Shir Hever: The war that Israel lost

Back in 2000, the right-wing Israeli politician Ariel Sharon marched into the Al-Aqsa Mosque with a detachment of bodyguards. The provocation sparked the second Intifada, which lasted until 2005. Sharon was the leader of the opposition Likud party at the time. The fighting that erupted after his visit also stoked the flames of populism and nationalism in the country, and less than a year later, in March 2001, the Labor Party government of Ehud Barak collapsed and Sharon became prime minister. The events of this May in Israel-Palestine are a frightening repetition of what happened in 2000.

The results of the March 2021 elections in Israel, the fourth elections in a two-year period, were inconclusive. Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud) failed to gather a majority in his allocated time to form a government. Shortly after the president gave the opportunity to opposition leader Yair Lapid of the Yesh Atid party, Netanyahu sent Israeli police to storm the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem during the Al-Qadr Night prayers on 8 May, and injured 330 Palestinians.

Some information for Israelis (and the rest of us)

On 10 May, Palestinian groups in the besieged Gaza Strip (namely Hamas and the Islamic Jihad) fired rockets in response to the violation of the mosque. Pogroms in Jerusalem in which angry mobs went hunting for Palestinians to beat up or kill spread to other cities. In Lod and in other so-called “mixed cities”, Palestinian citizens of Israel organised their own groups, and one Jewish Israeli was killed. The Israeli air force began a brutal bombardment campaign of the Gaza Strip, but the rockets from Gaza did not stop. By the time the ceasefire came into effect, 11 days after the fighting started, 232 Palestinians (including 65 children) and 12 Israelis, had been killed….

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/north-africa-west-asia/war-israel-lost/

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Yair Wallach: The violence that began at Jerusalem’s ancient holy sites is driven by a distinctly modern zeal

Chris Hedges – Israel’s big lie: This isn’t self defense, it’s a war crime, aided and abetted by the U.S.

Meredith Tax: Biden is supporting Turkey’s Bounties on Kurdish Leaders / American silence over Israeli land encroachments and attacks on Palestinians

Some information for Israelis (and the rest of us)

Israel is committing the crime of apartheid: Human Rights Watch

Israel Guilty of Apartheid, Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinians: UN Rapporteur

Palestinians Shot In Kusra Clash With Israeli Settlers

Israel admits it revoked residency rights of a quarter million Palestinians

The Agony of Palestine