Despite the claims made by Israel, their real objective in Gaza was neither defensive nor destructive - it to protect their identity from the gravest threat of all: peace.
By Abu Yusef from Occupied Palestine
‘We are: dismantling Hamas…ending the threat of rockets from the south…destroying the infrastructure of terror…creating the conditions for peace…’
These were all objectives-justifications offered by Israel for its most recent assault on the besieged Gaza Strip. However, the absurdity of such statements was quite clear from the outset and surveys, conducted since the conflict, have shown both the tragic and predictable results of the recent crime.
Hamas has been significantly strengthened politically and perhaps soon, financially and militarily as well.
Violence against Israel is now accepted by far higher numbers of Palestinians horrified by the disproportionality and collective nature of the aggression.
Hope for a negotiated Two-State settlement is as low as ever. In short, rather than ‘dismantling Hamas’ or ‘creating the conditions for peace’, Israel has done just the opposite. It is my belief, that this was precisely their intention.
Israel knew that they would strengthen Hamas (there is certainly no shortage of precedence) and has long implicitly ‘accepted’ the relatively low casualties caused by the rockets from Gaza. Indeed, to Israel, the rockets have become a ‘necessary evil’ that serve to justify their own terror throughout Palestine.
In truth, Israel’s real objective in Gaza was to combat the gravest threat to the Zionist narrative: the growing movement toward nonviolent resistance in the occupied Palestinian Territories. Over 1400 people, including 400 children were killed to send a message to those audacious enough to challenge the mighty with no weapons at all: there will be no peace.
From the very beginning of the occupation, Palestinians have engaged in acts of nonviolent defiance. These actions however, have always been pushed into the shadows amidst a steady cycle of TIT-for-tat fighting.
These much less frequent instances of violent resistance dominate the media and distort the character of our struggle in Israel’s favor. The message that the world is fed, and the perception developed as a result, is one of Palestinians as ‘savage and irrational’ – willing to die for no other reason than to kill. This perception has been utilized to legitimize Israel’s oppression and disproportionality.
In the same way that Palestinian violence ‘colors the conflict’ in Israel’s favor, unilateral nonviolence on the part of Palestinians can change the perception of the struggle in our favor.
Israel understands this and fears the growing movement. Their recent brutal outburst was meant to silence the voices of nonviolence by making them sound naïve amidst the ruins of Gaza. Israel must kill nonviolence in Palestine for fear that it will soon change the international opinions of the epic roles we have been casted into for over for 60 years – that of David and Goliath.
Davidian Israel
‘We are only a small and weak state amidst a sea of hostile and irrational Arabs who want only - and forever - to push us into the sea. We must push back…’
It has been this discourse above all which has kept the sympathy of the world in Israel’s corner. They have always been the David of the Israelites – cast out onto the front lines unprotected and against overwhelming odds – always and forever fighting the Goliath from Palestine. It has been this discourse which has kept the support of the Western world overwhelmingly in Israel’s corner and united the fractured Jewish majority behind the banner of nationalism.
Israel has enjoyed the more flattering half of this narrative throughout their meteoric rise from statehood to regional overlord. And even today, despite Israel’s Goliath-like powers, there are still aspects of the ancient story which they are still able to cling to within a context ongoing violence between Israelis and Palestinians.
Prior to David’s fight with Goliath, the armies of Israel had camped near the battlefield for forty days out of fear of engaging the enemy. It was David alone who walked to the frontline. Only he would fight the advancing ‘unenlightened hordes’ of Philistines led by the brute Goliath – and with only a sling-shot after forsaking the fine armaments of the king.
The new David of Israel now wears the ‘finest armor’ known to man when it engages the ‘Goliaths’ of Palestine, yet he remains the same as the biblical man who stood ready to lash out at the ‘Evil Arab Empire’ while the armies of the ‘West’ set up camp ignoring the threat.
Recently, Israel once more ‘defended the advance of the Philistine hordes from Gaza’ - this time with F-16s and warships rather than a slingshot. The brutality of Israel’s assault has raised eyebrows and brought into question the bravery and vulnerability of the ‘new David’. Israel is betting on the fact that at least a few Palestinians are still willing to pretend to be the Goliath any longer.
The Goliath from Palestine
I have never question the right of Palestinians to violently resist the occupation and oppression of our people or any people. Quite frankly I cannot - it is written into both international law, and I believe, the human spirit. Even in the United States, the right to fight oppression, both foreign and domestic, is written into the Constitution. Yet, even understanding that violence, which of course does not include the targeting of civilians, is a right, it may not be logical in terms of achieving our collective goals.
Does violence really challenge the status quo? Does it challenge the biblical narrative that has been imposed upon us and our struggle? Israel’s assault on Gaza was not aimed at ending violent resistance in Palestine. Indeed; they purposefully strengthened the protagonists of violence in an attempt to marginalize the voices for peace in Palestine. Israel knows that the latter command an army far larger and more powerful than the former.
The Palestinians, in their role as ‘Goliath’, must be violent and full of hatred for the brave David – otherwise the story makes no sense. Without the evil irrational violence of Goliath – even one as weak and impotent as Hamas – Israel can no longer claim to be David. Without this claim, they cannot justify their continued brutality without exchanging roles in the biblical epic.
The recent attacks on Gaza were an open invitation by Israel to shed blood for another decade or more – always drops of theirs in exchange for a sea of our own. They are hoping beyond hope that Palestinians will continue to agree to this horrible arrangement. They are hoping that we continue to respond with violence, even if only a little, so that they can cling to the last shred of the Davidian identity they so cherish and depend upon.
Israel knows that if we respond with marches, flags, strikes and nonviolence, rather than continuing with this vicious cycle, Palestinians will sculpt the narrative of this conflict. Israel knows that the army of peace in Palestine is more capable of destroying the racism and exceptionalism of the Zionist ideology. They know that this army enlists woman and child soldiers, young and old - so many that all of the prisons and gulags of Israel could not hold a fraction of our numbers.
They know that when we walk one million strong and unarmed to Qalandia some Friday in the near future, they will have to either kill us all or let us go on to the Holy City.
When we have unilaterally removed violence from our side of the equation – one of the few remaining unilateral actions Palestinians can do – no amount of media domination or bias will be able to continue distorting our narrative and the justice of our cause.
The Emperor – with no more rockets with which to hide himself or his occupation – will be naked so that the world can finally see the state of Israel for what it is and always has been: the Goliath of the Middle East.
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