Zionism poses an existential threat to the very survival of the Palestinian people. Hardly a day passes by without a Palestinian being killed or maimed. The heavily armed Israeli soldiers and settlers do not care whether they target men, women, or children. Israeli snipers have shot and killed more than 300 Palestinians in Gaza and injured another 30,000 since the Great March of Return protests were launched in March 2018. Most of the victims have been unarmed children or youth as well as paramedics.
Last month Israel intensified its attacks on Gaza with a missile strike on an apartment building in which Islamic Jihad commander Baha’ Abu al-‘Ata and his wife were killed. Four of their children including two little girls were badly injured. In two days, Israeli attacks killed 34 Palestinians and injured more than 110.
Despite such atrocities, Western rulers parroted the standard line that Israel has the “right to defend” itself. It is not Palestinian snipers that are shooting and killing Israelis. It is Zionist Israel’s heavily armed military machine that is shooting and killing Palestinian children. And on November 12, Israel committed another crime by targeting an apartment building in the heart of besieged Gaza. The following day it killed a family of eight.
When the Palestinians retaliated against such Israeli crimes, even the UN jumped into the fray and said rocket fire against civilians was unacceptable. Nickolay Mladenov, the UN envoy to the Middle East peace process (sic), was furious at Palestinians firing rockets into Israel in retaliation. Were Palestinians the only ones firing rockets and projectiles, all homemade? What about Israel’s US-supplied missiles and artillery being fired at Palestinian homes and apartment buildings blowing the occupants to pieces?
The UN Middle East “peace process” is a sick joke. There is no peace process; the only process underway is Israel’s killing of Palestinians. The UN and indeed the West in general want to maintain the fiction of the “peace process” while Israel continues to kill Palestinians and usurp their land. Palestinians are accused of not being ready to make peace. The peace on offer comes through the barrel of the Israeli gun; it is the peace of the graveyard. It is Israel that does not want peace. With peace, the Zionists will have to live like normal human beings giving Palestinians equal rights. That is something Israel refuses to accept.
Intensification of attacks on Palestinians is the result of Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempt to divert attention from investigations into corruption charges against him. Killing Palestinians wins him the support of fellow Zionists that he hopes will enable him to retain power. Such are the cynical ways of the Zionists.
The Zionists are committing two other egregious crimes in Colonized Palestine: encroachment and attacks on al-Masjid al-Aqsa, and expansion of illegal colonial land grabs on the West Bank. Even though Judaic law prohibits Jews from trespassing on the Holy Sanctuary, the illegal squatters have intensified their encroachments of the holy compound. Heavily armed Israeli soldiers provide protection to the equally heavily armed Zionist sqatters. When Palestinians resist such encroachments, they are attacked and beaten up. There is no limit to Zionist cruelty.
During and after the election campaign, Netanyahu had promised to intensify colonization activities and to not return any of that land illegally usurped from the Palestinians. The US regime led by the foulmouthed Donald Trump who is facing possible impeachment, announced on November 18 that Washington no longer considers Israeli settlements as illegal. This is in complete violation of international law, which from now on Washingtion will just officially ignore.
The cynicism at work is mindboggling. To save their hides, both Netanyahu and Trump are resorting to totally illegal acts. When Palestinians react against such criminal conduct and take steps to defend their rights, they are accused of being terrorists and not willing to make peace. Netanyahu and Trump are partners in crime. To expect legality or decency from either is unrealistic. What needs to be done is to confront their illegal acts through determined resistance. This is what the Palestinians are doing.
The Palestinians have every right —legal, political, and moral — to resist their colonizers by “all means necessary.” Even the UN has recognized this right despite its so-called Middle East peace envoy (Mladenov) suffering from dementia and siding with the colonizers. No colonial force has ever voluntarily vacated occupied lands; it has had to be driven out by valiant resistance. Despite facing great odds, the Palestinians are doing what is their fundamental right.
The Zionists have a choice: live like normal human beings and accept the Palestinians’ rights or be taught this lesson the hard way, even if it will take some time. History is not on Israel’s side.