Daam Workers Party – Statement on Gaza: Those who refused peace are now waging war

The military operations in Gaza are a direct result of four years of time-wasting by Netanyahu’s right wing government, which persistently refused to negotiate an agreement to put an end to the conflict. During this time, this same government continued to build settlements in the occupied territories.

This latest military operation will not solve the security problems of Israel’s residents in the south. On the contrary, the operation will merely grant legitimacy to the Hamas government and its claims that Israelis not interested in peace. The operation weakens the Palestinian Authority chairman, Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), and makes his overtures to Israel the target of mockery and derision among the Palestinians.Israelis also putting Egypt’s new Muslim Brotherhood leadership in an awkward position, provoking President Mohammed Morsi.

Under cover of the warfare in Gaza, Netanyahu’s government is trying to marginalize demands for social justice and present the security issue as the only legitimate issue for public debate. Poverty, unemployment, the retrenchment of welfare services and of course the austerity program and budgetary cuts planned by Netanyahu’s future government are presented as irrelevant.

Furthermore, we must not ignore Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s maneuver in trying to use Gaza to win another term of office, as his prospects to gain a seat in the Knesset after he found out that his prospects to gain a seat in the January 2013 elections look poor.

Two sides will benefit from Israel’s military action: the rightwing government in Israel and the Hamas government in Gaza. The extremism on both sides will continue to thrive while the two peoples, who seek peace and social justice, will pay the heavy price.

Print Friendly