I guess everybody's two cents here adds up to more than a dime, so here are a couple more pennies.
I think Yossi Schwartz is correct to call this a "strategic defeat" for Netanyahu and Israel, and I would add, for US imperialism. Netanyahu's war aims were fully backed by the United States, and Israel failed to fully achieve any of them. Their grand strategic aim of ethnic cleansing, genocide, and Zionist settlement in all of Palestine has been set back despite the enormous crimes they committed in Gaza and despite the terrible conditions that prevail there now. Their shorter term aims of destroying Hamas and Hezbollah have also failed. The defeat has added to the internal crisis of Zionism. Netanyahu's government is now hanging by a thread. However, calling this a defeat for US imperialism and Zionism does not add up to a great victory for Palestine. From outside of Gaza and the West Bank, nobody can really know what is happening politically within Palestine. Marwan Barghouti represents the legacy of the intifadas, but what kind of political discussion and reorganization is taking place on the ground among the survivors is not knowable. Aside from an end, even if it is a temporary one, of Israel's attempts at genocide, the other real victory for Palestine has been the tremendous growth and strengthening of the movement in solidarity with Palestine all over the world. If you walk through a working class neighborhood here in Bogotá, you will see "Free Palestine" graffitt, and if you go to Valparaiso in Chile, you will see the same thing. We do not know what Trump and his envoys have promised Netanyahu or what they may have threatened him with, and all speculation is idle. Whether or not Trump and his new administration want to bring stability to the Middle East, as Yossi Schwartz writes, is not clear yet. In any case, Trump is no magician nor deal maker. He has already reneged on many of his campaign promises (ending the war against Ukraine on his first day in office). Anthony -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#34713): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/34713 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/110643656/21656 -=-=- 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] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
