It’s a damn good thing for Israel that it has world media covering its back to justify barbaric crimes against Palestinians. Sometimes media does it with half-truths, often with outright lies, but to cover the current jackboot occupation of the West Bank & the massive bombing of Gaza, the media tries to turn the story upside down.
This is little Asma weeping at the funeral of her older brother, Gomha Abu Shalouf. The caption to the photo claims Gomha, killed yesterday in an airstrike in Gaza, was a member of the Al Qassam Brigades who they identify as “the military wing of Hamas.” The caption continues: “Hamas has vowed revenge on Israel for the death of several of its members killed in an airstrike early Monday morning.”
The narrative of a vengeful & militaristic Hamas is really quite crucial to Israeli ethnic cleansing. So the recent agreement between Hamas in Gaza & the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank threw a monkey-wrench into Zionist justifications. If the kidnapping & murder of the three Zionist settlers in the West Bank didn’t present an opportunity to break the (anyway tenuous) entente, Israel would have found something else because it needs to construct a monstrous whipping boy to cover for its monstrous crimes against Palestinians.
When the boys were kidnapped, Israel immediately went into hasbara mode, condemning Hamas as the perpetrators. It probably didn’t give a rat’s ass who did it but was just grateful someone did–because the safety of Israeli citizens is not a concern to its cynical & corrupt Zionist leadership or they wouldn’t put them so frequently in harm’s way. Those who die can be used to whip up a frenzy against Palestinians. Which is exactly what happened.
Netanyahu led the way with calls for revenge, the deployment of thousands of soldiers to the West Bank arresting hundreds, breaking into & ransacking homes, & a massive bombing campaign over Gaza. Israeli politicians called for blood & ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in the most inflammatory language, saying Palestinian mothers give birth to “little snakes”; lynch mobs formed within Israel & burned a young Palestinian boy to death. It was the Zionist leadership of Israel whipping up this climate of hatred & revenge.
Even if Hamas did call for vengeance, what the hell can slingshots & rocks do against one of the mightiest military apparatuses in the world!? Is Hamas lobbing rockets from Gaza, as Israel claims to justify the bombing sieges? Who the hell knows, since Israel can’t be believed & hasn’t been able to provide much evidence of property damage!? Isn’t their Iron Dome anti-rocket system working? Even if Hamas did call for vengeance, why is Israel punishing all Palestinians in the most extreme & violent way?
The last thing Israel wants from Palestinians is a leadership that can move the struggle from intifada to power & a democratic, secular state where Jews, Palestinians, & Africans can live as brothers & sisters. Hamas is not that; nor is the collusive leadership of Mahmoud Abbas & the Palestinian Authority. If we want to know where that leadership will come from look to the youth of Gaza & the West Bank, the activists of intifada who are learning from the mistakes & compromises of Hamas & the PA & will forge the kind of political leadership necessary to win justice & peace.
(Photo by Hatem Moussa/AP)