UNDER THE grotesque misnomer "Operation Rainbow", the Israeli regime sent
its soldiers on an horrific killing spree in the refugee camp Rafah in the
Gaza strip.
Jenny Brooks
After the deaths of 13 soldiers in its mid-May incursion in the strip, the
Israeli Defence Force (IDF) stepped up its onslaught, creating scenes of
complete devastation and terrible suffering in the name of destroying
arms-smuggling tunnels at the Egyptian border and widening their corridor of
control.
In the space of a week 57 Palestinians were killed, including ten young
people, when tank missiles hit a 3,000-strong peaceful demonstration against
the IDF invasion.
Hundreds more have been injured. Bulldozers churned up houses and streets
cutting off electricity, telephones and access to water. Even a zoo – the only
one in the Gaza strip – was deliberately destroyed and animals killed.
Many houses were demolished with no warning in an area set back from the
border, where residents had believed themselves to be safe. This barbaric
action forced the house occupants, including the elderly, disabled and very
young, into desperate attempts to escape with their lives, having had to
abandon all their possessions.
Shot at
In some neighbourhoods, IDF loudspeakers ordered all males over the age of
16 to assemble nearby, then some who responded were shot at as they walked
along the broken streets. Others were shot when slipping out to get emergency
supplies of water or medicine. Many men have been detained for interrogation,
yet very little has been found in the way of tunnels and arms caches.
These events sent shock waves around the world, of a level not seen in
relation to Israel-Palestine since the days of the ferocious IDF onslaught on
the West Bank town of Jenin in April 2002.
An outcry internationally, and from peace activists and some others in
Israel, has led to the intensity of the ‘operation’ being reduced and IDF
statements saying that fewer houses than planned would be demolished. But the
brutal offensive is still continuing, in a drive by Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon to be seen to be avenging the IDF deaths.
He is also attempting to gain support from the right wing in Israel for his
planned ‘disengagement’ from parts of the occupied territories, and to
distract attention from a number of other issues.
These issues include continued economic problems. Although there has been a
small economic upturn recently, it is not benefiting the poorest in society.
They also include a possible decision by the Attorney General to indict Sharon
on bribery charges, which would force his removal from office.
‘Disengagement’
Pressure on Sharon to continue to woo the hardline right follows
condemnation of his disengagement plan in a referendum of his Likud party on 2
May.
This layer of Likudniks is trying to cling on to the historic desire of
much of the Israeli capitalist class for a ‘greater Israel’ encompassing the
entire West Bank and Gaza strip.
An increasing view in Israel that a ‘separation’ with some of the
Palestinian areas is the only viable way forward – as reflected in Sharon’s
proposals – is a major defeat for the ideologists in the settler movement and
their supporters.
Increased brutality in the Gaza strip is part of Sharon’s attempt to
resurrect his plan in a modified form, after the referendum defeat. Just as he
had authorised the assassinations of the top two Hamas leaders before the
referendum, to refute the idea that a withdrawal would be a victory for
Palestinian militias such as Hamas, again he is trying to use military might
to win over sections of the right.
However, attempts to crush the Palestinian militias prior to withdrawal
will not succeed in ending attacks against the Israeli occupation. Although
‘disengagement’ would be a setback for the Israeli right, it would also be a
massive blow to the Palestinians, increasing further their will to fight.
Sharon’s proposals, which were endorsed by US President Bush, include the
strengthening of West Bank Jewish settlements close to Israel and the
completion of a 450-mile long ‘security’ wall. The Palestinians would be
restricted to poverty-stricken enclaves without freedom to travel and with no
prospect of their own state.
The nightmare situation for the Palestinians, the growing insecurity and
poverty facing workers in Israel and the inability of all international
capitalist institutions to come up with any workable way forward, graphically
confirm the point that the socialist has always argued: that the problems will
never be solved on the basis of capitalism.
Only by building the necessary forces for a socialist Palestine alongside a
socialist Israel, in a socialist confederation of the Middle East, will the
basis be laid for satisfying the aspirations of both the repressed
Palestinians and the Israeli Jews.
