Edging Closer to WW3: Israel-Palestine Conflict
Terrorism, War Crimes, Propaganda and Geopolitics
Oct 7, 2023, will be remembered by historians for the unprecedented attack on Israel by Hamas, the militant Palestinian group in Gaza, and the terrifying ramifications for the entire world. On the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, Hamas not only launched rockets into Israel – as it had done many times before – but also broke through the sophisticated Israeli border security that envelops the Gaza strip, stormed into Israeli settlements, and captured more than hundred hostages, including Israeli commanders. The scale and speed of the operation were astonishing, as the world saw videos of Hamas flying motorized paragliders and hang gliders, or driving trucks with mounted guns through Israeli towns – like scenes from a Mad Max movie.
We are witnessing a profound inflection point in the Middle East chronicle, since it has the potential to explode into a devastating wider war – a mini-World War III – that draws in not only neighboring countries such as Syria, Lebanon, Iran, and Jordan, but also the US and NATO. Such a humanitarian and geopolitical catastrophe can only be avoided only by finding an equitable and lasting resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In the fog of war, truth is the first casualty, so let’s have an objective look.
Senseless Deaths and Alarming Escalation
More than 1000 Palestinians and 1000 Israelis have died in the first week of the conflict; and nearly 350,000 people in Gaza have been turned into refugees. Both sides are engaging in heated rhetoric, trapping themselves in a brutal war, instead of seeking ceasefire and negotiations.
Israeli PM Netanyahu says, “Hamas has made a mistake of historic proportions. We will exact a price that will be remembered by them and other enemies for decades to come.” Another top Israeli official says, “It’s either us or them, and it is a matter of the survival of the state.” Israel has mobilized more than half a million reservists and is preparing for a ground invasion (of Gaza), which will lead to a brutal urban warfare. Adding fuel to the fire, the US mainstream media portrays this as the 9/11 or Pearl Harbor for Israel; and rabid Neocons like Nikki Haley go on TV to scream, “Finish them!” as if advocating genocide of Palestinians.
On the other hand, Hamas claims that it is ready for a long war, and that if Gaza is subjected to a war of annihilation, the government of Israel will “open the gates of hell.” Meanwhile, Hezbollah, the powerful militant group based out of Lebanon, has attacked Israeli military posts on the border, and looks poised to join the dangerous war.
The US has sent aircraft carriers to the region, flown ammunition to Israel, and has authorized billions of dollars in new aid to Israel. US Sec. of State Blinken is traveling to Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE and Egypt – key Arab countries in the region, indicating that the US is planning on a long, bloody war.
Ignoring the fact that the Ukraine war is still going on, NATO has adopted the cliché, “We are with Israel.” What is alarming is that France and the UK are cracking down on pro-Palestine protests, a sign that Europe is getting ready to be involved in a long-term conflict.
In the first four days of this war, Israel dropped 2,300 missiles on Gaza, a densely packed city that has been described as the world’s largest open-air prison. Numerous hospitals, schools, a locally renowned university, mosques, and an ancient church in Gaza have been bombed into smithereens by Israel. Gaza does not have a military or a missile defense system, and thus is completely defenseless against Israeli bombardments.
Israel has now imposed a complete blockade of Gaza, turning off electricity, fuel and food. A disastrous humanitarian crisis is unfolding in real time due to collective punishment, which is against international laws and the Geneva Convention. (When it came to the Ukraine war, the EU propaganda cried that cutting off water and electricity are acts of “pure terror”). In a cynical manner, Israel has proposed a “solution” that will allow Gazans to move to Egypt, but this is just blatant ethnic cleansing. In essence, this proposal says, “We are going to bomb your homes, so leave your home, become a refugee, flee to another country, and never come back.”
When Israel Created and Supported Hamas
This is not a conspiracy theory but a well-established fact. Israel created and supported Hamas for decades for two reasons: split the Palestinian leadership with the divide-and-rule strategy; and de-legitimize Palestinian aspirations by pointing to Hamas’ violence. In other words, Israel’s strategy was to create a controlled opposition, which is violent enough to keep the endless war going and sabotage peace plans.
A 2009 Wall Street Journal article titled, “How Israel Helped to Spawn Hamas,” explains this perilous political strategy. US Senator Ron Paul also spelled it out in his speech at the Senate: “Hamas was encouraged and really started by Israel to counteract Yasser Arafat.” In a Wikileaks email, Israeli Defense Intelligence Chief Amos Yadlin admitted in 2007 that “Israel would be happy if Hamas took over Gaza. Because the IDF could then deal with Gaza as a hostile state.”
In 2019, Netanyahu told his Likud party that “anyone who wants to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state has to support bolstering Hamas and transferring money to it.”
Note that Hamas is an offshoot of Muslim Brotherhood, which has had very close relations with the U.S. for decades. In 1959, US President Eisenhower invited the Muslim Brotherhood to the White House and created a partnership to attack secular pan-Arab leaders – like those in Egypt and Syria – who were leaning towards the Soviet Union. This same playbook was used by the US and Israel to support Hamas against the secular and progressive Palestinian leadership (PLO).
However, the clever strategists created a Frankenstein Monster, which is now threatening the West’s colonial aspirations.
Who’s a Terrorist?
Guess who said this: “That land over there is yours. You will have your homes and mosques back again. Because, your cause is right and God is on your side!"
That was geopolitical guru Brzezinski giving motivational speech to the Afghan Mujahideen in the 1980s when they were useful geopolitical pawns in the proxy war against the USSR.
Throughout the decades, the US has supported terrorists, Nazis, and genocidal dictators when they could benefit the US military industrial complex. If Hamas were fighting America's geopolitical enemies like Russia, China or Iran... Western media would be glorifying Hamas as freedom fighters. Hamas would be receiving funds from NED, weapons from the CIA, & free propaganda from CNN.
For over a decade, US and allies – including Israel – supported Al Qaeda and ISIS in the proxy war against Syrian President Assad. All the terrorists instantly morphed into “moderate rebels” who received billions of dollars, weapons, and training from the CIA (“Operation Timber Sycamore”).
In an interview with Al Jazeera a few years ago, Mossad’s former chief Efraim Halevy admitted that Israel treats wounded Al Qaeda (known as Al Nusra in Syria) fighters; and Netanyahu visited these terrorists at a hospital on the Golan Heights border.
Even ISIS became an ally of the West. Consider these shocking revelations:
· US Secretary of State John Kerry was secretly recorded admitting that the US thought ISIS could force Assad to surrender.
· Israeli intelligence chief Herzi Halevy said that an ISIS-controlled Syria would be better for Israel.
· Israeli defense minister Moshe Yaalon bragged that ISIS never attacks Israel; and when the one time it happened inadvertently, ISIS apologized immediately.
· Kissinger openly warned President Trump to not defeat ISIS, because the latter helped contain Iran’s influence in the region.
Given all these facts, consider the degree of cynicism and mendacity from Netanyahu who is now trying to demonize Hamas as “ISIS.”
The list of Islamist terrorists that the US has supported is long – from Chechnya to Xinjiang and Iran to the Philippines. When convenient, the US just removes extremist groups from the State department’s terrorist list and starts funding the same groups – like the MEK group in Iran or the ETIM group of radicalized Uyghurs. America’s unethical and sinister ploys have no limits.
Selective Compassion
The sad thing about this long conflict is that humanity and compassion have been replaced with vengeance and hatred. Harsh rhetoric and hate speech are common in both Israeli and Palestinian communities. Israeli officials dehumanize Palestinians as “animals.” An Israeli far-right politician shared a video in which she asks her young daughter – perhaps five years old – what she wanted to be when she grew up. The child says, “I want to drive a jeep and kill Arabs.”
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— S.L. Kanthan