Move South and Get Out! - Ethnic Cleansing of Gaza
By Bob Travica
On October 7, 2023, the military wing of Hamas committed crimes against Israeli citizens. That's a horrible tragedy. A day after, the Israeli government declared war on Gaza where the Hamas party is in power. We still don't know the real proportion of the October 7th tragedy nor how it happened. How is it possible that Hamas' long preps escaped Israel's advanced surveillance system? How did long-range rockets get into the sealed Gaza ghetto before the Israeli noses? How come the military and security forces were so asleep on October 7th? How many Israelis died at the hands of Israeli forces that day, which hit both the militants and their hostages in kibbutzim?
Three weeks later, we are witnessing an unprecedented
onslaught of the Israeli military on Gaza, a tiny land strip of 360 square km, that
is home to 2.3 million Palestinians. In three weeks of the war, Israel's war
machine killed 9,000 civilians, nearly as much as in 20 months of the Ukraine
war (1).
The Background
Gaza is practically a ghetto within the state of Israel. Israel created it via concrete walls, barbed wire fences, watchtowers,
reflectors, motion sensors, and remotely controlled weaponry. There is a North
exit into Israel, a South goods-only exit also to Israel, and one nearby to Egypt.
Institutionally, the Gaza Strip is the result of the unsuccessful implementation of
the 1947 UN resolution of partitioning the land between Palestinians and Jews after
colonial rule ceased. Historically, Gaza was part of the territory called
Palestine since the Roman Empire era. Beforehand, Jews originated there and
called it the Land of Israel. Arabs settled in the 7th century and controlled
it until Ottoman Turks took over and ruled for five centuries. The Zionist movement
was established in Europe in the 19th century with the mission of
reestablishing Israel. That happened in 1948. Jews became "Israelis,"
and Arabs "Palestinians." The percentage split between Israelis and
Palestinians was 30:70 in the combined population of 2.7 million.
The eviction of Palestinians to neighboring
countries began right away. There were wars between Israel and its neighbors
(Egypt, Syria, Jordan), in which it prevailed and enlarged the territory
controlled. In the short 1967 war, Israel occupied Golan Heights, Sinai
Peninsula, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, previously controlled by the neighbors
(Egypt ruled Gaza). Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem became Palestinian
territories under Israel's occupation. In 2005, Israeli forces unilaterally pulled
out of Gaza and sealed its borders (so-called "disengagement"). Insecurity
and violence continued. There were Palestinian uprisings, suicide attacks in
the streets of Israel, firearm battles… There were Israeli raids into Gaza,
with thousands killed.
Since 1948, many negotiations, diplomatic maneuvering, declarations,
and treaties unfolded. In 1974, the UN reaffirmed the 1947 resolution on land partitioning
known as the "two-state solution," reasserting Palestinians' right to
self-determination. While some progress was made in stabilizing relations
between Israel and its neighbors, no effective resolution to Palestinian
statehood has ever been reached. Israel has never accepted the condition of the
"two-state solution" to pull out of the territories occupied in 1967,
and the nationalists never accepted the idea of an independent Palestinian
state as a neighbor.
Today, the Palestinian Territories consist of Gaza and the West
Bank, both nested within Israel, numbering 5 million people; over 4 million
Palestinians live in neighboring countries, including refugee camps. The Israeli
Jewish population has grown 10-fold since 1948, owing to Jewish immigrants from abroad.
According to the UN, the West Bank is the Palestinian territory occupied by
Israel; this fact doesn't deter Jews from settling there with the support of right-wing
forces, such as the nationalist Likud Party now led by Benjamin Netanyahu. "We
have nowhere else to go" became the mantra of Jewish immigrants, which
expressed both honest patriotism and a neo-colonialist mentality.
Hamas entered the scene in 1987 – a radical party competing
with the older Fatah party and defeating it in the 2006 Gaza elections. The U.S.
and its allies denied Hamas' legitimacy, branding it a terrorist organization. Still,
Hamas established civil and military governance, although it hasn't been the sole
force in Gaza. Palestinian political and military players range from the political
left to the right. For example, Hamas is not jihadist while
Enter Iran, a regional player with a long history, and with a unique ethnicity and branch of Islam. Its involvement in regional affairs arises from contemporary ideological and longer-term political ambitions, which are carried out partly by militant agents. Iran has targeted Israel since its turning into a Shia theocracy in 1979, and it funds radicalized Palestinians (military Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad). And the list of interested regional parties doesn't end here; lately, Qatar and Turkey have got aboard by supporting Hamas.
Finally, more distant "friends" complete the picture - great powers interested in energy resources, weaponry markets for their
exports, and military positioning in the strategic geographical space. The
prominent ones are the U.S. and Russia/USSR. They back regional players (the US
backs Israel, Russia supports Egypt and Syria). Friends request favors that
hurt the other side's friends, thus the plot gets even trickier.
Looking at this history, Palestinians appear sandwiched
between Israel and their neighbors (Egypt, Jordan, and Syria).
Israel is hostile: it doesn't tolerate Palestinians and denies them statehood.
Neighbors appear friendly but attach strings: aid is mixed with nudging radicalized Palestinians to punch Israel. Small improvements in the Middle East
conundrum are short-lived and pale before the failures in solving the
Palestinian issue and the continuous radicalization across the board.
Unpacking Spins
The reporting of Western liberal media is a bit better than
in some other conflicts. For example, owing to the BBC, we see pictures of
civilian suffering, and get reports of Gaza's authorities. Commentators don't
refrain from using critical language in the context of the Israeli military's actions.
Still, twisted language is persistently fed to the public and media, creating
a biased picture of reality. Here are some examples of such spins unpacked.
As opposed to what we've been told, it is not just the "Hamas terrorists" that resist Israel's onslaught, but a broader coalition of fighters defending Gaza. The blanket label "Hamas" is consistently used to label Israel's enemy even when Palestinian Islamic Jihad commits acts that the Israeli government or media report. This spin may have the purpose of averting the rage of jihadists since Hamas is not part of that camp.
We keep hearing that "Israel has every right and obligation to defend itself." However, Israel formally declared war on Gaza and attacked, so it acted as the aggressor on the Palestinian territory. And the aggressor is apparently aggressive: the world witnesses how it demolishes Gaza, killing indiscriminately babies, children, and adult civilians, and destroying homes, hospitals, schools, infrastructure, everything… So, a true language would be: Israel has every right to attack and destroy with no obligation to anyone or anything.
The Israeli government declares that one strategic goal is "to dismantle Hamas" and "not to target civilians." However, the two tenets are impossible to accomplish in urban warfare within a small place like Gaza. This fact is glanced over by "Hamas uses people as human shields." So, the logical conclusion is that taking on civilians is necessary to get to Hamas (and other defenders). Therefore, the concern for civilians is baloney.
Consistently with this,
the invading aggressor "warns" Gazans to move south allegedly for
their safety. To move with no possessions, food supplies, basic sanitation,
shelter to count on… Actually, the aggressor just clears the way so it can move
faster in its conquest, while Israel's warplanes bombard the south nevertheless.
Israeli officials add insult to injury by "explaining" cynically why
they shut down Gaza's infrastructure, 'Hamas controls electricity, gasoline,
food, so it should release these resources to Gazans – not Israel!'
Since the declaration of "dismantling Hamas and not targeting civilians" doesn't hold water, what is the Israeli military doing really? Obviously, it slaughters Gazans and executes a criminal strategy aiming at ethnic cleansing. In the process, Gazans are severely punished, and Gaza is destroyed and made unlivable. Surviving Palestinians are to be pushed out of Gaza and Israel, probably to Egypt, as envisioned in a leaked government document (2) and statements of some Israeli politicians. The Netanyahu nationalist government is engaged in a merciless revenge and criminal land-grab. Period.
But what about avenging the claimed 1,400 deaths and rescuing
240 hostages, as claimed? The revenge appears bottomless until the destruction
and ethnic cleansing are completed. So, Israel's actions are totally
disproportional to the cause of war. Indeed, this is the revenge-and-rescue
spin with the purpose of whitewashing the government's failure in defending the
country on October 7. The government gaslights the shocked citizenry by putting
all the blame on Hamas and turning Israelis into busy, vengeful warriors. Catastrophic
mistakes and incompetence are disguised by calls for retaliation and saving hostages.
"Saving hostages" is actually just another spin. The actions of the Israeli government show absolutely no care for hostages. Caring would've
been demonstrated by continuing negotiations for the hostages' release in
exchange for Palestinians jailed in Israel, rather than pouring 10,000 air
strikes in three weeks, that endanger the hostages and enrage the kidnappers.
We still need to learn how many hostages died at Israelis' hands. (3)
Duplicity Unmasked
What do powerful Western allies advise Israel? Publicly, we
hear claims that the Israeli authorities are urged to avoid civilian
casualties. But Israel's response has been only to increase the mayhem; 9,000
civilians were murdered in three weeks of the invasion. Israel doesn't budge: even
when cautiously warned of violating laws of war, it continues terrorizing
civilians from the air and on the ground. So, it follows that Israel disobeys
the U.S. and other allies? Wow! But does this make any sense? Support of the U.S.
is crucial for Israel (political backing internationally, military aid, deterring
Hezbollah and Iran, and engaging in a broader war should it erupt).
Because it makes no sense that Israel would risk weakening/losing
this support, we may assume that, behind closed doors, the U.S. officials
advise something different than what they say publicly and the media is readily parroting.
All the American shuffle diplomacy amounts merely to defending Israel and endeavoring
to pacify the interested parties by pretending to be concerned with Palestinian civilians. The
U.S. has gotten used to civilian "collateral damage" in its many wars,
hasn't it? To the extent that the effects of Israel's war against Gaza qualify as war
crimes or genocide, Israel's allies are accountable as well. Undoubtedly, they
will use their political influence to ward off such accountability at the time
of reckoning.
Israel doesn't take Palestinians as a party to negotiate with
and make deals; they can't be trusted or respected as citizens and owners. Israel plans the future for Palestinians
on its own, and ridicules them as "children of darkness" (Netanyahu),
human animals (the minister of defense Yoav Gallant), monsters (former minister
Galit Distel Atbaryan), barbaric, medieval, rats, snakes, savages... (4) Who
talks like this, if not a party that views its counterpart as a lower race?
This is called racism in the older vocabulary or "dehumanization"
today. It implies that Gazans play no role in strategizing about the future;
they must be deprived of any means of self-defense, murdered, or kicked out.
We should pause at this point and think about a broader historical
picture. It suggests that history in this case repeats as a paradox. Under zionist governments, Israel has inflicted on Palestinians such policies that
are eerily similar to those that Nazis imposed on Jews decades ago in Europe. This time though the tables are turned: racist Israelis terrorize Palestinians. History
may be repeating also regarding the Jewish deep belief that "the
whole world is against us." Sadly, the apocalyptic carnage inflicted upon Palestinians
in Gaza cannot help but turn the world against Israel. One can only be sorry
for those Israelis and Jews elsewhere who oppose the Gaza aggression and don’t deserve
such blame.
Even much softer criticism than this one enrages warmongers
in Israel and right-wingers in the West. They strive to stamp
"antisemitism" on any attempt at looking at history or
showing concern for the Palestinian plight. The right-wing politicians and media
brand millions of protestants around the world demanding a ceasefire in Gaza as
"pro-Hamas" and "supporters of terrorists." The former U.S.
President Trump promises that, if reelected, he'll gag "antisemitism"
and cancel citizenship of politically incorrect immigrants. Right on, a
revealing support from the mouth of a white supremacist! People who are blinded
by rage, defensiveness, or prejudices can't grasp any of these conclusions. But these
do follow the principle of giving the same respect to all the people, Palestinians
and Jews alike.
The war in Gaza is a culmination of the Middle Eastern vicious
cycle of violence blocking the way for resolving the problem of Palestinian
statehood. It's delusional to expect that the "dismantling of Hamas"
will prevent the emergence of new militants. On the contrary, the terror and obliteration
of Gaza will undoubtedly extend the spiral of radicalization and violence into
an unforeseeable future. Perhaps that's exactly what warmongers on both sides want.
How else could they survive?
A Tel-Aviv social psychologist Bar-Tal, a researcher of mass
psychology in Israel, said: "An analysis of the present situation indicates
that with the exception of a small minority, which is capable of looking at the
past with an open mind, the general public is not interested in knowing what
Israel did in Gaza for many years, why Hamas came to power in democratic
elections; how many people were killed in Gaza from the disengagement (in 2005)…"
(5). No, this is not a characterization of the present war: the statement is from
2009!
1) https://tinyurl.com/5xz4ty4b
2) https://tinyurl.com/2vu9uhzm
3) https://tinyurl.com/5n7jv9hs
4) https://tinyurl.com/awzt2xxx
5) https://tinyurl.com/jdnutrbs
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