PART ONE - THE BACKDROP
It’s 5 am on Sunday, July 27, 2025, as I begin to write this challenging piece of work. I am surrounded by a week's worth of research notes, images, and deeply disturbing footage of what humans are capable of doing to one another. This is not an academic paper, nor does it claim to be ‘balanced’ as is so often demanded, because there is no balance when it comes to the murder of tens of thousands of innocent women and children. Nobody is looking for balance when discussing the genocide of six million Jews in the holocaust. I don’t want to hear Hitler’s side of the story, because genocide is wrong and there can be no justification for it. As such, balance simply offers to serve as a defence for the indefensible and is irrelevant.
I do not claim to be a scholar of the Jewish or Islamic faith, nor do I claim to be an expert in Middle Eastern affairs. I’m just a British guy, a graduate of the University of Life, who has been around the block a few times, with a deep interest and understanding of geopolitics. Someone who wants to share what I believe to be a valid contribution to a conversation few are willing to have, and that has become so distorted by political interests. Far too many have lost sight of the fact that those paying the price for ideological hatred are innocent women and children with their lives.
This is a lengthy piece which I have had to break into four segments, of which this is the first. We are often advised against discussing politics or religion at the dinner table, and discussing both is generally considered taboo. So if this is our dinner table, I’m about to break all the rules. As a British man, it is not lost on me that decisions made by my government in the 1940s are at the very epicentre of this geopolitical festering wound.
As noted by The Diplomat in a piece from 2021 by Tanya Vatsa, notes:
Present-day Palestine was under the Ottoman Turks before the First World War. The War led to the creation of six new states – Lebanon, Turkey, Syria, Transjordan, Palestine and Iraq. Except for Turkey, which was secured by the Ottoman military commanders, the rest came under Anglo-French domination. This division of the former Ottoman Empire’s Arab provinces subsequently laid the foundation for the perpetual instability and political turmoil in the area.
She goes on to say:
The British occupied Palestine from 1917 to 1948- an era which transformed the demography of what was known as Palestine. On its ruins stand Israel, what is left of Palestine and a brutally contested Holy Land of Jerusalem. The mandate period was marked by large-scale immigration of Jews, acquisition of land from the Arabs and massive discontent among the occupants in its entirety.
For those seeking historical context, Tanya’s piece is, in my view, invaluable, and I would recommend reading it. In addition, you may want to consider reading an excellent piece in +972 Magazine published in April 2016 entitled ‘Before Zionism: The shared life of Jews and Palestinians’
The object of my contribution is not to seek to relitigate history, as there is ample material out there to enable you to form an opinion. My role is to examine relatively recent history and how it has led us to where we are today from a human perspective. Gaza and the occupied territories have long been a diplomatic third rail for the US and other Western nations, and conflict between Israel and their neighbours has flared time and time again. Without exception, each time aggression has occurred, the innocent have all too often paid the price. Ever was it so in war.
Mass displacement of the Palestinians is not new. As documented by the United Nations:
The Nakba, which means “catastrophe” in Arabic, refers to the mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Before the Nakba, Palestine was a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society. However, the conflict between Arabs and Jews intensified in the 1930s with the increase of Jewish immigration, driven by persecution in Europe, and with the Zionist movement aiming to establish a Jewish state in Palestine.
As they often say, ‘To the victors go the spoils of war’:
In November 1947, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution partitioning Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab, with Jerusalem under a UN administration. The Arab world rejected the plan, arguing that it was unfair and violated the UN Charter. Jewish militias launched attacks against Palestinian villages, forcing thousands to flee. The situation escalated into a full-blown war in 1948, with the end of the British Mandate and the departure of British forces, the declaration of independence of the State of Israel and the entry of neighbouring Arab armies. The newly established Israeli forces launched a major offensive. The result of the war was the permanent displacement of more than half of the Palestinian population.
The fact is that 700,000 Palestinians were forcibly expelled from their homeland to make way for the creation of Israel is not news. Global Justice Now remind us:
This episode, which saw the uprooting of two-thirds of the Palestinian-Arab population, was characterised by shocking violence including the deaths of 15,000 people, the destruction of 530 Palestinian towns and villages, and a campaign of sexual violence against Palestinian women. Among the countless atrocities of the Nakba stands the notorious Deir Yassin massacre in which over 100 men, women, and children were killed by Zionist paramilitary groups – just one of many massacres that would come to define the Nakba.
I think it's safe to say that the Palestinian people have had their fair share of persecution from those who reestablished the state of Israel, and this has continued to this day. To be clear, I am not excusing either side for their respective historic acts of violence. October 7th was not the start of modern-day persecution of the Palestinians; it was simply a ramping up of aggression experienced daily in the occupied territories. However, October 7th represented the first time Israel had faced the scale of violence it had inflicted on others for decades as a result of military incursions.
I can hear it already, ‘You are a Hamas supporter’. No, I am not. I am simply stating a fact, so feel free to dispute my claim with evidence. I’m listening; if not, I’ll continue to say unequivocally that violence and murder are wrong. When perpetrated on the scale and gravity witnessed on October 7th 2023, they were adjudged by the International Criminal Court as a ‘crime against humanity’. I concur with that judgment and condemn the heinous acts of barbarity carried out by Hamas without reservation. I mourn the loss of EVERY innocent Israeli citizen on that day and extend my deepest condolences to the families of everyone who lost loved ones.
Equally, I condemn the abduction of over 200 innocent men, women and children taken hostage on that day. The families of those abducted were subjected to the worst nightmare imaginable. That of not knowing if those precious to them were dead or alive, and that remains the case for the hostages who have still to return home. This is a despicable act of cruelty, and those responsible should be held fully accountable for their actions. I want to leave no doubt in anyone’s mind how I feel about the crimes committed by Hamas against innocent Israeli civilians.
With that said, I can turn my focus on where we are in Gaza today and how we got here, because tragically, the loss of 1139 innocent Israelis has, like it or not, now been overshadowed in the global community by the systematic murder of thousands upon thousands of Palestinian women and children. Casualty numbers have become a political football, so whatever numbers I use will be disputed by one side or the other, a matter exacerbated by the refusal of the Israeli government to allow access to the international press. In June 2025, the Associated Press reported:
The ministry says 55,104 people have been killed since the start of the war and 127,394 wounded. Many more are believed to be buried under the rubble or in areas that are inaccessible to local medics. The figure did not include Wednesday’s deaths.
The Health Ministry is part of Gaza’s Hamas-run government, but staffed by medical professionals who maintain and publish detailed records. Its tolls from previous conflicts have largely aligned with those of independent experts, though Israel has questioned the ministry’s figures.
It’s estimated from multiple sources that 70% of deaths in Gaza are women and children. According to UNICEF, in January this year, 14,500 of the fatalities were children. Recent numbers suggest that this number now stands at close to 18,000. Readers can argue with the numbers all day long. The reality is that the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that at least 92 per cent of housing units in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged. This is from OCHA, which sourced the data from the Shelter Cluster, an organisation that coordinates humanitarian shelter in conflicts and disasters.
You cannot sustain this level of structural infrastructure damage without the reported fatality numbers. At the same time, we may never know the actual numbers, given the destructive nature of the munitions used. I think it's safe to say that current estimates in the fullness of time will prove much lower than the final death count.
I wrote about the conflict at length in May of this year. Please feel free to examine my thoughts at the time. I have thought long and hard about the evolution of my feelings on this issue, because I never want to be the guy wearing blinkers who shuts out opposition to what I write. I believe in healthy debate and will always defend the right of anyone to disagree with me. I would simply say to anyone who takes issue with this piece to comment and provide verifiable evidence to support any detected mistakes. If I have made a factual error or quoted disputed numbers, I am always happy to correct my work and publish a retraction and an apology as necessary. That’s how it should work.
Beyond facts, if your objections are based on your feelings or beliefs rather than truth, you are, of course, entitled to them, and I respect your right to hold them. However, they have little value to me beyond the recognition that our opinions diverge. Ultimately, the reader will decide, and anyone is welcome to write their piece outlining their position.
Let’s begin with a few fundamental truths. The last elections held in Gaza were in 2006, when Hamas came to power. Over 50% of Palestinians weren’t even born in 2006, so the statement that the majority of current-day Palestinians voted for Hamas is simply an impossibility.
Facts first - Hamas won 74 of the 132 seats, while Fatah trailed with 45. On the face of it, this sounds like a landslide; however, as reported in Slate in October 2023:
Hamas won a bare plurality of votes (44 percent to the more moderate Fatah party’s 41 percent) but, given the electoral system, a strong majority of seats (74 to 45). Neither party was keen on sharing power. Fighting broke out between the two. When a unity government was finally formed in June 2007, Hamas broke the deal, started murdering Fatah members, and, in the end, took total control of the Gaza Strip. Those who weren’t killed fled to the West Bank, and the territories have remained split ever since. In other words, Hamas’ absolute rule of Gaza is not what the Palestinians voted for back in 2006.
There have been no elections since. If you want to understand how the US had its finger in the pie of the 2006 elections in Gaza, please do read the Slate article. Returning to today, regardless of how you view Hamas, there is no evidence to suggest that the majority of Palestinians living in Gaza supported Hamas before the current conflict; it is simply not true. It is widely accepted that support for Hamas in Gaza was at best 40%. Even The Times of Israel placed it as low as 34%, which had risen to 38% in June 2024, so the claim that all Palestinians are terrorists is pure propaganda spread by a government which has created a disinformation machine to shape the narrative.
FACT - Benjamin Netanyahu does not now and never has wanted to see a two-state solution to the so-called ‘Palestinian problem.’ He was committed to stopping it from happening to the point where he decided to allow the funding of Hamas by Qatar explicitly. He knew that while Hamas was a proscribed terrorist organisation, the US would never entertain a two-state solution which involved Hamas. If you need a reference point to verify my claim, numerous sources are available, including CNN, The New York Times, and +972 Magazine.
Netanyahu has spent his entire political career exploiting US presidents for his political gain. In a report in 2010 from Al Jazeera, citing a video, they reported:
The tape was shot during the early stages of the second intifada, when violence between Israelis and Palestinians was escalating. Netanyahu was speaking with settlers who lost family members to Palestinian attacks.
At that time, he did not hold political office, but he claimed:
“I know what America is,” Netanyahu said. “America is a thing you can move very easily, move it in the right direction. They won’t get in the way.”
He said of the Oslo Accords:
“I’m going to interpret the accords in such a way that would allow me to put an end to this galloping forward to the ’67 borders,”
“How do we do it? Nobody said what defined military zones were. Defined military zones are security zones; as far as I’m concerned, the entire Jordan Valley is a defined military zone.”
He described Bill Clinton at the time as “radically pro-Palestinian”. Clinton knew who he was. Indeed, he once said of him, “Who the fuck does he think he is? Who’s the fucking superpower here?” In more recent times, Netanyahu has turned his attention to a president he has truly played like a fiddle. Trump has become his political Stradivarius, which is why Israel has been able to act with absolute impunity, because they have the playground bully in their corner.
Since the mid-1950s, Israel, a country with a population of 9.5 million people, has held sway over US Middle East policy through AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee). The power it yields over American legislators is deeply concerning. If you want to get a better understanding of the level of money Israel pumps into American elections these days, take a look at this piece from The Intercept from October 2024. They noted in 2024:
There are few congressional races that AIPAC sat out this year. Of the 469 seats up for reelection this year, AIPAC has spent money on more than 80 percent: 389 races in total. AIPAC has sought influence over 363 seats in the House and 26 in the Senate.
Of the 389 candidates AIPAC funded, 57 did not face a primary. Of the primary elections that did take place, 88 candidates had no opponent.
Be in no doubt, Trump is not driving the Middle East policy bus, and AIPAC is embedded so deeply into both sides of the aisle that there is no way American legislators will vote against whatever Israel wants to do. It is that simple. The US is the largest supplier of weapons to Israel, providing $3.8 billion of taxpayer-funded military aid annually under a 10-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in 2016, which covers the period from FY2019 to FY2028. Of the $3.8 billion in annual appropriations, $500 million is allocated to missile defence. In addition, in April 2024, the US provided an additional $3.5 billion in Foreign Military Financing (FMF).
I think it is essential to set the backdrop to this conflict to ensure that you understand the level of support, or some would say complicity, of the US government in the Israeli unbridled, vengeful retribution against the Palestinian people, and particularly Palestinian women and children. The US is by no means the only country to supply military aid to Israel. The UK has provided significant military supplies, details of which can be found in a Guardian Article by Patrick Wintour on 7 May 2025. Canada, Germany, Italy, and Spain are among several other suppliers. In short, Israel is not weapon insecure.
Just so we are clear, Palestinian women and children are the recipients of munitions provided by a coalition of some of the most powerful nations on earth, and they don’t even possess a peashooter between them. Even if they did, they would rather boil and eat the peas. Take a moment to think about that, because our governments are trying to force us to wear Hamas-tainted spectacles through which every Palestinian is viewed as a Hamas fighter. Talk about being played for fools!
That concludes this first part of this epic. This is a practical break point to take a breath before deciding whether to continue. Next, we move on to The Setup.
The only point I would raise is the reference to "innocent women and children," because many men are just as innocent. I would prefer people to say "innocent civilians," because many Palestinian men are (were) shopkeepers, fishermen, farmers, academics, doctors etc, and fathers, just going about their lives, doing what we all do. Just as innocent as women and children. Since oct 7th their focus has been the survival of their families, doing their jobs if they can (and much of it essential to the survival of others).
This isn't a personal criticism, because everyone does it, but I think at some point we do need to acknowledge that "innocence" as used in this context isn't exclusive to women and children.
What they do with the Palestinians is no less than what the Holocaust was for them.
It is very sad that they forgot, shameful.
Who will believe them now? They lost the empathy of the world by committing war crimes.
And this criminal regime has done a huge damage to all the Jews worldwide, even the ones that have nothing to do with Zionism, or the state of Israel.
They damage the image they had for generations, and the idiots in charge do not care!