1.7.06
"ISRAEL HAS declared war on the Palestinian people! The
Palestinian people will answer in kind! The Palestinian rebellion will
go on! The Palestinian fighters are steadfast in the service of the
nation! Down with the Nazi-Zionist occupation! Out with the unclean
infidels from the Holy Land! Destroyed Rafah - we shall build you anew!
Long live the Palestinian revolution! Long live the State of Palestine!"
A Hamas leaflet of last week? Not exactly. With appropriate changes,
this leaflet was published on July 2, 1946 - sixty years ago almost to
the day - by the Haganah, after "Black Saturday".
Then, in the wake of a daring commando action by the Palmakh ("shock
troops" of the Haganah), which blew up a number of bridges, the British
government of Palestine decided to carry out a plan prepared well in
advance. It was code-named "Agatha". On June 29, 1946, 17 thousand
British soldiers fanned out all over the Jewish towns and kibbutzim to
confiscate arms and documents and arrest the leaders of the Jewish
community. The British government affirmed its determination to stamp
out terrorism. In Jerusalem, the soldiers occupied the headquarters of
the Jewish Agency, the de facto government of the Jewish "state within
the state", and confiscated many documents that clearly established its
close connections with the "terrorist headquarters" - the joint command
of the Haganah, the Irgun and the Stern Group, which worked closely
together at the time.
The soldiers broke into the homes of the political leaders of the Jewish
community and arrested most of the Jewish Agency "ministers". The
leaders were detained in Latrun. But the commanders of the underground
organizations decided to continue fighting, in order to prove to the
British that the arrest of the leaders had not silenced them.
"Black Saturday" was a milestone in the fight against the British.
Within a year, they decided to leave the country.
The similarity between the British "Agatha" and the Israeli
"Summer
Rains" is striking. This shows that every occupation regime is condemned
to repeat the actions of its predecessors, even when they have been
proved hopeless. This does not mean that all occupiers are fools - only
that the logic of occupation itself condemns them to do foolish things.
THE AIM of the present operation is, ostensibly, to free the soldier
Gilad Shalit, who was captured by the Palestinian underground
(consisting of several organizations), in an attack that even an Israeli
military expert called "a daring commando action".
If our army had kept its high military standard, it would immediately
have replaced all the commanders responsible for the debacle. 50 years
ago this would have been done . But we have a different army now. Nobody
was removed. The failed commanders just called the attack "a terrorist
act", the fighters "terrorists" and the captured soldier "kidnapped".
The action proves, of course, an old military maxim: for every means of
defense a means of attack can be found, and vice versa. The "security"
fence that surrounds the Gaza Strip on all sides (except the sea), the
like of which is now being built inside the West Bank, can stop thieves
and people looking for work in Israel, but not determined fighters who
will always find ways to cross it, whether from below or above.
The "kidnapped" soldier served as a pretext for an operation which must
have been prepared a long time ago. The Israeli and international public
has been told that the aim is to set him free, but in practice it has
put his life in greater jeopardy. If the soldiers come near to where he
is hidden, he could be killed in the cross-fire - as happened some years
ago to the soldier Nakhshon Waksman, who was captured by Hamas. He was
killed in the exchange of fire between the soldiers and the
Palestinians. Waksman would probably be alive today, if there had been
an exchange of prisoners instead.
The connection between the "kidnapped soldier" and the operation exists
only in the realm of propaganda. The same goes for the second pretext:
that the aim is to put an end to the launching of Qassam rockets at the
town of Sderot.
True, this is indeed an intolerable situation. The Qassam, a simple and
inexpensive weapon, causes more panic than real damage, like the German
V-rockets fired on London in World War II. It terrorizes the population,
and that is its aim. Its purpose is to break the devastating blockade
that the Israeli government has been maintaining against the Gaza strip
since the "disengagement". Until now, the army has not come up with a
means to put a stop to the rockets.
But the Qassams, too, are not the real cause of the "Summer Rains"
operation. Its character shows that it has a much wider aim: to destroy
the elected Palestinian government (Israeli propaganda's "Hamas
Government") and bring the Palestinian population to its knees. This is
supposed to make it possible for the Israeli government to carry out the
"Convergence" plan, annexing major parts of the West Bank to Israel and
preventing the establishment of a viable Palestinian state.
A clear aim, which the operation is designed to attain by simple means:
breaking the Palestinian population by the liquidation of its
leadership, destruction of its infrastructure and cutting off of food
supplies, medicines, electricity, water and sanitary services - not to
mention employment. The message to the Palestinians: if you want to put
an end to your suffering, remove the government you have elected.
CAN THIS succeed? Exactly like the the success of the British operation.
"Agatha" achieved the very opposite.
Like all the failures of our army over the years, from the battle of
Karameh in 1968, through the Egyptian crossing of the canal at the
beginning of the Yom Kippur war, to the two intifada's, the reason lies
with the abysmal contempt that the army commanders hold for the Arabs in
general and the Palestinians in particular. The Shin Bet meets the
Palestinians in the form of interrogated prisoners, who are ready to say
anything at all under torture, and the despicable collaborators, who are
ready to sell their cousins for drugs or money. The occupation
commanders cannot imagine that the Palestinians could react like any
other people, even - God forbid! - as we did in a similar situation.
What, these pitiful Arabs are like us?
True, the British never behaved towards us as we do now towards the
Palestinians. But on the other hand, the Palestinians' ability to suffer
oppression is much greater than ours. It is based on the family
structure that makes for much more effective mutual help, and on the
experience of living for years in dire straits.
On "Black Saturday" the Jewish community stood together behind its
besieged leadership. The opposition from right and left rallied behind
Ben-Gurion (who was abroad) and Sharett (imprisoned in Latrun).
Experience shows that every people behaves like this when a foreign
enemy attacks its leadership. Hamas is almost certain to emerge much
strengthened from this test. The arrests prove to the Palestinian public
that its is a fighting, loyal leadership, not corrupted by the amenities
of power - contrary to their predecessors, some of whom were tainted by
corruption.
The pretext for the operation - the release of the captured soldier -
will only harden the attitude of the Palestinians. No issue is more
important for them than the release of Palestinian prisoners - a matter
that directly concerns 10 thousand Palestinian extended families, in
every town, quarter and village. These families are prepared to suffer
anything to secure their release.
THE SECOND victim of the operation is the "Convergence Plan", which has
become ridiculous. In the eyes of the ordinary Israeli, it looks like
this: We have left Gaza, and now we are returning. We dismantled the
settlements there, and got the Qassams on Sderot in return. Sharon has
failed, so Olmert will fail doubly.
That is true, but not for the obvious reasons. The withdrawal from Gaza
has not brought security, because it was carried out without any
dialogue or agreement with the Palestinians. It has not brought peace
nearer, because it was coupled with an open intention to annex large
parts of the West Bank. And, no less importantly, we did indeed leave
the Gaza Strip entirely, but have blockaded it and cut it off from the
world. All this is even more true for the "convergence" of Olmert.
The "Summer Rains" may have washed it off the map. | 
