Israel, Gaza, And Security

Ever flown with El Al? That’s not a flippant or cynical question, but a deadly serious one. Israel’s flag carrier projects not merely the nation state, but also gives those travelling an insight into another projection: that of Israel’s security apparatus. You have to pass armed Police and two “face to face interviews” before being allowed to even check in. Because security.

After checking in, you go airside immediately and the departure gate area is partitioned off to all except those boarding the El Al flight. Who are kept under surveillance from more of those security operatives. Hand luggage is scanned again. Just to make sure. The incoming flight is escorted across the apron by a Police vehicle. Operatives patrol around the aircraft at ground level.

As for all those individuals and groups who the Israeli intelligence agencies suspect of ill intent towards the nation state, infiltration is the name of the game. Raids, attacks, acquisition of weaponry, illicit border crossings, in and adjacent to Israel and further abroad, are thus anticipated and action is taken to prevent them. No other nation state has the security apparatus of Israel.

That is why the first question was asked, especially given this morning’s crossing of the Gaza-Israel border by Palestinian forces, the apparent ease with which they made that crossing, and that the Israeli military and security forces were, apparently, caught unawares. The crossing was preceded by the firing of thousands of rockets. Given the lack of effectiveness of those devices previously, it should be blindingly obvious that this was primarily a distraction.

And it seems to have worked: those crossing from Gaza have incapacitated Israeli military hardware, have frightened the civilian population, many of whom are in hiding, and have taken hostage well north of 50 Israelis, some of whom are soldiers, but others, worryingly, are just ordinary citizens.

From our political leaders, there has been predictable hand-wringing, with assertions that Israel has a right to defend itself (as if some nation states do not have that right), and the Palestinian forces being told to desist, as if Israel does not possess the ability to engage militarily, or take other retaliatory action, which it most certainly does. But mainstream leaders miss the point.

As Rachel Shabi put it, “Anyone watching the region was desperately warning of war, braced for it, given the horrifying rise in violence against Palestinians in recent years met as usual with impunity from the west”, later adding “Israeli cabinet meeting at 1pm. With the especially extreme nature of the current Israeli government, filled with dread at what’s about to unfold”. POINT.

Which is one reason that Palestinian forces have taken so many hostages, to whom they are referring as “prisoners of war”. Well, if that is the case, the various Geneva Conventions apply: those in Gaza should not lose sight of the fact. As Kim Ghattas of The Atlantic has noted, “The only thing that could delay/reign in/complicate Israeli massive retaliation against Gaza is that these Israelis captives are held somewhere in Gaza”.

Why now? As a writer for The Nation pointed out, “What is happening in occupied Palestine is a response to weeks and months and years of daily Israeli military invasions into Palestinian towns, killings of Palestinians, and the very fact that millions of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are besieged under Israeli blockade”. But we also have an un-square-able circle here.

Haggai Matar had bad news: “Israeli social media is now seeing calls for actual, literal genocide. Netanyahu has promised an attack on Gaza in a scale ‘our enemies have never seen before’. We should expect so much more bloodshed in the days and weeks to come”. Israel behaves badly towards Palestinians, while its population is taught to hate them.

If retaliatory action is seen to be disproportionate, that just runs the risk of States across the wider Middle East deciding to pile in against Israel. Some of whom have significant amounts of very modern and very deadly weaponry. Meanwhile, the usual suspects will attack anyone trying to consider the totality of the problem as “anti-Semites”. Get real. And quit smearing.

There may be a major war going on very soon. And it’s no good whining at the Palestinians. It still takes two to Tango. So much for that security.

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