There is such a thing as the collective memory of a people and a nation and no people possesses this like the Jewish nation. You see, they have been given training in this by the rest of humanity, a training which has extended over 2000 years.
In the Oslo Accords of 1993 the PLO under Arafat/Abbas were brought back into Yesha by the Israeli Labourites, given a state, given Jerusalem as capital, given masses of dollars, given good wishes. Many Israelites were carried along on the Peace bandwagon. As far as the professional Israeli peaceniks were concerned it was going to be peace and happiness forever and a day.
But…To paraphrase Churchill loosely in relation to Chamberlain they planned for peace and got war.
There followed the barbarity of the suicidal jihadists, those characters, motivated by mainly Jew-hatred and Islamic fundamentalism, blew into smithereens countless buses filled with all kinds of defenceless harmless people, children, students, workers, housewives, and did this on a regular basis.
Behind the scenes Arafat and the newly formed PA pulled the strings.
Planning for peace, getting war, that has entered because of Oslo into the being of the Israeli people and supporters of Israel in the Diaspora.
Essentially, the Oslo Accords had taught the Jews of Israel a very big lesson. It may be a lesson people try or even would like dearly to forget because everybody hopes for peace and to be left in peace. But the lessons of Oslo has come back to haunt the Israeli Jews and this is having a big effect as they readjust their attitude to Sharon, and his promise of peace if only they give another present to the Arabs and withdraw from Gaza.
The similarity of Gaza to Oslo is amazing and we can summarise thus: Now it is give the Palestinian Arabs Gaza and Northern Shamron and later on all of Yesha. Then (in 1993) it was: Give the Arabs Gaza, 95 per cent of the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem, in other words lets all turn over a new leaf, stop doing nasty things to each other, as a further gesture bring back the PLO under Arafat from Tunis, set the PLO up in government, give them lots of cash, then maybe for all this kindness they will be nice to us.
They weren’t. The Intifadas (or Pogroms) were started and were campaigned for on a world-wide basis (In Ireland especially by the Octopus-like Palestine Solidarity Committee and the Counterpunch surrogate The Blanket under the “inspiration” of Mr Anthony McIntyre.) The result of this was the immolation of thousands of Jewish civilians on civilian buses by Jihadist murdering fascists. (For some reason which I will allow you to work out McIntyre did not like the term “suicide Bomber” instead wanting it substituted with the term “Human bomb”I think he called it in one article. You work it out. The result is the same…dead Jews)
The Jews of Israel would like nothing more than a bit of peace. At first when Sharon proposed the withdrawal from Gaza a lot of Israelis were for it. Two things then happened in the intervening year since Sharon presented his “Plan” to Bush in April of 2004.
First Abbas and his PA made it clear that they would not/could not/did not want to anyhow…disarm and generally break up the Islamist Hamas, the Islamist Jihad movement, or even its own Al Aqsa jihadists.
Secondly it also became evident that the Arabs to circumvent the Wall were developing even more powerful rockets. Soon any part of Israel could be hit and with Gaza all theirs they had a perfectly long beach on which they could land all they needed for war. No need for tunnelling, Egypt could just ship them round the corner into state of the art ports that US dollars would pay for!
Sharon had obligingly left the coast clear with not even a radar station in sight, never mind any Israeli military. The additional facts, such as the two suicide bombers arrested at the gates of Jerusalem, or the hate anti-Jew drivel on PA television did not help.
And this is the essence of what is happening now.
There is a growing conflict between the majority of Israelis and its government over Gaza. As we move towards disengagement over the next weeks I hope to show how events are changing the perception of Israelis towards Sharon. One of these issues is the story of the rockets which the Arabs are beginning to use more and more.
Their use of rockets must terrify Israelis. It means that the wall while of benefit against suicide bombers is of no use against rockets. Hence this report from the first week of June (Ynetnews.com) is important:
Qassam attack on Sderot
At least two rockets hit southern town; damage caused to residential building, woman and two children treated for shock By Shmulik Haddad and Hanan Greenberg
SDEROT - Hamas claimed responsibility for a Qassam rocket attack on the southern town of Sderot Tuesday, calling it a response to confrontations between Israeli police and Palestinians at the al Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount during yesterday's Jerusalem Day celebrations.
"Any harm that befalls al Aqsa mosque will mean an open, fierce war in all of our land of Palestine, and by all means," Hamas' military wing said in a statement.
At least two Qassam rockets landed in the southern town, causing damage to a residential apartment building. A woman and her two children were taken to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon and treated for shock.
Police were deployed to the area and are searching for additional rockets.
The rockets were fired from the town of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip at approximately 7 a.m.
In recent days, defense officials have said Palestinian police have not taken sufficient action against terror groups, and warned the IDF would attack the Gaza Strip area should the Palestinian Authority demonstrate weakness in stopping terror activity.
"Even now, when there is a certain calm, Israel reserves the right to defend its citizens and it will do that in the future if needed," one official said.
'A proper miracle'
One rocket hit the home of the Melech family in Sderot, at a time when all family members were home.
“We heard an huge explosion,” one family member said. “The whole house shook and a Qassam rocket hit the second floor, causing a lot of damage. A proper miracle happened here (that no one was killed). We are all in shock, and it will take some time until we are able to get over it. It’s tough to even speak about.”
Magen David Adom, city officials and police investigators are presenting on the scene.
Mayor: life to continue as normal
Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal said schools would operate as normal Tuesday despite the attack.
“It is important that daily life here continue as normal, at any price,” he said.
Moyal also said he received no early warning of the attack, but said such warnings are now irrelevant.
“I don’t think there is any warning (the government can) give us. Here we are, 70 days before disengagement, and we are being attacked - as always - because we are Jews," he said. "This will never change. Last week I was at the Hague for a convention with several Palestinian mayors. The mayor of Jabalia wouldn’t even speak to me."
Promises, promises
Yonatan Avokasis, who lost a daughter to a Qassam rocket, said one of the rockets fell a few hundred feet from his house.
"I was saying my morning prayers,” he told Ynet, “and I head a huge explosion. Everything shook, I dropped everything I was holding, and this made the kids panic even more than usual."
“In general, they have been very scared since my daughter Ella died. I have to take them everywhere, even to the bathroom. We (Israel) must wake up and do something. We can’t continue to sit back and wait for miracles. We’ve heard a million promises from (Palestinian leader Mahmoud) Abbas and everyone else, but no one does anything,” he said.
Hamas-Fatah tension
Earlier, defense officials estimated the attack was carried out by Hamas, and categorized the event as “very serious.” They pointed out that, whereas attacks on Sderot are often in response to Israel’s offensive maneuvers, this attack was unprovoked.
Officials also stressed the attack was because of Hamas tensions with Abbas’ ruling Fatah party. Hamas has been critical of Abbas’ decision to put off July 17 regional elections until November.
Hamas is expected to do strongly at the polls, and has accused Abbas of playing for time to try and thwart a strong Hamas showing.
Abbas is expected to visit Gaza Tuesday, and the attack is also considered a warning in advance of the visit. The defense establishment is also concerned that Hamas considers attacks on Israel as a legitimate method of protest against Abbas.
First Published:
06.07.05, 07:58
Latest Update:
06.07.05, 10:39
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