PALESTINE: The War of Principals
By Khalid Al Khaja
Falsehood In War-Time
“Falsehood is a recognized and extremely useful weapon in warfare, and every country uses it quite deliberately to deceive its own people, to attract neutrals, and to mislead the enemy. The ignorant and innocent masses in each country are unaware at the time that they are being misled, and when it is all over only here and there are the falsehoods discovered and exposed. As it is all past history and the desired effect has been produced by the stories and statements, no one troubles to investigate the facts and establish the truth.
Lying, as we all know, does not take place only in war-time. Man, it has been said, is not "a veridical animal (a truth telling animal)," but his habit of lying is not nearly so extraordinary as his amazing readiness to believe. It is, indeed, because of human credulity that lies flourish. But in war-time the authoritative organization of lying is not sufficiently recognized. The deception of whole peoples is not a matter which can be lightly regarded.
A useful purpose can therefore be served in the interval of so-called peace by a warning which people can examine with dispassionate calm, that the authorities in each country do, and indeed must, resort to this practice in order, first, to justify themselves by depicting the enemy as an undiluted criminal; and secondly, to inflame popular passion sufficiently to secure recruits for the continuance of the struggle. They cannot afford to tell the truth. In some cases, it must be admitted that at the moment they do not know what the truth is.
The psychological factor in war is just as important as the military factor. The morale of civilians, as well as of soldiers, must be kept up to the mark. The War Offices, Admiralties, and Air Ministries look after the military side. Departments have to be created to see to the psychological side. People must never be allowed to become despondent; so victories must be exaggerated and defeats, if not concealed, at any rate minimized, and the stimulus of indignation, horror, and hatred must be assiduously and continuously pumped into the public mind by means of "propaganda."
As Mr. Bonar Law said in an interview to the United Press of America, referring to patriotism, "It is well to have it properly stirred by German frightfulness" (this was in WWI. scare them about the Germans! the Huns are coming!); and a sort of general confirmation of atrocities is given by vague phrases which avoid responsibility for the authenticity of any particular story, as when Mr. Asquith said (House of Commons, April 27, 1915) : "We shall not forget this horrible record of calculated cruelty and crime."
The use of the weapon of falsehood is more necessary in a country where military conscription is not the law of the land than in countries where the manhood of the nation is automatically drafted into the Army, Navy, or Air Service. The public can be worked up emotionally by sham ideals. A sort of collective hysteria spreads and rises until finally it gets the better of sober people and reputable newspapers (even newspapers start generating falsehoods).
With a warning before them, the common people may be more on their guard when the war cloud next appears on the horizon and less disposed to accept as truth the rumors, explanations, and pronouncements issued for their consumption. They should realize that a Government which has decided on embarking on the hazardous and terrible enterprise of war must at the outset present a one-sided case in justification of its action and cannot afford to admit in any particular whatever the smallest degree of right or reason on the part of the people it has made up its mind to fight. Facts must be distorted, relevant circumstances concealed and a picture presented which by its crude coloring will persuade the ignorant people that their Government is blameless, their cause is righteous, and that the indisputable wickedness of the enemy has been proved beyond question. A moment's reflection would tell any reasonable person that such obvious bias cannot possibly represent the truth. But the moment's reflection is not allowed; lies are circulated with great rapidity. The unthinking mass accept them and by their excitement sway the rest. The amount of rubbish and humbug that pass under the name of patriotism in war-time in all countries is sufficient to make decent people blush when they are subsequently disillusioned.”
FALSEHOOD IN WAR-TIME: Propaganda Lies of the First World War, by Arthur Ponsonby MP, 1928 by George Allen and Unwin: http://www.vlib.us/wwi/resources/archives/texts/t050824i/ponsonby.html
Remember this next time you hear an ugly news being circulated and aggressively repeated by giant news agencies and key figures of in democratic countries, such as that 40 babies got their heads cut-off. The damage is done the moment such news is out, even if it turns out to be a disgusting western Falsehood In War-Time!
Remember that CNN, and all other networks in the Western Christendom, chose to report on the press conference conducted by an elderly Israeli hostage released by Hamas with the following exaggerated and shocking headline “I went through hell”, but chose to minimize and silence the positive and promising part of what they report, such as:
“She was greeted by “people who told us we believe in the Quran” and promised “not to harm” her and her fellow hostages. She said they slept on mattresses on the floor of the tunnels, ate the same food as Hamas fighters and received regular treatment from doctors during her incarceration. “They really took care of the sanitary side of things so that we didn’t get sick,” Lifshitz added. Each of the five hostages in her group received their own doctor and there was a paramedic present who supervised medication, she said. “They were very generous to us, very kind. They kept us clean,” Lifshitz said. “They took care of every detail. There are a lot of women and they know about feminine hygiene and they took care of everything there.” Lifshitz also accused the Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet intelligence service of not taking threats from Hamas “seriously” and said the costly Gaza border fence erected by Israel had done nothing to protect her community from Hamas’ attack. “The lack of awareness by Shin Bet and the IDF hurt us a lot,” she stressed. “They warned us three weeks beforehand, they burned fields, they sent fire balloons and the IDF did not treat it seriously,” she continued.”!
CNN report:
https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/24/middleeast/israel-hostages-freed-lifshitz-cooper-intl-hnk/index.html
Terrorism in War Time
In principle, I don’t rely on the free world and the Western Christendom in defining terrorism and identifying terrorists, as they once used to call Nelson Mandela a terrorist. They have no consistency and credibility in this regard.
Therefore, I neither consider Hamas nor Israel, in their entirety, as terrorist entities. No entity is totally terrorist and evil, as there is good and ugly in any entity. I don’t judge entities but do judge their decisions and actions. I judge the actions of people, groups, organizations, countries and ethnicities, but I don’t judge them as entities. Indeed, both Hamas and Israel (like others) have committed atrocities, but I exclude the legitimate Palestinian struggle against the Israeli occupation, as allowed for by the United Nations resolution 3314, Article 7 which affirms:
“Nothing in this Definition, and in particular article 3, could in any way prejudice the right to self-determination, freedom and independence, as derived from the Charter, of peoples forcibly deprived of that right and referred to in the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, particularly peoples under colonial and racist regimes or other forms of alien domination: nor the right of these peoples to struggle to that end and to seek and receive support, in accordance with the principles of the Charter and in conformity with the above-mentioned Declaration.”
UNGA resolution 3314: http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/instree/GAres3314.html
“Reaffirms the legitimacy of the struggle of peoples for independence, territorial integrity, national unity and liberation from colonial domination, apartheid and foreign occupation by all available means, including armed struggle;”.
Legitimacy of Palestinian armed struggle: https://www.un.org/unispal/document/auto-insert-184801/
But, since the United Nations is so clearly calling on Israel to end its colonial domination, apartheid and occupation of the Palestinian land/territories, why the free world in Western Christendom simply doesn’t force Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories and then negotiate peace with Arabs?!
Taking Palestine in Doses
US president Truman answers the above question when he said:
“Even among the Jews, the Zionists particularly who were against anything that was to be done if they couldn’t have the whole of Palestine and everything handed to them on a silver plate so that they wouldn’t have to do anything. It couldn’t be done, we had to take it in small doses.”
US President Truman: https://youtu.be/N0DvO72fuG4?feature=shared
It’s clear from Mr. Truman’s statement that the Christian Zionist in the Western Christendom had a gentleman agreement with the Jewish Zionists to take over the entire Palestine in doses, and perhaps more, depending on how radical is the Zionists you’re dealing with and how radical is his interpretation of the unauthenticated Biblical texts. It’s clear that it’s the Zionists who always intended to throw Arabs into the sea and not the other way around as claimed by their Zionist propaganda.
The noble Israeli Jew, Mr. Miko Peled, known as the son of the General, also touches on this vital issue. His father signed Israel's declaration of independence and participated in all Israel-Arab wars. Therefore, Miko was able to access the minutes of the meetings of the young Zionist Generals (including his father) before their wars with Arabs. Miko reports, that the minutes clearly show how the young Israeli Generals wished a war with Arabs as they wanted more smaller doses of the Palestinian lands. That means that Zionists always had the hidden intention to grab more land by force, and nothing could scare them more than Arabs accepting the partitioning. Peace terrifies the Zionists, as it hinders their plan to takeover the entire Palestine.
Miko Peled: https://youtu.be/TOaxAckFCuQ
Could the above information collectively explain the mysterious security and intelligence collapse on October 7th, and the mysterious late arrival of the Israeli forces that took 6 hours to rescue their people?! Is it unfair to assume that the Tel Aviv knew about the attack, anticipated it, ignored all the intelligent information, allowed it and sacrificed their own people to gain the national and international consent that would enable them to ethnically cleans the Palestinians for another dose of land? Is there any other logical way to explain the mysterious security failure and the mysterious late response?!
Remember this next time a radical Zionist tells you: “Arabs didn’t accept the partitioning and Israel had to occupy more land for security reasons.” That’s rubbish!
Yes, Palestinians and Arabs refused to accept their Palestine being split by their occupier (Britain). Yes, I agree that Arab’s decision to fight was not SMART due to unequal power scales, but it was expected. It's easy to judge now. In fact, if Arabs had the required power and a chance to win, I would have advised them to occupy Britain, split it, and give the bigger piece to the oppressed European Jews as their homeland.
And yes, the timing of Hamas attack on October 7th raises a lot of questions regarding its objective and intent. I consider the attack strategically disastrous for the legitimate Palestinian struggle but could be serving the global Muslim Brotherhood’s agenda, in which they don’t want the Saudis to succeed in reaching an equitable peace for all Arabs. Hamas has used the Palestinian struggle in the past for strengthening their party (Muslim Brotherhood) when their leader Ismaeel Haniyeh rushed to Morocco in support of the Muslim Brotherhood’s government during election, despite Morocco’s peace with Israel, while Hamas was viciously demonizing the UAE’s peace with Israel. This contradiction shows their double standard in dealing with countries that normalizes relations with Israel. Its only ok when Muslim Brotherhood normalizes with Israel but not others.
On the other hand, the attack did a historical service to the Israelis in uniting their divided house, offering opportunities to the ever-hungry and war mongering radical Zionists with their ever-growing appetite for more dose of Palestinian land!
Lack of Consistency & Integrity in War Times
In the war of principals, you need to be consistent, and the free-world/liberal international laws/values and United Nation's resolutions are not an earring that you can put on and off, as and when it suits you. Such laws/values don't support the Israeli occupation, and addresses Israel as a colonial, apartheid and occupying power.
If you choose to refer to the unauthentic Biblical sources to justify the Israeli colonial, apartheid and occupational policies and to historically annihilate Palestine and the Palestinians, then you are basically approving the genocidal retro-Biblical laws/values such as Book of Samuel, chapter 15, verse 3 that says:
"Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly a destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass."!
The above verse perfectly explains Israel's genocidal and retro-Biblical attitude towards Palestine and its indiscriminate incineration of the Palestinian women and children since 1947. Such acts make a group of Zionists in the Jewish world radically equivalent to ISIS.
Such verses also explain the genocidal and retro-Biblical bases that justified the indiscriminate incineration of Japanese women and children with two nuclear bombs. That makes a group of liberals in the Western Christendom radically equivalent to ISIS.
In the war of principals, Biblical people say: Palestinians never had a country!
Well, say that to Golda Meir (the Former Prime Minister of Israel) who was holding a Palestinian passport for decades as reported by her. Say that to many noble Israeli historians who confirm the historical connection of Arabs to Palestine, or try harmonize that with many Biblical verses such as Genesis 17:8, that refers to the land as the land of Canaan. You can also watch the 5 beautiful hours of a dialogue hosted by a proud and radical Zionist titled: "Is Zionism Settler Colonialism?"
The dialogue: https://youtu.be/V8fbG0B1pi8?feature=shared
Balfour Declaration:
Britain wasn't driven by principals or fairness when it decided to grant part of Palestine to the Zionists! Britain and Europe did so because they wished a Jewish free Europe. This is confirmed by Theodor Herzl himself, the founder of Zionism, in his book “The Jewish State”.
Britain’s Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour who issued his malignant declaration was himself anti-Semitic, yet he supported the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, by generously giving away what he didn't own. He didn't do Jews a favor, as he wanted Jews out of Europe. The declaration was simply a cheese on the mouse trap. Edwin Samuel Montagu, the only Jew in the British cabinet confirms this, so he didn't support this declaration as he considered it anti-sematic. No wonder why Balfour didn’t issue the declaration to Mr. Montagu.
Jews were having a miserable time in Europe and were being viciously prosecuted. But Palestinians had their country always open to Jews, before and after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, and until they became aware of the anti-Arab Zionist plans. Until then, Jews had been freely migrating to Palestine before Britain's malignant declaration, that basically transformed the historical Christian-Jewish conflict to a weird Arab-Jewish conflict. Arabs in general always extended their hand to the oppressed Jews for help, but radical Zionists ended up biting that generous hand, and this is confirmed by many noble Israeli historians.
The diaries of the early Zionist settlers (very poor Russian settlers), practically the second wave of the Nationalist Zionist settlers who came after the defeat of the Bolshevik Codetta against Tzar in 1905 and created or formed the Zionist movement in Palestine, perfectly describes the Zionist mindset, as reported by the noble Israeli historian Mr. Ilan Pappé who says:
“they had very little money on them when they arrived in port of Jaffa. They knew nothing about farming and agriculture, as Jews in Russia and Eastern Europe were not allowed to work on cultivation of land, didn’t know how to make a living for themselves and had nowhere to stay in the new country called Palestine. So, they were very lucky that the local Palestinians hosted them, offered them a place to sleep, a little bit of food, and when they stayed long enough taught them how to cultivate the land and how to Shepperd the herds and how to become sort of children of the new country. But at night these settlers under the candlelight wrote diaries. They wrote about everything: Mosquito bites, could not sleep, the women they didn’t like (women didn’t like the men and men didn’t like the women). There is nothing that escaped the diaries and, in those diaries, the wrote about their greatest disappointment in Palestine. The main disappointment was that the place was full of foreigners, especially those who hosted them! They were saying in their diaries: I am staying tonight in the house of one of these foreigners. This mindset has not changed until now and there were two disappointments: One was that they believed that Palestine was an empty space, that it was a land without people and waiting for people without land. They really believed it.
If you read the propaganda of the Zionist movement after Herzl founded it in 1897, Palestine appears as a totally empty land. So, they were really surprised to see someone else there. Secondly, they had to square this new effect with their idea of creating a new homeland, so they decided if someone was their and was not supposed to be there, they were hostile aliens who took something that did not belong to them.
If you think that this is simplistic and outdated, then think twice. The most important tool for studying the Arab Israeli conflict in Unite States of America today, whether it is in high schools or colleges or in the Universities is “The Atlas of the Arab Israeli Conflict”, which was written by one of Britain leading professors called Martin Gilbert, I think it’s already in its 12th edition. This is the main tool by which students in America, and until recently in England, were geographically looking at the conflict. It tells you a lot about the Zionist propaganda today compared to the Zionist propaganda in the early days. The first map is Palestine during the Biblical times, the second map is Palestine during the Roman time, the third map is the crusader, and the fourth map is the first Zionist settlement in the 1882, which mean between 70AD (time of Christ) till late 19th century nothing happened in Palestine. Because it was empty and there where no people there! This mindset is still there in Israel and this is Zionism for me. Because Zionist are not saying that there are no Arabs around, of course they know that there are Arabs around, but the whole efforts are in two levels: One is to make Palestinians evaporate and disappear so that they can go back to the land without people, or if you cannot do this, then imagine that they are not there, by building a wall.”
Mr. Ilan Pappé: https://youtu.be/9EXb1SI1lNw?feature=shared
Human Shields In War-Time
Regretfully, it’s not only Hamas who uses Palestinians as Human shields in their legitimate armed struggle for liberation. With Western Christendom’s consent, Israel also uses the settlers as an occupation tool (Human shields) in the borders of the occupied territories. Israel knows that Western Christendom is excellent in closing their eyes while Israel practices colonial, apartheid and occupation acts against the indigenous Palestinians. They also know that Western Christendom would allow them during the current war to do the ugly against innocent Palestinians, exactly as the Western Christendom closed their eyes during the world war II and allowed Nazis to commit genocide against innocent Jews. Noble Zionists regret such histories and admit that what they did to their Palestinians neighbors in 1947 was equivalent to what Nazis did to them during the Holocaust! People behave as they are allowed to behave.
Hamas Militias
I don’t condone the legitimate Palestinian armed struggle for their self-determination, but am against militant and dissident groups, who act in isolation, hence exposing themselves to foreign agendas. That's why, I do not support the Palestinian Hamas and Jihad militants and the Lebanese Hiz-Bu-Allah militants. I equally do not support the Israeli militant-minded settler-colonial occupation, that undermines the international laws/values and United Nation’s resolutions.
Despite its sincere pursuit of dignity and freedom, Hamas has not only accepted to be a puppet of Iran, but they have also become a puppet of Israel (the occupier) for the last 16 years. They have been getting official foreign financial support through Israel. They have been used conveniently by Israel to split and weaken the legitimate Palestinian Liberation fabric. In pursuit of defeating the illegal Israeli occupation, Hamas has consciously neverminded being used to progress not only the Iranian, but also the Israeli expansionist agendas. Hamas never minds collaborating with the brutal Iranian occupation in order to fight the Israeli occupation. Basically, I denounce such a radical Machiavellian principal that lacks consistency and integrity. I equally denounce such suicidal strategies on both sides, Hamas and Israel. Times of Israel reported on October 8th, 2023:
"According to various reports, Netanyahu made a similar point at a Likud faction meeting in early 2019, when he was quoted as saying that those who oppose a Palestinian state should support the transfer of funds to Gaza, because maintaining the separation between the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza would prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state."
Times of Israel: https://www.timesofisrael.com/for-years-netanyahu-propped-up-hamas-now-its-blown-up-in-our-faces/
This is a naïve and short-sighted policy, on all sides, that neither serves the Palestinians nor the Israelis or the Iranians. It only serves the interests of the other.
The Reality:
Legally, UN resolutions are still valid and Israel needs to exist as a safe haven for the ever-oppressed jews. But it’s equally true that the United Nation officially addresses Israel as an occupational power that ignores the international liberal laws/values and acts based on retro-Biblical laws/values. The solution is going to an international court of law for a fair settlement for both parties. I know Palestinians want this solution, but Israelis don’t, and this in itself tells whose story could hold water, and who wants to coexist and who doesn't!
In the war of principals, I have no respect for militant-minded regimes who do not effectively and consistently comply with the recognized international laws. I mean those who lack accountability and integrity, such as the Islamic Republic of Iran, the occupying state of Israel and those in Western Christendom who enable them both. Basically, I denounce all radical Machiavellians who lack consistency and integrity (principals).
It's Obvious:
I would never accept that UN votes to split my country (would you?!) It’s obvious that you would fight (wouldn't you?!). It’s also obvious that Western Christendom has two sets of western liberal laws/values, one for themselves and another for others (don't they?!). It's obvious that Western Christendom position is hypocritic and lacks integrity (doesn't it?!). It's also obvious that Western Christendom and Zionism act based on retro-Biblical laws/values and not their announced and sexier liberal laws/values (don't they?!). It's also obvious that an occupation can't talk about self-defense (could it?!). It’s also obvious that when Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant referred to Palestinians on October 9th as "Human Animals", he was using a genocidal rhetoric. He said:
“We are imposing a complete siege on Gaza. No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel. Everything is closed. We are fighting human animals, and we will act accordingly.”
It's obvious that "Human Animals" is a genocidal rhetoric. In any genocide, the aggressor sees his victim as evil and animal. Israelis see Palestinians as evil animals, as Hitler saw Jews as evil animals. It’s a shame to see Western Christendom hailing the above genocidal acts of the occupier against the occupied Palestine, months after they categorically denounced the exact acts as the Russian occupation used them against the occupied Ukraine. It’s a shame to see Western Christendom adopting two sets of laws/values for themselves and others while dealing with occupation and human rights. It’s a shame to see Western Christendom undermining the international laws and the United Nation’s resolutions, by allowing Israel to breach them. It’s a shame to watch the silent majority in the Western Christendom turning a blind eye to allow the radical over-ambitious Zionists breach the international law and do the ugly on behalf of them all. History is repeating itself. This is disgusting (isn't it?!).
It’s obvious that the current world order lacks humanity, credibility, integrity and principals. Doesn’t it?!
Note: While reading, remember that Bernard Lewis defined Christendom as:
“…the entire civilization shaped by the Christianity religion but includes many elements that are not part of that religion or maybe hostile to that religion, but nevertheless, arises within this civilization. One has to say that Hitler and the Nazis arose within Christendom, but no one could say that they arose within Christianity. This is a distinction that is important to bear in mind."
Accordingly, in this article, "Western Christendom" refers to the entire Christian civilization, but not Christianity as a religion nor its peaceful followers.
