- Dec 6, 2009
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A few years back I was listening to a talk given by Dr. Mustafa Barghouti who pointed out that back in 1948 the world stood silent watching 750,000 Palestinian people being driven out of their land, their villages and their cities through an orchestrated ethnic cleansing coupled with many massacres. The world kept silent when Israel set its racist return laws to prevent the Palestinians from returning to their land. In 1967, the developed world wasn't just silent; it actually praised the Israeli expansionist extravaganza. It applauded the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) as it cleansed tens of thousands of Palestinians out of their historic land.
But then things started to change. In the Lebanon war of 1982 the world at large was still pretty silent as 30,000 Palestinian and Lebanese were butchered by the Israeli Air Force and the IDF. Yet it miraculously woke the left up from its terminal snooze. Some activists started to realize that Palestinians and their cause were at the heart of the battle for a better world. During the first and the second intifadas more and more people came to realize that Israel was the aggressor. In 2006 Israel again unleashed total havoc in Lebanon. This time Israel left 3,000 fatalities. However, the impact of these successive Israeli brutalities led to a drastic rise of anti-Israeli feelings. It was, in fact, the 2nd Lebanon war (rather than Iraq) that was the catalyst for Prime Minister Tony Blair's overdue political downfall. Blair paid an immediate political price for condoning the war. The Gaza massacre of 2009 left 1,400 dead Palestinians, most of them women and children, it left Gaza in total ruin, but as we know, it also led to the highest tide of anti-Israeli resentments in every possible level in the media, in the street and even in the UN.
This week we learn about Israel's latest murderous blunder. It assassinated a Hamas military leader. While in the past Israel would be praised for the courage of its assassin squads, those who are chasing the enemies of the Jews in far lands and beyond, the reaction this week is very different. The Jewish state is now regarded as a qualified pariah state. British media and people start to see through it. No one in the British press stood for Israel, no one tried to justify or advocate Israel's acts. No one repeated the clichés about Hamas being a terrorist organization. I guess that by now, people out there grasp that Hamas is Palestine's democratically elected leadership. People also realize that Hamas is justified in pursuing a fully legitimate struggle for liberation.
The Palestine Chronicle: A Leading Online Newspaper on Palestine, Israel and the Middle East
But then things started to change. In the Lebanon war of 1982 the world at large was still pretty silent as 30,000 Palestinian and Lebanese were butchered by the Israeli Air Force and the IDF. Yet it miraculously woke the left up from its terminal snooze. Some activists started to realize that Palestinians and their cause were at the heart of the battle for a better world. During the first and the second intifadas more and more people came to realize that Israel was the aggressor. In 2006 Israel again unleashed total havoc in Lebanon. This time Israel left 3,000 fatalities. However, the impact of these successive Israeli brutalities led to a drastic rise of anti-Israeli feelings. It was, in fact, the 2nd Lebanon war (rather than Iraq) that was the catalyst for Prime Minister Tony Blair's overdue political downfall. Blair paid an immediate political price for condoning the war. The Gaza massacre of 2009 left 1,400 dead Palestinians, most of them women and children, it left Gaza in total ruin, but as we know, it also led to the highest tide of anti-Israeli resentments in every possible level in the media, in the street and even in the UN.
This week we learn about Israel's latest murderous blunder. It assassinated a Hamas military leader. While in the past Israel would be praised for the courage of its assassin squads, those who are chasing the enemies of the Jews in far lands and beyond, the reaction this week is very different. The Jewish state is now regarded as a qualified pariah state. British media and people start to see through it. No one in the British press stood for Israel, no one tried to justify or advocate Israel's acts. No one repeated the clichés about Hamas being a terrorist organization. I guess that by now, people out there grasp that Hamas is Palestine's democratically elected leadership. People also realize that Hamas is justified in pursuing a fully legitimate struggle for liberation.
The Palestine Chronicle: A Leading Online Newspaper on Palestine, Israel and the Middle East
