Israel Weaponizes "Peace" -- Again

Netanyahu says he agreed to a ceasefire in Lebanon to isolate Gaza. This means far more global solidarity is needed for Palestinians.

I had a feeling I never had before today.

I was almost glad my dad died several years ago so he doesn’t have to see what was happening.

While Israel killed thousands in Lebanon, it was unable to advance more than a few miles into the country, leading many to argue that this was a major reason for Israel agreeing to a ceasefire.

I suspect my dad might question that.

Many simply hear “ceasefire” and think good.

Given Israel’s record, this may be naive.

Netanyahu (born Mileikowsky) himself said that he had three reasons for agreeing to a ceasefire: to "focus on the Iranian threat," to "give our forces a breather and replenish stocks" and to "separate the fronts and isolate Hamas."

That is, he effectively says he wants more war in other places.

The last reason highlighted what appeared to be a major concession by Hezbollah. The group had repeatedly stated that it would continue to battle Israel until it agreed to stop attacking Palestinians in Gaza. See Hasan Nasrallah shortly before he was assassinated by Israel:

Netanyahu also stated that "With the United States’ full understanding, we maintain full freedom of military action".

All this fits into a longterm goal of Israel: Isolate the Palestinians.

That’s what the “Abraham Accords” were about: Make deals with corrupt Arab governments to get them to normalize relations with Israel so the Palestinians are more and more isolated and Israel can have its way with them.

They are celebrated by Trump and Biden alike.

“Normalizing” with Israel means normalizing genocide.

That’s what Biden’s goal is about: “United States remains prepared to conclude a set of historic deals with Saudi Arabia to include a security pact and economic assurances together with a credible pathway for establishing a Palestinian state and the full — the full normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel — a desire they both have.”

And this pattern goes way back. The much lauded Camp David agreements that Jimmy Carter did with Israel and Egypt, as Eqbal Ahmad noted “isolated Egypt from its Arab milieu”. Ahmad argued that this led to the 1991 attack on Iraq. Camp David effectively weaponized peace, see my piece below.

People pretending to be friends of Palestine say that Israel hasn’t achieved its goals.

This is wrong. A cardinal rule is that stated goals are not actual goals.

If Israel actually wanted security, it would have agreed to fair peace deals decades ago. It doesn’t.

Killing Palestinians and Lebanese is a goal of Israel.

As Hussein.Achokr, a researcher at the American University of Beirut, posted on Sunday: “This is my home burning. Israel claims it targeted a military facility, but it’s lying. This is the ‘Dahiya Doctrine,’ meant to terrorize us into submitting to its ambitions, silencing us, and forcing us to accept humiliation. Shame on its tyranny. This is exactly what terrorism is!”

Many who depend on the resilience of armed groups like Hezbollah may lose heart.

They shouldn’t.

They should feel like it is what they — not guys with guns — do in the coming days, months and years that will change the course of events.

That means more creative, more direct activism.

That means more engaging independent media.

That means greater global solidarity.

I have a burning desire to make real projects along those lines. I hope readers can help make them happen.

Stay tuned.