Golda Meir (previous Prime Minister of Israel) was reputed to have said "we would rather be feared than loved". This is actually in short a sum of the colonial Zionist mentality. They wanted the remaining indigenous people of Palestine to fear them. That is why in April 1948 after committing the massacre of Deir Yassin, the Zionist militias paraded some survivors and used loudspeakers to announce to other villages that if you do not leave your villages we will do the same to you. Panic set in and indeed many people left (still 33 massacres were committed during that first phase of the Nakba). Today 8 million Palestinians are refugees or displaced people. If you really want to understand the ferocity of the genocide unfolding you really need to understand this psychology of Zionists and their main weakness. The erosion of the fear factor of the "invincible" army (supported by the US) began to be shattered in that first real war in 1973 where Syrian and Egyptian armies actually fought back to reclaim their stolen lands (Golan and Sinai). If it was not for an air bridge from the US, Israel would have had to comply with international law and return both unconditionally. The fear factor seemed temporarily restored and Egypt signed the first shameful conditional and cold "peace" (1/3rd of the Sinai is still technically occupied and not under Egyptian sovereignty). But that also showed that no matter how much weapons the US supplied Israel, it remained a dependent state.
That slippery slope led the PLO to also change direction and listen to the likes of Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) that argued you cannot win against Isr ael so you need to go for a diplomatic track. From the 10 point program of 1974 to the "declaration" of a state of Palestine in exile (1988) to the Oslo surrender agreements, those leaders succumbed to their fears. As the world continues to ignore the plight of the Palestinian refugees and those who live under Israeli prolonged occupation/colonization, new leaders arose and so did new resistance movements that are more Islamic in their outlook who showed no fear of the touted strength of the Israeli military. As predicted by many analysts before (me included), as long as colonization and oppression remain, resistance will grow.
The Israeli invasion and destruction of Lebanon in 1982 was intended to restore the fear factor. Again the US came to Israel's rescue but it was too late then, the Islamic resistance forces in Lebanon forced both the US and Israel out of Lebanon (Lebanon became Israel's Vietnam for 18 years till they were kicked out in 2000). In the past three decades, every military adventure Israel engaged in resulted in defeat (not achieving what Israel wanted at the beginning of the campaign). This is clear and testified to by all expert military analysts. But in all these campaigns the Israeli mentality of swing fear by killing large numbers of civilians remained. In 2000-2005, 2006, 2008/9, 2021, and in 2023. This last campaign was by far the most bloody: Israel committed over 1900 massacres killing over 20,000 and injuring over 54,000 and leveling most of Gaza. But again this was to sow fear which can prevent acts of resistance from an occupied oppressed people. Fear was also used to silence those who advocate human rights. Calling anybody who speaks against racism/Zionism an anti-Semite and criminalizing calls to Free Palestine. It has not worked and will not work. Israel would have to kill all 15 million Palestinians to have pacification. The fact is that the resistance grows rather than diminishes. Meanwhile the Israeli forces in Gaza are taking massive casualties despite the advanced US supplies and significantly the empire of lies that helped Israel get created on top of Palestine in 1948 is tumbling (see palestineremembered.com and ongaza.org).
Reading history of other countries and even history of the last few campaigns by Israel would show this. The reverse has happened: the fear factor among the Israeli colonial settlers is growing. There is a growth in boycotts campaigns for US and Israeli products (see bdsmovement.net). The Israeli government actually feeds it by exaggerating what the resistance does (claims of beheaded babies etc) and even what the resistance wants (claims of wanting to simply kill all Jews). Right wing politicians love this as it keeps them in power. But trying to sustain colonialism by technical means and by massacres will eventually become more costly than ending colonialism (see Algeria, Vietnam, South Africa etc). We will not be intimidated or silenced.
Join us: Poets, writers, scholars, organizers, and others including the collective at ArabLit are calling for a "Fast for Gaza" beginning December 21, 2023, from sunrise to sunset, which will continue every Thursday until a permanent ceasefire. click here We remember the starving in Gaza
Israel's latest weapon against Palestine is Egypt's debt: Will Egypt agree to take in the Palestinian population expelled from Gaza in exchange for the cancellation of its external debt? click here
Stay Human and keep Palestine alive
Mazin Qumsiyeh A bedouin in cyberspace, a villager at home Professor, Founder, and (volunteer) Director Palestine Museum of Natural History Palestine Institute of Biodiversity and Sustainability Bethlehem University Occupied Palestine siyeh.org estinenature.org facebook pages Personal .facebook.com/mazin.qumsiyeh.9 Institute .facebook.com/PIBS.PMNH
