Our Gaza spring

The Arabs’ spring is Palestine and Palestine’s spring is Gaza and Gaza’s spring is embodied by all the victims, martyrs and the resistance heroes. Yes, I say this despite the magnitude of the massacre that has been perpetuated by the enemy against our people in the Gaza Strip and despite the enormous amounts of destruction and death that can be seen from every corner of Arab and Palestinian land.

Indeed, we are all aware of the countless sacrifices made by our people voluntarily and sometimes unwillingly. We do not know whether shelters have been built for them or not, for this has been a topic that has been brought up numerous times but has never been discussed thoroughly. This topic must be addressed in the future and we must ask our politicians why they had many shortcomings in this arena and hold them accountable when necessary.

I wrote at the beginning of the Arab Revolutions that the legitimacy of the Palestinian revolution would not be in its logos and slogans. Some chose to understand this statement as a call for the repression of our economic, social, intellectual and other issues and that all of this would somehow be sacrificed for the greater benefit of the Palestinian cause. Moreover, the oppressive nature of other Arab regimes was somehow justified by the idea that it benefited the Palestinian cause or the belief that the people of the Arab nations should somehow prepare to sacrifice their youth for the sake of a Palestine [that will not return]. Palestine is being used as a scapegoat despite the fact that we have emphasised that its strength will come from its depth and it is the moral compass that gives any popular movement its power and legitimacy.

In Palestine’s case, the national struggle/national cause is condensed to incorporate all economic, social, political and intellectual issues, among others. Of course, this fact is well known and does not need to be repeated.

The latest bout of Israeli aggression against Gaza showcased an unprecedented level of brutality, which revealed to every institution, leader and government that turned a blind eye to the cause the true reality and essence of the conflict in our country. Those who stood as spectators or as explicit supporters of the Israeli aggression on Gaza have proved their hostility towards the aspirations of the people of our nations.

The issue of freedom is not divided and he who wants freedom for his people cannot stand as an idle spectator when it comes to the Palestinian cause as it is considered by many to be a just cause against a colonial occupation. Yet, those who speak on behalf of Palestine are often the worst people to defend this “just and legitimate cause”.

Some parties, in their pragmatic approach to the situation, have by default stood in support of Israel regardless of whether they failed to denounce their biased position or whether they chose to place all the blame on the Palestinian resistance. By doing so these parties have chosen to turn their backs on the basic principles of freedom and justice because they are distracted, and have instead chosen to blame the victim.

Thus, the majority of these self-proclaimed “modernists” now claim that choosing to stand with Palestine means choosing the side of obscure Islamic parties. These allegations are a clear sign of falsifying reality because these pretexts and ways of thinking choose to ignore the fact that Israel is intellectually and politically a racist state down to its core, because it self-identifies as a “Jewish” state par excellence. How can these self-proclaimed modernist Arabs think that standing with Zionists is better for them than siding with Islam? It is truly strange!

In any case, the recent events in Gaza are unprecedented in history. As I have stated previously, the latest offensive on Gaza was a huge turning point in the Arab-Israeli conflict; despite the large number of fallen and wounded, the resistance has shown the enemy that it too is capable of effective military strategy and, for the second time, Israel was defeated [in their attempt to destroy Hamas].

When looking at the Israel-Lebanon war of 2006, one could argue that Hezbollah was able to fight in an unprecedented way because it possessed exceptional weapons. The same cannot be said for the Palestinian resistance forces in the Gaza Strip as they do not possess the same calibre of weapons nor the same capabilities because Gaza is surrounded by land, sea and air. It is for these reasons that the latest victory in Gaza is considered to be a major turning point in the conflict.

Israel lost its prestige for the second time and this time it was to a force much weaker, at least militarily, than Hezbollah’s were in 2006. Israel did not achieve a victory despite its much-vaunted military invincibility and semi-divine intelligence capabilities.

It is important to note the following:

· Israel did not succeed in breaking Gaza despite ten years of siege and the ground invasion stopped after a few metres.

· Israel was not able to destroy all of the ground tunnels in Gaza. Zionist forces only managed to destroy a couple of tunnels on the border.

· Israel did not succeed in demolishing a single rocket-launching pad.

· Israel did not succeed in capturing a single prisoner of war.

· Israel did not succeed in finding a single rocket arsenal or storage facility.

· Israel did not succeed in finding out where the rockets are made.

· Israel did not succeed in finding out where the rockets are launched.

· Its American anti-missile technology proved to be more of a gel dome than an iron dome.

In addition to all of this, one must note the creativity exhibited by the Palestinian resistance who, despite the siege, was able to work beyond enemy lines and capture an Israeli soldier. It is also important to note that many Israeli military leaders are now re-evaluating their military profiles as many of them fear that they will be tried in European courts for being war criminals. More importantly, the Likud Party is now shifting its ranks and looking for a new leader to replace Netanyahu, whose neo-fascist policies are clearly not working. The party was forced to make a similar move after Ehud Olmert’s failure in Lebanon in 2006.

The facts mentioned above are just the tip of the iceberg and they must be discussed and examined in great detail despite the Arab media’s current sense of embarrassment for their media blackout on the war and their bias towards the Israeli perspective.

The future Israel will be completely different to what it is today. It has lost its role in the Middle East after losing two wars and after deciding to attack civilians in an unprecedented brutal way. Not only did Israel ask for ceasefire terms at the very onset of the conflict, but many Israeli politicians also attempted to corner the Palestinian resistance and force it to relinquish the demands for the end of the siege and open borders; however, they were not successful.

Israel was defeated in 2006 and also failed to implement the current tasks assigned to it by Washington. The US and NATO have responded to the most recent defeat by saying that it will be answered to elsewhere, perhaps in Iraq or Syria (not Tel Aviv). We should know or expect these outcomes, on scientific grounds, based on the research of scholars associated with centres that focus on the Middle East.

What does isolating Israel mean? What has isolating Israel meant since 1956? It means that the Palestinian leadership (and by leadership I do not mean the one found in Ramallah) has demonstrated political, media, military and psychological willingness to fight against Israel. The fight against the occupier is not necessarily conducted through the use of violence but in a way that forces its government to relinquish Palestinian land that was occupied in 1967, without any conditions or limitations. We need only to look at how Hezbollah forced Israel to retreat from southern Lebanon in 2000 without any conditions. The Palestinian right of return and the defence of the occupied territories also need to be fought for without exception.

We are not underestimating our enemy’s capabilities in any way and we know that the battle to liberate Palestine will be long and complex. While we know that we will face many complications along the way, we remain confident in our ability to fight the glorious battle that we need to restore our country.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.