The recent assassinations of Hamas leaders Sheikh Yassin and Dr. Abdulaziz Rantisi are part of a long term Israeli strategy –” the latest in a series of actions taken by Israel toward the ultimate destruction of Palestinian society. Their implications may be far more reaching than many analysts have observed, and the need for re-examination of US policy in the Middle East has never been greater.
The first among Israel’s objectives has been to convince the public in Israel and in the West that the destruction of Palestinian society is acceptable. Israel has succeeded in creating the wide spread perception within Israel and among American society that violence committed by the Palestinian paramilitary is reprehensible and never justified, but that the violence committed by the Israeli occupation forces is somehow defensible. Israel has unfortunately succeeded in convincing the Israeli and American public that a Palestinian life is worth less than an Israeli Jewish life. [1]
Israel’s second objective has been to transfer (expel) Palestinians to areas outside Palestine. In spite of its efforts and the support of Jewish communities around the world, Israel’s plan to import enough immigrants to offset the increase in the Palestinian population has failed. The plan failed even with the intense recruiting among gentiles, in Asia, Latin America and elsewhere, and even with the promise of free transportation, cash allowances, subsidized living and free housing on confiscated Palestinian land. The alternative left for the Israeli government — long advocated by a sector of Israeli society — has been to transfer Palestinians out of Palestine by making life for Palestinians so unbearable that they would “opt” to leave or by force if “voluntary” departure fails. This plan will eventually succeed unless Palestinian living conditions improve, which is not likely in the foreseeable future, and the world community remains alert to Israel’s plan.
Israel’s third and latest strategy in pursuing its objective of destroying Palestinian society has been to deceptively enlist the help of the United States, with its military might and world domination, not only as a partner, which it has already succeeded in doing as was recently confirmed and announced by George W. Bush, but also as an active combatant. This deception is no where clearer than in the case of the assassination of Sheikh Ahmad Yassin and Dr. Abdulaziz Rantisi. Sharon knows that Hamas holds their leaders in high esteem and would no doubt avenge their assassination. From their side, the Palestinians know that no Israeli action of this magnitude is ever taken without first consulting with the United States and getting US approval, in spite of denial of such complicity by the Bush administration.
Sharon’s latest plot has been not only to invite Palestinian violence against Israel, but also against the United States. Such violence, in Sharon’s mind, would invite the US to lump the Palestinian resistance with al Qaeda and other “terrorists” under the US umbrella of “war on terror,” and cause the US to retaliate with brute force or instigate Israel to do so on its behalf. That would certainly help legitimize Sharon’s objective of the total destruction of Palestinian society right under the nose of the world community. Most likely, Hamas will see through Sharon’s plan, and will restrict its retaliation to Israel, as evidenced by the retraction of threats against the US in the days following Yassin’s assassination. It is not likely that Sharon will succeed in inviting Palestinian terror against the United States or its interests in the Middle East any time soon. However, one can not expect the Palestinians to continue indefinitely their self restraint with the United States when they see their remaining land and their national rights being bartered away by a US president for Jewish votes. Also, we should not be surprised if Sharon manufactures terror against the US and blames it on the Palestinians with the intent of bringing the United States as an active combatant on the side of Israel. A deception of this kind would not be insurmountable or unusual for Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service.
As Washington continues to ignore the basic underlying causes of the disdain felt by so many around the world, the suffering of Palestinians has been rising steadily. The humiliation of the Palestinians and the erosion of their national rights are at their all-time peak. The level of Palestinian suffering during the al-Aksa Intifada has been at its highest since the Nakba (“cataclysm or catastrophe”) of 1948. If we continue to bankroll and lend political support to Israel’s policies of expansionism, I fear that we will continue to be shocked by senseless acts of terrorism the like of which we have not seen. The President’s decision to bargain away Palestinian rights will certainly have been one of the causes of such terror. [2]
Unless the United States does more to avoid involvement in Israel’s thick plot to eradicate Palestinian rights, we should not be surprised if the US finds itself an active combatant, at a time and place not of our choosing, at the expense of our interests throughout the world. Israel will have deceived the United States to fight Israel’s fight, in a global and perpetual war against Palestinians, Arabs and Moslems throughout the world. If we look around carefully, we can see traces everywhere of this, the ultimate deception, an outcome we must do everything in our power to avoid.
Notes:
[1]. The deaths among Israelis which have been caused by Palestinian suicide bombers are labeled by our media and politicians as “reprehensible crimes that must be punished.” The loss of Palestinian civilian life at the hands of the Israeli military machine during the Al-Aksa Intifada period has been approximately four times greater than losses suffered by Israelis; these Palestinian deaths have been caused by military invasions and indiscriminate shelling of civilian towns and villages, repression at road checkpoints, town closures and siege of civilian populations, house demolitions and political assassinations carried out through the use of indiscriminate bombs dropped from jet fighters often killing innocent civilians in addition to their intended targets. Yet, Palestinian deaths have been labeled as “justified by the need for Israel to defend itself.” When there is an outcry in the UN or in the EU, our government and media have labeled such condemnation as “not helpful to the peace process.”
Sharon has lately found an ally in George W. Bush’s “war on terror” in justifying his actions in the same way that George W. Bush does; they both claim that their fight is a “war on terror,” and they both have sought the use of brute military force in the name of security, each for his own reasons but not without the encouragement of the other. Neither of them knows that the “war on terror,” like the war on poverty, the war on drugs or the war on hate, can not be won by military force or, as a minimum, by such force alone.
[2]. To anyone who observed the events over the last 50 years, the source of terrorism against the United States and Israel (and their allies) is obvious; it is not what the Israeli and American public have been led to believe by their leaders and their media propagandists. The source of terror against the United States has been its close alliance with and support for Israel, which has facilitated Israel’s policies of repression against the Palestinians and expansionism into Palestinian land. The longer the Palestinian problem eludes a just solution the more terrorism we may be expected to endure. While the US war on terror may have had successes in obscure locations around the world, it has been an utter failure when measured against our objectives, thanks to the deception of the advisors to our President and thanks to our government’s pandering to the pro-Israel lobby. The objective of the war on terror was to bring more safety to America and more security to the interests of America and Americans everywhere. After two wars in two countries, Afghanistan and Iraq, and after massive spending, we are neither safer at home nor are our interests more secure around the world. In fact, the opposite appears to be true. The US government has sacrificed countless lives, squandered billions of dollars, and alienated most of our strategic allies around the globe. In our zeal for waging this “war on terror,” we have also encouraged Israel in its repression. The result will be more hatred and more terrorists seeking to cause us harm.
