By Rajnder Kushwaha
“Facts are not always what they appear to be but are often what they are perceived to be. Thus, the truth is not supreme in affairs of state and is often hidden in a bundle of lies, half-truths, and innuendo. Instead, perceptions built on narratives become the accepted truth. Over time, we become the embodiment of our perceptions, prejudices, hates and dislikes , as well as our own nationalisms that often border on narcissistic beliefs”—— Vikram Sood in the introduction (pp xi) to his book, “The Ultimate Goal”.
Always small events trigger geopolitical avalanche in the globe. Affected parties build their narratives based on these events. Facts are hidden, distorted, and twisted by opponents to present the righteousness of their narratives. Surprising attack launched on Israel by Hamas, on 07 October 2023, is a naked fact. But “whys and whats” of this event has spun out conflicting narratives worldwide from both sides.
Those who support Israel might think that the Hamas attack was not only a crime against humanity but it invited an appropriate retribution by Israel. The Hamas supporters think that it was an act to awaken “global Consciousness” against injustice done to people of Gaza in particular and Palestine on the whole. The two opposing narratives divide the world, who sits on a powder keg —it may explode into a global conflict any day. Iran - China -Russia and Hamas are on one side and USA-UK - EU and Israel on the other.
What is the truth ? The real truth lay hidden in the misinformed story lines. Truth lay in the geography of the territory, hemmed by Egypt on the South, Mediterranean Sea in the West, Jordon and Lebanon in the South East and North East repectively, and Syria in the North. Ancient history tells that land was once inhabited by jews, who were ousted by Christians around 3rd Century AD, who in turn were thrown out by Muslims. The city of Jerusalem is central to all. Ethnically speaking they, (Jews, Muslims and Christians) were all one with some cross breeding . But their religious fervour kept them divided. Religion is the evil that haunts mankind and it keeps it divided in the name of God !
Google search says that the word Palestine derives from “Philistia”, the name given by Greek writers to the land of the Philistines, who, in the 12th century BC, occupied a small pocket of land on the southern coast, between modern TelAviv and Gaza. The name was revived by the Romans in the 2nd century CE in “Syria Palaestina,” designating the southern portion of the province of Syria, and made its way thence into Arabic, where it has been used to describe the region at least since the early Islamic era.
Philistine are one of a people of Aegean origin. The first records of the Philistines are inscriptions and reliefs in the mortuary temple of Ramseses III at Madinat Habu, where they appear under the name prst, as one of the Sea Peoples that invaded Egypt about 1190 BCE after ravaging Anatolia, Cyprus, and Syria.
After being repulsed by the Egyptians, they settled—possibly with Egypt’s permission—on the coastal plain of Palestine from modern Tel Aviv–Yafo southward to Gaza. The area contained the five cities (the Pentapolis) of the Philistine confederacy (Gaza, Ashkelon [Ascalon], Ashdod, Gath, and Ekron) and was known as Philistia, or the Land of the Philistines. It was from this designation that the whole of the country was later called Palestine by the Greeks.
It is clear that ethnically speaking Palestine people were not original Arabs. Also Hamas and Palestine authority of West Bank were not on same page. President of West Bank , Mehmoud Abbas, has reportedly said that Hamas was a terrorist organisation worst than ISIS. Forget ancient history. It is important to understand the modern equation.
At the end of second world war, in 1948, a Jewish state of Israel was created by dividing the land between Jews and Islamic inhabitants of the land, called Palestine. It was resented by Palestinians and fellow Muslims of surrounding Arab nations. Wars followed in 1948-49, 1967 and 1973. In all the wars Israel came out stronger. In 1978, Camp David Agreement, between Egypt and Israel, led to temporary thaw in the relations between Israel and Arabs. But Palestinian disapproval of agreement continued.
In the meanwhile, Yasser Arafat of Palestine emerged as the leader, who had set up PLO (Palestine Liberation Organisation). Finally , he also realised the futility of continuing with the armed confrontation and his representative, Mahmoud Abbas, signed the “Oslo Accord” with Israeli PM, Yitzhak Rabin, on 13 September 1993, at the White House in Washington DC. This Accord was the acceptance of the co-existence of two states of Israel and Palestine. Israel accepted the PLO as the representative of the Palestinians, and the PLO renounced terrorism and recognized Israel’s right to exist in peace. This was the ideal solution and win- win situation for both.
The state of Palestine included Gaza Strip and West Bank of River Jordon, which separated it from Jordon. The territory in between West Bank and Gaza Strip was called Israel. But hardliners on both sides, rejected this agreement. It is alleged that right wing party of Israel, of PM Netanyahu, wanted to cut Yasser Arafat to size and thus helped raising of Hamas organisation in the Gaza Strip . Hamas is the ruling party in the Gaza strip as opposed to West Bank, under control of remnants of Yasser Arafat’s Party.
Ironically, Hamas has now become a Frankenstein’s monster for the ruling party of Israel. It is now supported by Iran and Qatar, both financially and military weapons and equipment. It is said that Rockets fired by Hamas on 07 October 23 were given by North Korea on Chinese behest. There onwards it came to Pakistan, who further routed them to Iran and Qatar. It is also alleged that Hamas cadres have been trained by ISI in Karachi in the 90s. What ever it is, the fact is that peace in the Palestine will not flow from the barrel of the gun but from the reality of “two -states formula”.
In the words of Israel’s ex PM, Golda Meir, 1969-74, “ Peace will come only when the Arabs love the lives of their children more than they hate us”. Palestine and Arabs will have to accept Israel’s existence. Their bottomline ought to be “peaceful co- existence” and not destruction of Israel.
Surprisingly, US should not have been oblivious of facts of Qatar’s involvement and Pakistan’s involvement in supporting Hamas. If one critically examines the facts , one finds that USA might have turned a blind eye to all this , with a more purposeful narrative and agenda. USA has a military base in Qatar, who is the financier of Hamas. Flow of arms from Qatar could not have escaped CIA’s critical eyes . Thus, there is something fishy. Is Iran the target and as usual, was USA looking for its proxy soldier in Israel?
The way USA has responded, speaks of its urgency and materialisation of its long cherished plans. It despatched two of its aircraft carriers, Gerald Ford and Eisenhower to Mediterranean sea within hours . Then US secretary of State, Anthony Blinken made two quick visits to Israel , Jordon Egypt and Saudi Arabia. He was followed by Llyod Austin , Defence Secretary to Israel. And now President Joe Biden, too has come ! What is cooking ? Is the ground work for a major conflict in the Middle East being laid ?
Keep your fingers crossed ! There were dangerous days ahead because Iran has declared that it would join Hamas if Israel launched a ground attack in Gaza Strip . If Iran comes in , will Russia and China be far behind , though indirectly ? Are we going to witness the first shots of 3rd World war being fired? Don’t forget what Robert Einstein had said of 3rd and 4th world war : “I don’t know what weapons would be used in 3rd world war but I can tell you that 4th world war would be fought with bows and arrows”. Is the world inching towards this ? Let us wait—- as astrologer PVR Narsimaha says , “world war would start in 2029-30! And India would emerge as Global leader”. Global Leader??? —— with bows and arrows !!!!
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