Contributed by Joe Montero

The escalation of war between Israel and the Palestinians has grabbed the attention of the world. So it should, The conflict threatens to expand and involve other nations, and this brings the possibility of a much bigger war.

Unfolding events have given rise to an unimagined degree of big media distortion and outright lies about what is going on. They are portrayed as an unprovoked attack against jews by murderous thugs going under the name of Hamas.  

Sure, there is a Hamas, and it did launch an offensive last weekend. People died. Some were captured. Others were injured. Being a victim is horrible for those who experience it. Far better that this didn’t happen. But to portray this as if it is a one-sided war is ignorant at best and sinister at the worst.

This war has been going on for decades. Like in any war, there are two sides. Both are using weapons. There are casualties.

Video from STAND WITH Palestine

Anyone who bothers having a look at the history of this conflict will understand that one side is the coloniser. This is the Israeli state. The other is the occupied. This is the Palestinians. This colonisation dates back to the Balfour agreement of 1917, where Britain decides that the local population must not control Palestine. It was part of the betrayal of the nations of the region. Anyone familiar with the story of Lawrence of Arabia will get the drift.

The Palestinians had been promised independence for siding with the British during the First World War. As soon as the shooting stopped, the British reneged on this promise. The Balfour Agreement set aside Palestine as a Jewish state.

The conversion of Palestine into Israel took another big step after the second World War. Europe wanted to dump unwanted Jewish refugees somewhere outside the continent and worked with the Zionist movement to carry this out.

Balfour Declaration: How 67 words changed the course of Palestinian history

The Balfour Declaration set the tone that continues to have an impact today. One of the effects is the brutality of the occupation. Back in 1948 about 2 million Palestinians were removed from their home and country at gun point.  Many thousands were just shot. We don’t know how many died. Palestinians denied recognition as a people.

Move forward and the agreement was signed in 1993, where Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation agreed on a two state solution and the establishment of Palestinian enclaves within the existing Israel. There was supposed to be a vote to decide who would be the government in a process that would lead to Palestinian nationhood.

Israel, with the backing of its allies tuned their back on the agreement. The elected Palestinian Authority was not given respect as the elected government. Hamas, which received the majority of votes in Gaza wasn’t recognised. The Palestinian territories were turned into giant concentration camp, under the iron grip of the Israeli military. The territories were then chipped away to make way for Israeli colonial settlers. Severe poverty was imposed. Israel controlled access to work, food, medicine, power, water, and other vital necessities.

Document revealed by WikiLeaks provide evidence of the links. They reveal plans to deliberately target children, and ties between the Israeli government and military, their counterparts in the United States, and Hollywood. Working together to dehumanise Palestinians and put Israel in a good light.

Almost daily assaults against civilians have been punctuated by major offensives with bombers, missiles, artillery, and ground troops, killing anyone in their path.

This conflict threatens t be a major proxy war for western control in the conditions of long-term decline, and this has the potential to drag in more governments and nations into the conflict.

Under international law, including United Nations resolutions that affirm the right of self-determination. There are  the Additional Protocol 1 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, UN General Assembly Resolution 3314 (1974), and UN General Assembly Resolution 37/43 (1982), the Palestinians have the right to use arms against the occupation.

Third Day of Israeli War on Gaza

Law is one thing. But it’s generations of persecution that has brought about the Palestinian resistance. Resistance had provoked regular reprisals. Almost every Palestinian family has lost someone. Four out of every 10 men have been in an Israeli prison for being Palestinian.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the present Prime Minister of Israel has made no secret for his aims for a final solution though getting rid of the Palestinians. He represents the hardcore Zionist political establishment grasping onto its version of a master race ideology.

Israel has applied Apartheid. This is to separate the population along ethnic lines and threat one group as less than the other,

The Hamas incursion into Israel was a consequence of this ongoing brutality, and was primarily, an offensive against military targets. This is something that is being left out of the headlines.

Most of the Israeli dead and captured are soldiers who were involved in firefights. Innocents did suffer. This is true. But compare the toll. After few days, around 250 Israelis and some 2,000 Palestinians died. Many more have died on both sides since although in the sae proportion.

Man carries body of a child

Palestinians digging in the rubble for survivors

Hundreds of bodies are laying on the floor and inside the floor at Shifa hospital in Gaza.

The aim should be to stop the killing of Both Palestinians and Israelis.

You could be forgiven for not realising that huge marches have taken [lace across the world to show support for the Palestinians. This is the extent of the silence in the western media.  The clip below gives something of an understanding of how extensive this has already become.  

Worldwide rallies supporting Palestinians

Netanyahu and his hardline supporters insist that they will completely destroy Hamas and clear Gaza of Palestinians. They won’t. Hamas is too well entrenched and experienced. The Gaza population, and indeed that of the other territories, has spent a whole lifetime as prisoners. They can’t be broken so easily.

Israel will find itself in a quagmire of dealing with daily resistance on a new level. And as the world keeps on witnessing the brutality of the occupation, Israel will find itself more isolated than ever. The future of Netanyahu and his government looks bleak. Israel has already lost this war.

The need is to stop the carnage. This will depend on the rest of the world acting responsibly, calling for an end to war and forcing Israel to allow the Palestinians the same basic rights that we all want.