The
attack on Gaza, the world’s largest prison and only concentration camp will
have resulted by the time this article is published in 12,000 Palestinian
lives, over 5,000 of them are children, and hundreds of thousands are injured,
some severely. In addition, over 1.65 million Gazans have been displaced from the North
to the south of Gaza. Does genocide (and ethnic cleansing mean that Israel is a
victor? Not necessarily!
اضافة اعلان
To
start, according to the International Genocide Convention (1948), genocide
refers to specific actions (such as killing or deliberately inflicting
conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of a group in
whole or in part) taken to destroy, in whole or in part, the group targeted,
including on ethnic or national grounds. This is exactly what Israel is doing
(cutting off water, food, mobility, fuel and energy, hence, let us call a spade
a spade!
The cost of war: $50 billion
From
a purely economic perspective, the cost of the war to Israel has surpassed $50
billion so far. In addition, present and expected future government revenues
decreased, thus resulting in growing budget deficits.
To start, according to the International Genocide Convention (1948), genocide refers to specific actions (such as killing or deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of a group in whole or in part) taken to destroy, in whole or in part, the group targeted, including on ethnic or national grounds. This is exactly what Israel is doing (cutting off water, food, mobility, fuel and energy, hence, let us call a spade a spade!
There
is also a forfeiture of domestic and future investment inflows and a domestic
and global sense of enhanced uncertainty and doubt about the sustainability of
the renegade state. Losses of lives in the battle against Hamas and the planned
genocide and ethnic cleansing of Gaza are not made public, but they are
significant. Israel’s known policy from the days of Nakba, the ethnic cleansing
of Palestinians in 1948, was to hide their losses and allow Arab media to show
the Arab losses to create fear and forced displacement. Moreover, despite the
much-touted myth of the promised land, hundreds of thousands of Israelis have
left Israel and applied for residency elsewhere.
Among
the vast majority of Arab masses, and not necessarily all their rulers, there
is a sudden and growing sense that the invincible state and its army are not so
invincible, and with will and some military power can be defeated.
Consequently, resurfaced is the belief that what has been taken by force can be
retaken, also by force. This outcome is apparent in the chants and
demonstrations by millions of Arabs, particularly the youth, throughout the
region.
Over 80 percent of the people in the US believe that Israel is not in
the right
World
sentiments have changed. Over 80 percent of the people in the US believe that
Israel is not in the right. Over 1 million people demonstration in London alone
a few days ago is evidence of a shift. Despite cart-blanche support to Israel
in the first days of October, the world has witnessed some backtracking and
softening of their statements, not because they have suddenly become
enlightened but because their electorate has walked the streets in such
powerful determination to right a wrong.
Let
us take for example the sacking of the now-former Home Secretary of the UK,
Suella Braverman. She is the daughter of Indian immigrants, a Buddhist married
to Rael Braverman, an immigrant Jew from
Israel and formerly South Africa who stated that intercultural coexistence has
failed in Britain. She asked the police in the UK to be tougher on
demonstrators to silence the pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Such statements
and racial slurs she had made in the past had gone unnoticed and probably
contributed to her political career as she received support from some (such as
the Board of Deputies of British Jews).
The world is changing, yet Netanyahu is failing to see this but he figures that he has much to lose, the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, has caught him and his fledgling Cabinet off guard. It was not expected that such a besieged vulnerable group in Gaza would wage such a massive attack, and win.
In
the USA, the Center for Constitutional Rights filed a federal lawsuit on
November 13, “Defense for Children International—Palestine, et al. v.
Joseph Biden, et al., on behalf of Palestinian human rights organizations and Palestinians in Gaza and
the U.S. Plaintiffs are suing President Biden, Secretary of State Blinken, and
Defense Secretary Austin” for their failure to prevent and their complicity in
the Israeli government’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
The world is changing
The
world is changing, yet Netanyahu is failing to see this but he figures that he
has much to lose, the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, has caught him and his
fledgling Cabinet off guard. It was not expected that such a besieged
vulnerable group in Gaza would wage such a massive attack, and win.
For
Netanyahu to be reelected (and not end up in the dustbin of history and jail)
he has to achieve a counter-win, one that is so apparent to all to wipe away
the generated fear in Israel, and the sense of triumph among Arab masses, which
explains his twin approach: a Holocaust-like Genocide or ethnic cleansing. The
latter had been given the green light from the West according to sources since
2007, but opinions have been shifting amidst the world uproar. The former is demonstrated by bombing
hospitals and schools where people in war have traditionally gathered in search
of safety; to Netanyahu, such places offer him the opportunity to kill more
with less.
Why
will Israel fail? The world is no longer the same. Information cannot be kept
hidden from the world. Thank God for social media where ultimately all lies
will be exposed, and the electorate in democratic states shall move against
their bought-out representatives and force them to listen. The world is
listening and watching!
Yusuf Mansur is CEO of the Envision Consulting Group and former minister of state for economic affairs.
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