Israelis, like other Western societies that have engaged in colonialism, invariably practice violence, oppression and racial discrimination against the peoples and ethnic groups under their occupation. They never employ tactics involving understanding, co-habitation and partnership while maintaining relative justice. On the contrary, they always act according to the principle that everything belongs to them and what you have is theirs too. Eventually, they suffer defeat and depart, leaving destruction in their wake

The majority of Israelis are settlers, in the sense that they were not even born in Palestine, and those born there keep alive the memories of their fathers that they imbibed from a young age, just as Palestinians live with the memories of their fathers before the Nakba. The settlers know this for a fact, and they are aware that the country has always had inhabitants who have sacrificed greatly, died, fought and refused to give up their rights, yet they cling to the propagated myths and scenarios with which they are being fed

   To clarify, truly religious Jews do not believe in the establishment of a state for Jews in Palestine, and those who claim to be religious are secularists, leftists, and Jewish atheists, hiding behind the repetition of a supposed promise from God in any and every situation, in other words, they exploit religion for colonial purposes. These people know that they are outsiders, settlers, occupiers, looters of the homes and fields of the Palestinians, and that their ultimate fate will be to disappear, which is why you find that two-thirds of Israeli citizens hold other nationalities, predominately from states where either they or their parents were born. This became evident after the Al-Aqsa attack by Hamas, where it transpired that most of the captured soldiers and civilians hold other nationalities such as American, French, German, Russian and Ukrainian, and, ironically, the governments of those countries are demanding that the Palestinian resistance release ‘their’ citizens

   Can colonialism be humane? The answer is yes, despite all expected protest! The Islamic colonization of the eastern and southern Mediterranean basin was initially severe, but evolved quickly into an intermingling of conquerors and occupied, who collaborated to produce admired mixed civilizations that survived for centuries, as in Andalusia and that still exist today in all non-Arab Islamic countries. The secret of this unique situation is the semi-detached attitude of successive generations of conquerors to their places of origin, unlike British colonialism or its sisters who habitually milked the colonized countries dry and supplied their place of origin with the proceeds until the occupied became poor and oppressed, and the wealth of the homelands of the occupiers increased. When the inevitable defeat, collapse and withdrawal manifested, the same centres in the West experienced strife and economic collapse that resulted in two world wars and the deaths of a hundred million people. Subsequently, these colonial countries resorted to post-colonial tactics that did not involve direct occupation

   If the Jews had come to Palestine with good intentions the situation of everyone and of the region itself would have been better, but they came prepared with a plan to colonize, based on their presumed superiority, and with the support of Western Imperialism, prepared to exercise violence and racism with the intention of expelling the Palestinian population and seizing their land. They established themselves in part of the country by employing violent means and documented massacres, and then continued slowly absorbing and annexing lands, and promoting slavery, oppression and propaganda to the point that any resistance to them is invariably labeled anti-Semitism, terrorism, terrorists, aggression against the state and ‘an attempt to exterminate the Jews’!! At the same time, they are killing children deliberately with the premise that when they grow up they will resist the occupation. This, and many other aspects of Israeli behaviour have become clear during the war on Gaza during October, November and December 2023, leading to the reexamination of many basic assumptions, including the veracity of the presentation of Israel as a democracy

   If democracy permits colonialism, settler occupation, racism, expulsion, extermination by plane, and use of the latest weapons on the original owners of the land, then Israel may be acknowledged as a democracy in the sense that elections are held there at regular intervals. But the concepts and foundations of democracy are contrary to all official Israeli actions as is the silence of a majority of Israeli citizens about what they see, and practice, since most of them are in the army which engages in blind brutality driven by dark propaganda and blatant lies. Why has no significant popular Israeli movement emerged, demanding an end to the massacre and the pursuit of a peaceful solution, an option which their leaders have always sabotaged? Why does a majority of the Israeli public continue to support asymmetric warfare that damages the position of Jews and Israelis and reminds us of apartheid and the horrors of Nazism? Most Palestinians have long accepted the concept of coexistence as long as it is synonymous with dignity, equality and justice, rather than racism, oppression and deception. The answer is found in the nature of settler colonialism, which fears peace, democracy, justice and equality for all, and for this reason the Israeli closes his eyes and closes his ears to any demands that may detract from his profits and benefits in this colonial[حساب1]  project. He wants everything, or at least the lion’s share, and would possibly even accept the demolition of the temple as long as he has an alternative nationality that paves the way for a life in a more desirable place

   The reality of Israel after the seventh of October 2023 is reflected in the manifestation of clear facts such as the fragility of its society, the internal political differences, its indifference to the environment and its disregard for it: The current war, the violence of which has no parallel in human history, has created a state of hatred for future generations, and destroyed all chance of survival and peaceful coexistence for Israelis in the region. This means that Israel will become no more than an American aircraft carrier, protected by American financial and diplomatic forces, not an homogeneous society, but rather a wage earner of the colonial West in opposition to the region as a whole

   The war showed the Israeli public’s ability to drift passively behind the most radical right-wing leadership since the initiation of their state, a leadership that does not differ in composition, ideology and practice from fascism, and is constantly outdoing it. What is important here is that this reality is now being revealed globally to both older and new generations, reinforcing the generally negative Western and international view of the Jews. Domination of the official media no longer works here, as facts have been exposed and the lies of the Israeli ruling establishment and its supporters have been shamefully revealed. Retaliatory warfare and the resort to religious slogans by atheist politicians contribute to an increasingly negative perception. The only light at the end of the tunnel for the Jews is to be found in the activities of some Jewish groups, whether liberal or religious, that have denounced in word and deed acts being carried out by the radical Israeli establishment in the name of all Jews. Unfortunately, all of them live outside occupied Palestine, where they enjoy freedom of expression, and the rare few who have tried to counter the current fascist practices from within Israeli society have been arrested and interrogated on charges of treason to the point of terrorizing all those likely to come in communication with them, including neighbours and co-workers; people fear for their livelihood and desist from criticism of state policy. This is reminiscent of the situation of the Germans and Italians before the outbreak of the Second World War

   At the beginning of this war, global support for Israel stood at 65%, and by the fourth week, opposition to the war in international public opinion had reached 95%, according to an update by an Israeli institute that specializes in monitoring world public opinion and analyzing trends both in general and in detail. Pro-Israel supporters have become a rare currency, other than Jewish fanatics, those who profit directly by association, and employees afraid for their livelihood in businesses owned and run by Jews. At the beginning of the war, Western countries on the Security Council blocked resolutions demanding humanitarian ceasefires and calling for the war to end, and now, at the beginning of the third month of warfare, there is no longer any country on the Security Council opposing the ending of the war, with the sole exception of the United States, while the General Assembly resolution, demanding a cessation of the war, then in its sixty-seventh day, for humanitarian reasons and in view of the approaching collapse of the global humanitarian system, was supported by a global majority, opposed only by the United States, Austria  and Washington’s dependencies, namely Guatemala, the Czech Republic, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, and Micronesia. It is important to recall that since its establishment in 1948, by virtue of the partition resolution passed by the United Nations General Assembly, Israel has considered and promoted itself extensively as the representative and protector of all Jews, all over the world, and has worked hard to make all criticism of Israel synonymous with anti-Semitism. Now, with its anti-world stance and loathed by many for its inhumane behavior, Israel is contributing to the re-creation and reaffirmation of former negative European and global opinions of Jews, and all political, military and diplomatic support from the White House will not change this negativity, which is taking root so quickly. It is likely, that the overall interests of the White House will force the administration to change its position, to attempt to evade responsibility, and to join the critics of the outcome of the war. Support will evolve into criticism of the current leaders of Israel, and of Israeli society, which has remained mostly silent on the war and supportive of it, and, ultimately, the situation will have an extremely negative outcome for Jews internationally

   Netanyahu and the extreme right’s fear of the fate that awaits them since the seventh of October, and the difficulty of retaliating against Hamas and its leaders personally, has pushed them to stir up dark political and religious hatred against Palestinians as a whole, and then to proceed with the violation of moral caveats one after another, dragging both Israeli society at home and a majority of the world’s Jews down with them. They underestimated the world, concerned only for their own importance and selfish interests and denounced any criticism of them for being occupiers in the first place. They have overlooked the reality that an occupying power cannot play the role of victim forever. All they needed to do was withdraw and then they could have done whatever they wanted if they were attacked, subject, of course, to the laws of war recognized since time immemorial and developed during the period after World War II. They could have acknowledged the occupation and conceded after the seventh of October, declaring an end to the occupation, as General de Gaulle did in the case of Algeria. In that case, they would have gained international respect, particularly with reference to successive international resolutions, demanding an end to the occupation, to settlement, and calling for peace with the neighbouring Palestinian state. But they arrogantly ran rings around the world community, opted for barbarism upon barbarism, and made a substantial contribution to the return of negativism against Jews in general

   Ultimately, in light of their military failings in the Gaza Strip, the deepening defeat of their army and the increasing casualties incurred for each additional day of perseverance, the Israelis will realize that they have been defeated by the legendary Palestinian steadfastness, such as can only be manifested by the rightful owner of the land, the inheritor of its future

Abdel-Gabbar Adwan

Palestinian writer and novelist from Gaza