By  Moon of Alabama  – October 13, 2023

What is the reason for the “ Al-Aqsa Flood ” operation , as Hamas called its terrorist operation against the Zionists?

On October 8, Alastair Crooke, one of the most experienced specialists on the Middle East,  wrote  in  Al Mahadeen  :

“Israel” has splintered into two equally important factions that hold two irreconcilable visions of “Israel’s” future; two mutually opposed readings of history and what it means to be Jewish.

The crack could not be more complete. Really. One faction, which holds a majority in Parliament, is largely Mizrahi – a former lower class of Israeli society – and the other is largely liberal and affluent Ashkenazi.

Mizrahi are mostly Jews of Middle Eastern origin and are often on the religious far right, while Ashkenazim are mostly liberal Europeans. The current Netanyahu government is the first Israeli government to include far-right Mizrahi ministers.

Most Mizrahi follow Sephardic religious rites. They want a religious state based on Jewish law. They are as radical as the members of ISIS.

Israel’s High Court has 14 Ashkenazi judges and one Mizrahi judge. This is one of the reasons why the Netanyahu government wants Parliament to be able to reject the High Court’s judgments. Large demonstrations against this regime change took place in Israel under the auspices of the United States. The heads of the army and security services, most of them Ashkenazi, also opposed the government’s initiative against the Court.

So I think it’s entirely possible that there was intelligence  indicating  the Hamas attack, but it wasn’t  passed on  so as to let Netanyahu walk into a trap. However, we have no evidence that there were reasonably specific warnings from the intelligence services, or that they were delayed.

Voices are already being raised  to demand Netanyahu’s departure — if only for his long-term sponsorship  of Hamas, to counterbalance the more secular Palestinians of Fatah. If he is no longer prime minister, the courts will take up the three corruption cases, currently pending, against him. He will probably end up in prison.

Another reason for Hamas’s success is the fact that three of the four infantry battalions, each numbering 800 soldiers, which usually guard the Gaza Strip, were moved to the West Bank to protect far-right Zionist illegal settlers during a religious celebration. This allowed Hamas to easily breach the fence.

Back  to Alastair Crooke on the real motive behind Operation Al-Aqsa Flood:

The rightwing of Netanyahu’s government has made two commitments for a long time. The first is to rebuild the (Jewish) Temple on the “ Temple Mount ” (Haram al-Shariff).

To be clear, this would involve the demolition of Al-Aqsa.

The second overarching commitment is the refounding of “ Israel ” as the Biblica “Land of Israel”. Again, to be clear, this would involve (according to them) driving the Palestinians out of the West Bank. This is indeed the case since settlers have expelled Palestinians from parts of the West Bank over the past year (notably between Ramallah and Jericho).

On Thursday morning (two days before Operation Al-Aqsa Flood), more than 800 jewish settlers stormed the mosque compound, under the full protection of Israeli forces. The pace of these provocations is accelerating.

This is not new. The first Intifada was triggered by Prime Minister Sharon’s provocative visit to this mosque. I was part of Senator George Mitchell’s presidential commission investigating this incident. Even then, it was clear that Sharon intended to fuel the fire of religious nationalism. At the time, the Temple Mount Movement was only a small group; today he has ministers in the Cabinet and in key security positions – and he has promised his supporters to build the “ third temple ”.

The threat to Al-Aqsa has therefore grown over two decades and is now reaching its peak. And yet, the American and Israeli intelligence services did not see the resistance coming, any more than they saw the development of settler violence in the West Bank?

What happened on Saturday was widely expected and obviously very well planned.

By the way, there is no archaeological evidence, none, that a Jewish “ Temple ” ever existed in Jerusalem. If it existed, it was probably not on Al-Aqsa Hill, but on one of the six others.

Al-Aqsa is sacred to all Muslims, whether Shia or Sunni. Its destruction will inevitably lead to war. The West clearly underestimates the forces that calls like this can arouse:

Khalid Aljabri, MD د.خالد الجبري @JabriMD –  11:52 UTC – Oct 13, 2023

The Friday sermon at the Grand Mosque in Mecca prays for the “ liberation of Al-Aqsa Mosque ” in Jerusalem.

This is important for two reasons:

– The audience is 2 billion Muslims.

– These sermons were significantly censored under the MBS regime. Today’s sermon was probably approved in advance.

Video

Israel  used  white phosphorus on the population of Gaza, another war crime. Israel gave all residents of northern Gaza, 1.1 million people, 24 hours to travel to southern Gaza. It’s impossible and it won’t happen. This is an attempt at ethnic cleansing.

Caitlin Johnstone @caitoz –  10:52 UTC – Oct 13, 2023

If two million Jews were trapped by Christians in a gigantic open-air prison and subjected to a total siege, and were told that half of them had 24 hours to relocate to the other half or be killed, no one would mistake what they are seeing.

If Israel launches, as announced, a ground attack on Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon is likely to attack Israel. The United States reportedly informed Syria (via France) that Damascus, and President Assad himself, would be attacked if this happened. This is a bad calculation. It is far from certain that Assad, or even Iran, has the means to restrain Hezbollah.

A US attack on the Syrian government would draw Russia into the war. Iran would also respond, which is exactly what some neoconservatives  want .

Under such circumstances, this war can easily escalate.

Moon of Alabama

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