Israeli spin doctors try their damnest to wriggle out of it.  Official spokespersons of the Sharon regime fare no better.  Mainstream media in Israel too seem to be grappling with it, unsure of how to deal with it.

‘It’ is the Hudna or truce which the liberation movements of Palestine have been observing for about a month now.  By striking this arrangement with the Palestinian authority, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Fatah and others have ensured that the brutal face of Zionist thuggery is laid bare for all to see.

This brilliant strategy has not only exposed the ugly nature of a settler-colonial state: it indeed has allowed the International Community a fresh opportunity to challenge Israeli racism with greater vigor.

But the most difficult issue that Israel has had to contend with is the reality that neither Hamas nor Islamic Jihad can be wished away.  Despite extreme human rights violations, which include military occupation and the full fury of lethal bombings, Israel’s butcher Sharon has failed to crush the Intifada.

And even if he harbored any thoughts of ultimately “cleansing” his Apartheid State of its indigenous population, he must be cursing his inability to subvert the Palestinian revolution as he instructs his jailers to release more prisoners.

As he interrogates the chiefs of his enormous arsenal of machinery that mows down little kids, bulldozes homes - uncaring whether these are inhabited by the aged and infirm, and that fires missiles from apache helicopters into densely populated residential areas, Sharon is looking for answers to explain why his dream of a “Greater Israel” is being shattered.

It must be awesome for a war criminal to have to come to terms with a looming military defeat inspite of possessing an arsenal of nuclear warheads.  Yes, for all its military might, the Zionist experiment of carving up Palestine and turning it into a racial enclave for Jewish immigrants to live there happily forever ……. has turned into a frightening nightmare.

Hudna is proving to be one more nail in Zionism’s coffin.  The architects of this Hudna which has unmasked Israel, have displayed a sense of political chutzpah that not only undermines Sharon’s power base, it also secures Hamas’ position as the most significant role player within Palestine.

Collaboration between the Bush administration and Israel to impose regime change, resulted in the PA having to create a special position of Prime Minister for their nominee Abu Mazen with the intent to unseat Yasser Arafat.  Ironically, while these manipulations were under way to facilitate Palestinian surrender and terminate the Intifada with a likely seal of approval signed by Abu Mazen, the Palestinians placed the trust in the hands of Hamas.

As part of a collective, Hamas leadership insists that the Intifada will continue to resist Israeli occupation and oppression.  As an interim measure they offered a Hudna which Sharon cannot deal with except by brute force. 

Nevertheless Israel’s Apartheid Wall can no longer be explained away as a matter of “security”.  Neither can continuous settlement building activities be justified, nor can the siege of Palestinian villages and cities evoke sympathy for Israel.

It is no wonder then that the existence of Israel is increasingly being questioned while at the same time International Solidarity for Palestinian Liberation is growing.

(Mr. Iqbal Jasarat is Chairman of the Media Review Network, which is an advocacy group based in Pretoria, South Africa.) 

by courtesy & © 2003 Media Review Network & Iqbal Jassat

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