I do not think any of us in the West can comprehend the true meaning of the word ‘freedom’ like those living in Gaza can. We take our freedom and liberty for granted, whilst those living in Gaza are prisoners in their own land. Being born a Palestinian is in itself a crime it seems; the punishment is in the shape of attending the funerals of your children killed by Israeli snipers hiding behind huge towers on a regular basis. Nobody is spared. A disabled man in a wheelchair, a double amputee, Ibrahim Abu Thurayeh, was not shown any mercy and was shot in the head by an Israeli sniper while he protested, in December of 2017. He died instantaneously. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently lashed out against Israel, calling it a ‘terrorist state’ that ‘kills children.’
The Nobel Laureate, Angus Deaton (born 1945), while discussing freedom has said that the ‘absence of freedom is poverty, deprivation, and poor health.’ Perhaps Gazans then can be forgiven for their desire and determination for freedom. But why have the Palestinians been selected for this poverty, deprivation, and poor health? Why are they not allowed freedom? It seems the jury is still out on this one. Their struggle has been forgotten by the Arabs and they have been abandoned by the rest of the world. Maybe abandoned is not the right word here as Egypt and Israel are very much adding to their misery regularly. In fact, the two unlikely bedfellows are planning some more horrid surprises for the Gazans in the near future.
There is no doubt that, ever since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the people of Gaza have endured deceit and atrocities. Firstly, from their colonial occupiers and lately, from their Egyptian brothers. There is no international law to protect the Gazans. It is stated in the international ‘law of the jungle’ rule book that if you own huge deposits of natural resources and you are too weak to defend them; then you are not allowed to benefit from them either. Your stronger adversaries will disinherit you of your assets and probably force you out of your homes.
The Zionist states of Egypt and Israel are hatching up such a plan to uproot the Gazans from their homes and relocate them in the Sinai desert. It is my thesis and prediction that another war is very likely soon in Gaza. I do not have any proof, just my instinct that this could happen soon. The behaviour of Egypt is nonsensical. You can see the preparations taking place if you connect the dots:
- In my view, the handing over of two uninhabited Red Sea islands (Tiran and Sanafir) to Saudi Arabia was probably intended to assess the Egyptian publics response. None came, as all the opposition was in prisons.
- For the Egyptians, the real test will be when the time comes for handing over the Sinai to Gazans on behalf of Israel.
- The Egyptian elite is regularly bombing the Sinai desert to clear the area for this reason.
- The Egyptian elite knows that Zionists intend to create Greater Israel, from the western banks of river Euphrates to the eastern banks of river Nile.
- All the while the Egyptian elite are hoping that Israelis might be lenient on the Egyptians and let them keep the rest of the country.
- The Egyptian elite wants to help Israel loot the offshore natural gas deposits and hope to be rewarded with some crumbs while Zionists eat the cake.
- The river Nile will soon begin to dry up as a result of the dam being built on the Ethiopian side of the river. The silence from the Egyptian government is deafening. This is probably because Israel has invested heavily in the dam project.
- Flames of war are raging on the Western borders of Egypt (Libya) and to the east in Sinai, to the south, the river is drying up. The Egyptian army is focused on helping Israel starve the Gazans. Why? For breadcrumbs from the gas deposits? Only time will tell.
- How naïve are the Egyptians? I guess, only time will tell.
- If Sisi denies all the above, then it must be true.
Gazans can have a bright and peaceful future, only if its two malevolent neighbours were not so evil towards them. In the midst of all this, the Gazans are trying to live life as normal as they possibly can. I hope that my predictions do not come true and there is not another war in Gaza. But, I have an eerie feeling that the Operation Protective Edge was part of the same plan (see above). The reason it could be linked is that the oppressors did not allow the Gazans to rebuild the damaged properties and the siege was tightened after the war. No building material is allowed into Gaza.
Donald Macintyre, the author of, Gaza Preparing for Dawn (Oneworld Publications, 2017) has bravely attempted to tell the story of people in Gaza and their never-ending suffering. The book interweaves stories of individuals and the major events taking place at the same time such as the so-called peace negotiations with the Israelis. It is a good reference book and Donald Macintyre has tried not to omit any historical events.
However, I was left a bit confused, as at the beginning of the book Donald Macintyre talks about the Balfour Agreement that happened in 1917 when the British with the help of the Arabs ended the Ottomans rule and promised the land of Palestine to the Zionists. In his conclusion, he is describing Palestinians as “victims of the victims”, referring to Nazi holocaust. So which one is the reader supposed to believe? That the British are responsible for giving away Palestine in 1917 or that Hitler was responsible for his part in WW2, which ended in 1945.
The feeling I got from the book was that the author was unable to come out of the journalistic mindset, and hesitated to tell the story behind the story, although, he has eloquently narrated hundreds of stories of people in Gaza and their suffering. The book does go a long way in informing the reader about how the people of Gaza, despite the oppression imposed upon them are showing resilience. Their agriculture destroyed, all kinds of industries have been targeted by Israeli warplanes, including their schools and hospitals, yet the people have not given up on hope for freedom.
After reading the book I was left wondering about the effects of oppression. The Zionists have extensively utilised all the available modern propaganda tools to dehumanise the people of Gaza in front of the sleeping world. Little have the occupiers realised that the only people without humanity at this point are the oppressors themselves. I leave you with a 2016 interview of Gideon Levy.
