Contributed by Joe Montero

As Isarael’s political leadership hardens its determination to impose its will upon multiple locations by military means, it is reshaping global politics. Israel’s actions are influencing the political landscapes of nations, especially those of the western world.

We are witnessing a movement in support of Palestinian human rights and disgust at Israel’s slaughter. The scale of it is unprecedented in its longevity and influence, despite every effort by the powerful and big media to vilify and silence it.

The Jewish diaspora is fracturing into opposing camps, as the iron grip of the race-based ideology of the Zionist movement falters. The response to the changing circumstances from this quarter, is that any criticism of what Israel does is antisemitism, and that Jews who don’t agree are self-hating ones. The fact that this must be resorted to is an expression of their weakness.

Photo by Alex Winston: ultra- -Orthodox Jews protest against Zionism in Jerusalem on 23 May 2024 

Open justification of a colonial settler regime based on the exclusion and the denial of basic rights to a people is no longer convincing, and the gap must be covered by committing resources and effort to the vilification of those who might expose this weakness.

The unfolding situation exposes the weakness on the Israeli state and the racist foundation on which it exists. This fact lies behind growing isolation and the loss of global sympathy. Cruelty to millions of Palestinians can’t be hidden any more.

Loss of the ability to silence a world feeling the guilt over past atrocities toward Jews, means that the Israeli political ruling class has had to increasingly rely on escalating violence, to both justify its existence to its own people and to create the energy for continuing expansion.

Just as important, is the ongoing Palestinian resistance. Palestinians refuse to be a defeated people and defy their oppressors. This resistance frustrates the plans of the Zionists. These plans are based on imposing the control of western heritage Jews over the stolen land. Non-western Jews are treated as second class citizens, Palestinians especially, and other indigenous peoples such as the Bedouin, and are designated as Arabs to get rid of. The Israeli state has been designed to put these ambitions into practice.

Photo by Jeafar Ashtiyeh/AFP/Getty: A Palestinian throwing stones at Israeli soldiers in the West Bank is an act of resistance against the occupation

The experience of the Second World War and the atrocities associated with it, including the murder of murder of millions of Jews, ensured the victors created international laws and principles that forbid the subjugation of one nation by another, and protected the right of those facing occupation to fight it by any means, including the use of arms.

Palestinians have a right to these protections because they are a nation under occupation. In contrast, the creation of Israel and continuing existence is a violation of these rights. The Hamas military operation in Israel on 7 October 2023 should be seen in this light. It was not a terrorist act. Even with the accepting that the taking of innocent lives is wrong, Palestinian military action against the Israeli state is legally and morally justified.

Photo by Mahmud Hams/ AFP: Hamas fighters are liberators according to international law that justifies the use of arms against an occupier

The deliberate decimation of the Gaza population and depriving of basic rights over decades are crimes against humanity denies this right. And the revulsion against this holocaust in Gaza has been the catalyst for the transformation of global public opinion against Israel.

Western powers, and especially the United States, are pushing to maintain dominance in a changing world over global economics and politics. This coincides with the Zionist wish for Israel’s territorial expansion. It begun its latest phase with the expansion with Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and continues with the emerging drive to take new territory from Israels neighbours. The two interests coincide to ensure political and military support for Israel. which would cease to exist without this alliance.

Israel’s ruling class seeks a regional war that will draw in a western military presence headed by the United States. Even if it comes with the risks of igniting a new world war. The United States might just walk into it. The support given to the attacks on Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and now Iran, make this perfectly clear.

Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty: Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon are widely regarded s defenders of the nation. Hezbollah is part of the Lebanese government.

Contrary to being about Israel’s defence, this is the outcome when western imperialist ambitions join with an ideology for territorial expansion at all costs.

The Zionist plan for what it calls the Greater Israel, involves taking land from neighbouring countries. See the map below. This ambition coincides with the west’s own version of expansion into the region. The United Sates more than any other nation. Its own rulers wish to push through west Asia, through the Caucasus, and to the borders of China and Eastern Russia.

Photo by Mike Segar/Reuters: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds up map of Greater Israel at the United Nations on 27 September 2024

The Unites States can and does use Israel as a surrogate for this geopolitical ambition.

But if this support is too obvious and Israel pushes too hard and too quickly, it forces other nations to react. This is what is happening now. Israel has become totally isolated in the region and across most of the world. Global opinion is now on the side of the Palestinians and calling for peace and justice to be imposed. Those who stand on the other side of peace and justice are losing their legitimacy.

Nor will China and Russia stand aside and allow this to continue. Both are more than a match for Israel on the battlefield. Iran will also defeat an Israel fighting on its own. Iran has one of the biggest and best tined armies in the world. Israel is too small and lacks sufficient weapons to prevail. This is why the Netanyahu government, representing the most militant faction of Zionism, seeks to use its provocations to draw in United Sates ground forces. Defeat is inevitable.

If wiser heads prevail, this won’t happen. If the stupid prevail, the United States will be walking into a disaster, fighting on too many fronts and drawing most of the world onto the other side. Its troops will be badly supplied, lack sufficient training and morale to fight. The other side will be better equipped, trained, and feeling that it is fighting for liberation. It will be battle hardened.

Nevertheless, global conflict with today’s means available to carrying it out would bring a calamity to the world. Sensible heads recognise this. They know that in addition to economic and social destruction on a massive scale, the human toll would be horrendous, especially if nuclear weapons are used. It could even mean the destruction of civilization and the planet.

It’s still not too late. The threat can be stopped