While everyone was talking about the shocking pictures of how Iraqi prisoners had been tortured and humiliated by the American soldiers who had come to "liberate" them from the monster Saddam Hussein, the pictures that struck me were of burning American military vehicles. As I watched those pictures the thought that went through my head was "How long will it be before I see burning Israeli tanks and APCs?" Well I did not have to wait long. About a week later there they were burning like candles, and Israel was once again burying its dead.
One has to live in Israel to understand the attitude that exists here when its soldiers are killed by the Palestinians. It's an attitude that can best be described by the Jewish word that seems to have entered the English language fromYiddish, meaning unbelievable gall; insolence or audacity. The word is "hutzpah". Another way of translating it would be "Bloody Cheek" or "How dare they". This attitude comes out of arrogance, the arrogance that all imperialist occupying powers have towards the people they dominate.
One can delve back as far as one likes into history and you will find comparisons. The Romans, the Brits, the Americans and the Nazis! And what in all these historical comparisons is the reaction of the Romans, the British, the Americans, and the Nazis? It is to teach those who have dared oppose the occupying powers a lesson, whether they were the ancient Britons, the North American Indians, or the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto - the crushing of which by the Nazis happened 61 years ago last week.
So now we see the Zionist Jews dealing out the same sort of punishment to the Palestinians of the refugee camps of Gaza. Yes, refugees are being punished! How much more can you punish a people who for 56 years have been living in the most cramped place on earth, people who were driven out of their homes 56 years ago? Well, you drive them out of their homes again, because when the bulldozers come to push down your ramshackle home you run.
The difference between today and yesterday is that the entire world can see the war crimes that the armies of the imperialist capitalists commit. So like all criminals they lie and invent a story. "We are fighting terrorists" is the one that seems to go down well. After all, a terrorist can strike anywhere; can kill you or your family. "Frighten the folks George" was probably the advice given to Bush at some time.
But in Israel you don't need to frighten the folks, they have been frightened out of their skins, probably in the womb, because their mothers have been indoctrinated by being told that we Jews are alone in this Jew-hating world, and can only rely on ourselves. All these stories about terrorists and the like are just another word for what in the end is good old fashioned REVENGE!
The war in Iraq and Afghanistan is revenge for 9/11. And so is the destruction of an estimated 20,000 homes in Gaza since the beginning of the Al-Aksa Intifada. Stories of tunnels to bring in arms from Egypt may have some credence, but tunnels do not just appear overnight. If they exist they have existed for a long time. No, the current wave of Palestinian home destruction is revenge for the audacity of the destruction of those armoured vehicles. The liberating forces in Iraq have also brought down some helicopters. I dread to think what price will be paid if an Israeli helicopter is brought down.
I believe that sometime in the future when the history of the beginning of the 21st century is written these events will have turned out to be the start of a new beginning. It is no longer possible to hide the truth from the peoples of this planet. Even in the poorest homes all over the world people have radios and TVs. One of the first things the people of Iraq did when Saddam was defeated was to go and buy a satellite dish, so they could get the news from Al-Jazeera or Al-Arabia TV. Villages in Africa that don't even have electricity can get online via a mobile phone and a laptop.
All these wonderful new toys brought to us by the capitalists will, I believe, bring about their downfall. So comrades and workers, the world may look like it is in a terrible state now. But it must get better, and it is only through the collective power of the working class that it can. They say he/she who has the last laugh, laughs longest. We the workers, the downtrodden, must have the last laugh, or we are doomed.