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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">War on Gaza is the glue that binds Israel's opposing camps</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Amjad Iraqi - May 9, 2023<br></div>
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<h2>The Israeli right and center left have learned time
and again that the best way to paralyze the opposition is to launch an
assault on the blockaded strip.</h2>
<div>
<img src="cid:ii_lhjleyal0" alt="image.png" width="457" height="305"><br><p><span>It was only a matter of time before
Jewish Israelis — socially disintegrated, politically divided,
economically sinking, and diplomatically entangled — would once again
gather around the common denominator under which they can all embrace:
the slaughter of Palestinians in </span><a href="https://www.972mag.com/topic/gaza/"><span>Gaza</span></a><span>.</span></p>
<p><span>Once again, Israel has set out to “eliminate senior jihadists.”
Once again, the army has killed women and children with indiscriminate
air strikes. And once again, Israel’s political opposition is cheering
from the stands.</span></p>
<p><span>The circularity in which all of this is being carried out
clearly proves that Israeli political leaders are not looking for
security. After all, even the most foolish of the death mongers on both
the right and left must understand by now that these strikes are </span><a href="https://www.972mag.com/hamas-sinwar-assassination/"><span>incapable</span></a><span>
of eliminating Palestinian resistance, so long as oppression itself
continues. Rather, these leaders are looking for blood: revenge for the
Palestinians’ insistence on existing, living, and demanding their
freedom.</span></p><div>
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<p><span>The Israeli right has greeted the current round of carnage in Gaza with horrifying glee. “A nice start,” </span><a href="https://www.srugim.co.il/792173-%D7%91%D7%9F-%D7%92%D7%91%D7%99%D7%A8-%D7%A2%D7%9C-%D7%94%D7%9E%D7%91%D7%A6%D7%A2-%D7%91%D7%A2%D7%96%D7%94-%D7%94%D7%92%D7%99%D7%A2-%D7%94%D7%96%D7%9E%D7%9F-%D7%94%D7%AA%D7%97%D7%9C%D7%94-%D7%99"><span>said</span></a><span> Itamar Ben Gvir, our pyromaniac National Security Minister, as if it was the punchline of a lame joke.</span></p>
<p><span>The bearer of the minister’s fuel barrel, MK Almog Cohen, used
the moment to pretend to be a considerate statesman, announcing that he
would close his office in the southern town of Sderot in compliance with
the instructions of the IDF Home Front Command. “It was an excellent
response,” Cohen gloated </span><a href="https://103fm.maariv.co.il/programs/media.aspx?ZrqvnVq=JEJDMK&c41t4nzVQ=GJL"><span>in an interview</span></a><span>
about the massacre that has so far claimed the lives of 13 people in
Gaza. “I don’t think this is the time to talk about politics. We should
all support the army, and congratulate the prime minister and the
defense minister.”</span></p>
<h3><b>‘A hasbara problem’</b></h3>
<p><span>As is customary in Israel, the motto of “This is not the time
to talk about politics” was immediately picked up by the opposition,
too. The </span><a href="https://twitter.com/yairlapid/status/1655783365767749632"><span>supportive response</span></a><span>
of Yair Lapid on Twitter almost reads like a parody, as if the man did
not even bother to draft the statement himself but rather assigned the
task to ChatGPT:</span></p>
<blockquote><p>I am supporting the security forces for the operation
against [Islamic Jihad] in Gaza. The terrorist organizations in Gaza
learned this morning that the intelligence community and the security
forces are following their every move and that they will be punished. A
strong Israeli response at a place and time that we see fit is the way
to deal with the terrorism from Gaza. We will support any operational
activity for the protection of the residents of the south.</p></blockquote>
<div id="gmail-attachment_171599" class="gmail-wp-caption"><p><a href="https://static.972mag.com/www/uploads/2023/05/F230509AM12.jpg"><img title="Flame and smoke are seen during an Israeli air strike on Islamic Jihad targets, in Gaza, May 9, 2023. (Atia Mohammed/Flash90)" src="https://static.972mag.com/www/uploads/2023/05/F230509AM12.jpg" alt="Flame and smoke are seen during an Israeli air strike on Islamic Jihad targets, in Gaza, May 9, 2023. (Atia Mohammed/Flash90)" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 0px;" width="457" height="305"></a></p><p>Flame and smoke are seen during an Israeli air strike on Islamic Jihad targets, in Gaza, May 9, 2023. (Atia Mohammed/Flash90)</p>
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<p><span>Every sentence in this statement is a masterpiece of fraud and
lazy thought. Did the “terrorist organizations” only discover this
morning that the Israeli army is following their every move — something
that even a Palestinian child </span><a href="https://www.haaretz.co.il/news/politics/2023-05-02/ty-article/00000187-d861-d9b4-abaf-f8ff77ad0000"><span>in Hebron</span></a><span>
knows? Does Lapid really think that it was only this morning, through
this assault, that they suddenly became aware of the sophisticated </span><a href="https://www.972mag.com/amnesty-automated-apartheid-mahmoudi/"><span>facial recognition technology</span></a><span>
that Israel uses to spy on its Palestinian subjects? And what is a
“place and time that we see fit” exactly? How will they face the
Palestinian resistance forces better this time than the countless
previous rounds? How does this operation protect Israeli residents of
the south, who are once again forced to flee to bomb shelters?</span></p>
<p><span>Lapid wasn’t even the worst of the opposition members who
cheered the current round of violence; that title probably goes to Labor
MK Efrat Rayten. “The IDF is carrying out a successful operation to
eliminate senior jihadists,” she</span><a href="https://twitter.com/Efratrayten1/status/1655812446500581376?t=T4jZ965f1xNX6iNkVS8VaQ&s=08"> <span>wrote</span></a><span>
on Twitter. “Thank God our soldiers returned safely. I wish peaceful
days for the residents of Israel and especially for the residents of the
surrounding area [near Gaza]. Complex work for Israel in the context of
the killing of children, including a 5-year-old and women by our
forces. </span><span>Difficult images for hasbara [to explain].”</span></p>
<p><span>One can almost marvel at Rayten’s ability to cram such amounts
of vileness into a few dozen words. Successful operation? By what
parameter? Israel’s southern residents are sitting in shelters, and the
danger to their safety has increased following the military assault.
What makes it successful apart from the mere shedding of Palestinian
blood? And our soldiers returned safely from where exactly? Did the air
force pilots fight face-to-face with Palestinian militants in the alleys
of Gaza? From where are the soldiers, who shell a civilian population
using the most advanced weapons and are protected to the bone, supposed
to be safely returning?</span></p>
<p><span>It is also abominable and nauseating to see the killing of
women and children being discussed as a “hasbara problem.” Fortunately
for Israel, it now has, like the best dictatorships in the world, a
propaganda minister — our Minister of Information, Galit Distel Atbaryan
— to deal with those “hasbara problems,” those shattered families who
will soon be buried in the ground.</span></p>
<h3><b>Reaping the rewards</b></h3>
<p><span>The complete disintegration of the Israeli opposition in the
face of a military operation is not just a moral abomination, but
political folly of the first order. The Zionist center left has taught
the right wing, time and time again, that the best way to completely
paralyze the opposing camp is to start a war, </span><a href="https://www.mekomit.co.il/%d7%94%d7%a8%d7%a6%d7%95%d7%92-%d7%90%d7%9d-%d7%90%d7%99%d7%9f-%d7%90%d7%95%d7%a4%d7%95%d7%96%d7%99%d7%a6%d7%99%d7%94-%d7%95%d7%90%d7%99%d7%9f-%d7%a7%d7%95%d7%90%d7%9c%d7%99%d7%a6%d7%99%d7%94-%d7%91/"><span>because then</span></a><span> “there is no coalition and no opposition.”</span></p>
<div id="gmail-attachment_171607" class="gmail-wp-caption"><p><a href="https://static.972mag.com/www/uploads/2023/05/F230501YS248.jpg"><img title="Israeli politicians clap their hands after a speech of U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during the opening of the summer session in the assembly hall of the Knesset in Jerusalem, May 1, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)" src="https://static.972mag.com/www/uploads/2023/05/F230501YS248.jpg" alt="Israeli politicians clap their hands after a speech of U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during the opening of the summer session in the assembly hall of the Knesset in Jerusalem, May 1, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 0px;" width="457" height="305"></a></p><p>Israeli
politicians clap their hands after a speech of U.S. House Speaker Kevin
McCarthy during the opening of the summer session in the assembly hall
of the Knesset in Jerusalem, May 1, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)</p>
</div>
<p><span>Indeed, less than 24 hours since the gates of hell opened over
Gaza again, Netanyahu is already starting to reap the rewards. After
threatening to stop cooperating with the coalition, Otzma Yehudit, Ben
Gvir’s party, announced that it would return to support the government
in the Knesset. Anti-government protesters, too, announced that they
were canceling a demonstration planned for Tuesday in front of the
Jerusalem Security Conference in light of the operation.</span></p>
<p><span>The tragedy of the Jewish center-left camp in Israel is thus
not only that it does not know how to lead, but that it does not know
how to serve as an opposition. In this regard, it can learn a valuable
lesson from the right.</span></p>
<p><span>A year ago under the Bennett-Lapid coalition, when the “settlement emergency regulations” — the laws which </span><a href="https://www.972mag.com/settler-emergency-law-apartheid/"><span>institutionally apply</span></a><span>
apartheid in the West Bank — were about to expire, the right led by
Benjamin Netanyahu did not blink in voting against their renewal.
Right-wing voters did not accuse their leaders of neglecting the
settlers, or harming vital national interests, or even rejecting the
apartheid laws. But politicians knew very well that, when playing this
game of “chicken,” the coalition would blink first. They were right, of
course: the “government of change” </span><a href="https://www.972mag.com/netanyahu-apartheid-israel-government/"><span>sacrificed itself</span></a><span> on the altar of preserving apartheid in the occupied territories.</span></p>
<p><span>Today, there is no real political opposition in Israel, except
for the Arab political parties. And as long as Palestinian blood
continues to be the unifying glue of Jewish Israeli politics, no serious
opposition can ever be established here. Until that changes, the Jewish
parties in opposition will continue to be humiliated by their moral
promiscuity and political exile.</span></p>
<p><i><span>This article was first published in Hebrew on Local Call. Read it</span></i><a href="https://www.mekomit.co.il/%d7%9b%d7%9c-%d7%a2%d7%95%d7%93-%d7%94%d7%93%d7%9d-%d7%94%d7%a4%d7%9c%d7%a1%d7%98%d7%99%d7%a0%d7%99-%d7%99%d7%94%d7%99%d7%94-%d7%94%d7%93%d7%91%d7%a7-%d7%94%d7%9e%d7%90%d7%97%d7%93-%d7%a9%d7%9c%d7%a0/"> <i><span>here</span></i></a><i><span>.</span></i></p>
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<p>We are in an unprecedented and dangerous era in
Israel-Palestine. The Israeli extreme right government has made its
plans crystal clear. It wants carte blanche to shoot-to-kill
Palestinians on both sides of the Green Line, legalize every settlement
outpost, dismantle the independence of the judicial system, deport
African asylum seekers, delegitimize human rights activists, and silence
the free press.</p>
<p>This is an escalation we all should resist. But it is not an aberration or a bug.
<strong>For the past 12 years, we at +972 have been
warning against the poisonous outcomes of Israeli society’s growing
racism, the entrenched occupation, and an increasingly normalized siege
on Gaza.</strong>
</p>
<p>
Our work has never been more crucial. And as dark as it
seems, there are still glimmers of hope. The popularity of outright
fascism has woken people up, both in Israel-Palestine and across the
world, to the dangerous repercussions of what may soon come.
Palestinians and Israelis who believe in a just future are already
organizing and strategizing to put up the fight of their lives.
</p>
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<a href="https://www.972mag.com/members/?=the_box">support</a>?
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disrupts the skewed mainstream coverage and aims to promote justice and
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<div>
<h2>Palestinian school razed after campaign by gov’t-linked settler group</h2>
<h2>The residents of Jib al-Dib lost their years-long
fight to save their elementary school, leaving dozens of children
without proper access to education.</h2>
<div>
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<p>In partnership with</p>
<p><a href="https://www.972mag.com/gaza-war-israeli-opposition/mekomit.co.il"><img src="https://static.972mag.com/www/uploads/2022/11/LC-LOGO-ENG.png" alt="" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 0px;" width="457" height="124"></a>
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</div> <p><span>On Sunday, the Israeli military <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-05-08/ty-article/.premium/israel-demolishes-palestinian-elementary-school-in-west-bank-town-near-bethlehem/00000187-fad6-d768-a7bf-fef73ad70000">demolished</a>
the elementary school in Jib al-Dib, an unrecognized village adjacent
to a string of Israeli settlements in Area C of the occupied West Bank.
Village residents reported that soldiers arrived at the building at
around 5 a.m., prevented anyone from approaching the demolition site,
forbade any documentation of the demolition, and then razed the school
to the ground.</span></p>
<p><span>“They didn’t let anyone leave the village. They took a
journalist’s camera equipment by force, and they didn’t let him through
to take photos of the demolition,” said Fadia al-Wahash, a resident of
Jib al-Dib. “They wouldn’t even let people out to go to work. Starting
at 5 a.m., they blocked off the village. They declared [the area around
the school] a closed military zone, there were drones flying in the air,
and they destroyed our kids’ school.”</span></p>
<p><span>The school, which was attended by 40 children between the ages
of 6 and 10, was built around six years ago, part of an initiative by
the Palestinian Authority to construct schools in villages whose
residents are at risk of expulsion by the Israeli military. According to
the residents, before the school was built, the children in Jib al-Dib
had to walk an hour each way to school.</span><span> </span></p><div>
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<p><span>The right-wing organization Regavim, which was co-founded by
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich — who is also a minister in the
Defense Ministry and oversees the Civil Administration, the bureaucratic
arm of the occupation — spearheaded the legal fight against the school.
Regavim focuses on petitioning for Palestinian structures built without
permits to be demolished, and centers its fight on Area C, which is
under full Israeli military and administrative control. Accordingly, the
organization campaigned for the school to be torn down, first
submitting a petition six years ago with the Jerusalem District Court.
In a relatively unusual move — the court usually does not interfere with
the Civil Administration’s decisions on what structures to demolish and
when — the judge accepted the petition, apparently because of claims
that the building was not safe for children.</span></p>
<div id="gmail-attachment_171589" class="gmail-wp-caption"><p><a href="https://static.972mag.com/www/uploads/2023/05/F230507STR09.jpg"><img title="Israeli security forces look on as bulldozers demolish the elemntary school in Jib al-Dib in the occupied West Bank, May 7, 2023. (Flash90)" src="https://static.972mag.com/www/uploads/2023/05/F230507STR09-1280x854.jpg" alt="Israeli security forces look on as bulldozers demolish the elemntary school in Jib al-Dib in the occupied West Bank, May 7, 2023. (Flash90)" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 0px;" width="457" height="305"></a></p><p>Israeli
security forces look on as bulldozers demolish the elemntary school in
Jib al-Dib in the occupied West Bank, May 7, 2023. (Flash90)</p>
</div>
<p><span>The school building was constructed without the permission of the military, which rejects <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israeli-press-review-israel-reject-986-percent-palestinian-building-applications">around 99 percent</a>
of the building permit requests submitted by Palestinians living in
Area C. This policy of rejecting nearly all permit applications prevents
the residents of villages like Jib al-Dib from legally building any
structure, forcing them to live in substandard conditions. </span></p>
<p><span>As a result, residents of unrecognized villages build all
necessary structures quickly and cheaply — without pouring concrete, and
by using materials like blocks and tin — for fear that the structure
will be demolished by the military and their investment in it will have
been a waste. These unsound structures can then be deemed “unsafe” by
the military, making them a target for demolition. Villagers say that
such claims around safety are a cynical move by Regavim, deployed only
to achieve the organization’s goal of expelling the Palestinian
villagers.</span></p>
<p><span>Regavim <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=791735819221237">celebrated</a>
the school’s demolition online; next to “before and after” photos
posted on its Facebook page, the organization wrote that “this is only
one out of more than 100 illegal school buildings.” Right-wing outlets
claimed that the Jib al-Dib school was built in the Herodion National
Park, but this is incorrect: the school was not located within the
borders of the park, but was in fact adjacent to it, between the
villages of Jib al-Dib and Beit Ta’mir, and built on private Palestinian
land that a local Palestinian family had donated for the children’s
benefit.</span></p>
<p><span>The Civil Administration refuses to recognize Jib al-Dib, even
though, according to satellite images, it existed before 1967, and
residents say it was founded in the 1920s. With the help of planners
from the International Peace and Cooperation Center (IPCC), a
Palestinian urban planning and rights NGO, village residents invested
heavily to prepare a proposal for the school’s construction, which they
submitted to the Civil Administration in 2012. The proposal passed
through all the relevant committees but was eventually held up with no
explanation.</span></p>
<div id="gmail-attachment_171590" class="gmail-wp-caption"><p><a href="https://static.972mag.com/www/uploads/2023/05/F230507STR03.jpg"><img title="Palestinians inspect the damage to the Jib al-Dib elementary school in the occupied West Bank after Israeli authorities demolished it, May 7, 2023. (Flash90)" src="https://static.972mag.com/www/uploads/2023/05/F230507STR03-1280x854.jpg" alt="Palestinians inspect the damage to the Jib al-Dib elementary school in the occupied West Bank after Israeli authorities demolished it, May 7, 2023. (Flash90)" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 0px;" width="457" height="305"></a></p><p>Palestinians
inspect the damage to the Jib al-Dib elementary school in the occupied
West Bank after Israeli authorities demolished it, May 7, 2023.
(Flash90)</p>
</div>
<p><span>There is, according to Emil Mishriki, a lawyer with the Society
of St. Yves, a Catholic human rights group that represents the village
residents, “a massive shortage of classrooms in the area. And yet the
Palestinians in Area C can’t build anything. No matter how hard they try
to follow all the requirements to submit applications for building
permits, their request will be denied. The residents have no choice.”</span></p>
<p><span>Aside from the effective ban on building schools and new homes,
the residents are also not allowed to connect to the electrical grid.
The electricity sometimes goes out and does not return until the
following morning, al-Wahash said. “Everything we do has to be carefully
calculated. In the summer we can’t use fans, because they use too much
power, even though the heat here can be hellish. In the winter, if
there’s no sun, we can’t use electricity to heat our homes.”</span></p>
<p><span>In response to a request for comment, the Civil Administration
stated that “[s]ecurity forces evacuated a school building this morning
that had been built illegally and without the approval of the relevant
authorities, that was found to be unsafe for the students and others
inside it, and that was designated for demolition by a court order.</span></p>
<p><span>“As part of the enforcement against illegal building, on April
19, 2017, an order to halt construction was filed against the owner of
the building. Later, after the relevant committee heard his claims, a
final demolition order was issued. In spite of the decision and the
orders, the school continued to be used and was even expanded.
Additionally, an engineering evaluation determined that the building is
dangerous and unfit for habitation or use and was at constant risk of
collapse due to climate change.</span><span> </span></p>
<p><span>“Prior to the enforcement of the order, numerous actions were
taken against the owner of the building, among them attempts to
negotiate and even granting advanced notice before the enforcement was
carried out.”</span></p>
<p><em>This article originally appeared in Hebrew on Local Call. Read it <a href="https://www.mekomit.co.il/%d7%94%d7%93%d7%97%d7%a4%d7%95%d7%a8%d7%99%d7%9d-%d7%a4%d7%a9%d7%98%d7%95-%d7%a2%d7%9d-%d7%a9%d7%97%d7%a8-%d7%95-40-%d7%99%d7%9c%d7%93%d7%99%d7%9d-%d7%a0%d7%a9%d7%90%d7%a8%d7%95-%d7%91%d7%9c%d7%99/">here</a>.</em></p>
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