Kevin Barrett – The Unz Review Oct 9, 2023

Yes, Israel’s failure to foresee and mitigate Operation al-Aqsa Flood was a monumental intelligence failure. But did elements of Israel’s government deliberately stand down their defense of the Gaza border wall? That’s the clear insinuation of David Ignatius’s new Washington Post article, which compares al-Aqsa Flood to the 9/11 false flag.

Ignatius, widely viewed as the CIA’s unofficial scribe, calls October 7 “Israel’s 9/11.” Ignatius asserts that the same “strange blindness” that afflicted the US national security apparatus during the run-up to 9/11 also struck Israel on October 7.

Ignatius undoubtedly knows that 9/11 was a false flag. He presumably understands that pro-Israel elements in the US high command deliberately blinded US defenses during the summer of 2001 so that Israel could manufacture a “new Pearl Harbor” blamed on Muslims. And he hints broadly that the same forces may be behind Israel’s October 7 debacle.

Is Ignatius right?

I don’t think so. Here’s why.

First, Hamas is a real, highly competent military organization enjoying the passive support of virtually everyone in the MENA region, and the active support of many governments. (It’s open in the case of Iran, and deniable in other instances.) Hamas is entirely capable of pulling off a shocking military success like the October 7 operation. In 2014, led by legendary commander Mohammed Deif “the Lion of Palestine,” Hamas defeated Israel but was later deprived of the fruits of victory by crooked Western diplomacy.

By contrast, “al-Qaeda” was always just a catspaw for US-allied intelligence agencies. Founded as the CIA database of anti-Soviet mujahideen, AQ never existed as an independent organization with actual military capabilities, much less a strategy.

Mohammed Heikal, longtime Egyptian journalist, former government spokesman, and the “Arab world’s foremost political commentator,” explained:

“Bin Laden has been under surveillance for years: every telephone call was monitored and al-Qaeda has been penetrated by American intelligence, Pakistani intelligence, Saudi intelligence, Egyptian intelligence. They could not have kept secret an operation that required such a degree of organization and sophistication.” [Guardian, 10/10/2001]

Second, Hamas’s big October 7 victory does not help Israel strategically, as 9/11 did. In recent years, Israel’s strength has been its phony normalization campaign and its ability to conceal its ever-growing extremism and accelerating genocide of Palestine. That’s all toast now, thanks to October 7th. As I recently explained in an email to Josh Mitteldorf:

A LIHOP scenario is possible. But which Israeli faction would do it? The Mossad old guard has no use for Netanyahu and his coalition of lunatics. Would they do this to get rid of Bibi and his even crazier associates? Probably not, because it will just enrage the extremist lunatics and put them even more firmly in charge.

So was it the extremist lunatics seizing full control, sidelining the Mossad old guard, and preparing the “horrific crackdown”? Possibly. But I doubt the extremists could pull off a Gaza border stand-down and coordinate it with Hamas without the old guard catching them.

In any case, since Israel is doomed by the rise of its loonie extremists, and Operation al-Aqsa Storm will make the loonies even loonier, it’s a long-run strategic win for Palestine. Like Hezbollah’s 2006 victory, it shows the Zios can be beaten and serves as a huge morale booster. Crucially, it will destroy “normalization,” force the whole Islamic world to defend al-Aqsa, call attention to Israel’s falling into the hands of genocidal maniacs, and generally set the stage for the liberation of Palestine.

So since it’s strategically detrimental to Zionism, I don’t see it as a likely false flag. Like “al-Qaeda” with respect to 9/11, the perps would have to be both brilliant enough to pull it off, and idiotic enough to want to.

Let’s give the Palestinian fighters credit for their creativity, competence, and courage.

Press TV Written Interview

What pushed Palestinians to stage this unprecedented operation? What’s behind its success?

The Palestinians have been massacred, blockaded and starved, penned up in de facto concentration camps like the Gaza Strip, and subjected to endless indignities. Their children are shot for sport by IDF soldiers. Their neighborhoods are broken up with Orwellian checkpoints, and illegal settlers steal more and more of their land. Their homes are invaded and demolished. Their women are assaulted, their holy places defiled, their olive trees uprooted, their water, sewage and electricity systems destroyed. Their schools and ambulances are bombed, their teenagers are mowed down from aircraft while they play soccer on the beach, and their bodies are burned away with white phosphorus. Experimental weaponry is tested on them. Their bravest leaders are targeted and killed. And anyone caught resisting who isn’t killed is imprisoned and tortured.

As a people living under occupation, the Palestinians have the right, under international law, to use military force to try to remove the occupation. Considering the horrific treatment they continue to recieve, it is not surprising that they are willing to avail themselves of that right.

So the ongoing slow-motion genocide of Palestine set the stage for Operation Al-Aqsa Storm. But the proximate cause was the Zionist regime’s escalating series of desecrations of the al-Aqsa mosque, the Islamic world’s oldest and greatest architectural monument.

During recent months, and even more so in recent weeks and days, the Zionists have been invading the mosque and attacking worshippers. They have gone out of their way to brutalize women and the elderly. Israeli police escort the settlers into the mosque, watch them attack worshippers, and intervene to beat up and arrest any Muslims who try to defend themselves.

The Zionist settlers who invade the mosque under police protection are not just trespassers and bullies. They intend to destroy al-Aqsa, and their invasions are meant to gradually erode Muslim control of the mosque and assert Zionist control. Once Muslims have been fully dispossessed of their greatest spiritual and architectural treasure, the Zionists intend to destroy it so they can “rebuild” a blood sacrifice temple.

Operation Al-Aqsa Storm was primarily launched in defense of the holy mosque from which the Prophet Muhammad, peace upon him, ascended in the ‘Isra wal Mir’aj, meeting earlier prophets including Moses and Jesus as he rose into the presence of God. Al-Aqsa is the pre-eminent symbol of Islamic spirituality and monotheistic ecumenism. It is as important to Muslims as the Vatican is to Catholics. For Muslims, allowing al-Aqsa to be invaded, desecrated, and destroyed is “not an option,” any more than Catholics would allow the Vatican to be invaded, desecrated, and destroyed.

So Hamas, in its heroic defense of al-Aqsa, does not just represent Palestinians. It represents the entire Islamic world. Every Muslim leader on earth needs to let the world know, clearly and unmistakeably, that we all have the Palestinians’ back.

What is the likelihood of a ground invasion of Gaza? Do you believe the situation will spiral into a bigger conflict?

Netanyahu has openly proclaimed his genocidal intentions: “We will turn Gaza into a deserted island. To the citizens of Gaza I say: You must leave now. We will target each and every corner of the strip.” In other words, Netanyahu is threatening to murder the 2.3 million people penned up in the open-air concentration camp known as the Gaza Strip if they refuse to leave. And they will refuse. But will Netanyahu really exterminate 2.3 million concentration camp inmates? Is he planning to load them into boxcars and ship them to gas chambers? Even if he thought world public opinion would allow it, does he really believe that Hezbullah and the Islamic Republic of Iran, and quite possibly other regional nations and organizations, would stand by and allow the Gazans to be completely exterminated?

While it is true that the Zionist entity commands enough firepower to obliterate Gaza, supporters of the Palestinians likewise command enough firepower to obliterate the Zionist entity. I hope and pray that this “mutually assured destruction” standoff deters the Zionists from implementing Netanyahu’s “final solution to the Palestinian problem.” A more limited ground invasion of Gaza, however, is likely unavoidable. And if the Zionists continue to take heavy losses, which seems probable given the Palestinians’ stellar military performance (not to mention courage), a genocidal escalation cannot be discounted.

Speculations are rife that Hamas was motivated to derail Saudi-Israel peace talks and prevent the Palestinian conflict being swept under the rug. Is this true? If yes, has Hamas been successful in its effort?

Hamas was probably concerned that the Saudis, those self-appointed custodians of the Islamic world’s other two great shrines, were getting ready to stand back and allow the al-Aqsa Mosque be destroyed while the Palestinian people suffered gradual extermination. That seems to be the Saudi leadership’s policy. But the people of Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Gulf region, as opposed to the leaders, strongly support the Palestinians, oppose their leaders’ “normalization” with Israel, and are willing to die to defend al-Aqsa.

So Hamas was faced with a difficult situation: The extremist-led Zionists had bought off much of the regional leadership and were clearing the way for an even bigger attack on Palestine. As Sam Husseini says: “…the chessboard was basically set for Israel to pummel the Palestinians. This was especially driven by the US government drive for ‘normalization’ between Arab states with Israel—This and other things—Turkish president Erdoğan meeting Netanyahu for the first time recently—made it apparent that Israel was positioned to inflict massive violence against the Palestinians. I don’t know but suspect that Hamas came to the same conclusion and decided to strike first.”

By striking first and scoring a big victory, Palestinians have rallied and roused the people of the region, including Saudi Arabia, making it impossible for the Saudi leadership to pursue its deeply unpopular “normalization” project.

What is the impact of the conflict on the future course of the conflict? How will it unfold? Can Israel’s extreme violence force Palestinians to back off?

Like the Americans in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, Israel faces an impossible, hopeless situation. The more violence it uses, the more it is hated. Kill an enemy, and ten new ones spring up in his place.

The Palestinians have long since reached the point where they really have nothing to lose. Like Putin, who says “what’s the point of a world without Russia,” they see no point in living in a world without Palestine. And of course Muslims will never accept a world without al-Aqsa. So the Palestinians and their supporters are fully prepared to die for their cause.

Not so the Zionists. Most have dual citizenship and can live quite comfortably in Western or Eastern Europe, Russia, North America, or even South America. Here in Morocco, those Jewish Moroccans who were tricked into emigrating to Israel will be warmly welcomed back. They made a terrible mistake by drinking the Zionist kool-aid and stumbling into a war against hundreds of millions of people who are not afraid to die. But the Moroccan government and people are fully prepared to forgive them and welcome them home.

The Zionist project recalls Walt Kelly’s famous Vietnam-era “Pogo” comic strip: “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” The Israelis are their own worst enemies. Their invasion, occupation, and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians, in a region where hundreds of millions of people share the language, culture, and/or religion of their victims, was always bound to fail. Ten million Jewish tribalists, no matter how rich and powerful and connected, cannot permanently defeat four hundred million Arabs and two billion Muslims. The only realistic course that was ever open to the Israelis was peaceful integration into the region on the basis of friendship and equality. Unfortunately, their insufferable arrogance precluded that from the very beginning.

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(Republished from Substack by permission of author or representative)

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