Rami Khouri on Latest Israel-Hezbollah Escalation & Stalled Ceasefire Talks

[Uncle Joe]

Palestinian American journalist Rami Khouri responds to the latest exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah and the drawn-out ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas, which Khouri calls a “fictitious political dynamic” that is primarily used as diplomatic cover for Israel’s warfare. “The ceasefire talks should not be taken very seriously as an effort to bring about a ceasefire,” he says. “It’s pretty clear now that the ceasefire negotiations today are the equivalent of the so-called peace process in the bigger Arab-Israeli conflict over the last 40 years.”

Transcript: https://www.democracynow.org/2024/8/2...

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[Oopsie Daisy]

1. Did he have anything to say about Hamas' "Tactical Civilian Sacrifice" and why there are NO bomb shelters in Gaza?

I think that this is an important part of the discussion that is frequently omitted, or overlooked. Hamas WANTS civilians to die for propaganda purposes. That's why they hide among civilians, stockpile weapons in schools, hospitals, markets, and why they have HQ's and other operations in places like refugee centers.

[Uncle Joe]

2. No, he didn't mention anything about Netanyahu bolstering/supporting the terrorist organization of Hamas either.

It seems all of Gaza was held hostage to this policy in his financial support of terrorism as a divide and conquer strategy to prevent democracy and freedom for the Palestinians from breaking out.

Is it any wonder that kidnappers or terrorists would hold their victims as shields?

That would be especially easy in a highly condensed populated area.

Since October 7th Netanyahu's government has focused heavily on eliminating the victims or "human shields" along with the chief political negotiator for a ceasefire/peace agreement while he was in Iran and occasionally some terrorists while putting Israeli hostages at risk as well.

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Wars help hide political scandals. The ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza has been singularly useful to prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in sidelining popular anger at his government’s numerous failings. The massive protests against Netanyahu’s authoritarian attempts to weaken the courts dwindled after Hamas October 7 attack, although there are signs they are resuming force. The intelligence failures that allowed the October 7 attack to take place have received some press attention—but have yet to be the focus of sustained political ire.

The same is true of Netanyahu’s longstanding policy of bolstering Hamas rule in Gaza, including encouraging Israel’s de facto ally Qatar to finance the terrorist organization. While the much-respected Israeli newspaper Haaretz has covered this issue, it has been largely ignored by the international press.

Just weeks before Hamas launched the deadly Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, the head of Mossad arrived in Doha, Qatar, for a meeting with Qatari officials.

For years, the Qatari government had been sending millions of dollars a month into the Gaza Strip—money that helped prop up the Hamas government there. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel not only tolerated those payments, he had encouraged them.

According to the Times, Israeli intelligence agents traveled into Gaza with a Qatari official carrying suitcases filled with cash to disperse money. Retired Israeli general Shlomo Brom described the logic of Netanyahu’s position: “One effective way to prevent a two-state solution is to divide between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.” If the extremist Hamas ruled Gaza, then the Palestinian Authority—a compromised comprador government with a tenuous hold on the West Bank—would be further weakened. This, according to Brom, would allow Netanyahu to say, “I have no partner.”

(snip)

https://www.thenation.com/article/world/why-netanyahu-bolstered-hamas/