The Epic of Gaza

by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem

Gaza is the title of a great historical epic, brimming with glory, pride, and defiance, written by the will of blessed and courageous men whose resolve does not bend, who made a covenant with God and sold this world of theirs for the next. It is the epic of bereaved mothers and of children who suffer and hope from God for what the emperors of the siege and their Arab servants do not hope for. This is a long historical epic whose chapters began with Hamas’s victory in the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections, and it continues to deepen in its historical weight, becoming one of the real-life legends of history, bearing witness against those who do not know God and do not value human beings. I have no doubt that novelists and film and television directors will find in it material to chronicle for human civilization.

I know of no people in history against whom the nations of the east and the west, of Arab and non-Arab lands, of Muslims and non-Muslims, have united as they are now uniting against Gaza and the people of Gaza. There have been sieges in history against peoples, such as the one recently imposed on Iraq and on North Korea, and like the one imposed on Bani Hashim in Mecca at the start of the Islamic call, but a siege like this one — in its scope, its reach, and the number of parties participating in it — has never occurred. If any historian knows otherwise, let him share his knowledge with us. This is a siege in which Israel and Palestinians take part, along with numerous Western states from the United States to the Ural Mountains, Russia, Central Asia, and many African, Latin American and East Asian states, as well as many Arab states such as Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Morocco, and Tunisia. Whoever does not participate in the siege does not rush to the rescue either. Only a few states try to help Gaza through smuggling, foremost among them the Islamic Republic of Iran, Syria, and Sudan, while other states work to provide open material, moral, and political support, such as Turkey, Qatar, Malaysia, and Venezuela. Yet there are vast masses across the length and breadth of the earth who stand with Gaza, along with many human rights associations, and numerous organizations and parties foremost among them Hezbollah and George Galloway.

Most of the countries of the earth take part in the siege of Gaza by air, land, and sea. Israel handles the eastern and northern lines of the Strip and enforces a tight blockade except for certain goods agreed upon by those imposing the siege, while Egypt handles the line separating the Strip from Sinai under Israeli and American supervision — this in addition to Israeli aircraft that constantly monitor Gaza’s skies and spy on everything that moves within it. Western states such as America, Britain, and France, in cooperation with Egypt and Israel, deploy numerous naval vessels that patrol the Mediterranean and Red Seas to make sure that ships carrying aid for Gaza do not move, or do not arrive if they do move. This is not to mention the satellites that never leave Gaza’s skies — it is likely that these criminals have deployed more satellites to monitor the Strip than they deploy to study the climate. They are working with a kind of madness against Gaza, or rather their actions confirm the extent of the hysteria that grips them. This wall that America is building along the lines between Gaza and Sinai, with the hands of despicable Arabs, is nothing but the glaring proof of this hysteria.

Is Gaza really this dangerous? Yes. Regardless of whether one agrees with what Hamas puts forward or not, Gaza represents a great danger to Israel, to the Arab regimes, and to American hegemony over the region. For Israel, Hamas has managed to establish a bridgehead, a Palestinian foothold, in Gaza, and confirmed it as a fait accompli after the War of al-Furqan, or the War of the Cannons [the Gaza War of 2008–2009]. For the first time since the war of 1948, the battle has moved from outside Palestine to inside Palestine, and for Israel this is a very dangerous development, because Palestinians are now fighting from their own land, and are no longer at the mercy of Arab regimes in their confrontation with the enemy. As long as this bridgehead has formed, it is a candidate to gain in strength, which constitutes a strategic danger to Israel. Israel launched the War of the Cannons hoping to destroy this foothold and change the political conditions in Gaza, but it failed. As for the Arab regimes, any victory for any Arab resistance, or for any “deviant” Arab state, constitutes a defeat for these regimes and portends their change. These regimes are built on defeat, they take pleasure only in weakness, and those in charge of them receive American largesse — money and the rest — only if they fall into line in defense of Israel and American interests in the region. The function of these rulers is to keep the Arab nation ready for the world’s tyrants. This is why these Arabs waged a vicious campaign against Hezbollah’s victory and against Hamas’s steadfastness. They hate victory and adore the sandals placed upon their necks. As for America and its allies, they see stability in the region as a goal that must necessarily be preserved if they are to safeguard their interests, and every force for change in the region must be pursued. This is why there is no escaping the tightening of the siege on Gaza, and likewise on Hezbollah and the Iraqi, Afghan, and Yemeni resistance, etc.

Some Palestinians in the West Bank amuse themselves shedding tears for the people of the Gaza Strip because they have nothing to eat or drink, in order to demonstrate that the West Bank, by contrast, is comfortable and thriving, lacking neither consumer goods nor money — as if to say: submit to the will of Israel and the West, walk the path of failed and futile negotiations, coordinate security matters with Israel, and you will be relieved of your worries. These people insist that it is the West Bank that lives the real tragedy, because it trades away national rights for a handful of money. It is true that goods are available in the West Bank, and there is plenty of money, but there is also plenty of shame, disgrace, and humiliation.

Living nations are those that safeguard their homelands, their honor, and their rights, even at the expense of their daily comfort, while those who prefer the ease of living over their pride and dignity have no homeland but the grave. Here in Palestine, we cannot live in freedom and on Western money at the same time — it is one or the other, and whoever chooses the money has no right to slander those who seek freedom.

There are criticisms to be made of Hamas’s performance in Gaza, the most important being its failure to involve the other factions and forces in administering the Strip, but the alternative to reform is not support for the enemy.

Source: Translated from the original Arabic, “ملحمة غزة” by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem.