Last week Hamas really managed to surprise the vaunted army, protective technology (The Iron Dome) and intelligence apparatus of the State of Israel, and politicians, as well as the rest of the world, when its militant fighters stormed from the blockaded Gaza into Israel in at least 20 locations, while firing thousands of rockets into the rest of the country. Hamas, during what was an extremely vicious and bloody rampage, was even able to take over a fortress, Erez, as its fighters barged through and over checkpoints and invaded Israeli communities for the first time. While they will no doubt be driven back, they have caused havoc and made things miserable for a time, for the people and the government of the State of Israel. Around 150 Israeli citizens and dual citizens were kidnapped and “taken hostage” and hundreds of Israelis have been killed, soldiers and civilians included. The Hamas invaders had also sustained huge casualties, wounded and killed.
Seven issues are becoming very clear.
1. Apparently the Israeli government was not quite as clever as advertised. The army was caught completely off guard. As in the Yom Kippur war they underestimated the ability and determination of Palestinians. Three divisions of the so-called Israeli Defence Force were moved from the Gaza area to the West Bank in aid of the interests of the settlers. Bibi Netanyahu, his right-wing allies and the security establishment are catching a good bit of domestic criticism for not seeing and preventing the carnage. Its response is to have avowed that they will destroy Hamas, though how that is to occur without killing thousands of the residents of Gaza they do not address.
2. This “surprise” is all the more shocking given the number of incursions and raids that the ironically named Israeli Defence Force (IDF) has made into Gaza recently, and the number of people that were killed as a result. For some conspiracy theorists it looks like Israel was trying its best to provoke some response and then unleash one more crushing attack on Gaza as a reprisal. That is not only highly unlikely but preposterous. It is more likely that Netanyahu was so focused on his own political agenda at home. That includes attempting to stave off charges of fraud, attempting to subvert the country’s supreme court and nursing along his connections forged with the far right and religious extremists. It is hardly surprising that he would lose focus on Gaza. But whatever the cause, the fact is that there has clearly been a massive intelligence failure.
3. Hamas is showing that it can be, at least, as brutal and cruel as the Israeli armed forces. Despite the facts on the ground and a general world consensus Hamas denies the right of the State of Israel to exist and there is no evidence that any mercy was shown to any citizens, i.e., non-combatants, and they left a genuinely harrowing scene of carnage. This kind of inhumanity strikes us as inexplicable. But should this surprise us? In reality history has shown us that being terrorized and oppressed over decades, does not lead, or confer, any particular sense of nobility on the victims. Rather, when victims of long term subjugation and cruelty are presented with the opportunity to extract some vengeance, it is not uncommon that they will vent their frustration (Maupin, 2014) in this case rage and destruction, on anyone who lives in Israel and whom they come acrossi. They will not, and have not, stopped to ask individuals whether they have been part of the oppression or not. Brutality begets brutality.
4. Hamas will increase its grip on Gaza because they have provided a frustrated and oppressed people the momentary “pleasure” of giving their tormentors a bloody nose. Of course, the State of Israel will administer far more than a bloody nose to the population of Gaza as its forces unleash its typical deadly onslaught. As a beginning and indication of the suffering that the civilian population will endure, the Israeli State has ordered a complete siege so that all water and electrical power is shut down.
5. No matter how much the people of Gaza and all of Palestine have been oppressed and tormented by the forces of the State of Israel, and its settler populations which these forces protect and abet, the majority of the West, led by the USA will stand by the powerful against the powerless. The State of Israel pretty much immediately was comforted” by declarations of, “We stand with Israel”, by which is meant that the State of Israel will continue to be protected from any UN censure and will continue to receive the obscene amount of arms, and money for arms (see number 6 from the “West”).
6. The only possible winner in this mess of course is, beyond the arms industry, the corrupt would-be dictator Bibi Netanyahu. This will ultimately only assist him in deflecting attention from the many legal charges against him and his attempts to become “Dictator and Chief” of the State of Israel. He has already racked up the support from the usual suspects like the USA, Great Britain, France and, of course Canada. To no one’s surprise, the hypocritical chant is that the State of Israel has the absolute right to “defend itself”. It has already demonstrated, and will provide much more evidence, of the kind of “defence” that it has in store for the Palestinian people of Gazaii. Here is Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant: “I have ordered a complete siege of the Gaza strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel. Everything is closed. We are fighting animals and we will act accordingly.”iii
And Hamas, which was elected only once, in 2007? It has consistently employed the language of defiance and threat but has never been able to show any ability to actually defend the Palestinian people and it will certainly not protect them this time round.
7. The tragic polarization of Palestinian and Jewish people everywhere continues. To no one’s fundamental good the profound separation between two peoples is being dug deeper. The rhetoric, with brave exceptions, is being dominated by simplistic comments of standing with one or the other sides. These “sides” ironically share the same ancestry. (New York University Medical Center And School Of Medicine, 2000). Any hopes for sanity may rely on counter ideas and peace depends apparently on the amazing commitment and endurance of the small band of activists who refuse to allow their hope and their voices to be silenced.iv
Resources
Goulston, M, H. (undated). “Powerlessness, Rage and Violence”. https://righttojoy.com/transformational-coaching/personal-growth/anger-the-rage-of-oppression/.
New York University Medical Center And School Of Medicine (2000) “Jews are the genetic brothers of Palestinians, Syrians, and Lebanese, study finds. Science Daily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/05/000509003653.htm. May 9.
i There is a term for this phenomenon, “Frustration Instigated Behaviour”. See Lee, B. (2024) Pragmatics of Community Organization 5th Edition. Toronto: CommonAct Press.
ii The IDF intends to invade with ground troops and has “warned” that the entire civilian population (over one million people) should “Immediately” evacuate for the South. The obvious fact that this is cruel and an impossibility is being brutally and illogically brushed off as Palestinian “propaganda”.
iii There is humane logic to the Council and model definition developed by the Special Rapporteur. As a minimum, terrorism involves the intimidation or coercion of populations or governments through the threat or perpetration of violence, causing death, serious injury or the taking of hostages. This would seem to fit this situation. iv Host Piya Chattopadhyay, of the CBC’s Sunday Magazine, explored such solidarity efforts with two such Canadian activist Raja Khouri and Jeffrey Wilkinson (Oct. 15, 2023).
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