At the very least, I would withhold judgement about whether this is a strategic victory for Palestine and a strategic defeat for Israel until it becomes clear whether the ceasefire a) leads to a permanent cessation of the Israeli assault and the full withdrawal of its forces from Gaza, b) advances the prospects for a genuinely independent Palestinian state, c) results in the prosecution of Netanyahu, Gallant, and other Israeli war criminals, and d) includes as part of the prisoner exchange high-profile Palestinian leaders like Marwan Barghouti who are able to lead the struggle forward.
After all, have these not been the long-standing demands of the Palestinians and their supporters? It's commonplace for both sides to claim victory for their side and defeat for the other in order to persuade their respective constituencies to endorse an agreement. We should not indulge in that practice, intended mainly to keep up morale among those who have sacrificed in the struggle and those like ourselves who have marched in solidarity with them abroad. As in a tentative agreement ending a strike, better to make a critical-minded objective assessment of what it suggests about the actual balance of forces, the likely direction of the conflict, and the strategic adjustments which may be required going forward. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#34682): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/34682 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/110663367/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: marxmail+ow...@groups.io Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [arch...@mail-archive.com] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
