By Gideon Levy
Two million helpless people in Gaza have nowhere to run, nowhere to hide and no way to save their children
A Palestinian child receives medical care after being hit by an Israeli air strike in Deir Al Balah, Gaza, on 14 October 2023 (Reuters)
As these lines are being written, Israel has informed the UN that more than one million people in the northern Gaza Strip, including residents of Gaza City, must evacuate their homes. There is nowhere to go in Gaza – not for 10,000 people, not for 100,000 and certainly not for a million.
To evacuate one million human beings within 24 hours is impossible, illegal, inhuman and impractical.
In other words, Israel is threatening to commit a war crime the likes of which we have not seen since the Nakba of 1948.
Very possibly, this is all talk and threats; Israel may not ultimately invade Gaza, and a million people may not be evicted. In any case, nearly half-a-million are newly homeless following unprecedented bombings of Gaza neighbourhoods by the Israeli Air Force.
These are dark days. Dark days for Israelis, who woke up last Saturday to a reality that turned upside-down their conception of their world that they had embraced for years.
Israelis believed that their army was omnipotent, the strongest in the world; that sinking 3.5 billion shekels ($1bn) into the barrier around Gaza would be sufficient to ensure the security of the residents of southern Israel.
They believed that they had the most sophisticated intelligence system in the world – one that knows, hears and sees everything. Israel is equipped with miraculous technology that it sells to half the world, and boasts elite human resources, such as the army’s celebrated Unit 8200, born geniuses who clearly could not be surprised by anyone.
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Different reality
Then, the fence around Gaza was breached by an obsolete tractor, and the entire concept collapsed. It turns out, Israeli intelligence knew nothing about a huge operation that had been planned for more than a year; the army showed up very late to the sites of the Hamas incursions.
Israel is not so powerful or omnipotent after all. Its military strength is not enough to guarantee the security of its residents. What remains highly doubtful is whether Israel will learn the most essential lesson from this: that the country cannot continue forever to live only by the sword, relying solely on its military power.
Half of the Israeli army is currently guarding settlers in the occupied West Bank and all their capricious carryings-on. For the Sukkot holiday, several battalions were moved from the Gaza border to Huwwara, near Nablus, to protect a festival of revenge initiated by an extremist member of Israel’s parliament.
Media images of Jewish worshippers sitting on a road in the middle of a Palestinian town, swaying from side to side like so many ritual palm fronds, were among the most grotesque of recent times. The grotesquery soon made way for catastrophe: because of this defiantly criminal provocation by the settlers, the residents of southern Israel had no one to protect them when Hamas forces invaded.
Last Saturday, Israel woke up to a different reality – one that should finally extinguish the country’s arrogance and complacency. This ought to demonstrate, once and for all, the impossibility of evading any consequences for continuing to indefinitely imprison more than two million people in a giant cage, with another three million people living indefinitely under military tyranny.
There was a price to be paid, after all. Last Saturday, Israel woke up to horror upon horror.
Israel was shocked and sought revenge. That wish is now fulfilled. As I write this, all residents of Gaza have become potential victims of a violence that even they, however much they already know of horror and suffering, have not previously known.
Trauma of the Nakba
Thousands and perhaps tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza will not live for many more days. Their homes, their lives and their world will be completely destroyed.
Those who are forced to evacuate will certainly remember how their parents and grandparents were forced to evacuate hundreds of villages in their homeland in 1948, unable ever to return. The trauma of the Nakba will reawaken now in all its intensity, in Gaza.
What is the Nakba?
The Nakba is one of the key events in modern Middle East history and one that has come to define the Israeli-Palestinian conflict ever since.
Also known as “The Catastrophe”, it began in late 1947 and 1948, as the new state of Israel came into existence.
Palestine was part of the Ottoman Empire for hundreds of years until it was captured by the UK at the end of World War One (1914-18).
The League of Nations – a forerunner of the UN – gave Britain a “mandate” over Palestine after the war, which did not take into account the wishes of the native Palestinian population.
The aim of such mandates was to bring about “the rendering of administrative assistance and advice” to native populations until they were deemed capable of standing alone as independent states.
What was the problem?
The British Mandate incorporated the Balfour Declaration, sent by Arthur Balfour, the British foreign secretary, to Lord Walter Rothschild, a prominent member of the British Jewish community, in 1917.
It pledged to establish “in Palestine a national home for the Jewish people”, who made up less than 10 percent of the population at the time.
During the mandate years (1923-48), the UK facilitated the immigration of European Jews to Palestine, increasing their population 10-fold, from 60,000 in the pre-Mandate era to 700,000 by 1948.
They also trained, armed and supplied Zionist groups, and allowed them a degree of self-governance.
In contrast, the native Palestinian population, which rejected European Jewish immigration and called for independence, was violently suppressed.
The number of Jews arriving in Palestine from Europe and elsewhere increased in the wake of the Holocaust, which systemically targeted Jews and others, resulting in the deaths of more than 6m people.
In February 1947, Britain announced it would terminate the mandate and turn the question of Palestine over to the newly formed United Nations.
The UN adopted a partition plan in November 1947, which divided Palestine into two parts: 55 percent would form a Jewish state, while 45 percent would create an Arab state. Jerusalem would be kept under international control.
But many argue that the plan did not take into account populations at the time.
In addition, Jewish paramilitary groups produced a strategy to control the borders of the new territory, called Plan Dalet (below).
Some of their members would go on to become key Israeli leaders, including Yitzhak Rabin (prime minister 1992 – 1995), Ariel Sharon (prime minister 2001 – 2006) and Moshe Dayan (minister of defence 1967 – 1974).
In the weeks and months that followed, thousands of Palestinians were killed or driven from their homes and communities uprooted by Jewish paramilitary groups.
Jews were also killed by Palestinian groups, if not in the same numbers.
On 14 May 1948, the State of Israel was unilaterally declared, a day before the British Mandate officially expired.
The new state had increased its share of historic Palestine from 55 percent to 78 percent. The remaining 22 percent was under Arab control.
Many of the Palestinians who fled or were driven from their homes never returned to historic Palestine. Much of it is now the modern-day state of Israel.
More than 70 years later, millions of their descendants live in dozens of refugee camps in Gaza, the West Bank, and surrounding countries, including Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.
Many still keep the keys to the homes that they and their families were forced to leave.
Nakba Day is now a key commemorative date in the Palestinian calendar. It is traditionally marked on 15 May, the date after Israeli independence was proclaimed in 1948.
Some Palestinians also observe it on the day of Israeli independence celebrations, which itself changes from year to year due to variations in the Hebrew calendar.
It must be clear that, notwithstanding the understandable, friendly human sympathy that has been expressed, Israel’s response cannot be unrestrained.
As I was writing these lines, a resident of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip called me, asking to send an article to Haaretz, the newspaper for which I write. “I don’t know if I’ll still be alive in a few hours,” he said. “Right now, no one in Gaza knows if they will be alive in another hour – but please publish the article even if I am killed.”
At some stage, these atrocities will have to be stopped – and that stage is very close.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
Gideon Levy is a Haaretz columnist and a member of the newspaper’s editorial board. Levy joined Haaretz in 1982, and spent four years as the newspaper’s deputy editor. He was the recipient of the Euro-Med Journalist Prize for 2008; the Leipzig Freedom Prize in 2001; the Israeli Journalists’ Union Prize in 1997; and The Association of Human Rights in Israel Award for 1996. His new book, The Punishment of Gaza, has just been published by Verso. This article via Middle East Eye
Views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House.
Comments
21 responses to “The world cannot stand by and watch this slaughter”
The world as been indifferently watching the white supremists of Israel slaughter Palestinians for at least 70 years. Why would anyone care now given it’s just another day at the white supremist Holocaust farm? Rham Immanuel’s father introduced terrorism to the middle east when he blew up the King David hotel in 1946. (Rham was president Obama s advisor.) So keep on being indifferent and giving money to the US puppet master Israel.
my heart bleeds for Palestine, my brain seethes with anger, my body aches wit pain and I am Jewish. The Holocaust was a crime against humanity perpetrated by German fascists, it was an abomination, as is the current Holocaust perpetrated by Israel against Palestinians. Where is the indignation and rage and guilt about the current Holocaust?
It’s interesting to note a parallel between the Ukraine fiasco and the beginning of world war II. In 1933 the Jewish world council declared war on Germany. What that meant was their banks declared war on Germany since they didn’t have an army. So London banks hired ex Bolsheviks out of Poland to kill Germans in the Danzig corridor. Depending on who tells the story, there’s anywhere from 50 to 100,000 ethnic Germans murdered by white supremacists. Of course this was a proxy war much like the proxy war going on in Ukraine today .The difference between then and now could be that Russia is smart enough not to go wading in with both feet like Germany did in Poland where the mercenaries were coming from that killed ethnic Germans. Further on down the line after the war was declared on Germany, Germany asked the Jews to leave Germany. The Jews that had the money to climb on a boat or whatever they were flying on back then departed. The ones that didn’t were kind of stuck. So the German government began putting them on ships sending them to different countries in around the world, putting them on trains or whatever they could put them on. They even tried to put put them in Cuba or everywhere they could think of. Nobody wanted them so much like the US did to Italians, Germans, and Japanese, Germany put them in work camps. About 250,000 of them died of dehydration, disease and starvation in the camps because Germany ran out of money to fund the camps. It’s easy to see why nobody wanted them. I don’t think anybody wants them today. Finally, when Germany got a case of the stupids and attacked Poland where these mercenaries were coming from; England and France declared war on Germany. It’s very possible this is what Russia is trying to avoid. They do not want to wade into Ukraine, particularly when Ukraine is not a country they want anything to do with. Ukraine would cause Russia more problems than it’s worth. So Russia’s sitting there waiting, and doing nothing. However It has wiped out most of the Ukrainian proxy army. Russia is well schooled in how to handle the current situation because they’ve lived through similar situations.
are you serious? the russians do not want to wade into ukraine? they are sitting there waiting doing nothing? only bombing and shelling and mining. and of course raping. i guess this is what you mean by doing nothing. of course it is pointless to reply to you
“Last Saturday, Israel woke up to horror upon horror.”
Or, were Israelis beginning to awaken to the criminal fascism of their ru£€r$ and march in their thousands when this event conveniently whipped them back into siege mode, and unified and recemented the crumbling tribal/sectarian ubermilitarised knee-jerk reactionaries?
Jews have a right to exist but I object to the statement that Israel has a right to exist, it was illegally created. No country was created for a religion.
The white supremists of Israel are more of criminal mafia than religion and certainly not a race of people. However the Israeli white supremacy can be accurately called “racist” but definitely not a race.
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Peace and Joy
Tom Feeley
Tom, his comment is there as far as I can tell.
Many people will appreciate what a respected journalist, Gideon Levy, writes in this article. He says: “The international community will not let Israel run amok in Gaza at the expense of two million helpless people who have nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and no way to save their children.”
However, the issue is that the so-called “international community” lacks the capacity and willingness to confront the combined might of the United States and Western governments, who firmly support the Israeli assault on Gaza and use this power and influence to neutralize any opposition to this genocidal war.
Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing and massacres are just standard operating procedures for Western Colonial Imperialism . The Holocaust in Germany was carried out by well educated supposedly enlightened Germans and other European collaborators , Libya genocide carried out by the Italians as they did in Ethiopia . Meanwhile for centuries Britain occupied India killing millions during its War of Independence mistakenly called the Sepoy Mutiny . The Famines in India in 1941 killed ten million citizens of India while the British refused to give aide to India instead food supplies were shipped to other parts of the British Empire for the war effort this was all engineered by the racist imperialist Winston Churchill who had a particular hatred for India . Genocide in Pakistan and in Indonesia were both supported by the USA who sent in a carrier group to threaten Indian army if it dared enter Pakistan to stop the genocide – Kissinger gave Pakistan and Indonesia the green light in his secret negotiations with these entities.
More than one spokesperson for Israel has recently remarked ‘there ARE no innocent civilians in Gaza”. This ‘workaround’ to avoid any responsibility for the international crime of committing collective punishment is a clear expression of Israel’s genocidal intent. ——-There was NO pushback from the CNN “journalist”. The US political class is silent.
——— Civilians in Gaza not killed outright by IDF bombs will be dead soon enough from lack of water/food/medicine.
When ordinary Arabs are appalled by the genocidal war of Israel and the barbarous destruction of Gaza by heavy aerial bombardment, one rarely hears from the rulers of the Arab region or any concrete steps to help the besieged Palestinians of Gaza. Why are they so pathetic and indifferent towards Israel’s ethnic cleansing on a large scale once again?
The answer is simple. Most of the Arab regimes are in the hands of dictators, dynastic kings and emirs, who have little or no sense of honour, or of right or wrong. They are isolated from their subjects, and their subjects have no voice. If they speak up, they are put in prison, or even killed, as happened with Khashoggi. There is no freedom of press and any criticism of the policies of any such anti-democratic regimes is totally forbidden. Many of these despotic regimes are under the domination of America, Britain and Israel.
Yes the axis of evil on this planet are the US, UK, and Israel. Not much to argue about there.
Like they say: USUKisrael, and it does.
Good news for the Ukraine Nazis and white supremacy of Israel. Secretary of the Treasury, white supremacist Janet Ellen jus said that the US has enough money to fund both the Ukraine Nazis and white supremists of Israel in their genocidal maniacal fight against humanity.
It’s not strange that we’ve never heard her say she’s got money for a US health care system, homes for the homeless, infrastructure projects. She is a Zionist through and through.
The chosen people are a very small part of what passes for European humanity and in all fields (especially financial and political) they have an undeniable influence on the vast majority. It is not easy to tell if things would be worse without them . Efforts over thousands of years to get rid of them have always failed. They are no more to blame than other religious groups for bigotry and violence. Jesus was their master play. European colonialism has yet to pay for its evil practices and perhaps in their solipsistic vengeance the Jews will hasten the end of a world that is already dying. Strange that the only people to tell the truth about the Jews and show true compassion are Jews. Jews always complain and are always the victim and God if there is one is no doubt a Jew. But the worst thing about them for me is their vulgarity. I am therefor an antisemite . The people of India and the Arab people and the Asian people and maybe some Nordic people will inherit the earth. But they had better be prepared for the Jews turning up.
When was the genocide in Pakistan please provide some info
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