Israel-Palestine Weekly Update
24th November 2023
As many anticipated, the Middle East conflict is creating huge divisions between people around the world. Most of those who have supported Israel in the past are unlikely to be persuaded to change their views in the light of current events. Such people will rationalise this support in some way or another. Those who, like myself, have been protesting about, as well as singing about, the injustices in Gaza for decades will now feel vindicated in our condemnation of the Israeli state.
The situation in the Middle East is complicated, very complicated. I can’t claim to understand it all and there is much that I do not know. I am learning as I research and write about it but am not finding it as easy to complete as the Ukraine Update because it is emotionally draining.
The slaughter and destruction has continued this week in Gaza and this is reflected in the outrage being expressed throughout the world. Frustratingly, there are no global institutions in existence that can stop the killing of innocents - which is a sad reflection on the West’s contribution to ‘civilization’. The undemocratic UN is clearly not fit for purpose and organisations such as BRICS will need to grow teeth if they are to influence world events. Hopefully, that will happen one day soon. The protests that are happening can contribute to the pressure on the US/Israel but they can’t stop the killing or the destruction of Gazan infrastructure.
The Yemeni Houthis are getting involved, and have captured an Israeli vessel (see below). Given the position of Yemen in relation to the Suez Canal/Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, the West may become concerned about shipping and escalate the conflict by going after the Houthis. Further escalation is happening in the form of Hezbollah on the border with Lebanon in the north. Exchanges between the IDF and Hezbollah have increased substantially this week but it is not clear who initiated this flare up in hostilities.
But there has been a ‘humanitarian pause’ in the fighting around Gaza (starting 24th November) which will facilitate the exchange of prisoners. Some believe that Israel was motivated to support this pause, not out of humanitarian concerns but out of a need to regroup having become stuck in a ‘strategic stalemate’ (according to Slavyangrad). I have no idea whether that’s true or not but Scott Ritter argues for this position in Sputnik.
Humanitarian Pause 24th November
Israel and Hamas have agreed a four day ‘humanitarian pause’ according to Tass. This will start on the 24th November (initially aimed to start on the 23rd but was postponed) and will enable an exchange of 50 Israeli hostages for 150 Palestinian prisoners - according to RT news. Humanitarian aid will be provided to Gaza as part of the deal. The Israelis have said that they will not allow Palestinians to return to their homes in northern Gaza during or after the ceasefire. This is only a brief respite for the people of Gaza and Israel has a poor reputation for conforming to ceasefires. I should also point out that many of the prisoners I refer to above are mere children who have been tried in military courts and sentenced to 20 years in prison for throwing stones. Nowhere else in the world are children tried by military courts.
Background
October 7th
October 7th marked the start of this conflict but I have said little about it as yet. It is only recently that I have started to study these events in detail. As you know, the world quickly condemned Hamas’s attacks, which were well worthy of condemnation. But I knew little about the part Israel’s armed forces played in the atrocities of that day. In fact, October 7th may not have been accurately represented to us by the legacy media, according to some sources (no surprise there). It is possible, some believe, that the Israelis killed as many of their own people on this day as Hamas did because they over-reacted emotionally and conformed to some bizarre military doctrine that doesn’t pay sufficient attention to innocent parties - even when these are one’s own innocent parties. In some cases, it is claimed, the Israelis presented the charred bodies of those they had killed themselves as victims of Hamas. Chris Hedges and Max Blumenthal discuss the matter here (44mins) if you would like to know more.
Gaza - Open Air Prison
This is how former British PM, David Cameron, described Gaza. No one and nothing gets in and out of Gaza without Israeli consent, whether by land, sea or air. Lots of disinformation has been spread about Hamas for many years which needs to be examined and maybe rejected. If you would like to hear a different perspective on the nature and history of Hamas and Gaza have a look at this recent interview with Dr. Norman Finkelstein whose family, in its entirety, was killed by the Nazis (39 mins). I should say that others, such as Brian Berletic, have a less favourable view of Hamas and its role in Palestine. Not all Palestinians entirely approve of Hamas, as Berletic and Danny Haiphong discuss here (during the first half hour).
Finkelstein confirms what I have seen from other sources, that 45% of habitable dwellings have been destroyed in Gaza along with schools, Mosques and hospitals. So the very structure that sustains human existence in Gaza is being destroyed so that the Palestinians can’t live there. I wish I could provide another explanation for Israel’s actions but I can’t. And, shamefully, virtually all of the Western world’s leaders are behaving like Ostriches in ignoring this. History will not judge them well.
The Impact of the Conflict
A War Against Children
No one can fail to notice the prominence of deaths among non-combatants (i.e. innocent people) in this conflict - but especially children. Woke enthusiasts would say that this demonstrates how much children are oppressed in modern society but sane people would describe it as murder or homicide. The concept of collateral damage (being employed by some) is an attempt to obfuscate the unmistakable fact that killing in war is not different than killing in other situations. But the defence that collateral damage is acceptable in war is based on a dubious assumption that it is the intention that should be judged rather than the known outcome of any action taken by the perpetrators. According to the defence of collateral damage, if the intention is to kill the enemy but it is known that innocent civilians will also be killed, this is acceptable because there was no intent to kill; the innocents were mere victims of collateral damage, not victims of their attackers! But in such circumstances, we should be judging the outcome of the action not the psychology of the perpetrators. If the action involves bombing places where it is known that innocents will die along with the enemy, then those performing the action must take responsibility for the innocent deaths, whether they intended them or not. If they knew their action (dropping the bomb) would kill innocents then they are guilty of premeditated murder, even though under international law ‘guilty’ countries will avoid such a charge. That’s an uncomfortable thing for societies to accept because its leaders need wars; that’s sometimes how they go about their business.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, which presented the above chart, denounced Israel's continuing "ethnic cleansing" and demanded an immediate ceasefire after deadly attacks on UN schools sheltering hundreds of civilians. More children have been killed in Gaza in three weeks than were killed in all wars in a three year period between 2020-2023 - according to Norman Finkelstein who claims that Israel has been systematically killing Gazan youth for more than a decade. According to Finkelstein, employing an emotive phrase, the Israelis are embarking on the Final Solution to the Gaza problem.
President Putin, speaking at the virtual G20 meeting on November 22nd said that he is surprised that many world leaders are not shocked at this slaughter of children. In nine years, the Ukrainians killed 228 children in the Donbass but the figure in Gaza is already over 6,000 and still rising (i.e. on 24th November). This places the child bloodbath in perspective - there is no way to justify this Israeli slaughter. But many leaders are not calling for this to be stopped even though the UN Secretary General has called Gaza a graveyard for children. I have to admit that this is also a shock to me because these leaders have sacrificed any claim to be moral beings - and they have done so for political purposes.
Last week, I suggested that the slaughter of children in Gaza will not achieve the stated Israeli objective of eliminating Hamas1 but will swell its ranks with young embittered Palestinians. Indeed, one very angry Palestinian boy in Gaza provided anecdotal support for this claim when he said:
They bombed us in class, killed four of my friends right in class. What do you think I will do when I grow up? Make peace with them? No! When I grow up, I'm gonna fight them. Because they destroyed and exterminated us.
Is This War About Religion?
No - according to Rabbi Elhannan Beck:
I am a seventh generation Palestinian. My mother used to tell me that she remembers us living with our Palestinian neighbors in a great relationship. We used to babysit each other's children. On Jewish holidays, they would bring the children to the Muslim neighbors. On Muslim holidays the kids would go to the Jewish neighbors. We had no problems. ( note: you're describing present-day Russia). The problem here is not religion, it's occupation. The killing. Taking the land from the people. That's the problem. Palestinians don't hate Jews. They hate the occupiers. It doesn't matter if it's a Jew, a Frenchman, an Englishman. It doesn't matter.
I don’t think it is about religion either; it’s about oppression and the occupation of land, among other things. But many combatants use religion and religious texts to justify their actions. For years now, any criticism of Israel has led to Wokist accusations of antisemitism but after the killing of so many innocents in Gaza I think such a accusations will be greeted with anger and contempt.
Strategic Reasons for Gaza War
According to JohninMK on the MoA (Nov 18th), the Israelis could be interested in continuing their occupation of Gaza, including the sea, because there is a huge gas field underneath it. This is being discussed by RT live.
If you would like a detailed analysis of the global politics behind the conflict, I can recommend this from Simplicius. It is long but well worth a read if you enjoy detailed analysis. In this case, Simplicius also uses material by Alastair Crooke.
The Fighting
Northern Palestine
Gaza
The Israelis have started bombing southern Gaza but say that they will clear Gaza city in the north before moving their forces. This will take several weeks. The fighters of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas Movement, claimed that between 14th and 17th November they damaged or destroyed 62 vehicles of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), including main battle tanks, armored personnel carriers and bulldozers. Abu Obeida, a spokesman for the faction, revealed this information in a voice message that was aired by the Qatar-based Al Jazeera TV .
Schools Attacked in North Gaza
Dozens of people, including children, have been killed by Israeli airstrikes on the UN run al-Fakhoora school in the Jabalia refugee camp and another school in Tall az-Zaatar (according to Al Jazeera). Head of the UN António Guterres complained that UN hospitals are inviolable - but nothing is inviolable for Israeli fanatics. Thirty civilians were killed by Israeli air strikes at the school on 23rd November, according to Al Jazerra.
Refugee Camps
Israel struck the Al-Bureij refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip, on the 18th November, killing and wounding dozens of civilians. You can find some brief footage here. Two journalists were killed in the attacks, according to Al Jazeera.
About 31 Palestinians were killed in separate strikes that took place at the Nuseirat refugee camp and at another refugee camp. Two journalists were among the victims - according to Al Jazeera.
Hospital Attacks
The Israeli attacks on hospitals are unprecedented in warfare and the reasons given do not hold very much water. Although the Israelis claim that they are attacking hospitals in order to get at Hamas (four have been surrounded so far), some believe that the hospital attacks are part of a psychological approach to warfare designed to frighten the Palestinians: to make them terrified so that they will leave Gaza - according to Al Jazeera. Furthermore, the Israelis know that communities can’t survive without hospitals which could make the Palestinians reluctant to return -which is what Israel wants.
Al Shifa Hospital
There has been much debate about the use of the hospital by Hamas as a command post and to hold hostages. And there have been many commentators who have debunked this claim including Larry Johnson on Dialogue. 450 people were evacuated from the hospital on the 18th/19th November, including 31 premature babies who will be taken to hospitals in the south. 120 people remained in the hospital on the 19th. On the 22nd November, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society, 190 people including patients and staff were evacuated from the hospital (reported in Sputnik).
The Indonesian Hospital - North Gaza
On the 20th November, Tass reported that many patients and refugees have been injured by intense Israeli shelling. One medical worker was injured by a shell falling into the hospital courtyard. The Israelis are firing at anyone attempting to leave the hospital which is now surrounded by Israeli tanks. Later on the 20th, Al Jazeera reported that 12 people were killed by Israeli shelling. The hospital was built over a five year period with private donations from Indonesians.
Hezbollah
Throughout the 17th and 18th November, fighting between Hezbollah and the IDF has been going on along the whole of the border between Israel and Lebanon. On the 23rd, Hezbollah launched 50 projectiles into Galilee while the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) bombed southern Lebanon, according to Al Jazeera.
Tel Aviv
On November 20th, Hamas launched its biggest rocket attack yet on Tel Aviv, according to Arabic channels. Other cities in central Israel were also attacked by Hamas shelling. I have no news regarding the outcomes of these attacks.
The West Bank
According to Rybar:
…raids and mass clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinians continue throughout the West Bank. The most violent clashes are happening in Jenin Camp, Nablus, Tulkarm, Hebron, and Qalqilya.
Yemen and the Houthis
A spokesperson for Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi military, Yahya Sarea, says the group will target all ships owned or operated by Israeli companies or carrying the Israeli flag. The spokesperson also called on all countries to withdraw their citizens working on such ships - according to Al Jazeera. The Houthi Ansarallah movement has stepped up its action against Israel and has captured the Israeli ship ‘Galaxy leader’ in the Red Sea. But it is not clear whether this ship is Israeli since no Israeli nationals were on board.
The Houthis are also launching missiles into Israel which is difficult for them to accomplish since the missiles have to fly over Saudi Arabia and Jordan - and the Saudis (who were at war with Yemen) are shooting them down. This map of the middle east puts Yemen in geographic perspective:
It is possible that the West will see Yemen as a threat to shipping and take some action that could be escalatory.
World Politics/Diplomacy
South Africa Breaks Diplomatic Ties With Israel
South Africa will be closing the Israeli Embassy along with its diplomatic ties with the country. The South Africans know a little about apartheid and recognise its ugly manifestation in Palestine.
Arrest Netanyahu!
South Africa, along with Bangladesh, Bolivia, Comoros and Djibouti, submitted a referral to the ICC to investigate whether or not war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed in Gaza by Israel on behalf of the president. Recep Erdogan also wants him arrested but nothing is likely to happen until mid-December.
BRICS Condemns Israeli ‘war crimes’ in Gaza
On the 21st November, this ‘virtual meeting’ of BRICS countries chaired from Johannesburg condemned attacks on civilians by Hamas and Israel. There was a call for an immediate cessation of hostilities and the group made it clear that the forced displacement of Palestinians both inside and outside of Gaza are ‘war crimes’. President Ramaphosa of South Africa said that the ‘collective punishment of the Palestinian people is a war crime tantamount to genocide’. Al Jazeera has a short article here.
Biden et al Taken to Court
A complaint has been submitted to the District Court of North California by Defence for Children International - Palestine, and other individuals/groups against Joe Biden, Anthony Blinken and Lloyd James Austin. These latter are accused of failing in their obligation and duty under the 1948 Genocide Convention to prevent Genocide. If the complaint is upheld, the US government will be obliged to withdraw all support, i.e. economic, diplomatic and political, from Israel. Here is a copy of the complaint.
Permanent Ceasefire Talks
With regard to the call for a permanent ceasefire/truce, resolutions are being tabled at the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council that could soon result in a ceasefire as the US and Israel are becoming increasingly isolated by the rest of the world. The Duran provides a 16 minute analysis of the situation in this regard that is worth watching. But such processes are happening in slow motion.
Israelis Planting Weapons
A CNN article has concluded that the Israelis have been planting weapons in hospitals and elsewhere in order to justify the killing of innocent civilians. Even if the weapons were not planted this would provide absolutely no justification for the criminal carnage they are inflicting.
Parliament Building Blown Up
Israeli soldiers had a great photo opportunity in the Parliament building in Gaza and then blew it up. And by doing so are they are telling the Palestinians that they have no rights and that they will be ruled by Israel?
Nova Music Festival Bombing
Many Israelis were killed at this music rave and it was thought that Hamas carried out the attack. But a police investigation has concluded that Israeli helicopters were probably responsible. According to Zero Hedge, the Israelis have admitted that they killed some of their own at the festival. It appears that the Israelis may have killed many more of their own people elsewhere on October 7th, according to this article.
Protests
Iran
On November 18th, thousands of people demonstrated all over Iran in support of the children of Gaza chanting ‘Palestine is not alone’. By this date, 5,000 children had been murdered.
Maniac of the Week
Pastor Greg Locke of Tennessee - quote from Slavyangrad:
[Locke] calls for destroying Gaza and blowing up the Dome of the Rock mosque in Jerusalem to "cause the second coming of Jesus": Israel should turn the Gaza Strip into a parking lot as early as next week. Destroy them all! I'm sick of all these Christians saying we should have peace with Islam. Islam is a satanic death cult and if they had their way they would behead you before I even say "Amen" to this sermon. The Muslim religion hates Jews to the core. What they should do is evacuate the hill, get a big rocket and tear down that wicked Dome of the Rock from where it now stands so that we can rebuild the Third Temple and herald the coming of Jesus.
This ‘satanic death cult’ has nearly 2 billions followers - so cannot count as a cult btw.2 But this crazy eschatological stuff is becoming worrying. Disasters seem to attract such fatalistic garbage along with the maniacs who spout it. The world, at the moment, is a total disaster for the West, so it is no surprise that the evangelical extremes from both Judaism and Christianity are allowed to express their thick, green vitriol. But it will not become popular because it is simply not workable - societies and communities simply can’t operate on the basis of such hatred and people know that - generally speaking.
Nissim Vaturi (speaker of Israeli Parliament)
Coming in at a close second is Nissim Vaturi. ‘We are too humane’ he said, ‘Burn Gaza now, nothing less! Do not put in fuel. Don't put in water until the abductees return!’. He posted this on social media without sanction, yet if I use the wrong pronoun here in Scotland, I can be fined.
But his words were echoed in a song, courtesy of Rosenbaum Communications, that is so full of hate that I found it hard to listen to:
Autumn night falls over the beach of Gaza. Planes are bombing destruction, destruction. Look the IDF is crossing the line to annihilate the swastika-bearers. In another year there will be nothing there. Within a year we will annihilate everyone.
I wish this were a spoof, but no one has called it out so far. You can listen to it here if you have the stomach for it. I would be relieved if someone out there can tell me that the translation is false.
I’ll leave the last word to Pepe Escobar3:
No mainstream media narrative, no PR move to soften the genocide, no containment of “public opinion turning on Israel” can ever cover the serial war crimes perpetrated by Israel and its allies in Gaza. Perhaps this is just what the Doctor – metaphysical and otherwise - ordered for mankind: an imperative global tragedy, to be witnessed by all, that will also transform us all.
Many thanks for your views, likes, subscriptions and kind comments.
Best wishes
Rob
In the view of many commentators, the reason for attacking Gaza is to maintain occupation/control over the area whilst forcing the Palestinians out.
Technically, according to sociologists such as Max Weber, a cult is small and other worldly. Islam is neither.
Thanks to pyschohistorian on the MoA (24th Nov - 115) for the link.
Well done Rob. I have no doubt it was hard.
It was a good idea last time to begin this separate report and I really want to praise you for all your great job. It is not easy to write such extraordinarily handy and useful summaries. Many thanks for all your wonderful work.