On Thursday, I was reading that day's iPaper. I don't read newspapers much, but when I do, it's usually to find something of interest. In the edition I bought, I found a column written by the Tory peer, Ros Altmann, seen above. The title resonated with me, as it reminded me of something I have contemplated since October 7th, 2023. According to Baroness Altmann, "The UK has walked straight into a Hamas trap". The Baroness is referring to the Starmer deal which would lead to recognition of a Palestinian state. Now, that rang a memory bell.
Back in October, 2023, just days after the Hamas attack on Israel, I wrote a blog item which I grandiosely titled: "Hamas - a Provocation Too Far". At that time, most of the dead and injured of the conflict were Israelis. As we know, that balance has shifted drastically. The latest number for Israeli dead on October 7th is 1.139; according to Wikipedia, the number of Palestinian dead from action in Gaza is 64,260. It gives me no pleasure to read my blog of two years ago, when I made this assessment of Hamas strategy. I said that the October 7th attack was part of a classic guerilla modus operandi:
" It involves attacks by the terrorists that sting their enemies into using excess force as retaliation, in order to alienate the civilian population. The retaliation, such as it is, will cause deaths to innocent and uninvolved civilians and thus lead to an increase of support for the guerrillas".Well, it looks like I got that right. In response to egregious Hamas provocation, Israel did exactly as Hamas had hoped, planned for, and anticipated. The Israelis launched a protracted assault that has lasted nearly two years. It has devastated Gaza and, as said already, killed thousands of Palestinians, mostly innocent civilians. The Israelis dispute the figures of Palestinian dead. given by the Hamas-run health ministry, as being propaganda, but even if the Hamas figures are inflated by 50%, that would be a casualty total over 30,000 and still too high. If there were many thousands of Palestinians violently opposed to the state of Israel before the Israeli invasion, there will be many more now. Besides this, there has been widespread international condemnation of Israel - 147 countries now recognise Palestine as a state. And Hamas are still fighting.
Which leads me back to Ros Altmann's article. She says:
"...without requiring Hamas to end its rule of terror...the UK has handed a propaganda victory to a terrorist organisation...it plays directly into Hamas's hands".
Starmer's "deal", as Baroness Altmann sees it, is simply a caving in to protesters, inside and outside of Parliament. She concludes:
"The terrorists have played a brutal but calculated hand. And this government has walked straight into the trap".
At the risk of sounding immodest, that could almost sum up my post of 13/10/23. Almost, but with one alteration. Instead of "this government", substitute "the Israelis", and it would fit perfectly. The Israelis have devastated Gaza and slaughtered so many civilians that some people regard them as a genocidal power. I have never taken part in any marches on this issue, as I am critical of both Hamas and the Israelis. I flatter myself that I understand the feelings of both sides. If I was Israeli and had lost a relative on 7/10/23, I would want revenge upon Hamas; if I was a Gaza resident, Israel's onslaught would have instilled into my soul a deep-seated hatred of Israel. But what is lacking here is analysis of Hamas strategy and the Israeli response. In my post of 13/10/23, I wrote:
Well, I stand by that, and am bold enough to say this: if anyone has played into the hands of Hamas, it is the Israelis. Please note - I am not saying that the Israelis were wrong to retaliate to the October 7 attacks. I think they should have been aware of Hamas strategy, modifed their campaign, ended it sooner and retained something of the moral high ground. The plain fact is that Hamas have won the propaganda war (so far), but it is not the British government that has walked into a trap. It is the Israeli government and the IDF. Having said this, and we acknowledge that the Israeli state deserves condemnation, let's not forget that Hamas wanted it this way.
