followed by a ground invasion, it may have seemed that Gaza was ready to
surrender. Political analysts have been advising that Hamas has been at its
weakest following the downturn of the Arab Spring, the loss of its Egyptian
allies, and the dramatic shift of its fortunes in Syria and, naturally Iran.
The “Hamas is ready to fold” theory was advanced by the logic surrounding the
unity agreement between Hamas and Fatah; and unity was seen largely as a
concession by Hamas to Abbas’ Fatah movement, which continued to enjoy western
political backing and monetary support.” (Ramzy Baroud ‘Why Gaza Fought Back’
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/08/13/why-gaza-fought-back/ August 13, 2014).
Netti had
little reason to fear hamas militarily given its lack of resistance to earlier
invasions. “If we compare what happened in previous military operations in
Gaza, it seemed that Hamas – and others – back then was barely able to fight
back,” said Itamar Radai, a visiting research fellow at the Tel Aviv-based Institute
for National Security Studies.” (Hugh
Naylor ‘Gaza war illustrates Hamas’s military advances’ http://www.thenational.ae/world/palestinian-territories/gaza-war-illustrates-hamass-military-advances#full
August 16, 2014); “Furthermore, (during the jewish military’s operation cast
lead in 2008-2009) the internal Palestinian front was not in the best shape in
terms of its cohesion. The occupation sought to infiltrate the Resistance and
thwart its plans, especially at the level of ground operations. Israeli forces
thus went deep into the west of Beit Lahia and Jabalia (north), and Tel al-Hawa
in southern Gaza, without a strong response from the resistance. The Israelis
also dissected Gaza into three parts, and the movement of medical services
between the cities was prevented.” (Orouba Othman ‘A look at the tactics of the
Palestinian Resistance after two intifadas and three wars’
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/look-tactics-palestinian-resistance-after-two-intifadas-and-three-wars
August 30, 2014).
Netti may
have sensed this was a critical opportunity for launching a lethal blow against
hamas and destroying any lingering prospects for peace. If hamas had agreed to
be demilitarized by the palestinian authority then why couldn’t the zionist
military do the job more efficiently, more thoroughly and more quickly than the
palestinian authority whilst throwing the palestinians into turmoil thereby
further undermining political efforts to create a palestinian state? Hamas’s
dire predicament seemed to trigger in netti some pre-programmed attack
mechanism.
Abbas, the
palestinian authority, hamas, the obama regime and the international community had
quietly fostered a golden opportunity for peace which could have culminated in the
creation of a palestinian state that posed no threat to the racist state. Hamas’s
capitulation would bring an end to the rocket fire that the squatter state has continually
claimed is its worst nightmare. But netti would have none of it. He looked in
horror at this prospect for peace that would undermine his efforts to create what
he called “the one and only-jewish state” i.e. a racist ‘jews-only state’. Why
would he want to stop hamas’s ineffectual rocket fire when it provided him with
the political momentum he needed, both domestically and internationally, to
promote jewish expansionism, a military solution to the palestinian problem? What
to the international community was a perfect opportunity for peace was to netti
a terrifying prospect that could only be counteracted by war.
The Militant Terrorist State in Action.
After the
announcement of a unified palestinian government, the jewish military state waited
for an opportunity to provoke a war that would once again abolish peace prospects
for the foreseeable future. This excuse came when three young settlers went
missing. Netti blamed hamas for capturing them even though hamas’s leadership
was not involved.[xii] Far worse,
however, was that although there was overwhelming evidence that the settlers
were killed soon after their capture, netti pretended hamas was keeping them
prisoner in order to whip up jewish hysteria for a war against hamas. “What's
more, as Max Blumenthal reported, the Israeli government knew the teenagers had
been murdered almost immediately, and who the likely culprits were; but the
Netanyahu regime chose to wage a worldwide campaign of mendacity -- and torment
the boys' parents -- by claiming they might still be alive, and launching
"search" missions for them.” (Chris Floyd ‘Blockading the Truth:
Obama's Big Lie About Gaza’ http://chris-floyd.com/component/content/article/1-latest-news/2413-blockading-the-truth-obamas-big-lie-about-gaza.html
July 25, 2014). Shlomi eldar provides a shocking description of the lies that the
netti government told for nearly three weeks to maintain the conspiracy that
the settlers were still alive in order to continually build the hysteria
against hamas into a crescendo thereby making war inevitable – and encouraging
the jewish public to not merely condone but celebrate the massive slaughter of
innocent palestinians that would ensue.[xiii]
Soon after
the capture of the settlers, netti launched a military rampage, operation
brothers’ keeper, against hamas members in the west bank supposedly to rescue
the settlers and capture/kill the kidnappers. “Thus a ‘search and destroy’
operation was initiated consisting of 18 days of Israeli army rampages which
targeted anything affiliated with Hamas on the West Bank. Hundreds were
arrested, about 500 total, and about a dozen Palestinians killed, Hamas offices
and clinics were ransacked and destroyed, with computers confiscated, hundreds
of Palestinian homes were invaded, usually in the middle of the night with the
homes ransacked and contents destroyed or damaged, guns were pointed at women
and children and people terrorized, and many arrested. Homes of so-called
suspected persons were blown up and destroyed.” (William James Martin ‘The War
between Gaza and the Zionists’ http://www.palestinechronicle.com/the-war-between-gaza-and-the-zionists/#.U-1BAyhy_8s
August 01, 2014).[xiv] A one
commentator put it, The facts show that Israeli forces had to work quite hard
to get Hamas to end its cease-fire.”[xv]
The intense
military rampage of operation brothers’ keeper was intended either to force
hamas’s capitulation to the zionist state or to provoke it into firing off rockets
that the terrorist state could then use as its excuse for a full scale military
assault on gaza. Much to netti’s surprise hamas’s resistance did not crumble.
It would capitulate to abbas but not to netti.
On July 7,
netti launched operation protective edge’ in the belief that a direct attack on
hamas in gaza would finally crush hamas’s resistance. But, despite all the
signs of its weakness, hamas put up a formidable, hezbollah-like, resistance to
the jewish bombardment and invasion of gaza. “If we compare what happened in
previous military operations in Gaza, it seemed that Hamas – and others – back
then was barely able to fight back,” said Itamar Radai, a visiting research
fellow at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies. “This
time, however, there was fierce fighting and there were ambushes and booby
traps, and it seems they did their homework well. They were much better
prepared to confront the Israeli army.”” (Hugh
Naylor ‘Gaza war illustrates Hamas’s military advances’ http://www.thenational.ae/world/palestinian-territories/gaza-war-illustrates-hamass-military-advances#full
August 16, 2014).[xvi]
Netti’s
sole consolation over hamas’s ferocious resistance was that it gave him the
opportunity to renounce his support for the idea of a palestinian state that he
had been pressured by the obama regime into supporting for the previous couple
of years. “Then, on July 11, Mr. Netanyahu definitively rejected any
possibility of establishing an independent Palestinian state. The Gaza conflict
meant, he said, that “there cannot be a situation, under any agreement, in
which we relinquish security control of the territory west of the River Jordan”
(meaning the West Bank).” (Antony Lerman ‘The End of Liberal Zionism’ http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/23/opinion/sunday/israels-move-to-the-right-challenges-diaspora-jews.html?ref=opinion&_r=0
August 22, 2014).
Many
zionist commentators complained that netti’s war objectives constantly changed
over time, which made it seem as if he wasn’t pursuing a rational war strategy,
but such complaints only show their fail to understand their own military’s war
doctrine. The jewish wehrmacht pursues what it calls the “dahiya doctrine”
which is basically the grossly disproportionate use of violence against both
military and civilian targets. “The Goldstone Report on Operation Cast Lead
concluded that, “The tactics used by Israeli military armed forces in the Gaza
offensive [of 2008-2009] are consistent with previous practices, most recently
during the Lebanon war in 2006. A concept known as the Dahiya doctrine emerged
then, involving the application of disproportionate force and the causing of
great damage and destruction to civilian property and infrastructure, and
suffering to civilian populations.”” (Jeff Halper ‘Globalizing Gaza’ http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/08/18/globalizing-gaza/
August 18, 2014). This means destroying not merely rocket launching sites and
terror tunnels (sic) but schools, mosques, united nations compounds, hospitals,
water treatment systems, power stations, businesses, etc.[xvii]
The intention of such attacks is to try and force civilians to rise up against
their rulers, “the "dahiya doctrine" promoting targeting of civilian
infrastructure to create widespread suffering amongst the population with a
view to foment opposition to Israel's opponents.” (Nafeez Ahmed ‘IDF's Gaza
assault is to control Palestinian gas, avert Israeli energy crisis’
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2014/jul/09/israel-war-gaza-palestine-natural-gas-energy-crisis
July 09, 2014). Netti’s ‘dahiya’ war strategy was to make as much of gaza
uninhabitable as possible before global public condemnations compelled
governments around the world, but especially in the western world, to withdraw
their support for such outright barbarism.
Netti had dismissed
a golden opportunity for peace in the hope of smashing hamas and inflicting
more misery and hopelessness on the palestinians. In other words, it was the
peace plan that had been put forward by kerry and the rest of the western world
that had provoked netti into military action in order to destroy any further
momentum towards peace. “This last goal (bringing the Gaza Strip back under the
control of the Palestinian Authority) implies actualizing the unity government
that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saw as a casus belli. The
actions he has taken—especially in June with the so-called “Operation Brother’s
Keeper,” a massive sweep through the West Bank—were intended to destroy the
agreement the PA and Hamas had struck earlier in the year.” (Mitchell Plitnick
‘A Proposed UNSC Ceasefire Plan For Gaza’ http://www.lobelog.com/a-proposed-unsc-ceasefire-plan-for-gaza/
August 22, 2014). It is true that netti had grossly miscalculated hamas’s weaknesses
and its powers of survival but he had made huge strides in his genocidal plan
towards making gaza uninhabitable.[xviii]
After the Massacre, a Unity Government is back on the Agenda.
After the
ceasefire, the net result of the war was that, on the one hand, netti’s
popularity plummeted because a majority of jews wanted the carnage to continue until
hamas had been militarily defeated.
On the
other hand, in spite of the devastation inflicted on gaza, palestinians started
turning away politically from the palestinian authority towards hamas which had
done so much to defend the people of gaza who knew that without hamas’s
resistance the jewish nazis would have punished them even more brutally. “While
the anger has been directed against Israel and in solidarity with Gaza, there
is growing anger against the Fatah-run Palestinian Authority, which governs the
West Bank. That view has come alongside increasing support for Hamas, who are
seen as the only Palestinian party willing to fight Israel.” (Orlando Crowcroft
‘Palestinian Authority’s popularity a casualty of Gaza’s war’ http://www.thenational.ae/world/middle-east/palestinian-authoritys-popularity-a-casualty-of-gazas-war#full
August 14, 2014). Despite the carnage that had been unleashed on gaza and its people,
the palestinian authority had continued to carry out its judenrate role as
servants of the racist state. “But things have changed a great deal since the
unity agreement was signed. The PA, under Mahmoud Abbas, continued its close
cooperation with Israel in maintaining security in the West Bank throughout
Israel’s massive West Bank operation in June and the bombardment and invasion
of Gaza later in the summer. Abbas’ public standing was reduced to almost zero,
and Hamas accordingly has reason to distrust his leadership.” (Mitchell
Plitnick ‘A Proposed UNSC Ceasefire Plan For Gaza’ http://www.lobelog.com/a-proposed-unsc-ceasefire-plan-for-gaza/
August 22, 2014).
Jewish
public opinion is now more racist, more militaristic, and far less willing to
engage in peace negotiations than ever before. And gazans are more determined
than ever to lift the illegal and barbaric siege against them. The renewed
popularity of hamas, and the even greater scale of contempt for the palestinian
authority, means that it is now psychologically impossible for hamas leaders to
capitulate, at least in the near future, as they had been willing to do only a
few months earlier.
The irony
of the ferocious jewish assault on gaza is that more zionist politicians have
started looking favourably on the idea of a unified palestinian authority! “Udi
Dekel, a former lead Israeli negotiator with the Palestinians who is now a
research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv,
said that most of the Israeli government supported this idea of “turning the
reconciliation inside out.” “The direction, without saying it loud and clear,
is that Israel is reconciling itself to the reconciliation and trying to reap
some benefits,” Mr. Dekel said.” (Isabel Kershner ‘Role in Gaza Talks Signals a
Comeback for Abbas’ http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/13/world/middleeast/role-in-gaza-talks-signals-a-comeback-for-abbas.html?_r=0
August 12, 2014).[xix]
Some zionists
believe they are confounded by a dilemma. Support the creation of a unified palestinian
authority to demilitarize hamas in return for a lifting of the siege of gaza
but face the prospect of renewed pressure for a palestinian state. Or allow
hamas to stay in power in gaza to prevent the creation of a unified palestinian
authority, thereby diminishing demands for a palestinian state, but continue
the siege of gaza that will lead inevitably to further conflict. “Israel cannot
"destroy" Hamas, as our semi-fascist politicians (in the government,
too) loudly demand. Nor do they really want to. If Hamas is
"destroyed", Gaza would have to be turned over to the Palestinian
Authority (viz. Fatah). That would mean the reunification of the West Bank and
Gaza, after all the long-lasting and successful Israeli efforts to divide them.
No good. If Hamas remains, Israel cannot allow the
"terror-organization" to prosper.” (Uri Avnery ‘Eyeless in Gaza’ http://original.antiwar.com/avnery/2014/08/15/eyeless-in-gaza/
August 16, 2014).
For netti,
however, there is no such dilemma. If the right political circumstances existed
he would expel or exterminate all palestinians from palestine just as, in 1982,
ariel sharon had pushed the palestine liberation organization out of lebanon.
But he knows that whilst many western political leaders would allow him to get
away with this, global public opinion would not so under these circumstances
he’ll continue to pursue the zionist objective of incremental genocide against
palestinians by way of making gaza uninhabitable. “Moshe Feiglin, deputy
speaker of the Knesset and chief of Bibi’s Likud party leadership group, has a
plan that implements the Gordon-Blank genocide policy in chillingly detailed
terms. "This is our country – our country exclusively," he says on
his Facebook page, "including Gaza."” (Justin Raimondo ‘Israel,
Genocide, and the ‘Logic’ of Zionism’
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2014/08/03/israel-genocide-and-the-logic-of-zionism/
August 04, 2014).
There are
many incidents that could be chosen as the cause of the war on gaza but by far
and away the most important is netti’s incendiary, systematic, lies against
hamas for supposedly capturing, and holding for 18 days, three jewish youths
when he knew this was not the case. This was a conspiracy perpetuated by the entire
jewish government and media to whip up hysteria against hamas and all
palestinians in order firstly, to convince the jewish public of the need for
another military onslaught on gaza and, secondly, to ensure that the jewish
public was not as emotionally outraged by the scale of the slaughter as the
rest of the world so that it could not bring any pressure on the government to
bring the war to a premature end.
Netanyahu
had managed to park the kerry peace process into a cul de sac before renouncing
it completely so he wanted another military onslaught on gaza to ensure there
would be no further efforts at restarting the peace process. The killing of the
three young men gave him exactly this opportunity. In any decent, law abiding,
society the killing of these youths would have warranted the arrest and trial
of those believed to have carried out the murders. But for netti this was just
an opportunity for a massive military assault and invasion of gaza. He knew the
jewish wehrmacht’s diahiya doctrine would lead to the grossly disproportionate slaughter
of palestinians which would not only cause outrage around the world but also within
jewish public opinion. So, the only way to avoid opposition to the slaughter within
the jewish state was to provoke such hatred of palestinians that most jews would
welcome the slaughter. All the zionists’ complaints about netti’s multiple war
aims or pretence that it had been events that had pushed netti into expanding a
war he didn’t want[xx], were
nonsense because netti had deliberately prepared jewish public opinion to welcome
the jewish wehrmacht when it once again used grossly disproportionate military force
to render as much of gaza as uninhabitable as possible.
The American Context.
John kerry
proffered his help in establishing a ceasefire with the help of turkey and qatar
but netti dismissed his offer. “From Israel's perspective, Mr. Kerry's
cease-fire draft reflected an approach "completely out of sync with
Israel, not just on a governmental level but on a societal level," said
Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. under Mr. Netanyahu.
"The best thing that Kerry can do is stay out... We need time to do the
job, we need to inflict a painful and unequivocal blow on Hamas. Anything less
would be a Hamas victory," Mr. Oren said.” (Adam Entous ‘Gaza Crisis:
Israel Outflanks the White House on Strategy’ http://online.wsj.com/articles/u-s-sway-over-israel-on-gaza-at-a-low-1407979365
August 14, 2014).
President
obama has stated he wanted an end to the siege of gaza. “Speaking at a press
conference, Obama said that the United States was supportive of ceasefire talks
between Israel and Hamas but that “long-term, there has to be a recognition
that Gaza cannot sustain itself permanently closed off from the world.””
(Obama: No sympathy for Hamas, but Gaza cannot remain closed off’
http://www.timesofisrael.com/obama-no-sympathy-for-hamas-but-gaza-cannot-remain-closed-off/
August 7, 2014).
Netti’s
response to these overtures was to bluntly tell the obama regime not to second
guess him about his treatment of hamas. He seems to have decided to wait for a
new, more compliant, american president. “While Israeli officials have
privately told their U.S. counterparts the poor state of relations isn't in
Israel's interest long term, they also said they believed Mr. Netanyahu wasn't
too worried about the tensions. The reason is that he can rely on the firmness
of Israeli support in Congress, even if he doesn't have the White House's full
approval for his policies. The prime minister thinks he can simply wait out the
current administration, they say.” (Adam Entous ‘Gaza Crisis: Israel Outflanks
the White House on Strategy’ http://online.wsj.com/articles/u-s-sway-over-israel-on-gaza-at-a-low-1407979365
August 14, 2014).
Netti thus
succeeded in sidelining and humiliating the world’s sole military superpower
whilst benefitting from its massive, ever-growing, tribute payments and its
almost endless supply of munitions. It would not be possible for the jewish
military to implement its “dahiya doctrine’ without america’s abundant supply
of armaments even though it is supposedly illegal for american armaments to be
used for offensive purposes.
The racist
state will never willing agree to peace with the palestinians. It will only
accept a peace agreement if forced to do so by the international community. But
the western world does not have the political power to force it to do so.
Western politicians cannot take any action because they are beholden to their
countries’ zionist lobby and zionist dominated media.
The jewish
racists, who form a majority of netanyahu’s government, the knesset and jewish
society, do not want peace. They will go to war to prevent peace. They support incremental
genocide by way of making gaza uninhabitable. They will drive the palestinians
out of gaza and eventually the west bank. For them peace is possible only when
there are no longer any palestinians in palestine.
But even
this is not enough. The zionist state has pushed the western world into wars against
iraq, syria and libya in order to boost the racist state’s military dominance
over the greater middle east. It has been trying for over two decades to
provoke a war with iran. The global economy has reeling for the last six years or
so because these neocon wars have burdened western governments with colossal
debts. These wars, and a prospective war against iran, are thereby against the
national interests of the western world and the global economy. Do western
countries want to be pushed against their national interests and their economic
well being into yet another war in the middle east solely for the benefit of a
diabolically barbaric racist state?
Addenda.
Hamas’s Weakness leads to formation of a Unity Government.
“By early
2014, Hamas’s motivation for forging a unity pact had grown stronger. War and
political change in the region meant it could no longer rely on financial or military
support from Iran, Syria, or especially Egypt, whose new military rulers had
realigned policy in a way that put them closer to Israel than Hamas. As a
result, in April, Hamas and Fatah signed a unity agreement. Hamas was again sending a clear message
of its willingness to engage in political compromise, this time agreeing to
turn over unprecedented power in the reconciliation government.” (Sandy Tolan
‘Blown Chances in Gaza: Israel and the U.S. Miss Many Chances to Avoid War’
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2014/08/12/blown-chances-gaza-israel-and-us-miss-many-chances-avoid-war
August 12, 2014).
Likudniks’ Provocative Military Operation Brother’s Keeper to get Hamas to resume Rocket Attacks.
The views
of James Marc Leas and Chris Floyd - July 25, 2014.
“James
Marc Leas lays out the timeline leading up to the operation in this succinct
marshaling of the facts in CounterPunch. You should read the whole thing, but
here are a few excerpts: The July 8 ITIC report also divulged why Hamas
launched its first rocket fire at Israel in more than 19 months on July 7: On
that night Israeli forces had bombed and killed 6 Hamas members in Gaza. The
ITIC report includes a picture of the six Hamas members. Thus, a report from an
authoritative Israeli source described the provocation for the resumption of
rocket fire: Hamas rocket fire began only after Israeli forces had engaged in
nearly a month of military operations in violation of the ceasefire agreement
and had killed 6 Hamas members in Gaza. ... The facts show that Israeli forces
had to work quite hard to get Hamas to end its cease-fire. The killing of the
six Hamas members was not an isolated event. Israeli forces and settlers had
gone wild on the West Bank starting on June 12 after the kidnapping of three
Israeli teens. Israeli forces had also attacked 60 targets in Gaza during those
three weeks of June. Then, on the night of July 7, 2014, the Israeli Air Force
had attacked approximately 50 more “terrorist targets” in the Gaza Strip, as
described in the ITIC report.” (quoted in Chris Floyd ‘Blockading the Truth:
Obama's Big Lie About Gaza’ http://chris-floyd.com/component/content/article/1-latest-news/2413-blockading-the-truth-obamas-big-lie-about-gaza.html
July 25, 2014).
The views
of Mitchell Plitnick - July 26, 2014.
“Saying
something over and over again doesn’t make it true, but it does make a whole
lot of people believe it. For instance, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu willfully and repeatedly lied to the Israeli public and the world
about Hamas’ complicity in the kidnap and murder of the three young Israeli
settlers, which sparked this latest round. He kept saying he had proof that he
never produced, and now the Israeli police are admitting what everyone who was
actually paying attention at the time knew: this was an independent act of
violence.” (Mitchell Plitnick ‘Israel-Palestine: Correcting Some Faulty Ideas
on Both Sides’ http://www.lobelog.com/israel-palestine-correcting-some-faulty-ideas/
July 26, 2014).
The views
of William James Martin - August 01, 2014.
“The
abduction and murder of three Israeli youths was met by Mr Netanyahu’s
.response: “Hamas is responsible, and Hamas will pay.” This was his chance to
wreck the unity government. “Thus a ‘search and destroy’ operation was
initiated consisting of 18 days of Israeli army rampages which targeted
anything affiliated with Hamas on the West Bank. Hundreds were arrested, about
500 total, and about a dozen Palestinians killed, Hamas offices and clinics
were ransacked and destroyed, with computers confiscated, hundreds of
Palestinian homes were invaded, usually in the middle of the night with the
homes ransacked and contents destroyed or damaged, guns were pointed at women
and children and people terrorized, and many arrested. Homes of so-called suspected
persons were blown up and destroyed. In addition, Mr Netanyahu’s rhetoric
contributed to an atmosphere of anger and vengeance which resulted in the
abduction and burning alive of a Palestinian teenager by several Israelis. As
of almost three weeks later, there has been no evidence what so ever that the
Hamas leadership was involved or even knew in advance about the kidnapping.
Furthermore Max Blumenthal has reported, based on his sources inside Israeli
intelligence, Shin Bet, that they knew, with high probability, within hours of
the kidnapping that the three abducted youths had been killed. This news was
not released to the public thus permitting the ‘search and destroy’ operation
to continue. The rampage of Israeli soldiers in the west Bank was quickly
followed by aerial attacks by Israel into Gaza which killed seven Hamas
members. Thus the charge, by Mr Netanyahu, of Hamas responsibility in the
abduction and killing of the three Israelis, and the suppression of information
to the effect that the Israeli government knew the three Israeli youths had
been killed were disingenuous techniques of Mr Netanyahu to destroy or
seriously degrade Hamas and destroy the unity government which Mr Netanyahu so
despised.” (William James Martin ‘The War between Gaza and the Zionists’ http://www.palestinechronicle.com/the-war-between-gaza-and-the-zionists/#.U-1BAyhy_8s
August 01, 2014).
The views
of Sandy Tolan - August 12, 2014.
A few
weeks later, after three Israeli teenagers were abducted and murdered on the
West Bank, Israel blamed Hamas and launched Operation Brother’s Keeper. The Israeli military searched 2,200
West Bank Palestinian homes and arrested more than 400 Palestinians, mostly
Hamas members, holding at least 150 people without charges. Yet reports indicated that less than
10% of those taken in were even questioned about the kidnapping.” (Sandy Tolan
‘Blown Chances in Gaza: Israel and the U.S. Miss Many Chances to Avoid War’
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2014/08/12/blown-chances-gaza-israel-and-us-miss-many-chances-avoid-war
August 12, 2014).
The views
of Dan Glazebrook - August 15-17, 2014.
“The
following day, however, the apparent kidnapping of three Israeli settlers in
the West Bank provided the opportunity for a provocation on an altogether
larger scale. Having blamed the kidnapping on Hamas (without ever producing a
scrap of evidence), Netanyahu used it as an excuse for an attack on the entire
Hamas leadership in the West Bank, while his economy minister Naftali Bennett
announced that “We’re turning the membership card for Hamas into a ticket to
hell”. Operation Brother’s Keeper did precisely that, with 335 Hamas leaders
arrested (including over 50 who had only just been released under a prisoner
exchange scheme), and well over 1000 house raids (which left them looking “like
an earthquake had taken place” according to one Palestinian activist). Noam
Chomsky notes: “The 18-day rampage….did succeed in undermining the feared unity
government, and sharply increasing Israeli repression. According to Israeli
military sources, Israeli soldiers arrested 419 Palestinians, including 335
affiliated with Hamas, and killed six Palestinians, also searching thousands of
locations and confiscating $350,000. Israel also conducted dozens of attacks in
Gaza, killing 5 Hamas members on July 7. Hamas finally reacted with its first
rockets in 19 months, Israeli officials reported, providing Israel with the
pretext for Operation Protective Edge on July 8.” Thus having killed eleven
Palestinians in under a month, Israel then used retaliatory rocket attacks
which killed no one as an excuse to launch the biggest slaughter of
Palestinians in decades.” (Dan Glazebrook ‘Israel’s Real Target is Not Hamas’
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/08/15/israels-real-target-is-not-hamas/ August
15-17, 2014).
Netanyahu triggered the war to prevent a merger between Hamas and the PA and thus block peace talks to create a Palestinian State - not Hamas’s Rockets.
The views
of Ramzy Baroud - July 16, 2014.
“Even if
Hamas succeeded in establishing a new brand based on the resistance/political
model, Israel was determined to deactivate any potential for Palestinian unity.
Destroying that unity became almost an obsession for Netanyahu.” (Ramzy Baroud
Ravaging Gaza: The War Netanyahu Cannot Possibly Win’ http://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/07/16-6
July 16, 2014).
The views
of Nathan Thrall - July 17, 2014.
“As Hamas
fires rockets at Israeli cities and Israel follows up its extensive airstrikes
with a ground operation in the Gaza Strip, the most immediate cause of this
latest war has been ignored: Israel and much of the international community
placed a prohibitive set of obstacles in the way of the Palestinian “national
consensus” government that was formed in early June. Israel immediately sought
to undermine the reconciliation agreement by preventing Hamas leaders and Gaza
residents from obtaining the two most essential benefits of the deal: the
payment of salaries to 43,000 civil servants who worked for the Hamas
government and continue to administer Gaza under the new one, and the easing of
the suffocating border closures imposed by Israel and Egypt that bar most
Gazans’ passage to the outside world. Yet, in many ways, the reconciliation
government could have served Israel’s interests. It offered Hamas’s political
adversaries a foothold in Gaza; it was formed without a single Hamas member; it
retained the same Ramallah-based prime minister, deputy prime ministers,
finance minister and foreign minister; and, most important, it pledged to
comply with the three conditions for Western aid long demanded by America and
its European allies: nonviolence, adherence to past agreements and recognition
of Israel. Instead, after Hamas transferred authority to a government of
pro-Western technocrats, life in Gaza became worse. Hamas is now seeking
through violence what it couldn’t obtain through a peaceful handover of
responsibilities. Israel is pursuing a return to the status quo ante, when Gaza
had electricity for barely eight hours a day, water was undrinkable, sewage was
dumped in the sea, fuel shortages caused sanitation plants to shut down and
waste sometimes floated in the streets. Patients needing medical care couldn’t
reach Egyptian hospitals, and Gazans paid $3,000 bribes for a chance to exit
when Egypt chose to open the border crossing.” (Nathan Thrall ‘How the West
Chose War in Gaza’ http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/18/opinion/gaza-and-israel-the-road-to-war-paved-by-the-west.html?_r=1
July 17, 2014).
The views
of Henry Siegman - July 22, 2014.
“Israel’s
assault on Gaza, as pointed out by analyst Nathan Thrall in the New York Times,
was not triggered by Hamas’ rockets directed at Israel but by Israel’s
determination to bring down the Palestinian unity government that was formed in
early June, even though that government was committed to honoring all of the
conditions imposed by the international community for recognition of its
legitimacy.” (Henry Siegman ‘Israel Provoked This War’ http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/07/israel-provoked-this-war-109229.html#.U9I4pihy_8s
July 22, 2014).
The views
of Stephen M. Walt - July 22, 2014.
“And why
did Netanyahu decide to go on another rampage in Gaza? As Nathan Thrall of the
International Crisis Group points out, the real motive is neither vengeance nor
a desire to protect Israel from Hamas' rocket fire, which has been virtually
non-existent over the past two years and is largely ineffectual anyway.
Netanyahu's real purpose was to undermine the recent agreement between Hamas
and Fatah for a unity government. Given Netanyahu's personal commitment to
keeping the West Bank and creating a "greater Israel," the last thing
he wants is a unified Palestinian leadership that might press him to get
serious about a two-state solution. Ergo, he sought to isolate and severely
damage Hamas and drive a new wedge between the two Palestinian factions.”
(Stephen M. Walt ‘AIPAC Is the Only Explanation for America's Morally Bankrupt
Israel Policy’
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephen-m-walt/aipac-americas-israel-policy_b_5607883.html?utm_hp_ref=tw
July 22, 2014).
The views
of Jonathan Cook - July 24, 2014.
“It is no
surprise that Netanyahu has been acting in bad faith, and that his military
campaigns in the West Bank and Gaza are designed to disrupt the recent
reconciliation between Hamas and Abbas’ Fatah.” (Jonathan Cook ‘US Plays
Decisive Role in Israel’s Attack on Gaza’ http://original.antiwar.com/cook/2014/07/23/us-plays-decisive-role-in-israels-attack-on-gaza/
July 24, 2014).
The views
of Mitchell Plitnick - July 24, 2014.
“Israel’s
goal in starting this round of fighting was to destroy the unity deal between
the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.” (Mitchell Plitnick ‘Is Hamas Winning?’ http://www.lobelog.com/is-hamas-winning/
July 24, 2014).
The views
of Fouad al-Ibrahim - July 25, 2014.
“Abbas
felt that the Saudi proposal represents political suicide for him and the
Palestinian people and that it is intended, ultimately, to undermine national
reconciliation and ignite a Palestinian civil war, especially after sensing the
efficacy of the Resistance even in negotiations with Israel. Abbas cancelled
his trip from Amman to Jeddah after receiving information about the Saudi offer
and returned to Ramallah having decided to address his people directly. He said
the main reason behind the Israeli aggression is to “abort the national
reconciliation process.” He spoke of the need to “take the Palestinian cause
out of the political crossfire,” and stressed “the Palestinian leadership’s
insistence on national unity and ending internal divisions.” He also embraced
the conditions of the Resistance even though he did say the priority is to end
the Israeli assault on Gaza.” (Fouad al-Ibrahim ‘Saudi Arabia behind effort to
disarm the Palestinian Resistance’ http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/saudi-arabia-behind-effort-disarm-palestinian-resistance
July 25, 2014).
The views
of Adam Horowitz and Phil Weiss - July 26, 2014.
“This
version of events is so important, because what the Weapons of Mass Destruction
were to the Iraq war — a dubious pretext — the three teens are to the Gaza
onslaught. Let’s review. The three teens were abducted on June 12. That same
day Israeli authorities received a desperate phone call from one of the boys
that contained gunfire at its conclusion. The supposition that the boys were dead
was advanced when Israeli authorities found the car in which the abduction had
taken place, with evidence they’d been shot. The information about the gunshots
on that desperate last phone call was widely known in the media, but as we
reported, the Israeli government issued a gag order against these facts being
published. And over the last two-and-a-half weeks of June, the Israelis
launched extensive raids across the West Bank, locking down Hebron, supposedly
to find the boys. But the major focus of the raids was rooting out Hamas
affiliates and arresting them. In fact, the purpose of the raids seemed to be
to break up the recent unity government between Hamas and Fatah, which Israel
has vigorously opposed.” (Adam Horowitz and Phil Weiss ‘Claim that Hamas killed
3 teens is turning out to be the WMD of Gaza onslaught’ http://mondoweiss.net/2014/07/killed-turning-onslaught.html
July 26, 2014).
The views
of Mouin Rabbani - July 18, 2014.
“Israel
received another blow on 2 June, when a new Palestinian Authority government
was inaugurated, following the April reconciliation agreement between Hamas and
Fatah. Hamas endorsed the new government even though it was given no cabinet
posts and the government’s composition and political programme were virtually
indistinguishable from its predecessor’s. With barely a protest from the
Islamists, Abbas repeatedly and loudly proclaimed that the government accepted
the Middle East Quartet’s demands: that it recognise Israel, renounce violence
and adhere to past agreements. He also announced that Palestinian security
forces in the West Bank would continue their security collaboration with
Israel. When both Washington and Brussels signalled their intention to
co-operate with the new government, alarm bells went off in Israel. Its usual
assertions that Palestinian negotiators spoke only for themselves – and would
therefore prove incapable of implementing any agreement – had begun to look
shaky: the Palestinian leadership could now claim not only to represent both
the West Bank and the Gaza Strip but also to have co-opted Hamas into
supporting a negotiated two-state settlement, if not the Oslo framework as a
whole. There might soon be increased international pressure on Israel to
negotiate seriously with Abbas. The formaldehyde was beginning to evaporate.”
(Mouin Rabbani ‘Israel mows the lawn’ http://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n15/mouin-rabbani/israel-mows-the-lawn
July 18, 2014).
The views
of Ran HaCohen - August 02, 2014.
“This
period of planned national hysteria was used, first, to incite the masses
against “the kidnappers” of “our children”. Whipped up by the hysteria and
taking the law into their own hands, Jews burnt a teenage Arab boy alive.
Second, the drama enabled Netanyahu to blame Hamas for the kidnapping – an
outright lie, since the names of the kidnappers were known to Israel all along.
Clearly they were not Hamas activists. Third, the run-up period was used to
drag Hamas into the fighting: Hamas (in Gaza) denied responsibility for the
kidnapping (which took place in the West Bank) and refrained from firing at
Israel (it was the Islamic Jihad who fired), yet Israel still attacked Hamas
targets, in an obvious effort to drag them into the war.” (Ran HaCohen ‘Yet
Another War of Deceit’ http://original.antiwar.com/hacohen/2014/08/01/yet-another-war-of-deceit/
August 02, 2014).
The views
of Jonathan Cook - August 04, 2014.
“It seems
Netanyahu wanted to end a strategic threat: not Hamas rockets or tunnels, but
the establishment of a unity government between Hamas and its long-time rivals
Fatah. Palestinian unity risked reviving pressure on him to negotiate, or face
a renewed and more credible Palestinian campaign for statehood at the United
Nations.” (Jonathan Cook ‘Eyeless in Gaza’ http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/08/04/eyeless-in-gaza/
August 04, 2014).
The views
of Mitchell Plitnick - August 13, 2014.
“Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was concerned that a unified Palestinian government
would be in a better position to restart the peace process to which he is so
opposed, and possibly even wrangle international pressure toward some small
concessions from Israel. He needed an opportunity to shatter that unity
government without incurring the wrath such open defiance could bring,
especially from Europe. The second event was the spark that gave Netanyahu just
what he wanted. The kidnapping and murder of three youths from an Israeli
settlement presented him with a political opportunity and he seized it. By the
morning after the event, the Israeli government knew the youths were dead.
Israelis are somewhat accustomed to people being killed, but when they are held
captive, the country becomes incensed. So, Netanyahu maintained a charade about
the young men being alive to whip the country into a frenzy. As the anger in
Israel built up, Netanyahu stoked the Palestinian fire with a massive operation
in the West Bank, targeting Hamas operatives. The Israelis did this knowing
that the kidnapping was not a Hamas operation, but one perpetrated by the
Qawasmeh clan, which is affiliated with Hamas but is notorious for acting on
its own. Recently, Israel has tried to cover up this aspect with claims about
the perpetrators having received “funding” from Hamas. But that is a thin tale;
this act didn’t require any funding. So Israeli forces swept through the West Bank,
sometimes encountering resistance that resulted in several Palestinian deaths,
and brought the day-to-day lives of tens of thousands of Palestinians to a
halt. They arrested hundreds without charge, including many who had been
released in 2011 as part of the swap for the captured Israeli soldier, Gilad
Shalit. That was a breach of the exchange agreement and a very sore point for
Palestinians across the board.” (Mitchell Plitnick ‘Framing the Gaza Narrative’
http://www.lobelog.com/framing-the-gaza-narrative/ August 13, 2014).
“The
escalation to this conflict was caused by Israel’s attempt to shatter the
Palestinian unity government.” (Mitchell Plitnick Framing the Gaza Narrative’ http://www.lobelog.com/framing-the-gaza-narrative/
August 13, 2014).
Abbas condemns Hamas ….
The views
of Matthew Kalman - August 04, 2014.
“The tacit
approval for the destruction of Hamas extends to the Palestinian Authority,
where President Mahmoud Abbas has insisted that the unity agreement signed
earlier this year must involve the dismantling of Iz al-Din al-Qassam, the
armed wing of Hamas. Abbas’s frustration with the Hamas militia boiled over in
public as the Israeli air attacks began, when he blamed Hamas, not Israel, for
the rising tensions. “What are you trying to achieve by sending rockets?” Abbas
asked in remarks broadcast by Palestine TV in early July. “We prefer to fight
with wisdom and politics. It’s not important who wins or loses,” he said.
“What’s important is to end this bloodshed.”” (Matthew Kalman ‘Can Netanyahu
pluck peace from the rubble of Gaza?’
http://normanfinkelstein.com/2014/israels-endgame/ August 04, 2014).
… but the Jos sees Abbas as an Extremist.
The views
of Matthew Kalman - August 04, 2014.
“As Barak Ravid pointed out in these
pages Sunday, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni has long been pushing her Israeli
cabinet colleagues to stop branding Abbas as an extremist and start to see him
as a potential partner, not a problem.” (Matthew Kalman ‘Can Netanyahu pluck
peace from the rubble of Gaza?’ http://normanfinkelstein.com/2014/israels-endgame/
August 04, 2014).
The views
of Uri Avnery - August 1-3, 2014.
“For
example: what do we want from Mahmoud Abbas? For many years the Israeli
leadership has openly disparaged him. Ariel Sharon famously called him a “plucked
chicken”. Israeli rightists believe that he is “more dangerous than Hamas”,
since the naïve Americans are more likely to listen to him. Binyamin Netanyahu
did everything possible to destroy his standing and sabotaged all peace
negotiations with him. They vilified him for seeking reconciliation with Hamas.
As Netanyahu put it, with his usual talent for sound bites, “peace with us or
peace with Hamas’. But this week, our leaders were feverishly reaching out to
Abbas, crowning him as the only real leader of the Palestinian people,
demanding that he play a leading role in the ceasefire negotiations. All
Israeli commentators declared that one of the great achievements of the war was
the creation of a political bloc consisting of Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the
Gulf Emirates and Abbas. Yesterday’s “no-partner” is now a staunch ally. The
trouble is that many Palestinians now despise Abbas, while looking with
admiration upon Hamas, the shining symbol of Arab honor. In Arab culture, honor
plays a far larger role than in Europe.” (Uri Avnery Meeting in a Tunnel’
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/08/01/meeting-in-a-tunnel/ August 1-3, 2014).
The views
of Uri Avnery - August 8-10, 2014.
“Two
months ago, Abbas was the punch bag of Netanyahu. Now he is the pet of Netanyahu
and Israeli public opinion. At the same time, paradoxically, Abbas and Hamas
have also been drawn closer together.” (Uri Avnery ‘Hamas and Israeli Paranoia’
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/08/08/hamas-and-israeli-paranoia/ August 8-10,
2014).
Ceasefire to enable PA to take over from Hamas in Gaza.
The views
of Mitchell Plitnick - July 24, 2014.
“Israel’s
goal in starting this round of fighting was to destroy the unity deal between
the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. Thus far, the opposite seems to have
materialized. Abbas is in agreement with Hamas’ goals, and is apparently fully
representing them. That represents a major failure for Netanyahu. But that
outcome is far from assured. Israel is reportedly considering a ceasefire deal
that would be modeled after the 2006 accord achieved in Lebanon. If that were
followed, the PA would assume control over Gaza. Hamas might have a tough time
arguing with that, given their defense of the unity government. The PA would
have, presumably, the same armament it has in the West Bank, but all other
factions would be forced to disarm, surrender rockets and dismantle tunnels
under international inspection. And in exchange, Israel would end its blockade
of Gaza’s coastline and ease restrictions at the border crossings. That sort of
agreement would absolutely represent a Palestinian victory, but it would also
mean Hamas would no longer exercise control over Gaza. They would sacrifice
their ability to re-launch an armed resistance until they could find a way to
re-arm clandestinely. That might prove very difficult — they haven’t been very
successful at it in the West Bank, largely due to PA efforts. For the group
itself, it would mean a major loss. But the objectives of the current fighting
would have been achieved — ending the siege and preserving the unity
government.” (Mitchell Plitnick ‘Is Hamas Winning?’
http://www.lobelog.com/is-hamas-winning/ July 24, 2014).
The views
of Matthew Kalman - August 04, 2014.
Many
commentators believe that it was the unification of palestinians that led netti
to attack gaza and yet kalman is suggesting that after a ceasefire the palestinian
authority should unify the palestinians with netti’s support. “The election
will pave the way for the return of PA control to Gaza and political reunification
with the West Bank without the threat of Hamas and other radicals undermining
the calm.” (Matthew Kalman ‘Can Netanyahu pluck peace from the rubble of Gaza?’
http://normanfinkelstein.com/2014/israels-endgame/ August 04, 2014).
The views
of Yair Lapid, Jos Finance Minister - August 11, 2014.
“Finance
Minister Yair Lapid on Monday called on the international community to pull
together a massive aid package for Gaza conditioned on the Palestinian
Authority returning to power in place of the Islamic militant group Hamas.
Lapid said that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is the legitimate authority
in Gaza, which was been blockaded since Hamas seized control there in 2007. If Hamas were removed, the blockade
would end, achieving Hamas' own stated purpose in its firing of rockets on
Israel, Lapid said. In a phone interview with the Associated Press, the finance
minister argued that Israeli-Palestinian negotiations currently being mediated
by Egypt should lead to a reopening of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt
and Gaza, with the Gaza side controlled by the Palestinian Authority instead of
Hamas. As a next step, he said, Abbas should be in charge of any aid the world
community donates to the rehabilitation of Gaza, he said. "I think this is
possible," Lapid said. "We have to remember that the PA was in charge
of Gaza and is still the legal ruler of Gaza, and should be there instead of
Hamas, which is a terror organization." The involvement of the
international community and the Arab world was needed to put pressure on the
militants, so "we think we should involve the Arab world into the process,
and we should involve the entire international community."” (Associated
Press ‘Lapid: Gaza aid should be tied to restored PA rule’ http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4557707,00.html
August 11, 2014).
The views
of Yair Lapid, Jos Finance Minister - August 12, 2014.
“Things
have changed, don’t you agree?” Yair Lapid, Israel’s finance minister and the
leader of the government’s second-largest party, Yesh Atid, said in a telephone
interview on Tuesday. “One of the problems we had with what they called the
technocratic government was that everyone felt Hamas was too strong and might
take over,” Mr. Lapid said. “Hamas has weakened since then, both militarily and
policywise.” If Israel had worried before that the Palestinian reconciliation
government supported by Hamas was “a tool for Hamas to go to the West Bank, now
it can be a tool for bringing the West Bank to Gaza,” he added.” (Isabel
Kershner ‘Role in Gaza Talks Signals a Comeback for Abbas’ http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/13/world/middleeast/role-in-gaza-talks-signals-a-comeback-for-abbas.html?_r=0
August 12, 2014).
The views
of Isabel Kershner - August 12, 2014.
“Udi
Dekel, a former lead Israeli negotiator with the Palestinians who is now a
research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv,
said that most of the Israeli government supported this idea of “turning the
reconciliation inside out.” “The direction, without saying it loud and clear,
is that Israel is reconciling itself to the reconciliation and trying to reap
some benefits,” Mr. Dekel said. Evidence of a change in Israeli policy came
with the arrival of Ziad Abu Amr, the deputy prime minister of the Palestinian
Authority, in Gaza on Tuesday. Mr. Abu Amr said that the Israelis had
repeatedly denied him a travel permit from the West Bank during the fighting,
but that word came around 10 a.m. that he could enter Gaza through Israel’s
Erez crossing. “I hope the Israelis are changing their mind and lifting the ban
on the national reconciliation government,” he said in an interview. “I think
Cairo is having a sobering effect. It’s going to bring everyone back to see
reality and to be realistic.” Mr. Lapid and other centrist ministers have put
forward their own plans in recent days for an ambitious new order, including
the restoration of Palestinian Authority control in Gaza. That ended in 2007,
when Hamas routed Mr. Abbas’s forces, leading to a bitter seven-year schism
between the Palestinian factions.” (Isabel Kershner ‘Role in Gaza Talks Signals
a Comeback for Abbas’ http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/13/world/middleeast/role-in-gaza-talks-signals-a-comeback-for-abbas.html?_r=0
August 12, 2014).
The Human Devastation of Gaza.
After 50
days, the war is over. Hallelujah. On the Israeli side: 71 dead, among them 66
soldiers, 1 child. On the Palestinian side: 2,143 dead, 577 of them children,
263 women, 102 elderly. 11,230 injured. 10,800 buildings destroyed. 8,000
partially destroyed. About 40,000 damaged homes. Among the damaged buildings:
277 schools, 10 hospitals, 70 mosques, 2 churches. Also, 12 West Bank
demonstrators, mostly children, who were shot.” (Uri Avnery ‘The War for
Nothing’ http://original.antiwar.com/avnery/2014/08/29/the-war-for-nothing/ August
30, 2014).
The Economic Devastation of Gaza.
The views
of Dr. Mona El-Farra - August 14, 2014.
“I drove
down Salaheddin Road and passed rubble from mosques, houses, and factories.
Some buildings were destroyed completely and some partially. Later on in my
drive, I saw dozens of big trees uprooted and smashed, fruit trees destroyed
and farms and gardens decimated and ruined. The Israeli bombs were aimed to destroy the infrastructure, to destroy
Gaza’s economy. Even the main cookie factory was targeted and destroyed.” (Dr.
Mona El-Farra ‘Gaza: Whole Villages Have Been Wiped Off the Map’ http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/08/14/gaza-whole-villages-have-been-wiped-off-the-map/
August 14, 2014).
The views
of Dan Glazebrook - August 15-17, 2014.
Third, the onslaught was
an opportunity to destroy as much as possible of the infrastructure that would
provide the basis for a Palestinian state. Of course, as the Israelis openly
stated, this includes the military defence infrastructure, primitive as it is,
but also all the economic infrastructure necessary for a functioning society.
Thus, Israeli shelling destroyed Gaza’s only power plant, cutting off
electricity for 80% of Gaza’s 1.6 million inhabitants, as well as dozens of
wells, reservoirs and water pipelines, according to a recent report by Oxfam. A
summary by Middle East Monitor notes that Oxfam “estimate that 15,000 tons of
solid waste is rotting on the streets, wastewater pumping stations are on the
verge of running out of fuel and many neighbourhoods have been without power
for days, due to Israel’s bombing of the only power plant in Gaza. Oxfam said it was working in an environment
that has a completely destroyed water infrastructure that prevents people in
Gaza from cooking, flushing toilets, or washing hands, emphasising that the
huge risk to public health. “Gaza’s infrastructure will take months or
years to fully recover,” the head of Oxfam in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory and Israel reported.” The head of UNICEF’s field office in Gaza, Pernille
Ironside, added that “There is a very limited amount of water available and it
is used for drinking which means that there is no enough water for sanitary
purposes. We see children who come from shelters infected with scabies, lice
and all kinds of infectious diseases. The worst thing is that most people
outside the shelters did not receive water for several weeks now. It is
horrible that they have not been able to receive any clean drinking water that
is not contaminated by sewage which can lead to diarrhoea and increases child
mortality, especially among those under five years old”.
In
addition to attacks on water and electricity infrastructure, the private
economy has also come under attack. The biggest factory in Gaza, a biscuit
factory that had just won the contract to supply the UN in Gaza, was completely
obliterated by Israeli shellfire, and even conservative British daily the
Telegraph notes that “anecdotal evidence of the systematic destruction of
Gaza’s civilian economy and infrastructure is compelling”. The report continues: “Outside central Gaza City, a string of
businesses with no obvious links to militant activities lie in ruins after
being demolished by missiles or shells. They include a plastics factory, a
sponge-making plant and even the headquarters of the territory’s main fruit
distribution near the northern town of Beit Hanoun, much of which has been
levelled in the Israeli land invasion.
"A few
miles north of the Alawada plant, the headquarters of the El Majd Industrial
and Trading Corporation – producing cardboard boxes, cartons and plastic bags –
was reduced to a heap of concrete and twisted metal. It had taken two direct
hits from missiles fired by an Israeli war plane in the early hours of Monday
morning, according to Hassan Jihad, 25, the factory caretaker, who survived
fortuitously because he had moved to the company’s administrative headquarters
outside the main factory for the duration of the conflict. He too had little
doubt about the reason behind the strike. “The Israelis are trying to destroy
the economy and paralyse Gaza,” he said. “This is the only factory in the Gaza
Strip producing cardboard containers. We don’t have any rockets in the place.”
Roward International, Gaza’s biggest dairy importer and distribution company, met
a similar fate on Thursday afternoon. Its plant in the al-Karama neighbourhood
was totally flattened by a missile after an Israeli army operator phoned in a
warning in time for its 60 workers to be evacuated. Majdi Abu Hamra, 35,
accounts manager in the family-run business, said the firm bought milk from
producers in the West Bank, before importing it into Gaza via Israel. The
territory’s main power plant – also on Salaheddin Road, not far from the
Alawada factory – went up in flames last Tuesday after being struck by Israeli
shells. Israel denied targeting the plant but experts say it is now out of
commission for the next year, leaving Gaza virtually without any electricity
other than that supplied by generators. The resulting shortage has already
affected the water supply, with power now insufficient to pump water to homes
located above ground level. In addition, a public health crisis may be looming
after two sewage pumping stations – one in the crowded Zeitoun area, the other
near Gaza’s coastal road – were damaged in strikes on neighbouring targets,
prompting UN officials to warn that raw sewage could flow onto the streets in
the coming days. Trond Husby, head of the UN’s development programme in Gaza,
was non-committal when asked if he believed Israeli forces were deliberately
targeting private businesses in Gaza. But about the effects of the damage, he
was unequivocal. “This is a humanitarian disaster,” he said. “I was in Somalia
for two years, Sierra Leone for five, and also South Sudan and Uganda, and this
beats them all for the level of destruction.””” (Dan Glazebrook ‘Israel’s Real
Target is Not Hamas’
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/08/15/israels-real-target-is-not-hamas/ August
15-17, 2014).
The views
of The Food and Agriculture Organization - August 15, 2014.
The Food
and Agriculture Organization on Thursday warned that the Israeli assault on
Gaza had caused extensive damage to the coastal enclave's agricultural sector
and would have long-term consequences. The FAO said in a statement that the five-week
assault had "forced farmers and herders to abandon their lands and has
paralyzed fishing activities, bringing local food production to a halt and
severely affecting livelihoods." "The recent fighting has resulted in
substantial direct damage to Gaza's 17,000 hectares of croplands as well as
much of its agricultural infrastructure, including greenhouses, irrigation
systems, animal farms, fodder stocks and fishing boats," the statement
continued.” (FAO: Damage to Gaza agriculture will have long-lasting effects’
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=720808 August 15, 2014).
The views
of Martin Lejeune - August 18, 2014.
But it was
not only factories, hospitals, schools, farms, agricultural land, and the
famous orange groves of Beit Hanoun that were bombed during the worst of the
Israeli assault between July 6 and Aug. 3. Gaza’s sole power station, its
largest mosques, and the building of the popular TV station Al-Quds were also
hit, while tens of thousands of private homes were destroyed or severely
damaged. He also said that Israeli army completely destroyed 220 factories in
the campaign, while hundreds more suffered partial damage.” (Martin Lejeune ‘Is
Israel De-Industrializing Gaza?’
http://www.juancole.com/2014/08/israel-industrializing-gaza.html August 18,
2014).
The views
of Jodi Rudoren and Fares Akram - August 06, 2014.
“During
Israel’s month long air-and-ground assault on the Gaza Strip, the world’s
attention has focused on the more than 1,800 Palestinians killed and the more
than 30,000 homes destroyed or damaged. But as a temporary truce held and talks
toward a longer-term cease-fire began Wednesday, business leaders said that 175
of Gaza’s most successful industrial plants had also taken devastating hits,
plunging an already despairing economy into a deeper abyss.” (Jodi Rudoren and
Fares Akram ‘Conflict Leaves Industry in Ashes and Gaza Reeling From Economic
Toll’
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/07/world/middleeast/after-conflict-gaza-industry-lies-in-ashes.html?_r=1
August 06, 2014).
The views
of Harriet Sherwood - August 22, 2014.
“Gaza's
economy will take years to recover from the devastating impact of the war, in
which more than 360 factories have been destroyed or badly damaged and
thousands of acres of farmland ruined by tanks, shelling and air strikes,
according to analysts. Almost 10% of Gaza's factories have been put out of
action, said the Palestinian Federation of Industries. Most other industrial
plants have halted production during the conflict, causing losses estimated at
more than $70m (£42m), said the union of Palestinian industries. The UN's food
and agriculture organisation (FAO) said about 42,000 acres of croplands had
sustained substantial direct damage and half of Gaza's poultry stock has been
lost due to direct hits or lack of care as access to farmlands along the border
with Israel became impossible.” (Harriet Sherwood ‘Gaza counts cost of war as
more than 360 factories destroyed or damaged’ http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/22/gaza-economic-cost-war-factories-destroyed
August 22, 2014).
Notes |
[i] They include
Nathan Thrall ‘How the West Chose War
in Gaza’ http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/18/opinion/gaza-and-israel-the-road-to-war-paved-by-the-west.html?_r=1
July 17, 2014.
Mouin Rabbani ‘Israel mows the lawn’ http://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n15/mouin-rabbani/israel-mows-the-lawn
July 18, 2014.
William James Martin ‘The War between
Gaza and the Zionists’ http://www.palestinechronicle.com/the-war-between-gaza-and-the-zionists/#.U-1BAyhy_8s
August 01, 2014.
[ii] The palestinian authority always complied with the demands placed
upon it by the racist state because this was the only way it could survive.
“The PA has gone even further cooperating with Israel to ensure the demise of
the Palestinian "radicals", as in those who insist on resisting the
occupation. Thanks to the PA, the price for the Israeli occupation has never
been so cheap. Despite repeated attempts at re-activating the so-called peace
process, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has always found a way to
torpedo such efforts, even those promoted by his closest allies in Washington.
Abbas had done a great deal to ensure that Israel feels no pressure to
negotiate. Every attempt at resistance, even by standing peacefully with
placards and banners in Ramallah's al-Manara Square was crushed; often
brutally.” (Ramzy Baroud ‘Uphill task for Israel's apologists’ http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MID-01-180814.html
August 18, 2014).
It plays an identical role to that of
the judenrate established by the nazis during the second world war to ensure
the co-operation of jewish communities throughout Europe.
[iii] See also, “On June 2 of this year, Fatah, ostensibly in control in
the West Bank, and Hamas, voted in democratically to govern the Gaza Strip,
united, following a years- long estrangement. That estrangement had been seen
as an impediment to any peace agreement with Israel, and the reconciliation was
accepted by much of the world. Incredibly, even the United States, Israel’s
open-ended checkbook and reliable ‘yes-man’, said it would work with the new
government.” (Robert Fantina ‘Israel’s Goal is Not Peace’ http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/07/25/israels-goal-is-not-peace/
July 25-27, 2014).
[iv] See also, “Although the US did not change its policy toward Hamas
after June 2, it did give formal recognition to the new government. The reason
for this recognition was not because Hamas was no longer perceived to be a
terrorist organization; it was because, with the Islamist movement’s own
acquiescence, the new government excluded Hamas, was stacked with ministers
committed to opposing Hamas’s program, and offered Fatah a foothold in Gaza for
the first time in seven years. In Gaza and the West Bank, the new government is
understood by all factions to belong to Ramallah. That is no less true today
than before the kidnapping. The new government contains not a single
Hamas-affiliated minister and strongly resembles the previous Fatah-led government
in Ramallah, retaining the same prime minister, deputy prime ministers, finance
minister, and foreign minister. It also pledged to pursue the political program
of Fatah leader, PLO Chairman, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud
Abbas, and, most importantly, to meet the three above mentioned conditions for
Western aid.” (Nathan Thrall ‘Whose Palestine?’ http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2014/jun/19/whose-palestine/?insrc=rel
June 19, 2014); “Let us recall: On June 2, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas
announced the completion of an agreement unifying the two governments and to be
led by the moderate Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and
with ministries run mostly by technocrats ...” (William James Martin ‘The War
between Gaza and the Zionists’ http://www.palestinechronicle.com/the-war-between-gaza-and-the-zionists/#.U-1BAyhy_8s
August 01, 2014); “So matters continued until April 2014, when an important
event took place. The two major
Palestinian groupings, Gaza-based Hamas and the Fatah-dominated Palestinian
Authority in the West Bank signed a unity agreement. Hamas made major concessions. The unity government contained
none of its members or allies. In substantial measure, as Nathan Thrall
observes, Hamas turned over governance of Gaza to the PA. Several thousand PA
security forces were sent there and the PA placed its guards at borders and
crossings, with no reciprocal positions for Hamas in the West Bank security
apparatus. Finally, the unity government accepted the three conditions that
Washington and the European Union had long demanded: non-violence, adherence to
past agreements, and the recognition of Israel.” (Noam Chomsky ‘Ceasefires in
Which Violations Never Cease’ http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175892/ September
09, 2014); “The action by Egypt was so effective that, by the start of this
year, Hamas was almost bankrupt. Worse still, it had lost the support of its
long-time allies Syria, Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon because Hamas chose to
back the rebels fighting to unseat Assad. So weakened was Hamas that it was
forced into a deal with its oldest rival, the more moderate Palestinian
Authority, led by Mahmoud Abbas, in the West Bank. Three months ago it even
agreed to back a Palestinian unity government of technocrats – in which Hamas
was allowed no members – which recognised Israel and renounced violence. In the
past, the Israelis complained that the Palestinians were so fragmented that no
faction could deliver on any peace deal. Now Abbas had a controlling position.
Washington and Brussels backed him. Everything was in place for a package to
bring Gaza back under the control of Abbas, to disarm Hamas, to reopen crossing
points to Egypt and Israel, monitored by EU observers, and to pour millions of
dollars into Gaza's reconstruction as a precursor to a viable Palestinian
state.” (Paul Vallely ‘Israel-Gaza conflict: Israel's mowing of Gaza's lawn is
an unjust war’
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/israelgaza-conflict-israels-mowing-of-gazas-lawn-is-an-unjust-war-9659364.html
August 10, 2014); “Before the current operation began, Hamas was at one of the
lowest points in its history. Its alliance with Syria and Iran, its two main
sources of support, had grown weak. Hamas’s ideological and political affinity
with the Muslim Brotherhood turned from an asset into a burden, with the
downfall of the Brotherhood in Egypt and the rise of its fierce opponent,
General Abdel Fatah el-Sisi. Egypt’s closure of the Rafah crossing and the
tunnels on its border with Gaza undermined Hamas’s economic infrastructure. In
these circumstances, Hamas agreed last April to reconciliation with its
political rival Fatah, based on Fatah’s terms. For example, the agreement
called for a government of technocrats largely under the control of the
Palestinian Authority led by Mahmoud Abbas.” (Assaf Sharon ‘Failure in Gaza’ http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/sep/25/failure-gaza/
September 09, 2014 Published September 25, 2014).
[v] See also, “But instead of welcoming this sign of growing
moderation, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, resorted to his old
tactic of divide and rule.” (Paul Vallely ‘Israel-Gaza conflict: Israel's
mowing of Gaza's lawn is an unjust war’
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/israelgaza-conflict-israels-mowing-of-gazas-lawn-is-an-unjust-war-9659364.html
August 10, 2014).
[vi] “Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, however vowed never to work with
a government that included Hamas which he described, as is normal for him, as a
‘terrorist’ organization and also admonished western governments including the
US not to conduct discussions with them, a call that went mostly unheeded, to
Mr Netanyahu’s great frustration.” (William James Martin ‘The War between Gaza
and the Zionists’ http://www.palestinechronicle.com/the-war-between-gaza-and-the-zionists/#.U-1BAyhy_8s
August 01, 2014).
[vii] See, “Yet, in many ways, the reconciliation government could have
served Israel’s interests. It offered Hamas’s political adversaries a foothold
in Gaza; it was formed without a single Hamas member; it retained the same
Ramallah-based prime minister, deputy prime ministers, finance minister and
foreign minister; and, most important, it pledged to comply with the three
conditions for Western aid long demanded by America and its European allies:
nonviolence, adherence to past agreements and recognition of Israel.” (Nathan
Thrall ‘How the West Chose War in Gaza’
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/18/opinion/gaza-and-israel-the-road-to-war-paved-by-the-west.html?_r=1
July 17, 2014).
[viii] And once a palestinian state has been created it would gain
ownership over the natural gas deposits found off the shores of gaza which
would lead to a huge economic improvement in palestinian lives.
[ix] Netanyahu may also have feared that palestinian national elections
to a new unified palestinian authority would undermine the zionists’ claim to
being the only democracy in the middle east.
[x] “I spent many hours talking to thoughtful Israelis, who voiced
their fears about the perils, the threatened corruption of their own society,
which they perceived in the 1967 conquests. I also became dismayed by the naked
imperialism displayed by Israel's rightwing zealots. One night at a dinner
party in Jerusalem in 1977, I heard a young Israeli talking about the Arabs in terms
which chilled my blood. "In the next war," he said, "we've got
to get the Palestinians out of the West Bank for good." To me, in my
naivete, Israel's struggle had hitherto seemed that of a brilliant little
people, who had suffered the most
ghastly experience of the 20th century, struggling for survival amid a
hostile Middle East still bent upon their destruction. Now, suddenly, I found
myself meeting Israelis committed to the creation of a greater Israel embracing
the West Bank, who were utterly heedless of the fate of its inhabitants. The
Palestinians were perceived as losers, a mere incidental impediment to the
fulfilment of Israel's historic territorial destiny. By a curious quirk, that
young Israeli whom I heard enthuse about emptying the West Bank of Arabs was
Binyamin Netanyahu, today his country's prime minister.” (Max Hastings ‘The
paradox of Israel's pursuit of might’
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/may/09/israel-middle-east-max-hastings
May 09, 2009).
[xi] See for example, “Hamas, the main Palestinian party in the
conflict, which is also declared by Egypt's government as 'terrorist,' ….”
(Ramzy Baroud ‘Why Gaza was betrayed’ http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MID-02-270814.html
August 27, 2014).
[xii] The hamas leadership was not involved in the kidnapping. “Meshaal
acknowledged for the first time that Hamas members — but not the group's
political leadership — were behind the slaying of three Israeli settlers on the
West Bank in June. But he defended the murders as a legitimate action against
Israeli "illegal" occupation. "We were not aware of this action
taken by this group of Hamas members in advance," he said. "But we
understand people are frustrated under the occupation and the oppression, and
they take all kinds of action."” (Michael Isikoff ‘Hamas leader: Don't
compare us to ISIL’
http://news.yahoo.com/hamas-leader--don-t-compare-us-to-isil-193125056.html
August 23, 2014).
[xiii] Shlomi Eldar ‘Was Israeli public misled on abductions?’
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/07/misleading-kidnapping-almoz-hamas-vengeance-hatred.html
July 3, 2014
[xiv] Uri avnery has argued that the 2014 gaza massacre was just an
accident. “So what was it all about? The honest answer is: About nothing.
Neither side wanted it. Neither side started it. It just so happened.” (Uri
Avnery ‘The War for Nothing’ http://original.antiwar.com/avnery/2014/08/29/the-war-for-nothing/
August 30, 2014). If netti had not wanted this war he would not have lied about
hamas’s involvement in the deaths of these three settlers nor would he have
tried to whip up a war fever against hamas. It was his lies and political
manipulation that reveals that the one and only-jewish state was solely
responsible for provoking this war.
[xv] James Marc Leas ‘Why Did Bernie Sanders Get Gaza So Wrong?’ http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/07/24/why-did-bernie-sanders-get-gaza-so-wrong/
July 24, 2014.
[xvi] See also, “From the very first days of the war it became clear the
resistance could not be defeated, at least not as easily as Netanyahu had
expected. The more troops he invested in the war on Gaza, the more Israeli army
casualties increased. Netanyahu’s response was to increase the price of
Palestinian resistance by inflicting as much harm on Palestinian civilians as
possible: He killed over 1,900, wounded nearly 10,000, a vast majority of whom
were civilians, and destroyed numerous schools, mosques, hospitals, and
thousands of homes, thus sending hundreds of thousands of people on the run.
But where does one run when there is nowhere to go?” (Ramzy Baroud ‘Why Gaza
Fought Back’ http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/08/13/why-gaza-fought-back/ August
13, 2014); “But what he expected was a relatively easy battle. Netanyahu's war
was the Israeli leadership's attempt at capitalizing on Hamas's purported
decline. But the war was a disaster and it failed miserably. Netanyahu's
war-turned-genocide backfired beyond anyone's expectations. He helped resurrect
the very movement he tried to crush.” (Ramzy Baroud ‘Netanyahu loses plot to
new Gaza reality’ http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MID-01-100914.html September
10, 2014).
[xvii] American military officials allegedly expressed their surprise
about the scale of the jewish wehrmacht’s attack on gaza and the use of the
munitions that america had provided supposedly for its self-defence. “According
to this senior U.S. officer, who had access to the July 21 Pentagon summary of
the previous 24 hours of Israeli operations, the internal report showed that 11
Israeli artillery battalions — a minimum
of 258 artillery pieces, according to the officer’s estimate — pumped at
least 7,000 high explosive shells into the Gaza neighborhood, which included a
barrage of some 4,800 shells during a seven-hour period at the height of the
operation. Senior U.S. officers were stunned by the report.” (Mark Perry ‘Why
Israel’s bombardment of Gaza neighborhood left US officers ‘stunned’’ http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/8/26/israel-bombing-stunsusofficers.html
August 27, 2014).
Over the last few days of the massacre
in gaza, the jewish wehrmacht suddenly launched into a last minute campaign to
destroy as many high rise apartment buildings in gaza as possible. “Thousand of
homes (sic) were destroyed in order to break their spirit, some with some slim
pretext, others without any. In the last days, the Air Force systematically
brought down the luxurious high-rise buildings in the center of Gaza.” (Uri
Avnery ‘The War for Nothing’ http://original.antiwar.com/avnery/2014/08/29/the-war-for-nothing/
August 30, 2014). It is simply not feasible to believe that these buildings
were being hit because hamas freedom fighters had suddenly decided to make use
of them for firing rockets at the racist state. There was no military objective
to the leveling of these buildings. What this destruction reveals is that the
racist state was carrying out its genocidal policy of making gaza as
uninhabitable as possible in order to force as many palestinians as possible to
leave gaza.
[xviii] Even seasoned palestinian commentators were surprised by the
success of hamas’s resistance, “The renewed success of Hamas, which arguably
had been fading away into oblivion after the overthrow of Egypt's brotherhood,
and the severing of ties with Damascus and Tehran, was puzzling, and immensely
frustrating to these governments.” (Ramzy Baroud ‘Why Gaza was betrayed’ http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MID-02-270814.html
August 27, 2014).
[xix] See also, “Hamas had, in fact, been on the ropes earlier this year,
unable to pay salaries in Gaza following the regionwide counterrevolution that
overthrew its Muslim Brotherhood allies in Egypt. The resulting desperation
prompted Hamas to sign onto a unity agreement with Fatah on politically
unfavorable terms that were questioned by many of the movement’s activists on
the ground, effectively accepting a restoration of Palestinian Authority
control over the territory from which Hamas had ejected its security forces in
2007. Israel and the U.S. had worked to prevent that agreement — which involved
the creation of a unity government of technocrats — from being implemented. As
a result of Operation Protective Edge, however, the Israelis have been forced
to reconsider. Restoring control over Gaza by the Palestinian Authority, unity
government notwithstanding, has now become part of Israel’s own thinking about
a cease-fire — and the focus of diplomatic pressure by Israel’s allies. Even if
such a scenario reduces Hamas control, if it results in an easing of the siege,
Hamas will claim victory. “ (Tony Karon ‘As Gaza war winds down, who won the
strategic contest?’
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/8/6/as-gaza-war-windsdownwhowonthestrategiccontest.html
August 06, 2014). A member of netti’s cabinet publicly called for a palestinian
unity government that the war had been designed to prevent. ”If Israel had
worried before that the Palestinian reconciliation government supported by
Hamas was “a tool for Hamas to go to the West Bank, now it can be a tool for
bringing the West Bank to Gaza,” he added.” (Yair lapid, the jews-only state’s
finance minister and the leader of the government’s second-largest party,
quoted in Isabel Kershner ‘Role in Gaza Talks Signals a Comeback for Abbas’ http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/13/world/middleeast/role-in-gaza-talks-signals-a-comeback-for-abbas.html?_r=0
August 12, 2014); “Assaf Sharon of Tel Aviv University, the academic director
of a liberal think tank in Jerusalem, has a powerful piece in The New York
Review of Books. It makes the important point that Hamas was beleaguered before
the violence, isolated by the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and the
rise of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. This weakness lay behind the
reconciliation with Abbas. Netanyahu might have used this development to extend
Abbas’s authority into a more open Gaza at the expense of Hamas, the very
objective now apparently sought after so much needless loss of life.” (Roger
Cohen ‘A War of Choice in Gaza’
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/09/opinion/roger-cohen-a-war-of-choice-in-gaza.html?_r=0
September 08, 2014); “A case in point was when Hamas and Fatah suddenly agreed
to reconcile and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas established a
unity government, which faced harsh criticism from the government of Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. With the encouragement of Netanyahu himself and
his Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, the unity government became Israel’s “Great
Satan.” Then the Operation Protective Edge war erupted in Gaza. When it ended,
everyone begged Abbas and his government of technocrats to come and save the
day, deploy at the Rafah crossing and give everyone a ladder to get off their
high horse.” (Ben Caspit ‘US-Iran cooperation on IS makes Israel uneasy’
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/09/israel-iran-us-islamic-state-cooperation-nuclear-hamas.html#
September 09, 2014).
[xx] “So what was it all about? The honest answer is: About nothing.
Neither side wanted it. Neither side started it. It just so happened.” (Uri
Avnery ‘The War for Nothing’ http://original.antiwar.com/avnery/2014/08/29/the-war-for-nothing/
August 30, 2014).
Labels: The attack on Gaza, The Dahiya Doctrine, the Jews-only State, the one and only-jewish state
posted by The Mundi Club at 12:13 PM
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