The beginning of the end for Israel

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 Hezbollah in Lebanon two years earlier, Israel once again learned what happens when you underestimate the enemy.

Gaza has been reduced to piles of 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 U.S. 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 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 Gaza “as quickly as possible”, which they have since done. Meanwhile, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya was on Al-Aqsa TV praising his people for their courage and bravery and saying they had 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 breathtaking 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 Arab leaders began to dance to a different tune while some of the Arab world’s 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 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 Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, who kicked out the Israeli ambassador, with Bolivia quickly following suit.

But perhaps the most devastating blow to Israel came from one-time Persian Gulf ally, the emir of Qatar, who ended trade relations with the rogue Zionist regime.

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 U.S. and European media outlets, 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 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 Israel over this shameful period will soon be revealed. By the way, I have heard that 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 heroic 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 filmmaker Aki Nawaz are producing a documentary for Press TV about the historic voyage.

(Jan. 22 Tehran Times Opinion Column, by Yvonne Ridley)

PA/HG

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MNA