While Palestinian resistance is described as 'terrorism' by mainstream journalists like Newstalk ZB's Jason Walls, Israel's barbaric actions in Gaza are always described as a 'military operation'. In 2021 the International Criminal Court opened an investigation into suspected war crimes by Israel in Gaza...

THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA's framing of the new crisis in the Middle East is predictable in its bias. The attack on Israel has been defined as 'terrorism' while the Israel's bloody actions in Gaza are always described as a 'military operation'. The underlying message is clear; while the Palestinian struggle has no legitimacy, Israel - possessing one of the biggest military forces in the world - is legitimately defending itself. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared 'war' on the Palestinian people and warned the people of Gaza to leave 'because the Israeli military is going to 'turn all Hamas hiding places into rubble'. But Gaza has been blockaded by Israel for the past sixteen years and the people have nowhere to go. Unless Netanyahu has intentions of opening a 'humanitarian corridor' out of Gaza, which is unlikely, the people of Gaza face the full wrath of the Israeli military. The outcome could be truly horrific. And western governments will be complicit.

It should come as no surprise that the Palestinian people have had enough. The unrelenting oppression, murder, torture and occupation carried out by the Israeli apartheid regime has precipitated a counter-offensive by Palestinian resistance forces. The actions of the resistance over the course of the last day are a morally and legally legitimate response to occupation. It was brought about by escalating Israeli oppression on numerous fronts. 

A wave of killings has been under way in the occupied West Bank by Israeli troops, cops and vigilantes throughout this year already claiming over 200 Palestinian lives.  Far-right mobs have stormed the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem on numerous occasions under the protection of the Israeli police. The Israeli Government is threatening to demolish it. The construction of illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land has been hugely expanded.  

And we should remember that Israel can only do what it does because it is funded by the United States to the tune of some $4 billion each and every year. Shortly after Netanyahi declared war, a spokesperson for the Biden administration said, 'Over the coming days the Department of Defence will work to ensure that Israel has what it needs.'