October 6, 2024, AM Edition
What Has Been Learned in the Past Year of
the Al-Aqsa Flood
What Happened on October 7, 2023
October 7, 2023
• What Happened on October 7, 2023
• Hamas Document Reveals:
Why We Carried Out
Al-Aqsa Flood Operation
• Report by Al Jazeera on Zionist Lies About
What
Happened on October 7
• Systematic and Thorough Reporting of The Electronic Intifada
What Has Been Learned in the Past Year of the Al-Aqsa Flood
What Happened on October 7, 2023
Several sources have carried out thorough investigation into
the U.S./Zionist accounts of what took place during the
Palestinian Resistance's Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7,
2023. TML In the News reports on three of them today.
They present irrefutable evidence that the U.S./Zionist account
used to justify the Israeli atrocities against the people of
Gaza and now also the West Bank and Lebanon is disinformation
based on a flagrant lie. It is designed to present the
Resistance fighters as terrorists and the Israelis as victims.
In some cases, both are presented as committing crimes for which
they deserve to be punished.
Despite the irrefutable evidence that those accounts are based
on lies, the countries which make up a genocide cartel including
the U.S., U.K., Canada, Germany and, of course, Israel, among
others, carry on repeating them with no sense of shame. This is
because they can, but it does them no good. In the past year
their Zionist narrative has contributed to their own isolation
and lack of credibility while it also provides evidence of their
complicity with the U.S./Zionist genocide. In this regard, it
has given rise to the consciousness that they must be held to
account.
The reports on what took place on October 7, 2023, do raise
one of the lessons those who support the justice of the
Palestinian cause learned in the past year of the Al-Aqsa Flood.
In reporting on and discussing the events which took place that
day, it is important not to make an equivalence between a
military operation of the forces engaged in resistance to
occupation which does not target civilian forces and the
activities of the occupiers for whom civilians are fair game.
Deaths which occurred on October 7 when the resistance fighters
defended themselves cannot be compared or put on par with the
brutal deaths at the hands of the Zionist soldiers under orders
to kill everything that moved.
Actions of resistance forces which have a political aim are
legal and justified under international law. The actions of the
occupiers are illegal and cannot be justified under any law
worthy of the name. To put the actions of resistance forces on
par with actions of the occupiers whose aim is to perpetuate the
occupation, eradicate the resistance and, even more, commit
genocide against an entire people, reveals a liberal bias. It is
based on the outlook of the genocide cartel of countries which
considers resistance tantamount to terrorism. Reporting based on
this outlook conciliates with those who say the actions of the
occupiers are in self-defence which provides them with impunity.
The aim of discussion and reporting must be to contribute to getting at the heart of the matter. In the case of the Al-Aqsa Flood launched on October 7, 2023, most important to an informed discussion is the account provided by the Resistance Forces themselves about the aim of the mission. A warranted conclusion which can be drawn from what took place that day is that it was a very bold and courageous action by the Palestinian Resistance Movement and forces to not permit the status quo imposed by the big powers on the Palestinian people to continue. For years and years the Palestinian people have been abandoned and forgotten, left to die, while the U.S. and Israel commit genocide against them so as to realize their plan of a Greater Israel. The Al-Aqsa Flood Operation broke that status quo.
Hamas Document Reveals: Why We Carried Out
Al-Aqsa Flood Operation
October 7, 2023
On January 21, 2024, the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas issued a 16-page document titled Our Narrative ... Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. The document addresses many critical questions about the context, the timing, and the events of October 7.
Palestine Chronicle carried the document upon its release and writes: "The document (PDF) was released in both the Arabic and English languages by the Hamas Media Office. It offers a rare insight into the reasons that led the Palestinian Resistance leaders to carry out a major Resistance operation on October 7, in addition to what actually transpired on that day."
The Palestine Chronicle reports continues:
The document starts by addressing "Our steadfast Palestinian people," who have been subjected to a genocidal Israeli military campaign, which is, as of today, at its 107th day.
"In light of the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and as our people continue their battle for independence, dignity, and breaking-free from the longest-ever occupation during which they have drawn the finest displays of bravery and heroism in confronting the Israeli murder machine and aggression," the introduction of the document reads.
The other target audiences are "The Arab and Islamic nations" and "The free peoples worldwide and those who advocate for freedom, justice and human dignity."
Why Operation Al-Aqsa Flood?
The first section is entirely dedicated to the reasons behind Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.
Hamas contextualizes the events by describing the brutal colonization process launched by the Zionist movement and even before, by the British colonial authorities.
"Over these long decades, the Palestinian people suffered all forms of oppression, injustice, expropriation of their fundamental rights and the apartheid policies," the document reads.
The paper also lists official figures related to the period between 2000 and 2023, revealing shocking numbers of Palestinians killed and injured.
Hamas also blames the so-called "peaceful settlement process" and the obstinacy by the U.S. administration and its western allies that "have always been treating Israel as a state above the law; they provide it with the needed cover to maintain prolonging the occupation and cracking down the Palestinian people, and also allowing 'Israel' to exploit such situation to expropriate further Palestinian lands and to Judaize their sanctities and holy sites."
"After 75 years of relentless occupation and suffering, and after failing all initiatives for liberation and return to our people, and also after the disastrous results of the so-called peace process, what did the world expect from the Palestinian people to do?" the document asks.
The Events
The second section, entitled "The events of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood," describes the events of that day and debunks some of the Israeli lies.
"Avoiding harm to civilians, especially children, women and elderly people is a religious and moral commitment by all the Al-Qassam Brigades' fighters. We reiterate that the Palestinian resistance was fully disciplined and committed to the Islamic values during the operation and that the Palestinian fighters only targeted the occupation soldiers and those who carried weapons against our people."
"If there was any case of targeting civilians; it happened accidentally and in the course of the confrontation with the occupation forces," the document highlights.
International Investigation
In the third section, Hamas reiterated that "When Palestine asked for investigation into Israeli war crimes committed on its territories, it was faced by Israeli intransigence and rejection, and threats to punish the Palestinians for the request to ICC [International Criminal Court]."
"We urge these countries, especially the U.S. administration, Germany, Canada and the UK, if they are meant for justice to prevail as they claim, they are ought to announce their support to the course of the investigation in all crimes committed in occupied Palestine and to give full support for the international courts to effectively do their job."
Who Is Hamas?
In the fourth section, entitled 'Who is Hamas', the group describes itself as a "national liberation movement that has clear goals and mission" and "gets its legitimacy to resist the occupation from the Palestinian right to self-defence, liberation and self-determination."
"Our steadfast Palestinian people and their resistance are waging a heroic battle to defend their land and national rights against the longest and brutalist colonial occupation. The Palestinian people are confronting an unprecedented Israeli aggression that committed heinous massacres against Palestinian civilians, most of them were children and women."
What Is Needed?
In the fifth section, entitled "What is Needed," Hamas calls for an "immediate halt of the Israeli aggression on Gaza, the crimes and ethnic cleansing committed against the entire Gaza population."
Here is the PDF.
Report by Al Jazeera on Zionist Lies About
What Happened on October 7
Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit (I-Unit) carried out a forensic analysis of the events of that day examining seven hours of footage from CCTV (closed-circuit television), dashcams, personal phones and headcams of dead Hamas fighters, and drawing up a comprehensive list of those killed.
Al Jazeera says, "In October 7, the I-Unit reveals widespread human rights abuses by Hamas fighters and others who followed them through the fence from Gaza into Israel. But the investigation also found that many of the worst stories that came out in the days following the attack were false."
Despite this de-contextualized accusation against Hamas, the investigation does do a thorough job of revealing the lies concocted by the Zionists and their backers about what took place on October 7. Referring to the false stories, Al Jazeera says:
"This was especially true of atrocities that were used repeatedly by politicians in Israel and the West to justify the ferocity of the bombardment of the Gaza Strip, such as the mass killing of babies and allegations of widespread and systematic rape. In particular, I-Unit reveals that claims by the Israel Defence Force that it found 8 burned babies at a house in Kibbutz Be'eri were entirely untrue. There were no babies in the house and the 12 civilians inside were killed by Israeli forces when they stormed the house. This was one of a number of incidents where the police and army appear to have killed Israeli citizens.
"[The film] October 7 is a deep dive into the events that led to the deaths of tens of thousands of people, the significance of which will reverberate for decades."
This documentary can be viewed here.
Systematic and Thorough Reporting of
The
Electronic Intifada
The most systematic work to record who committed atrocities on October 7 and how the Zionist invented lies to blame the Palestinian Resistance has been carried out by The Electronic Intifada. The Genocide Coalition including Canada must be called to account for repeating the Zionist lies despite the irrefutable evidence that the slaughter they attribute to the Resistance fighters was conducted by the Israeli army. This is done to justify the depraved actions of the Zionists in Gaza, the West Bank and against the Palestinian detainees which is now extended to Lebanon.
In this podcast, Nora Barrows-Friedman, Asa Winstanley, Ali Abunimah and Jon Elmer of The Electronic Intifada were joined by Walaa Sabah, a journalist from Gaza now based in the UK; Huda Ammori, an activist with Palestine Action, on the day 159 livestream (March 2024). You can watch the entire broadcast here.
Other Electronic Intifada coverage on this and other developments is available here: Electronic Intifada Podcast.
(To access articles individually click on the black headline.)
Website: www.cpcml.ca • Email: editor@cpcml.ca