The Beginning of the End for Israel
By Yvonne Ridley
January 19, 2009 "Information Clearinghouse" -- - TRY as he might, Israeli
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert can not snatch any sort of victory out of the jaws
of defeat that are closing down on the failed Zionist project.
This, quite simply, is the beginning of the end for Israel.
The only thing Israel has proved it can do militarily better than anyone else
is kill innocent women and children. And in its genocidal drive to wipe the
Palestinian people from existence it has dealt itself a fatal blow.
In the belief they would seize an easy victory from the people of Gaza, after
retreating broken and humiliated by Hizb'Allah in Lebanon two years earlier,
Israel once again learned what happens when you underestimate the enemy.
Gaza has been reduced to piles or rubble in some areas as Zionist bombs pounded
the tiny coastal strip by land, sea and air. It was a ruthless, brutal campaign
deliberately timed for the final weeks of George W Bush's US presidency and
before the start of the Israeli elections.
Olmert and Tzipi Livni, the daughter of a war criminal and terrorist (well, the
apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it?) boasted how they would crush
Hamas and stop the Qassam rockets from being fired into Israel.
And so, playing the victim yet again, the Zionist State unleashed the might of
its army - the fourth largest in the world - on the most densely populated
piece of land on Earth, claiming it needed to stop a few tin rockets powered by
fertiliser fuel heading towards land stolen from the Palestinians in the first
place. Oh, the irony of it all.
By trying to win hearts and minds they enlisted the support of Zionist think
tanks who would go into overdrive to try and discredit Hamas and its supporters
through TV and newspaper columns. Some of the accusations laid against Hamas
were plain ridiculous and silly and fooled no one apart from the commissioning
editors.
As I write this article I am watching Olmert on the BBC speaking at a news
conference with European leaders saying he wants Israeli troops to leave Gaza
"as quickly as possible". Meanwhile Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, is on
al-Aqsa TV praising his people for their courage and bravery and saying they
have won a great victory over Israel.
And indeed they have.
The drive to crush Hamas has failed - in fact many of the millions across the
world who marched against the war proudly and loudly declared: "We are all
Hamas".
The cries shocked Olmert, Livni and co who, in their breath-taking arrogance
believed the world would stand by and applaud from the sidelines as they went
to war with the people of Gaza.
What happened instead was demonstrations, riots, anarchy and outrage from
ordinary people pouring out of just about every city on the planet. This was
the moment when another battle was launched: People Power versus the
politicians. And 'we' the people won it easily.
Leaders who once said they supported Israel began putting a distance between
themselves and Tel Aviv. The gaggle of belly-dancing Arab leaders began to
dance to a different tune while some of the Arab world's most brutal dictators
clamped down even more on their own citizens seeing coups and plots, real or
imaginary, at every turn.
Shameful 'scholars for dollars' issued fatwas proclaiming demonstrations were
haram ... these same sheikhs were full of praise for those of us who rallied
and marched to show our anger over the vile Danish cartoons which ridiculed The
Prophet Mohamed (pbuh). Such hypocrisy reveals them for what they are - men
without honour or integrity.
Oh how the Middle East could do with some revolutionary figures like
Venezeula's Hugo Chavez who kicked out the Israeli Ambassador and then Bolivia
followed suit.
But perhaps the most devastating blow to Israel came from one time Gulf ally,
The Emir of Qatar who ended trade relations with the rogue state.
We still do not know how many Israeli soldiers have died ... it is a figure
Olmert is trying to keep quiet. No public, ceremonial funerals are shown on TV
in Tel Aviv. The Israelis, so used to playing the victim for the American and
European media, have not been able to publicly display their mourning to the
world. Could it be that mothers, wives and daughters of the dead would want to
blame the Israeli government for yet another failed campaign?
It is a far cry from the week before, when Olmert regaled a cheering crowd in
Ashkelon about how he telephoned George W Bush and interrupted him in the
middle of a speech he was making in Philadelphia and told him to instruct
Condaleezza Rice not to vote for a UN resolution Condi herself had written.
Bush did as he was told, said Olmert to roars of approval.
I hope Barrack Obama and Hilary Clinton take note.
And I hope they realise now that the democratically elected Hamas are the only
party in town to sit down and negotiate with. Failed Palestinian leader Mahmoud
Abbas should now viewed as collateral damage. His credibility has gone and any
deal he made with Israel over this shameful period will soon be revealed. By
the way, I understand his luxury villa in Gaza is about the only building that
is free of shrapnel, shells or bullet marks. It certainly survived the bombing
in a district which was attacked without mercy. Funny that!
Gaza will rise again from the rubble with its people even stronger than before.
They are an example to resistance fighters across the world and they will go
down in history for their bravery and courage.
In a few years time children across the Middle East will be raised on the her
oic stories and exploits of the people of Gaza. And as they are safely tucked
up in their beds, they'll probably ask: "So what did happen to Israel? Did it
really exist?"
Yvonne Ridley is a co-Founder of SGS - Stop Gaza Slaughter. Her website is
www.yvonneridley.org She was also part of the Free Gaza Movement and was on
one of two boats to break the siege of Gaza and sail into the port for the
first time in more than 40 years last August. She and film-maker Aki Nawaz are
producing a documentary for Press TV about the historic voyage.
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