Yossi Schwartz ISL (RCIT section in Israel/Occupied Palestine), 21.01.2025
The genocide of the Palestinians has continued until the last minute. The Zionist monster killed close to 47,000 Palestinians, according to the Gazan Health Ministry, and most probably many more that; their bodies are under the ruins. Most of the dead are women and children, and the total represents about 2% of Gaza’s prewar population. Hunger, lack of shelter and medication, the rapid spread of infectious diseases, and the destruction of the healthcare system have killed many other Palestinians during the war. “Nine in 10 homes in the territory have been destroyed or damaged, the latest UN figures show. Schools, hospitals, mosques, cemeteries, shops, and offices have also been repeatedly hit.” [i]
“Omer Bartov, a former soldier in the Israel Defense Forces and historian of genocide, wrote that by May 2024, “it was no longer possible to deny that Israel was engaged in systematic war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocidal actions.”[ii]
“Genocide is defined as an act committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. The term ‘genocide’ was coined in 1944 by the Polish-Jewish lawyer Raphael Lemkin in his book Axis Rule in Occupied Europe. In creating the term ‘genocide’, Lemkin intended to more clearly define the crime of mass murder of groups of people and to raise awareness of it.
Genocide became a crime in itself following the adoption of the ‘Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide’ by the United Nations General Assembly on December 9, 1948, as a result of the events of the Holocaust. The Convention came into force on 12 January 1951.”[iii]
Before this 15-month war of Israel on the Gazans, Israel was considered “the fourth strongest army in the world.”[iv]
At the same time, Hamas had at most 50,000 fighters. Yet the Palestinians have won the war.
“Major General (res.) Eliezer (Cheney) Marom, former commander of the Navy, spoke today (Friday) with Ron Koffman and Aryeh Eldad on radio 103fm and expressed his position regarding the conduct of the war. “For 15 months, we have not been able to achieve the goals of the war, Not once. We did not eliminate Hamas from a military point of view, and we did not return the abductees. These are the facts on the table and say that we failed to meet the goals of the war. Marom noted at the beginning of the conversation, adding: “We wanted that at the end of this war, there would be no Hamas in the Strip, neither military nor governmental. There is also a Hamas military with tens of thousands of armed men, and of course, on the day we signed the deal, Hamas controls the entire Strip, from Beit Hanoun to Rafah”.[v]
So why did Israel lose the war, and the Palestinian people have won the war and celebrated it while the Israelis are torn between hope and despair?
Israel has tried to continue with the ethnic cleansing of Gaza -to remove the Gazans to the Sinai desert, and the Gazans, despite their suffering, insist on staying in Gaza. The Israelis in the north and south of Israel, under the fire of Hezbollah and the resistance of Gazans, escaped to secure places. The Syrian revolution terrified the local rulers and servants of Western imperialism. Because Trump wants a stable Middle East and because Israel is setting the region on fire, he put pressure on Israel to sign a deal.
Of course, Netanyahu cannot be trusted not to break the ceasefire deal. Many Israelis are aware of it. On Saturday, Speakers at the demonstrations, including Einav Zengauker, a notable attendee at many of the hostage demonstrations, said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “blackmailed by ministers Smotrich and Ben-Gvir,” according to Walla, as she referred to the two far-right politicians as “Death Eaters who are ready to abandon the hostages to be raped for a messianic fantasy of settlements in Gaza.”
“The State of Israel signed an agreement in which everyone will return, and our mission is to ensure that the government does not blow up the agreement!” she continued. “The struggle will intensify from here because as long as Netanyahu, who torpedoed and thwarted deals, continues to threaten to return to fight and avoid ending the war, no one can guarantee that all the hostages left behind will return.”[vi]
This honest statement is the beginning of a better understanding of reality but not enough to break with Zionism. Only breaking with Zionism and the realization that the worst enemy is the Zionist state and its imperialist supporters will open the road for a future of Israelis in the Red and Free Palestine.
Celebrate the victory of the Palestinians!
Down with the Zionist monster!
For Palestine, red and free from the river to the sea!
Endnotes:
[i] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/15/the-devastating-impact-of-15-months-of-war-on-gaza
[ii] Ibid
[iii] https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/what-was-the-holocaust/what-was-genocide/
[iv] https://www.morasha.com.br/en/clipping/Israel-is-the-4th-strongest-military-power-in-the-world-check-out-the-ranking.html
[v]C%20מפקד%20חיל%20הים,מבחינה%20שלטונית%2C%20ולא%20החזרנו%20את%20החטופים.%20אלה%20העובדות.
[vi] https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-838137