The Lead

Out of the Playground Of The Devil

by David Shavin (EIRNS) — Nov. 17, 2023

On day 42 of the so-called Gaza War, the Biden administration got their first “victory”—Netanyahu’s war cabinet acceded to the request to allow fuel into Gaza for the minimal running of the desalination plants and the sewer systems. They are allowing two fuel trucks a day, and have calculated that, at 2-4% of Gaza’s regular usage, fuel won’t get diverted or wasted by hospitals trying to restart incubators for premature babies and other such luxuries of life. They explicitly stated that mass disease and epidemics would get in the way of the war effort, endangering Israeli soldiers; and the two trucks would buy them time with international critics, allowing them to do more killing.

There’s no doubt that the lack of drinkable water and the proliferation of untreated sewage, added to the majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million people being displaced, with greatly overcrowded refugee camps, that disease and epidemics are a real threat. The fuel that was denied for almost six weeks has wreaked untold damage, risking more Palestinian children than the Israelis have so far managed to kill directly.

So, it’s only two trucks per day, yet, still, what changed? Surely, such victories by Washington will not stop the famine, the starvations, a good deal of the disease, much less the deaths by bullets and bombs. But the outrage of two members of Netanyahu’s cabinet, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who assaulted Netanyahu for flinching, provides a pretty good clue as to what was behind the first 41 days of the “not a drop of fuel” policy, what it is that Washington has failed to deal with. In short, Israel has been held hostage by racist ideologues, trained by the crazed followers of Meir Kahane who thrive on and promote a constant cycle of violence, retribution and revenge. It may be impolite to point this out, but Ukraine was also taken hostage by gangs living out the ideological vendettas of World War II Nazis, who were promoted by the permanent war crowd in London and Washington. A Kahanist by any other name would stink as bad as a Banderite.

The actual element promising a possible real victory on day 42 is finally getting a proper diagnosis of the disease afoot, causing so much violence, in particular, the last two years. Don’t blink. What could make Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, in the face of the most uncharitable, cynical, hard-hearted and calculating concession of Israel’s war cabinet, as the Times of Israel put it, launch a “furious” reaction? Now you’re on the trail of the classic British imperial gang-countergang method, calculated to ensure never-ending violence, and the elimination of any higher “middle ground.”

According to this week’s Reuters/Ipsos poll, 68% of Americans thought Israel “should call a ceasefire and try to negotiate” (over twice the 32% that don’t want to arm Ukraine any more). Does that mean 68% of Americans, who don’t prefer Israel’s war policy, are to be labeled “anti-Semitic”? Sounds funny, but doesn’t that mean whatever mass media you’re listening to, may be playing some nasty game with you? And there’s even hope there, as the lead editorial of the Los Angeles Times yesterday, entitled “Ceasefire Now. The Killing in Gaza Must Stop,” insisted that “Biden has to press Netanyahu hard to stop the mass, indiscriminate killing.” They argue that the massive killing of children has contributed to turning “world opinion against Israel, and against the U.S., its chief ally and the provider of most of its weapons. The consequences for both nations will last generations. The trauma inflicted on Palestinian survivors only increases the recruiting ability of Israel’s enemies, whether they be Hamas, Hezbollah or any successors bent on destruction of Israel….”

The higher “middle ground” for Israelis and Palestinians is the LaRouche “Oasis Plan,” mobilizing neighboring populations around an identifiable and necessary project of greening the deserts. It won’t be two trucks a day of fuel to help run desalination units. Nuclear energy can easily power massive desalination, along with the electrical needs of the irrigation projects and such. It has the not unimportant secondary benefit of drying out the built-up hatred and vendettas amongst those who would otherwise debase Judaism and/or Islam. The failure of the last 75 years in the area has left idle hands in the playground of the devil.