Al-Aqsa Storm Operation hurt Zionist state militarily & economically

Tehran (Qodsna) – Dr. Randy short, an American human rights activist and a lay minister in the Christian Church in an exclusive interview with Qods News Agency talked about the Zionist regime’s crimes in Gaza’s war and the consequences of Palestinian Operation al-Aqsa Storm.

The Zionist regime waged its bloody war on the Gaza Strip on October 7. Since the start of the war, the Zionist regime has been committing war crimes in Gaza, martyred more than 19,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

It has also imposed a complete siege on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food and water to more than two million Palestinians living there.

Here is the full text of his interview with qodsna:

Qodsna: Zionist regime is committing war crimes and crimes against humanity and nearly 20,000 women and children have been martyred in this war. Many are at risk of starvation and slaughter. Why don't international organizations take action to stop Israel's crimes and the war in Gaza?

Randy Short: This is a complicated issue. Presently, the United States and its allies are at various stages of war with China, Russia, Iran,  Belarus, North Korea, Venezuela, Uganda, Somalia, Cuba, Zimbabwe, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Eritrea, and Yemen, and any nation that dares to challenge the United States' hegemony will find itself subject to economic sanctions.

In light of this, Israel is a highly favored ally of the United States, and any nation deemed as hostile to Israel stands to conflict with America. Also, the United States has declared war on terrorism and terrorists, and this means that Hamas, Hezbollah, and many organizations that have geopolitical objectives that do not mirror those of the United States face the possibility of being attacked by America's armed services.

Finally, the United Nations, headquartered in New York City in the United States, is largely a tool of the American government and its NATO Allies, and the United Nations has been an institution that favors the interests of Western white nations. From its inception, the Anglo-American supporters of the Israeli project have treated Palestinians as inferiors. The absolute number of deaths and displaced people in Ethiopia, Congo, and Sudan, today, dwarf the human suffering in Gaza; however, Africans are viewed as less valuable beings than Palestinians. There is also the complicity of the Arab and Muslim states that want favorable trade relations with Western nations and or fear loss of necessary arms transfers to suppress their populations. Regardless of the degree of Western hatred or contempt for Palestinians, the Arab and Muslim nations can demand change, and they for financial reasons refuse to do so. We cannot forget the oil embargo of 1973 that brought the Western nations to their knees. Today, the oil-producing nations, Arab nations, and Muslim nations number some 2 billion people, and cutting off fuel supplies could force energy-starved Western nations to intervene. The real failure is Turkey which supplies Israel oil and the Gulf Cooperation Council which is more interested in profit than people. Gaza is a resolvable problem. The will does not exist among the wealthy elites of the Arab and Muslim world.

Qodsna: How do you see the future of the next American policies and governments in the international arena with America's veto of the draft ceasefire resolution in Gaza?

Randy Short: If the theories are true that many American politicians and other significant persons: (1) fear organized Jewry and their lobby groups, (2) fear the American media wherein American Jews have a respected pulpit, (3) fear the 70 million Christian Zionists who are both formidable and imperious,  and (4) fear being blackmailed or politically ruined by members of foreign intelligence agencies and wealthy donors who support Israel, one should accept the fact that elected U.S. officials and influential persons in communications and entertainment will continue to support Israel--despite negative foreign opinion. Significant swathes of America's elite are dismissive of the masses of United States citizens who are tired of seeing dead Palestinian babies and the global isolation that is resulting from Biden's maniacal support of Israel's cleansing of Gaza.

Qodsna: How do you evaluate the level of trust of the American people in their country's media policies against Iran and Palestine and the countries of the Middle East?

Randy Short: Sadly, the American public lacks a sound context to understand American foreign policy regarding many nations in Northeaster Africa and the Middle East. America has devoted itself--directly or via proxies-- to destroying or destabilizing Libya, Syria, Sudan, Yemen, and Iraq, and stymied the self-determination efforts of the Palestinian people by hawkishly backing Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu who is wholly opposed to the Oslo Accords and devoted his career to scuttling the viability of the Palestine Authority abetted by Mahmoud Abbas the Mobutu of Palestinians.

Qodsna: How do you see the outcome of the Gaza war?

Randy Short: Despite the tremendous loss of Palestinian civilian lives, the Gaza Intifada has achieved the aims of the Hamas’ leadership. Before the Al Aqsa Flood (Storm) Operation, the Palestinian cause had been marginalized by the political and economic interests of neighboring nations that had been working to normalize relations with Israel. The illegal settlements and seizure of Palestinian property in East Jerusalem (Al-Quds) continued with the corrupt and contemptible Mahmoud Abbas channeling a banana republic dictator--crushing dissent and keeping the West Bank quiet. The Hamas Operation shamed the entire Israeli Military Industrial Complex. Mossad, Shin Bet, and the political establishment suffered its greatest defeat since the founding of the state of Israel. Further, the veneer of prescience and infallibility of the Israeli military and intelligence agencies were made to look incompetent. Israel's Iron Dome was proven incapable of warding off the missiles fired by the Qassam Brigades and other resistance forces.

Hamas' attack undermined the faith many Israelis had in the military, and this was the one sector that people still had a degree of confidence in--given the majority of Israelis opposed the Netanyahu government. A major part of Israeli domestic policy is occupying land, and the successful attacks on the Kibbutz near Gaza have diminished the general sense of well-being that European and American Jewry once relied upon. Along with the attack on the desert rave and the seizing of hundreds of hostages both frightened and prompted a  hiatus of over 500,000 Israelis and foreign guest workers hoping to save their lives.

The uprising has reinvigorated Palestinian solidarity in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Europe, and the United States, and won millions of allies worldwide--in particular younger Westerners--who have via grassroots groups reeducated about the Nakba and the scandalous treatment of the Palestinians. 

Once the public became enraged with Israel's bombing campaign, the pro-Palestinian grassroots activists had real-time evidence to share with activists worldwide about the progression of collective punishment and oppression by the Israeli government over 75 years. Therefore, globally, the Palestinians have won the Public Relations War with Israel before the IDF had boots on the ground.

The primary reason and casus belli for the Second Israeli-Palestinian Yom Kippur War is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has devoted his political career to preventing the fulfillment of the two-state solution. Netanyahu has held the post of Prime Minister of Israel longer than any other Israeli head of state. Depending on the objectives of the warring parties and their allies the present conflict is a toxic brew of contentious religious, political, and economic interests. In terms of religion, seven of the world's great religions are at play: Islam (Shia and Sunni sects, Christianity (Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant), Judaism (Reform and Orthodox), White Supremacy ( Darwinism and Eugenics), Arab Nationalism/Politicized Islamism (Al Fatah, Baathism, Hamas, and Hezbollah), Zionism, and Capitalism (Imperialism and Globalization}.

Within the three Abrahamic Religions Judaism, Christianity, and Islam there are competing narratives of Eschatology wherein the "end of times occur". Muslims expect (Imam) Madhi who will rule the world in Al Quds and the Al Aqsa Masjid (Mosque), the third holiest site in Islam from which Muhammad (PBUH) experienced miracles. Muslims believe Issa the Islamic Jesus) will return to earth and demand Christians convert to Islam. Some Suras imply that Jews will suffer persecution at this time. In Islamic theology, any land not ruled by Muslims is Dar Al Harb ( place of darkness), and everywhere Muslims rule is Dar es Salam ( place of peace). Theologically speaking, the Jewish control of Israel and the city of Jerusalem (Al-Quds) is unacceptable to true followers of the Prophet Muhamad (PBUH), the Quran, and Allah. Similarly, but from a different vantage, many Christians anticipate a return of Jesus Christ to earth and he will rule from Jerusalem (Al-Quds) after a violent war that kills tens of millions of enemies of Israel as described in the apocalyptic Bible book of Revelations. Thirdly, many observant non-secular Jews anticipate the return of their Messiah who will bring peace to the world and restore the kingdom of Israel as the mightiest on earth. A prerequisite for the Jewish Messiah to return the Temple of Solomon must be rebuilt In Jerusalem. The reconstruction project desired by those Jews awaiting the return of their Messiah is very problematic due to the ardent belief that the Al Aqsa Masjid sacred to Muslims worldwide rests atop the sacred Jewish temple destroyed by the Romans in circa 73 A.D. Thus, many Zionist Jews believe the Al Aqsa Mosque is an affront to Jewry and desire to destroy are enthusiastically supported by often zealously racist and anti-Semitic Anglo-American Evangelical Christians. The former wishing to hasten the return of Jesus Christ support Zionism not out of compassion or concern for Jews but because their theology cannot be fulfilled without Muslims mass killing Jews which will result in the return of Jesus Christ and their being "raptured" to heaven. Therefore, hawkish Anglo-American Evangelicals have a massive worldwide following of radical Christians who subscribe to problematic doctrines of Christian Zionism and are wholly opposed to peaceful solutions in Israel. Therefore, there a contending religious ideas about the destiny of the Holy Land in general and Jerusalem in particular.

Zionism, Capitalism, and White Supremacy are strong  Western ideologies that are driving factors in the present conflict. Zionism is a secular/religious ideology that asserts that the Holy Land belongs to Jews forever because they are the descendants of Abraham to whom God had promised the land. Even though the majority of Ashkenazi Jews trace their lineage to Western and Eastern Europe, these people claim they have a divine right to lands that Afro-Asiatic people have lived for millennia. In particular, many Palestinians and marginalized non-European Jews who can trace their heritage to the Holy Land are deemed as either deserving of expulsion or to endure being marginalized by their "superior" European Jews. Zionism asserts that Jewishness is European--despite the location of Israel in the Syro-African Valley in Northern Africa. In a nutshell, Zionism with the religious veneer removed is cynical a land grab by European and American Jewry who do care to live as brothers with Ethiopian, Oriental, Yemeni, Ibo, Lemba, Palestinians, Bedouins, and other people who have DNA lineage connections to ancient Israel. In many ways and often not very flattering, the Zionist project has unattractive elements witnessed in America's Manifest Destiny, Brazil's Racial Democracy, the Afrikaners' Covenant, Mussolini's Spazio, Hitler's Leben Raum, France's Civilization Mission, Japan's Co-Prosperity Sphere, and the Christian Crusades from 1099-1292 C.E. Further, the state of Israel is among the most atheistic in the world--while hiding behind a religious claim.  Moreover, Capitalism is more simple. Gaza has tremendous oil, gas, and water reserves beneath its soil. Further, Gaza sits on prime real estate where there are plans for a canal to be constructed to compete with the Suez Canal. Those who love money do care not for the Palestinians and these Capitalists are Jew and Arab, Christian and Muslim, European and West Asian. The faith in money and wealth trumps the concern of wealthy powerful plutocrat Arabs Israelis and Westerners. Were this not the case rich and powerful Arab and Islamic nations and their allies could have forced a ceasefire weeks ago.  The worship of the God of Mammon universally tramps over the corpses of Gazan babies. Finally, White Supremacy and Darwinism are strong beliefs worldwide. White is better. White is right. White is might. Only whites deserve to live and only fairer-skin people deserve to enjoy fulfilled and decent lives. In as much as Palestinians have been classified as non-whites they--to many people in the world--are less deserving of  Human rights and freedom. The fading epoch of European hegemony corroded the minds of those formerly colonized and the Psychiatrist Frantz Fanon and academician Edward Said detail the vanquished humanity that developed under the racist colonial boot of Western powers. These intellectual effluvia influence the indifference to the suffering of the people in Gaza, the West Bank, Congo, Sudan, the favelas of Brazil, bidonvilles of Francophone Africa, the barrios of Caracas, and Medellin, the shanties of Cite Soleil, the banlieues of France, the manors of Britain, and the dark ghettos of the United States.

Hamas' assault on Israel has hurt the Zionist state militarily and economically. Israel is in dire financial straights and the war has hurt many of its sectors--especially tourism and renewed boycott efforts aggravate a dismal economic downturn. Calling up 350,000 reservists harms the business sector in Israel. The raids on the Kibbutz in the Negev frightened off foreign agricultural laborers, and this has harmed Israel's export-dependent agribusinesses. The Saudi decision to suspend normalization of relations with Israel harmed the economy. In the region, the Houthi attacks on Israeli shipping are hurtful, and threaten to expand the war. Hezbollah's shelling of Northern Israel has forced tens of thousands to flee their homes, and the IDF has lost men and equipment aside from having installations destroyed. Hezbollah is using less than 5% of its force, and the potential threat of this Lebanese-based Shia liberation army could implode the region. Hezbolloh's possession of Anti-Ship Cruise Missiles (ASCMs) has prompted the United States to be more circumspect in how it projects power in the region, and few forget Hezbollah missiles hitting the Israeli flagship in 2007.  Renewed resistance in the TransJordian West Bank Territories has forced Israel to wage a three-front war, and settler communities have experienced missile attacks from Hamas and Hezbollah. Finally, in Gaza itself, Israel has suffered the loss of over 115 soldiers and hundreds and hundreds of seriously wounded IDF personnel. In as much as the IDF has intentionally or unintentionally killed many journalists and cut off internet access the actual number of IDF losses in terms of dead, wounded, and armored vehicles, there isn't a verifiable means to determine what is happening on the ground in Gaza. What can be said in favor of the Hama fighters is the simple fact is the IDF is still fighting, and has not taken control of Gaza City or Khan Younis. Israel has never fought a war for such a length of time nor suffered the same number of casualties in previous wars. The news blackout is sufficient reason to assume that the IDF has not been able to crush Hama as a fighting force nor is it willing to allow the world to see how its forces are doing. In this blacking out the news, Israel leaves the world to have a non-stop tragedy of seeing dead children. Furthermore, Hamas has reordered the trajectory of the Palestinian struggle in the Middle East, and the United Nations' repeated resolution votes for ceasefires against Israel    ( veiled denunciation of the United States uneven handling of the conflict)-even nations ending diplomatic relations with Israel--is evidence that Hama has defeated Israel in the realm of public relations. Finally, it is fair to assume as the down-played casualty lists are published by the IDF that the Hamas fighters stood up to the 4th best military in the world without an airforce or tanks.

What will remain long after this conflict has ended is the hol kicked in Jabotinsky's "Iron Wall" wherein people of the world can hold a difference of opinion regarding how the Palestinian people are treated and not fear being slandered as anti-Semites or Nazis. In 2025, the 80th anniversary of the end of the horrific Holocaust of European Jewry will commemorated, but before then when the dust settles there will be comparisons made between the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of April 1943 and the Hamas' Al Aqsa Mosque Flood in October 2023.

I am limiting my response to the question regarding Western Media to that of the United States. The mainstream American media has been for time immemorial a racist, unobjective, hawkish, jingoistic, unabashedly biased against non-Western European people, and advertising-revue-driven colossus of half-truths, propaganda, vicious stereotyping, and malignant-narcissistic projection, and historical amnesia. The news coverage of the Middle East in general and the Palestinian Crisis in particular is so unbalanced that the late Rabbi Meier Kahane could have easily written their news copy.  The perpetual theme is that Israel has no reasonable option other than to use harsh military measures to crush the innately violent terroristic, insatiably blood-thirty, untrust-worthy-covenant-breaking, warlike, and fanatical Palestinians. Hasbara rules supreme in American news reporting. Israel has to take drastic measures to protect itself from unprovoked attacks from genocide-minded Palestinians who are the synthesis of National Socialism blended with Radical Islamism. The sole reason that the world is witnessing a growing awareness among American citizens is that the whole story of the ongoing crisis in Israel and the Occupied Territories is due to international media and alternative media sources. The mainstream news media groups CNN, MSNBC, CBS, and ABC along with the far-right evangelical cable news shows (which often reach more people than many of the mainstream stations) are recalcitrant if not wholly hostile to any perspective that is not pro-Zionist. Genuine academics and vetted humanitarians have no real chance of sharing any information wherein the established narrative of the need for besieged Israel needs to defend itself from the existential threat of a new holocaust at the hands of persons who refuse to make peace.

* The views expressed in this interview belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Qodsna.