By Seevali Abeysekera*
LONDON | 21 January 2024 (IDN) — However, they first need to flatten Gaza, ethnically cleanse the population or “transfer” as the Israelis refer to that process and defeat the Palestinian resistance on the battlefield. They will achieve their first objective due to their cutting-edge weaponry and the Dahiya Doctrine.
They will, however, not achieve the second and third objectives as neither will the Palestinian population of 2.3 million allow themselves to be ethnically cleansed, and, for all the military technology available to them, the IDF is taking huge casualties amongst the rubble of Gaza. The Palestinian resistance, many wearing Adidas track bottoms and flip-flops, are inflicting huge casualties on the IDF, both in human and material terms.
According to Israel’s figures there are more than 20,000 soldiers listed as ”disabled” with more than 5,000 having had amputations of various limbs. 9,000 plus Israeli soldiers are receiving psychotherapy and are having multiple PTSD-related conditions, and will not return to combat. The official IDF death toll in Gaza at the moment is around 200, but according to most commentators, the actual death toll is much higher and is not disclosed for fear of affecting the morale of the armed forces.
Severe trauma
Israeli soldiers on the ground have reported severe trauma and inability to fight due to the brutality they have both been a part of and witnessed. The impact on Israeli society of ex-soldiers having serious mental issues will be a lot worse than what happened in the USA post-Vietnam. Israel is also a fraction of the size of America in terms of population and land mass.
The rate of attrition of Israeli armour, especially the much-vaunted Merkava main battle tank, which was supposed to be the gold standard compared to all other main battle tanks in the world, is equally horrendous. There are daily YouTube clips uploaded by the Palestinian resistance fighters of Merkava tanks being blown up using locally made shoulder-fired anti-tank weapons. Each tank has four crewmen, and each armoured personnel carrier (APC) has up to eleven soldiers.
It is estimated that Israel has lost more than 200 tanks and APCs since the Gaza ground invasion.
What is certain is that the Palestinian civilian death toll will continue to rise as the bloodlust amongst all sections of the Israeli population—soldiers, politicians, diplomats, commentators, and the public—is not only grotesque but almost deranged.
What is, however, truly revealing is not so much the blood lust amongst Israelis. To those who have always understood what Zionism meant in reality, the Israeli desire for revenge and bloodlust is not at all surprising. They have had a set of values inculcated from the cradle which has convinced them of their entitlement, and those delusional set of values, together with the narrative that Palestinians are essentially lesser human beings, or ”human animals“ as multiple Israeli politicians have called them, has made Israelis what they are.
What is truly revealing and depressing is the revolting double standards being applied by the West in their response to the indiscriminate slaughter and ethnic cleansing that Israel is openly engaging in. Whilst the response of conservatives within the West is predictable as their mindset is predominately based on a combination of Judeo-Christian values, ignorance, prejudice and outright racism, what is shocking is the response of the left, who pontificate about the sanctity of human life, are supposedly more enlightened, always promoting multicultural values and advocate peace and harmony whenever an opportunity arises.
However, when it comes to Israel and Zionism, all the pretentious values promoted by the left have been found to be nothing more than repugnant sanctimonious humbug, and their moral bankruptcy has been proved to be absolute. At least the conservative alt-right never pretended to be anything but an integral part of the Eretz Yisrael.
What is equally revealing is just how many academics, scholars and media personalities in the West are openly encouraging the indiscriminate slaughter and ethnic cleansing in Gaza on the grounds that the 2.3 million Palestinians caged in Gaza represent an existential threat to Israel.
For them, the decapitation of tens of thousands of women, children and even babies on incubators is justifiable on the grounds that they represent the ultimate threat to Israel and Zionism.
Whilst we cannot change their repugnant and revolting views, at least the fake mask of being civilized human beings they have always worn has finally been removed forever.
Once the indiscriminate slaughter in Gaza stops, the West, including the Christian church and the obligatory NGO, will shed their crocodile tears, pretend they care and spout out weasel words about how sorry they are for the loss of innocent lives.
Until 7 October 2023, America, Great Britain, and the EU extended their protective cover for Israeli apartheid, racism, settler colonialism and state terrorism whilst upholding liberal and humanitarian facades. Since 7 October 2023, however, America, Great Britain and the EU have stopped pretending that they care about the Palestinians.
Despite the UN and indeed government agencies within America, Great Britain and the EU describing what is happening in Gaza as catastrophic, apocalyptic, and destruction greater than that in Germany during the Second World War, the American, British, and European conscience is unshaken in their commitment to Israel and Israeli actions.
What is happening to Palestinians—non-white, olive-skinned and predominantly Muslim—does not and will not result in rage and shock amongst the Americans, British and Europeans. Their rage and shock are reserved for when their colonial violence, typically reserved for those they have categorised as not their own (non-white), rebounds and hits them. 7 October 2023 is a classic example of how settler colonialism and oppression rebounded with a vengeance.
The standard operating procedure to deflect any criticism of Israel is to accuse those who point out the truth about Israel as being ”antisemites“.
Do all those who …
Do all those who accuse Saudi Arabia or Syria of barbaric actions against their people get called Islamophobic?
Do all those who accuse Sri Lanka of discriminating against the Tamils get called anti-Sinhalese?
Do all those who accuse Myanmar of discrimination and violence against the Rohingya get called anti-Buddhist?
Do all those who accuse India of discrimination against Muslims get called anti-Hindu?
Do all those who accuse China of brutality or worse against the Uighur get called anti-Chinese?
The answer is a resounding NO!
Why, then, are those who point out that Israel is an apartheid racist settler colonial nation that systematically brutalizes and oppresses the Palestinians called” anti-Semitic “?
Are the Palestinians the only people in the world who have no rights?
The settler colonial aspect of Israel
Or does, as described above, the settler colonial aspect of Israel require America, Great Britain, and the EU to align themselves with Israel as they consider Israel to be the last bastion of colonialism, which is, after all, how America was created, and which was how both Great Britain and the EU enriched themselves?
The Palestinians, olive-skinned, non-white and mostly Muslim, are simply expendable human collateral who need to be eliminated in order for the last great bastion of white settler colonialism to exist and prosper.
If the answer is not as suggested above, then the answer is influence, money, and power.
Have the West, the Arabs, the Indians, and many others been bought and paid for by the Zionist lobby that, quite literally, seems to control not just our actions but our very emotions to the point that we are all morally bankrupt?
*Seevali Abeysekera is a retired UK businessman who scribes a blog on current affairs and reflections and thoughts of his own life journey. seevaliabeysekera.wordpress.com [IDN-InDepthNews]
Photo: A crater in Dahieh in 2008, two years after the 2006 Lebanon War. The Dahiya doctrine, or Dahya doctrine, is a type of asymmetric warfare. CC BY-SA 3.0
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