Their suffering is our opportunity

A senior journalist at the Australian Jewish News relishes the suffering of the Palestinians (in typical cheerleading, Zionist style):

It has been conventional wisdom for these past six decades that if the Arab states had accepted the UNSCOP plan, Gaza would have become part of a Palestinian state. After this week, the tables seemed to have turned. Now Gaza is a de facto Palestinian state.

It is a state run by what Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and other Palestinians this week, with breathtaking hypocrisy, decried as “terrorists”. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!

So pardon me, but I can’t help thinking that somehow this augurs well for Israel. Now it seems Israel really has a chance to come to terms — long-odds though they are — with the West Bank and with Fatah.

Gaza, which is now inextricably linked to Hamas, is off the radar, because Hamas won’t recognise Israel. Let them declare a Palestinian state in Gaza! But they won’t, because for Hamas, Gaza is merely a work in progress.

As they never fail to assure the world, they have their eyes on Jerusalem and on every square metre of Israel. But no recognition of Israel means no negotiations with Israel. And no negotiations means no concessions from Israel.

The Gaza experiment may yet turn into a Middle Eastern ”˜Cuba-stan’ of sorts, belligerent, aggressive, a staging ground for lethal rockets. It is an impoverished territory with a basket-case infrastructure and economy. Its only asset is the view of the Mediterranean.

After all, if the Palestinians are dying or starving thanks to Israeli and Western military, financial or economic pressures, what do Jews like Peter Kohn care?

Text and images ©2024 Antony Loewenstein. All rights reserved.

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