Saturday, 20 August 2011

Journey to Gaza

Journey to Gaza

Blaming Gaza, Israel bombs the enclave

Posted: 20 Aug 2011 09:33 AM PDT

The Gaza sky is once again host to Israeli fighter jets, helicopters, drones, missiles and rockets. Even before the exact toll of Israeli victims in the Eilat attack on Thursday was known, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak was quick to point his finger at Gaza, vowing a harsh response.

"Soon enough they will blame Gaza for global warming," a colleague told me exasperatedly.

Very few here believe Gaza had anything to do with the daring attacks that killed eight Israelis in the Red Sea holiday town. Until now, no evidence has been presented implicating Gaza. Hamas denied involvement immediately, and the Popular Resistance Committees – whose top military commander and other fighters were killed in targeted airstrikes later – applauded the operation but also said they did not commit it.

Yet the blaming of Gaza was prompt and unequivocal even though everything pointed at the rapidly deteriorating context of the Sinai Peninsula since the fall of Mubarak's regime. In stating that the attacks – which all came from the Egyptian border – originated in Gaza and would be responded to in Gaza, Barak swayed Israeli and international public opinion away from the troublesome desert to the easy target that is Gaza, paving the way for a weekend of deadly airstrikes.

In the ensuing bombardment of Gaza that is now in its third day, 14 Palestinians were killed and 44 wounded, including women, children and elderly people. That is besides the five Egyptian border police killed by Israeli forces on Egyptian soil as they allegedly pursued the Eilat fighters.

Among the civilian areas targeted in Gaza there was a carwash facility, a detergents factory and a concrete factory. By Friday night, Hamas's armed wing could no longer stay idle, declaring an end to the ceasefire and calling on all Palestinian militants to retaliate at Israel. Interestingly, the Hamas political wing was warning against an escalation at the same time the Izz Al Deen Al Qassam Brigades were calling an end to the truce, exposing Hamas's internal dilemma.

In calling off the ceasefire, Hamas has played along and provided Israel with a further pretext to increase the escalation further, just when Netanyahu was plagued by massive internal protests. Those sushi-eating protestors clamouring for "social justice" have now all packed up their tents and went back to their army uniforms. This is also happening just weeks away from the pending bid at the United Nations to recognise the Palestinian state – an event which Israel has been staunchly opposing in the most violent of terms.

The Israeli media is sticking to the establishment's narrative. By reporting only about the rockets fired towards Israel it raises expectations for more bloodshed on Palestinian soil, and obliterating any analysis of the real story unfolding in the Sinai. It is there, in that vast Egyptian desert, that groups have five times exploded the gas pipeline from Egypt to Israel this year.

Only last week, Egyptian forces entered the demilitarised zone – with Israel's permission – to sweep the area of saboteurs and radicals that started coming out of the woodwork since the fall of Mubarak's regime. At least two were killed and several were injured as a result of the operation.

Seen in this context, the Eilat battle takes a different possible explanation, a sort of predictable retaliation by the rogue elements ruling the Sinai under the new regime. According to several sources, Israel requested permission to respond on Egyptian soil within 7km around Taba but Egypt refused, despite US insistence. Israel launched its airstrikes anyway, killing the Egyptian security officers.

In blaming Gaza, the Israeli government has found a convenient way of sweeping its internal mess under the carpet, but it is also ignoring the stark new realities staring it in the eye since the beginning of the Arab spring. Even as the unnecessary civilian deaths in Gaza keep increasing, it is only a matter of time until Israel will be forced to face the full impact of the rapidly changing landscape around it, where its neighbours are not as forgiving as the friendly former dictators.
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