Israel Blames Gazans for IDF Aggression

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

The US and Israel blame victims for imperial crimes against them.

Time and again in the Occupied Territories, Palestinians retaliate against hostile Israeli actions.

Long-suffering Gazans are blamed for their right of self-defense against Israeli state terror.

On Friday during the 81st weekly Great March of Return protests since March 30, 2018, Israeli snipers shot or otherwise injured 144 nonviolent Gazan demonstrators, including 53 children, three women, two paramedics, and a journalist - according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), adding:

Pre-dawn Saturday, IDF warplanes terror-bombed Gazan sites, "carry(ing) out dozens of airstrikes across the" Strip.

At least one Palestinian was killed, another wounded, PCHR saying:

This latest "crime…further proves Israel's ongoing and indiscriminate use of destructive force…(O)nly Palestinian civilians pay the price for (its) attacks" — on the phony pretexts of threats that don't exist.

Israeli state terror harms "more than 2 million Palestinians…exhausts their mental and psychological health, and threatens their lives and bodily integrity."

On Saturday, the International Middle East Media Center said Palestinian resistance elements in Gaza "fired around eight rockets…into Israel Friday night…after a Palestinian was killed on Friday."

Note: Friday's Great March of Return in Gaza was held on the 102nd anniversary of the infamous November 2, 1917 Balfour Declaration.

It called for establishing a nation for Jews on stolen Palestinian land, a high crime against humanity.

Endless conflict, occupation, dispossession, and repression, along with social and cultural fragmentation define conditions for beleaguered Palestinians – 102 years of suffering, no end of it in prospect, the world community dismissive of their rights.

Time and again, the disturbing pattern that occurred on Friday in the Territories repeats. Israeli forces kill, wound, or otherwise brutalize Palestinians. In response, rockets are fired by unknown parties on Israeli territory, Palestinian victims blamed for aggression against them.

These incidents are red meat for Netanyahu and likeminded Ziofascists infesting his regime to claim they represent an existential threat to Israeli security that doesn't exist.

Whenever rockets are fired from Gaza in response to Israeli aggression or other hostile acts, Hamas is wrongfully blamed.

On Saturday, Netanyahu tweeted the following: "Immediately after the rocket fire on the Gaza envelope, I convened a top level security meeting in the military headquarters in Tel Aviv," separately saying:

"Hamas is bearing the responsibility for any attack emanating from the Gaza Strip (sic). I don't intend to detail our plans here." 

"We will continue to operate in all the arenas for the safety of the State of Israel, in overt and covert measures – through the sea, in the air and on the ground."

On Sunday, Ziofascist energy minister Yuval Steinitz warned of all-out aggression on Gaza, saying:

"We hoped to reach an agreement before a large military operation, and as it seems right now, we may have to set out on a big army operation and only then reach an agreement," adding:

"If there is no choice and we want to destroy…Hamas…it will have to be a ground operation, and this comes at a price."

Hyping Iranian and Palestinian threats that don't exist is part of Netanyahu's strategy to try remaining in power and avoid prosecution for bribery, fraud breach of trust.

He's doing whatever it takes to change the subject, perhaps by waging war on Gaza, maybe by staging a major false flag incident wrongfully blamed on Iran, Syria, or Hezbollah.

Despite failing to form a coalition government following September 17 run-off elections, he remains prime minister and defense minister while things remain unresolved.

Nothing changes unless Benny Gantz cobbles together enough partners for coalition rule or until after new elections year year — if able to accomplish what hasn't been achieved since round-one elections last April.

The wildcard is Netanyahu's looming indictment on one or more of the above charges, perhaps before end of November.

If formally charged as expected, will he contest it in office or step down? Given the high stakes involved, it's hard predicting what he'll do.

VISIT MY WEBSITE: stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman). Contact at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html