Yossi Schwartz ISL (The section of the RCIT in Israel/Occupied Palestine), 17.01.2024
We heard many times that the settler colonialists living near Gaza were part of the Left who believed in peace with the Palestinians and did everything they could to help them. The Western imperialists are shocked by the capturiGermany has announced its decision to intervene in the Court on Israel’s behalf, which will require Berlin to file a “declaration of intervention” with the Court to present its legal arguments. The European nation is adding its voice to those of the United States, Guatemala, Canada, and the United Kingdom, all of whom have also publicly declared their support for the Jewish State of more than 300 Zionists, while ignoring the thousands of Palestinians captured by the Zionist army in the West-Bank. The truth is that these settlements were Zionist outposts, some of them military bases similar to the American frontiers. They have been built on the lands of the Palestinian refugees living in Gaza. To understand why the people of Gaza did not love them it is of interest to read The Iron Wall by the father of the right-wing Zionist Jabotinsky who understood that the Zionists are colonists and the native Palestinians will fight against them:
“My readers have a general idea of the history of colonization in other countries. I suggest that they consider all the precedents with which they are acquainted, and see whether there is one solitary instance of any colonization being carried on with the consent of the native population. There is no such precedent. The native populations, civilized or uncivilized, have always stubbornly resisted the colonists, irrespective of whether they were civilized or savage. And it made no difference whether the colonists behaved decently or not. The companions of Cortez and Pizzaro or (as some people will remind us) our ancestors under Joshua Ben Nun, behaved like brigands; but the Pilgrim Fathers, the first real pioneers of North America, were people of the highest morality, who did not want to harm anyone, least of all to the Red Indians, and they honestly believed that there was room enough in the prairies both for the Paleface and the Redskin. Yet the native population fought with the same ferocity against the good colonists as against the bad.” [1]
The Zionist settlements including the military bases that surrounded Gaza and were attacked on October 7 are called in Israel the Gaza envelope and indeed these are the outpost settlements having the same role as the American frontiers. That is, to expand the territories of the settler colonialists and guard them against the native Indians that have lived on these lands for thousands of years. These frontiers were essential for the white settler colonialists especially in the 19th century when the settlers moved in the direction of Oregon and California. Even so, they began already with the first colonialist settlements in the East.
“The American frontier experienced conflicts with indigenous populations. The first known one happened in 1622. On March 22, 1622 in Jamestown Virginia. The white settlers were shocked by the Indian attack. The settlers saw themselves as peace lovers’ people who care for the Indians. Funds were established for a college for Indian youth to Christianize and civilize them, and most settlers assumed that Openchancanough the leader and the Powhatan nation appreciated the effort to civilize them. The Indians however, thought that the white men asked them to close their eyes to get the wonderful gift of the bible but when they opened their eyes their lands had gone. Not only had the Indians not agreed to cultural suicide, but as George Thorpe, a supporter of the policy of making the Indians civilized, observed, most of the English settlers still harbored their contempt for Indians. “There is scarce any man among us,” he reported,” that with their mouths give them nothing but maledictions and bitter execrations.”
The silence of the Indians in the face of daily insults of occupation and verbal abuse the English mistook for subservience. By 1622 it was apparent to the Indians that the colonists intended to expand their holdings in Virginia. This physical expansion threatened the Indian way of life. Of even greater concern, perhaps, were the renewed colonial efforts to convert and educate the “savages.” Opechancanough’s response to the threat of cultural deconstruction was to plan and stage a massive attack on the English settlement as a demonstration of Indian power and in an attempt to drive off the English for good.
On the day before the attack, the Indians came bringing gifts of meats and fruits and shared them with the settlers, thereby disguising their intentions. The following morning, they circulated freely and socialized with the settlers before suddenly seizing their work tools to attack them (The Indians killed families in the plantation houses and then moved on to kill servants and workers in the fields. The Powhatans killed 347 settlers in all – men, women, and children. Not even George Thorpe, a prominent colonist well known for his friendly stance towards the Indians, was spared. The Powhatan’s harsh treatment of the bodies of their victims was symbolic of their contempt for their opponents. The Indians also burned most of the outlying plantations, destroying the livestock and crops.
News of the killings did not reach England until mid-June. The Virginia Company responded by sending more supplies and weapons. King James also contributed weapons. Captain John Smith, safe in London, avowed revenge and threatened to destroy the Indians himself if necessary. The colonists in Jamestown retaliated with betrayal of their own and numerous attacks to avenge the losses. All restraints were released and men used the massacre as an excuse to wreak havoc on Indians wherever they found them. They feigned peaceful relations, let the Indians plant their corn wherever they chose, and then, just before the crop was ready for harvest, they attacked them, killing as many as they could and burning their crops. English armies destroyed entire villages. Captain William Tucker threatened to kill Opechancanough on several occasions but proved unable to fulfill his boast” [2]
Koby Arieli who writes for the daily “Israel Today” proves with his own world that the role of the Gaza envelope is like that of the American frontiers.
“These days there is a lot of talk about the state’s responsibility and the depth of its pocket into which it has to put its hand to compensate the various circles. I believe that the most prominent separation should be between the residents of the borders and everyone else. Not only in the rate of compensation but also in substance. Most of these people are exiles as a direct result of the silent and unofficial deal they made with the country and its citizens. The deal says this: we will live in the book. on the border. We will try to make our life there good and excellent, but we know very well that we are taking a security risk and that we are protecting the entire country by actually living there. This is our side” [3]
Amir Bohbot verifies the role of the attacked settlements as frontiers or outposts: “IDF border posts on Gaza destroyed on October 7 have been rebuilt It also became a symbol of the story of all the borderline outposts in the Gaza Division, which suffered for long hours from massive attacks by Hamas. Attacks during which soldiers fell and were abducted into the Strip, and the outposts themselves suffered heavy damage and widespread destruction of infrastructure.
On October 7, the Sufa outpost suffered immense heavy damage. Over 70 Hamas terrorists swarmed the outpost, blew up the security fence, and attacked the forces defending the area. The terrorists encountered staunch resistance from the Nahal Reconnaissance Unit and the 50th Battalion, prepared at the entrance to the outpost and within it. In the battles against dozens of terrorists, the deputy commander of the Caracal Battalion, commanded by Col. Or Ben Yehuda, as well as a platoon of tank crews, IDF combat helicopters, and Shayetet 13 fighters, assisted in eliminating the terrorists and clearing the outpost, which suffered severe infrastructure damage from the terrorists’ explosives and fires” [4]
Down with the state of the settler colonialists!
For Palestine red and free from the river to the sea!
Endnotes:
[1] https://en.jabotinsky.org/media/9747/the-iron-wall.pdf
[2] See for full information Gleach, Frederic W. Powhatan’s World and Colonial Virginia (1997).
[3] https://www.israelhayom.co.il/opinions/article/15107580
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Sufa