In their eyes, we are all "terrorists."

By Kareem Qurt

These days, you hear some voices saying that the size of the losses incurred by the occupation in Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood,” and the scenes of “humiliation” of prisoners of the enemy army, are the reasons that pushed the Israeli occupation to this brutality, of destruction and killing, that it inflicts on the Gaza Strip. However, the current Zionist crime would have been the same, even if the number of Israeli deaths had been much lower.

We must remember here that the scenario of the resistance taking control of the settlements was always dreamed of by the Lebanese Hezbollah, and the occupation took this scenario seriously and conducted maneuvers in preparation for it. The perception was that Hezbollah, relying on its “Al-Radwan” force, would launch a surprise attack in the Galilee, seize several settlements from several axes, and then its resistance members would barricade themselves there, keeping the settlers hostage until they neutralized the Israeli air force. The occupation also had visions for dealing with this plan, the most important of which was evacuating the Galilee settlers as quickly as possible in order to deprive Hezbollah of its strong point.

What is noticeable in this scenario is that the occupation would have done to Lebanon what it is doing to Gaza now if Hezbollah had implemented the scenario of controlling a number of settlements in the Galilee. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant stated, during the Crushing Strike maneuver last June, “If Hezbollah attacks Israel, it will return Lebanon to the Stone Age”. As is clear, the matter is not related to the number of deaths of the occupation, but rather to the essence of the occupation’s security doctrine, one of its manifestations was the “suburb approach,” which is a permanent behavior of the occupation, expressed by Gadi Eisenkot when he was the commander of the northern front in the occupation army, and it was called the “suburb approach.” In reference to the southern suburb of Beirut, where this approach was implemented during the July 2006 war, which is based on the use of disproportionate force to cause severe destruction and damage to any area from which Israel is attacked.

It must be pointed out that everyone who lives under Zionist settler colonialism realizes that the suburb approach is a routine daily behavior of the occupation, which it practices against individual civilians, not just against resistance movements. For example, a boy could throw a stone at an armored military vehicle without causing it any harm, and the occupation soldiers inside it may not hear the sound of the stone falling because it is armored from the inside, but the occupation soldiers’ response may simply be to shoot and kill this boy. directly. In another case, the occupation soldiers may arrest this boy for several months or years, and after he leaves prison, he will find that punishments are chasing him, and he will find himself prohibited from traveling, and deprived of obtaining all kinds of entry permits into the occupied interior. The matter does not stop with him, as the penalties may affect his family as well. The occupation deprives his family and relatives of permits and their sources of livelihood. In another example, when a resistor carries out an operation against the occupation soldiers and settlers, which may not result in any casualties among the ranks of the occupation, the occupation soldiers, after they kill the resistor, steal his body, and the military governor issues a decision to demolish his house, and his family and perhaps relatives are prevented from obtaining On permits, especially work permits.

These are just examples of what happens daily on the ground, and everyone who lives under colonialism must have a story about excessive colonial violence of which he was once a victim, whether it was physical, symbolic, or psychological. Therefore, we must remain aware that the excessive violence of the occupation is not related to the size of the act of resistance, but rather to the response to the essence of the act, no matter how simple.

Lifting the cover from the Palestinian people

Following the shock it received, the occupation began to promote a narrative that it was facing ISIS, and this narrative reached the point where the Minister of the Occupation Army, Yoav Galant, described the Palestinians as human animals. However, the occupation, in its rhetoric throughout its history, did not have a better description of the Palestinians and their resistance. Even when the PLO decided to turn to the peace option, neither Israel, nor America behind it, recognized that the Palestinian people are a struggling people who were practicing armed struggle to restore their national rights, but rather considered that they were dealing with With a group of “repentant terrorists,” according to the wording of the speech.

Whoever follows the Hebrew media, especially social media, and observes the discourse prevailing therein, will find that most of these media only describe Palestinians as “makhbilim,” that is, “saboteurs” or “terrorists,” even when the Palestinian is killed by mistake at the hands of the occupation forces. Or when he is defending himself against settler attacks. This description includes children, women, the elderly, and the sick. Every Palestinian killed by the occupation army and its settlers is necessarily a “terrorist,” according to Israeli discourse.

Since the emergence of ISIS, Israel has begun to compare the Palestinians to it. Following the attacks carried out by the organization in France in 2015, the Israeli ambassador to France participated in a condolence vigil with the French, and told them that he stands in solidarity with them because he understands what they are facing, because Israel is facing the same thing. In this context, he spoke about the “Jerusalem Gift” (knives) that was taking place in the occupied territories and likened it to the actions of “ISIS” that France is facing. This discourse was widespread among the occupation in those days, and it still continues, albeit in other forms that completely strip the Palestinian people of the legitimate struggle character.

What this means is that the occupation’s descriptions of the Palestinian people at the present time are not linked to the number of those killed in the “Al-Aqsa Flood” battle, but rather it is a permanent position from which it has never retreated, to the point that it has increased at the present time, and is receiving widespread resonance and American support.

Why does Israel liken the Palestinians to ISIS?

It can be said that the intensity of the Israeli description, at the present time, of the Palestinians as “ISIS” and “human animals” is merely a justification and pretext for what Israel intends to implement against the Palestinians, not only in the Gaza Strip but also in all of Palestine, specifically in the West Bank, as it is accompanied by Brutal killing and destruction in the Gaza Strip, killings and torture of citizens in the West Bank and Jerusalem, and it seems that the interior will soon follow. Itamar Ben Gvir, the Israeli Minister of National Security, announced that he directed his ministry to purchase more than 10,000 weapons to distribute to settlers,and added that he actually began distributing 4,000 pieces to settler militias in the settlements on the borders of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and in the interior ( mixed cities). Later, he announced that he had given orders to the police commissioner to prepare for the "Wall Keeper 2" scenario that he believed was around the corner.

In addition, it seems that Israel now sees that there is an opportunity looming before it to exploit the current situation to resolve the conflict, whether in Gaza, the West Bank, or the interior. This is because it is promoting propaganda to the West, specifically to the United States, that what happened to it on October 7 is... Like the American September 11th, and in another story, I likened it to the Pearl Harbor incident. These comparisons are neither innocent nor spontaneous. After these two events, the United States carried out very significant actions in the world, including after “Pearl Harbor” it entered World War II against the Axis powers, and eventually used nuclear weapons against Japan, and also after September 11, it occupied Afghanistan and Iraq. It sought to change regimes in other countries.

In this context, Netanyahu’s statement that Israel “will change the Middle East” in its declared war against the Palestinian people comes as an indication that Israel seeks to end the Palestinian issue once and for all in light of the green light that US President Joe Biden gave Netanyahu to be decisive. In his war on the Palestinian people.[6] Biden also used the pretext of the so-called "atrocities" committed by the resistance to justify his support and support and give the green light to Israel to do what it wants.

The "Al-Aqsa Flood" operation destroyed a large part of the occupation's image before itself, the region, and the world. The image that the occupation built for itself as the superior state militarily, security, technologically and intelligence, and the state with an invincible army, which defeated several Arab countries and destroyed their armies in six days, has been destroyed, which may change many things. The Arabs may no longer be enthusiastic about normalization with Israel, especially since normalization with it is often linked to efforts to confront Iran. 

How can the Arabs be convinced that a defeated Israel is capable of confronting Iran? On the other hand, this humiliating defeat will encourage other countries and parties to confront Israel, because they realize the extent of its fragility and the falsity of the image built around it. Therefore, Israel is now committing crimes in the Gaza Strip, and it seems that it will continue its crimes in order to prove to the world and the Arabs that it is the Israel it was in 1967.

In conclusion

The wheel of history does not move backwards, and if glass is broken, it cannot be repaired. Today, Israel faces a challenge that it has not faced in its history, even in the 1973 war. The whole world saw the defeat, weakness, and weakness that befell it, as factions were able to resist, and we are not talking here about armies. Within a geographic sector of no more than 360 square kilometers that has been besieged from all sides for more than 17 years, it must outperform its army, intelligence, technology, and military and security industries, and inflict a terrible, humiliating defeat in a few hours. Therefore, the current Israeli crime will not help in restoring its image, nor will it enable it to achieve any political goals, even with absolute American support. As for us, we should not care much about the discourse of Zionist colonialism and those loyal to this discourse. Frantz Fanon summed up this story when he explained that “colonialism is neither a thinking machine nor a discourse that can be dismantled, but rather it is reckless violence that can only be subjected to stronger violence.”

Source: Institute of Palestinian Studies