Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: The Lebanese Army is continuing its investigations and will later announce any information that does not affect the confidentiality of the investigation
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: It has not yet been determined whether the detainees belong to ISIS or another organization
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Around 10 people of different nationalities, including Lebanese nationals, were detained
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: The Lebanese army arrested a number of people in the Matn area of Mount Lebanon with possession it has not disclosed
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: We have strong indications that there are martyrs, injuries, and trapped people in the Salah al-Din area
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: Citizens should avoid Salah al-Din Street because anyone who approaches it is at risk of being directly targeted
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: Reality is that there is a very limited retreat of the vehicles, with the occupation forces providing cover undeer fire up to Salah al-Din Street
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: Claims that the Israeli occupation has withdrawn from areas in the neighborhoods of al-Zaytoun, al-Tuffah, and al-Shujaiya are false
Hamas: The two delegations stressed that any negotiations must lead to the achievement of our people's goals and aspirations, foremost among which is ending the war and the complete withdrawal of enemy forces
Hamas: A delegation from the Hamas leadership, led by the head of the leadership council, Mohammad Darwish, met with an Islamic Jihad delegation, headed by its Secretary-General, Ziyad al-Nakhalah

Gaza Seized the Initiative: Might vs Willpower

  • Jamal Kanj Jamal Kanj
  • Source: Al Mayadeen English
  • 9 Oct 2023 19:31
  • 7 Shares
4 Min Read

The international community's silence has granted "Israel" impunity and has perpetuated the normalization of the Israeli apartheid occupation, imposing a way of life that Palestinians are forced to endure and tolerate.

  • x
  • Gaza Seized the Initiative: Might vs Willpower
    (illustration: Hady Dbouk)

I write as we watch the news of Palestinian fighters from the besieged and starved Gaza strip having seized the initiatives from the Israeli daily incursions on Palestinian camps, and towns murdering civilians. Prior to the launching of Operation Al Aqsa Flood, Israeli murders this year have reached more than 250 Palestinians, including 47 children. This is in addition to the desecration of Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem and other occupied Palestinian communities.

Gaza has endured a harsh economic blockade for more than 18 years. Palestinians are lynched at the hands of the illegal ultra-Jewish colonizers in cities like Hawara and Hebron. The burning of Palestinian cars, homes, and businesses, under the official protection of the Israeli occupying army and direct support from Israeli racist ministers, has become a daily occurrence. 

Additionally, more than 5,000 Palestinians continue to languish in Israeli jails. The racist Israeli government has introduced new harsh measures, including extended isolation, limited family contact, restricted access to medical treatment, etc. This does not even account for the 1,200 individuals held under administrative detention, which means imprisoned without charge.

The international community's silence has granted "Israel" impunity and has perpetuated the normalization of the Israeli apartheid occupation, imposing a way of life that Palestinians are forced to endure and tolerate.

This background sets the stage for Palestinians to, for perhaps the first time, grab the initiative from the Israeli occupation forces by raiding the prison posts that kept Gaza under blockade, in the world’s largest open-air prison, for nearly two decades.

Related News

Resilience and flexible strategies during the Al-Aqsa Flood

War and diplomacy during and after the flood

Keeping that in mind, it is disheartening to witness the biased coverage by American TV networks and their one-sided pundits, rendering FOX, CNN, and MSNBC indistinguishable in their hypocritical handling of today’s events as well as the 75-year Israeli occupation and the dispossession of Palestinian land.

Alas, American/Western media and political pundits won’t hesitate to describe the Palestinian retaliation against the Gaza economic blockade, the murdering of Palestinians, the defilement of holy sites, the building of Jewish-only colonies on illegally occupied land, as merely a “terrorist” attack, and Israeli prisoners taken to Gaza as “hostages.”  

Meanwhile, the same media industrial complex never ascribed the term hostage for Palestinian, men, women, and children taken half-naked in the middle of the night from their bedrooms by the Israeli army. The pundits on CNN, FOX, and MSNBC never called the 1200 non-charged Palestinians held indefinitely (under 6 month renewable sentence) as hostages.

This blatant double standard becomes evident when comparing the Gaza coverage with Ukraine. If residential towers and homes filled with sleeping families were to be targeted in Kiev, instead of Gaza, we would undoubtedly witness relentless headlines, slow-motion replays of the implosions, and listen to lectures on "Russian brutality" against civilians. However, since it happened in Gaza, with Palestinian victims instead of white Europeans, and the weapons destroying the towers and homes were most likely American-made rockets rather than Russian ones, it is conveniently accepted as "collateral damage" that Western media neither acknowledges nor discusses.

"Israel" had described its daily incursions in the West Bank camps and towns, and earlier wars on Gaza as “mowing the lawn.” The Palestinian lawn, however, has grown stronger, resisting the Israeli lawnmower and rejecting its Palestinian Authority lawn agents.

The Israeli prime minister's threat of severe vengeance adds nothing new, as vengeance has been an integral part of the Zionist philosophy. Palestinians have tragically experienced this vengeance in Deir Yassin and numerous other unknown villages in 1948, during the defenseless camp massacres in Beirut in 1982, and in the continuous "lawn mowing" in Gaza and the West Bank.

Palestinians are well aware that their actions against the Israeli guard posts of the largest open-air prison might come at a significant cost. They face the greatest technology with the most rudimentary weapon system. Palestinians realize they have no match to the American-supplied Israeli military might. However, the latest battle has also demonstrated the unmatched bravery of the Palestinian fighters who went fishing for Israeli soldiers hiding inside the most expensive, and most sophisticated military tanks. 

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect Al Mayadeen’s editorial stance.
  • Operation Al-Aqsa Flood
  • Palestine
  • Israel
Jamal Kanj

Jamal Kanj

Author of “Children of Catastrophe,” Journey from a Palestinian Refugee Camp to America, and other books.

War on Gaza

War on Gaza

Most Read

All
How is it that the Western regimes, which claimed to support the fake revolutions of Lebanon, Libya, and Syria, waged constant war against the actual Ansar Allah-led revolution in Yemen? (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Understanding Yemen 1/2: The Revolution

  • Opinion
  • 30 Jun 2025
Why Netanyahu is on the ropes

Why Netanyahu is on the ropes

  • Analysis
  • 4 Jul 2025
Ukraine’s Corporate Carve-Up Collapses?

Ukraine’s Corporate Carve-Up Collapses?

  • Analysis
  • 11 Jul 2025
Africa’s top university’s ‘Gaza Resolutions’ outrages pro-'Israel' lobby

Africa’s top university’s ‘Gaza Resolutions’ outrages pro-'Israel' lobby

  • Analysis
  • 4 Jul 2025

Coverage

All
War on Iran

More from this writer

All
The pagers were programmed to detonate during the initial phase of the war, 24 hours later, to disrupt communication channels, and create confusion and disarray in the midst of war. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Were the exploding pagers in Lebanon part of a larger Israeli blunder?

'Israel’s' Bloody Negotiations Strategy in Gaza

'Israel’s' Bloody Negotiations Strategy in Gaza

Why would six Israelis receive more attention than 41,000 murdered Palestinians

Why would six Israelis receive more attention than 41,000 murdered Palestinians

The Biden Administration's calls for a ceasefire are as hollow as a jellyfish, and as insincere as a Trump apology. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

How Blinken’s disinformation perpetuates the suffering in Gaza

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS