Crooke on Context; Zakharova on Biden
Today Alastair Crooke appeared on Danny Haiphong’s program and for the first 18 minutes supplied the critical background context to the 7 October eruption by Hamas. Yes, the conversation continues beyond that, but the context is crucial and hasn’t been revisited in over a month. One of the big points Crooke delivers is the recent polling results on the favoring of Genocide by the Occupied Palestine polity—90%. The talk goes for an hour, much longer than the weekly 25-30 minute talks with Napolitano.
In her weekly briefing, Marai Zakharova updated the Palestine Crisis and answered a question about Russia’s view of Biden’s 18 November op/ed:
Developments in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone
The situation in the Palestinian-Israeli confrontation zone remains in the zone of our close attention for a number of political, humanitarian and evacuation reasons.
On November 24 of this year, the implementation of an agreement brokered by the Qatari authorities between the Israeli authorities and Hamas on a short-term cessation of hostilities and the release of some of the women and children held hostages in the Gaza Strip in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons began. As part of the deal, more than 200 Palestinians and Israelis, as well as citizens of several other countries, have already returned home. It also provides for an increase in the supply of food, fuel and medicine for the needs of the residents of the Gaza Strip.
We highly appreciate the effective mediation efforts of Qatar and Egypt, as we stated immediately. It was largely thanks to their work that this important compromise was reached.
Welcoming the decision of the parties to extend the humanitarian pause, we hope that they will continue their productive dialogue in the interests of further de-escalation of the situation and make it long-term and sustainable.
In turn, we continue our efforts to alleviate the humanitarian situation in Gaza, which remains extremely difficult. On November 21, 23 and 25 of this year, Russian Emergencies Ministry planes delivered to Egypt another batch of food and medicine from our country for Palestinians in need. In total, since the beginning of the crisis, a total of more than 300 tons of humanitarian aid have been sent to the population of the enclave.
We would also like to draw attention to the dangerous developments in the situation in the West Bank, which remains overshadowed by the events in Gaza. According to available information, since October 7 of this year, when the current round of escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict began, the level of violence in this part of the occupied Palestinian territories has also increased significantly. According to the UN, 231 Palestinians, including 59 children and teenagers, have died at the hands of Israeli security forces and settlers during this time. At least 143 Palestinian families – more than <>,<> people – have been forced to flee their homes.
We are extremely alarmed by the information about the increasing number of provocative actions against representatives of the Christian community in Jerusalem. In particular, we drew attention to the conflict situation around the Armenian Gardens in the Old City, which became the subject of a trial between the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem and one of the Israeli settlement organisations. Without waiting for the results of the lawsuit, its representatives began preparations for the construction of a hotel complex on the disputed site, which led to clashes between local Armenians and Jewish radicals.
We call on the Israeli authorities to take measures to ensure a fair solution to this sensitive issue within the framework of the law. We believe that the rights of all religious communities in the country should be protected to the same extent. We oppose any illegal actions aimed at changing the historical ethnic and religious balance in the Old City of Jerusalem, including encroachments on Christians living there from time immemorial, their shrines and property. [My Emphasis]
Once you listen to Crooke, it ought to become clear why the above paragraph is emphasized. Now, the Biden op/ed question:
Question: In an article for the Washington Post on November 18, US President Joe Biden spoke in favour of a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. How would you comment on this?
Answer. The statement by the President of the United States, which you are asking about, is a de facto recognition of the fact that Russia's primordial position, which we have adhered to and promoted in international affairs with regard to the settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, is the only correct one.
We have always proceeded from the premise that the implementation of the two-state formula approved by international decisions, which implies the creation of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, is the most reliable way to ensure security guarantees for Israelis and Palestinians, as well as to long-term and lasting stabilisation of the situation in the entire Middle East. Joe Biden's article (this passage) is yet another confirmation of the non-viability of the military option for resolving the world's longest-standing conflict.
At the same time, the American leader did not mention when and how the United States will achieve the fulfillment of this task in practice. Especially given that it was the attempts of the United States to "monopolize" the Palestinian-Israeli negotiation process in recent decades and its blocking of the activities of the Middle East "quartet" of international mediators consisting of Russia, the United States, the EU and the UN that have brought its process to its current tragic state.
The concept of this state system has been voiced in the United States at the official level before. The issue rests on the fact that it has never been actively implemented by them (or stimulated to be implemented).
Needless to say, there are obvious differences between "word and deed" in Washington's foreign policy. This is already a recognized fact. They call it all "democracy" and say that various forces are coming to pursue certain political courses. The question also arises as to how consistently the two-state scenario will be supported by subsequent US administrations. Historical examples, including in the context of the Middle East settlement and the nuclear deal with Iran, show that the course of the United States easily changes 180 degrees, depending on opportunistic interests and subjective moods in American ruling circles.
We have consistently called for the formation of a collective mediation mechanism in the Middle East peace process with active regional participation. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke about this at a meeting with a group of foreign ministers of Arab and Muslim countries and the Secretary-General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation on the situation in the Gaza Strip.
In our view, such a collective mechanism will help the Palestinians and Israelis to establish a sustainable and constructive dialogue and to reach just and comprehensive solutions to the final status issues. Only this will make it possible to break the vicious circle of violence.
Is this a repetition of the "quartet"? The fact is that regional players did not participate in the quartet. Without them, it is impossible to solve these issues. [My Emphasis]
Again, Crooke’s information can be weighed against both Biden and Russia’s position.
The key still resides with Xi’s Five Musts, all of which go against the Zionist’s desires. Yesterday’s UNGA vote demanding the return of the Golan Heights to Syria with only 6 votes against shows a clear lack of political support from the Outlaw US Empire’s vassals for the Zionist Project, although IMO there were too many abstentions as only 90 nations voted in favor. However, despite the overwhelming majority favoring Genocide, Netanyahu is being very cautious as Globally he and Occupied Palestine are already being indicted for Crimes Against Humanity as is their #1 sponsor the Outlaw US Empire.
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I think that Crooke's comment is outdated. The immediate reaction to the horrific depiction of Oct 7th in the propaganda fed to Israelis had an impact which is now wwearing off. Just as it is in the "West".
There are three essential strands to the Israel project.
1/ The Zionists who see antisemitism as endemic everywhere and flight, rather than integration, as the only option. This depends upon the maintenance of a narrative which is, frankly, no longer credible. Far from being a persecuted minority in most of Europe and America Jewish heritage is no bar to social progress. In societies with much more recent immigration Jews tend to e a settled part of the establishment and far from being poor and powerless.
This source of support for Israel is likely to be drying up.
2/ From the first there has been a left wing to Zionism which held that migration held the promise of building new communities from the ground up- egalitarian, socially, economically and sexually- which would form the building blocks of a community in which all races and religions could find refuge.
The last of these people are either angry opponents of the government or highly disillusioned and prey to racism and other symptoms of fear and despair.
3/ From the first there has been a small but very powerful minority of what are essentially greedy criminals- political demagogues and con men (am I repearing myself?) who have always designed the ethnic cleansing and genocide that propels it now reaching its apogee in the West Bank as well as Gaza. These are the people who surpevised the long land assembly process which makes the theft of the Mohawk valley look like a fair real estate deal.
Beginning in the late C19th when Jews owned approximately 2% of the land by one means or another, almost none of them even superficially fair, and relkying heavily on 'charitable' assistance from outside almost all of the land is now in either public or private Israeli hands.
Hand in glove with these criminals have been the 'revisionist' zionists, which is to say the fascists who were not ashamed to flaunt their criminal tendencies of whom Netanyahu is a prime example- a fascist son of a fascist.
For a long time Israel depended on the goodwill of a public opinion that was hypnotised by the Holocaust in which they were taught they had vague reasons to believe they were among the authors, it was believed that the world owed Jews a safe refuge and that Israel would treat the indigenous Palestinians with justice and brotherly love.
The inclination, encouraged by propaganda, was to believe that Israel was continually under attack by "Arab terrorists" cartoon cut out wahhabis straight from CIAentral Casting.
All those myths are dead now: the pessimists believe that Israel is pursuing this horrible genocide for the fun of it. Optimists believe that it has its eyes on the land, the offshore oil and the Mediterranean real estate.
I hope that Russia (or any other country from the Global South or "Global Globe", as Pepe Escobar calls it) will set up an International Criminal Court or Court of Justice to prosecute Netanyahu, his cabinet and their enablers for their war crimes and crimes against humanity in Palestine!