This, quite simply, is the beginning of the end for
The only thing
In the belief they would seize an easy victory from the people of
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
And so, playing the victim yet again, the Zionist regime 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 fertilizer fuel heading towards land stolen from the Palestinians in the first place. Oh, the irony of it all.
Trying to win hearts and minds, they enlisted the support of Zionist think tanks, which went into overdrive to try to 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 was writing this article, I was watching Olmert on the BBC speaking at a news conference with European leaders saying he wanted Israeli troops to leave
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 breathtaking arrogance, believed the world would stand by and applaud from the sidelines as they went to war with the people of
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
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 Muhammad (S). Such hypocrisy reveals them for what they are -- men without honor or integrity.
Oh how the Middle East could do with some revolutionary figures like
But perhaps the most devastating blow to
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
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
I hope Barrack Obama and Hilary Clinton take note.
And I hope they realize now that democratically elected Hamas is the only party in town to sit down and negotiate with. Failed Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas should now be viewed as collateral damage. His credibility has gone and any deal he made with
In a few years time children across the Middle East will be raised on the heroic stories and exploits of the people of
Yvonne Ridley is a co-Founder of SGS - Stop
(Jan. 22
PA/HG
END
MNA
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