Our Wednesday News Analysis | To stop the century-long genocide in Palestine, uproot the source of all violence: Zionism

Since the arrival of Zionism in Palestine, the impulse of the Palestinians has not been about violence or revenge. The impulse remains the return to normal and natural life, writes Ilan Pappe [photo credit: Lucie Wimetz/TNA]

Since the 1948 Nakba and arguably before, Palestine has not seen levels of violence as high as those experienced since October 7, 2023. But we need to address how this violence is being situated, treated, and judged.

Israeli historians would later claim that "the Arabs" wanted to throw the Jews into the sea. The only people who were thrown into the sea — and drowned — were those expelled by the Zionist forces in Jaffa and Haifa.

Indeed, mainstream media often portrays Palestinian violence as terrorism while depicting Israeli violence as self-defence. Rarely is Israeli violence labelled excessive. Meanwhile, international legal institutions hold both sides equally responsible for this violence, which they classify as war crimes.

Both perspectives are flawed. The first perspective wrongly differentiates between the "immoral" and "unjustified" violence of Palestinians and Israel’s "right to defend itself."

The second perspective, which assigns blame to both sides, provides a misguided and ultimately harmful framework for understanding the current situation — likely the most violent chapter in Palestine's modern history.

And all of these perspectives overlook the crucial context necessary to understand the violence that erupted on October 7.

This is not merely a conflict between two violent parties, nor is it simply a clash between a terrorist organisation and a state defending itself. Rather, it represents a chapter in the ongoing decolonisation of historic Palestine, which began in 1929 and continues today. Only in the future will we know whether October 7 marked an early stage in this decolonisation process or one of its final phases...

Read more: To stop the century-long genocide in Palestine, uproot the source of all violence: Zionism

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GAZA IS NOT JUST NETANYAHU’S WAR, BUT THE LAST BATTLE OF ISRAEL’S FAR RIGHT

Source: Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2563156

By Dr. Ramzy Baroud
Published August 5,2024

The Gaza war is not just important to Netanyahu, but also to the very future of Israel’s far-right camp. (Reuters)

"… 69 percent of all Israelis support Netanyahu’s
desperate tactics of assassinations,
including the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh
in Tehran on July 31. "

The idea that the war in Gaza is essentially waged by and sustained by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long dominated political analysis on the subject.

The notion is often kept alive by public opinion inside Israel.

Most polls produced since the start of the Israeli attack on Gaza suggest that an overwhelming majority of Israelis believe that Netanyahu’s decisions are motivated by personal, political, and familial interests.

This conclusion, however, is too convenient and not entirely accurate. It wrongly assumes that the Israeli people oppose Netanyahu’s war in Gaza, though, in reality, they have so far been quite approving of all tactics used by the Israeli army.

For example, more than 300 days into the conflict, 69 percent of all Israelis support Netanyahu’s desperate tactics of assassinations, including the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31.

While Netanyahu’s decision to target a political leader reflects his failure and desperation, how is one to explain the Israeli people’s enthusiasm for the expansion of the circle of violence?

The answer does not lie in the events of Oct. 7. Indeed, it is time to start thinking beyond the confines of the revenge theory, which has dominated our understanding and analysis of the Israeli assault on Gaza.

For years before the current war, Israel has been moving slowly to the right and far right, with political extremism exceeding that of any generation of the country’s leadership since the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in 1948...

Read more: Gaza is not just Netanyahu’s war, but the last battle of Israel’s far right

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LETTER: WHAT CHANCE OF PEACE IN ISRAEL-PALESTINE?

Source: Workers' Liberty
https://www.workersliberty.org/story/2024-08-05/letter-what-chance-peace-israel-palestine

By Alistair Blunt
Published August 5, 2024

Above: Sadat, Begin, and US President Carter signing the Camp David Accords, 1978

“… the threat of possible defeat could make Israel take a more pragmatic line.
It was the relative success of the Arab forces when it crossed the Suez Canal
and retook Sinai, enabling Sadat to start the reconciliation process,
which could have led to a long-term solution
but was stymied by Netanyahu and those who killed PM Rabin."

When in Poland recently I had a meeting with a Jewish friend who did not see anything wrong with the mass killings in Gaza, for the reason that (a) Hamas governed Gaza is an organisation that claims that the killing of non-believers and especially Jews (this is certainly not supported by the Koran or the early interpretations of the Koran) and so Israel has the right to defend itself against such fanatics and (b) Gaza elected Hamas and so is responsible for the Government there, just as Germany was responsible for the election of Hitler and the Nazis; hence all Gaza and its people are fair game in there carpet bombing and indiscriminate killing, and (c) there is no such thing as a Palestinian identity or people; all are Arabs and so the people who call themselves Palestinians are not really a separate nationality.

This explanation helped me understand the 'justification' claimed by the current theocratic government of Israel. But there is a need to look at the facts again. Hamas was elected by a majority of Gaza's residents in 2006 and the Palestinian Authority (Fatah) driven out. Since then there has been no new election that could be considered free and fair. Secondly, the success of Hamas was largely due to the reaction many Palestinians had to the incompetence and corruption of the PLO and Fatah leadership. It was less connected with ideological desire than a desire for a new 'cleaner and more effective' government. While Hamas has extremist views, there still exist a large number of Christian Palestinians, even in Gaza.

Secondly, the growing support for Hamas in the West Bank is related to the growth of illegal settlements in the Occupied Territories. Hamas are seen as the only political body willing to fight this incursion and annexation of land by the Israeli administration. Now with the mass slaughter of innocent people, the result of Israel's determination to wipe out Hamas completely, the tacit support for Hamas grows rather than diminishes. Yes, many in Gaza are tired of the fighting, many understand that Hamas uses civilian areas to hide in (this is a guerrilla war, so that must be expected) and many just want peace at any price. But the way Israel is pursuing this will not win the hearts and minds of Palestinians, nor of people in UK and elsewhere horrified by the indiscriminate killing of Palestinians...

Read more: Letter: what chance of peace in Israel-Palestine?