.
Israel is flushed with short-term triumph, their U.S. backed army has everything that Hamas lacks and the western political and media class has (thus far) given their genocidal rampage in Gaza a green light . Many in Israel regard this as their due and in fulfilment of biblical prophecy.
An ethnically cleansed rabbinite state has been Israel’s goal all along, only the pace and methodology has changed. Prior to October 7th, Israel had been content to slowly crush Palestine like a python killing a rabbit, but the attack by Hamas emboldened Netanyahu’s government to seek a swift dispatch of the Amalek. But Israel, blinded by its own zealotry, hubris and military swagger is digging its own grave in Gaza and is ironically giving Hamas more than they ever dreamed of.
Consider the changes. Where once Arab states were lining up to normalise relations with Israel, now they are an implacable and united force against them. Public opinion has shifted vociferously, the mask of Israeli victimhood and democratic civility is gone and the perverse conflation of anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism has been broken.
As Israeli atrocities fill the social media feeds of horrified onlookers – the BDS movement has been globally reinvigorated. Some shipping lines are now refusing to handle any shipping to Israel because of security concerns about the Red Sea – part of a gathering tsunami of economic consequence.
Many Jews are abandoning Israel with nearly 470,000 leaving since October 7th and public support for Israel in the U.S is dropping vertiginously.
Despite enduring decades of human rights abuses (and contrary to Israeli claims), most Palestinians did not embrace Hamas, but now their status as the sole pivot of resistance is secure.
For every fighter that Hamas loses – ten more will take their place as Palestine burns with the pain of loss and the savage injustices inflicted on their families. Destroying Gaza will free Hamas from its unwanted role of governance to pursue longer term aims that are suddenly much more plausible.
Some Israelis may revel in dropping bombs on refugee camps and gaining territory in Gaza, but they have become a pariah state. 153 nations a demanded a ceasefire at the U.N. General Assembly, forming a chorus of condemnation – only 10 opposed including Israel and the U.S.
One would think that Israel, a nation heavily dependent on foreign investment that requires stability, would wake up to this disastrous situation but it cannot. The toxic echo chamber of the Israeli far right has no capacity for discernment, their deranged inversions of the the truth feed themselves.
Western complicity in the ongoing genocide in Gaza has unmasked the moral bankruptcy of the European Union, NATO and the U.S. The case of Palestine has become totemic of Western colonialism and hypocrisy. Millions are on the streets, draped in the Palestinian flag and full of (justified) anger towards Israel. What an unimaginable turn-around in fortunes for Hamas and the cause of Palestinian justice.
The politics of racism creates permanent war, easily exploited by corrupt criminals of every kind. Yes Israel is filling mass graves with Palestinians in Gaza, but is digging its own future grave by doing so.
Those in the U.S., Britain and Ukraine and minded to copy the Israeli template for gaining power should take heed – no nation that trades in hatred can endure.
Since many Israelis look to the Bible for answers, I invite them to consider this from the Old Testament of Leviticus 19:33-34:
“When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born”
Or if that isn’t plain enough, how about the Gospel of Matthew 26:52?
“Those who live by the sword die by the sword”
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