{"id":1788,"date":"2021-05-22T04:47:25","date_gmt":"2021-05-22T05:47:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/?p=1788"},"modified":"2021-05-22T04:47:25","modified_gmt":"2021-05-22T05:47:25","slug":"the-israeli-ceasefire-victory-or-defeat-for-whom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malvinartley.com\/blog.malvinartley.com\/2021\/05\/22\/the-israeli-ceasefire-victory-or-defeat-for-whom\/","title":{"rendered":"The Israeli ceasefire: Victory or defeat for whom?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Update on Palestine, 21 May 2021: A ceasefire was declared for 2:00 am on the 21st<\/sup> in the Gaza bombing campaign, \u201cOperation Guardian of the Walls\u201d. The Palestinians have prevailed. It was a unilateral ceasefire on the part of the Israelis, voted for unanimously by the Israeli Security Cabinet. This came after a phone call by Biden on Wednesday, where he stated that \u201che expected a significant de-escalation today on the path to a ceasefire<\/a><\/span>“. The Israeli bombings ended with a phone call. Hamas followed suit. There were celebrations well into the night in Gaza and Jerusalem. Palestinians were praying freely in Al-Aqsa mosque Friday morning.<\/span><\/p>\n

The chart for the ceasefire is below (bigger<\/a><\/span>). We won\u2019t analyze it here, except to say the Sun had just entered Gemini, showing the calming of tensions between \u2018the quarreling brothers\u2019 \u2013 the twins of Gemini in other words. The Sun had been trine to Pluto in the past days, showing the increased diplomatic activity behind the scenes on the part of the Egyptians, who brokered the ceasefire. Libra was on the Descendant, also showing the diplomacy involved. The Moon was trine Uranus, showing the suddenness of the event, and was also sextile to Mars, easing the tensions. And lastly, the Sun was in a partile square with Jupiter, showing the exuberance of the celebrations by Palestinians.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Both sides are claiming victory. On the whole, though, it was a small but very significant victory for the Palestinians and a first step on the way to Palestinian liberation from the apartheid state, despite the heavy losses in lives and infrastructure they suffered. The Israeli reaction to the ceasefire is more subdued, with people on the street saying there will be no peace until Hamas is wiped out. They are also saying the ceasefire is a loss for Israel. It is true there will be no real peace in the interim, but it is questionable Hamas will ever be wiped out. Israeli invincibility and impunity has been punctured.<\/span><\/p>\n

What has emerged from this, then? There will be reassessments on both sides, about what happened, about strategy, about the way forward. On the Israeli side, Bibi\u2019s alleged purpose in dragging out the bombing was solely political, in that he wanted to go on for longer to shore up his support in the Knesset. Instead, he is losing support within Likud. His political fortunes appear at the moment to be diminished, consistent with his astrology. Insiders within his party stated as much<\/a><\/span>:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNetanyahu is drawing out the operation in Gaza because Lapid is holding the mandate,\u201d a senior political adviser in the party says. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t seem to have a real desire to eradicate Hamas. Relations between the Arabs in Israel and Jews are being left in ruins,\u201d the adviser says. \u201cNetanyahu is galloping toward a fifth election and taking the country hostage. The collapse of right-wing chairman Naftali Bennett gives him a boost, but support for him within the Likud is weakening.\u201d Other elements in the right-wing bloc tell the newspaper that it is thought Netanyahu believes the conflict with Hamas will boost his image in fifth elections. \u201cHe is building on the fact that Yamina will be wiped out,\u201d unnamed party officials tell the newspaper.”<\/span><\/p>\n

After the ceasefire was announced, Bibi was nowhere in sight<\/a><\/span>. Some politicians in Israel slammed him for the ceasefire, saying it was an embarrassment for Israel<\/a><\/span> and that the bombing of Gaza accomplished nothing. This was despite Bibi\u2019s assertions that the operations were \u201cextraordinarily achieved<\/a><\/span>\u201d. This sort of rhetoric is rolled out after every war with Gaza<\/a><\/span>, with the addition that Hamas had been ‘defeated’. What we had with the extended bombing, then, and if the preceding is true, was a political act by Netanyahu instead of Israel\u2019s \u2018self-defense\u2019. Bibi had to surrender to Biden<\/a><\/span> and blamed the ceasefire on the IDF and security forces.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the end of hostilities, there were 12 dead Israelis as a result, but 261 Palestinians dead and close to 2,000 injured. Of the Palestinian dead, 65 of those were children. Israel claims there were \u2018hundreds\u2019 of Hamas militants killed<\/span><\/a>, but that would appear to be hyperbole and doesn\u2019t tally with UN figures. But it is an attempt to boost the confidence of the populace, along with the claims of 60 \u2013 100 miles of Hamas\u2019 tunnels being destroyed<\/a><\/span>. A quick look at the geography of Gaza puts that figure highly in question. Gaza is only 27 miles long and 7 miles wide. The IDF is known to exaggerate successes and to minimize defeats. They call their bombing campaigns in Gaza, \u201cmowing the lawn\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the operations on both sides, a young journalist working for the Associated Press, the building housing the organization in Gaza having been flattened by Israeli bombing, was unceremoniously fired from her job<\/a><\/span> after pressure from conservatives, following their discovery of her past social media postings in support of Palestinians. This was an example of conservative \u2018cancel culture\u2019 and only goes to demonstrate the bias and control exerted over US media.<\/span><\/p>\n

Given the bias in US media toward Israel, here are a few \u2018facts on the ground\u2019 you will not hear in mainstream news, relative to what has just taken place over the last days:<\/span><\/p>\n