#SwindonsSundaySermon: a ceasefire in theory, a loss for Israel in practice

Hamas has claimed victory in their armed conflict with the genocidal state of Israel, following the announcement of the long-overdue ceasefire agreement. The ceasefire, as impossible as it seems, may well bring an end to the killing, but it will not bring an end to the conflict.

Hamas won because they didn’t lose

Hamas arguably did win, because Israel failed to degrade and destroy them — a stated aim that was used to justify the invasion of Gaza and the barbaric murder of tens of thousands of innocent civilians that followed.

Israel didn’t destroy Hamas, it sat round a negotiating table with them. Put simply, Hamas won because they didn’t lose.

Israel, humiliated by homemade hand grenades and rocket launchers built from recycled piping, has lost. Its reputation destroyed, its leader a wanted fugitive, a national conscience irreversibly stained by its vociferous support for its TikTok rapist army and their bloody, unforgivable actions carried out under the false premise of “self-defence”.

The existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, capable of blowing us all to smithereens in a matter of minutes, was built upon a foundation of lies.

The hard-right, Tory-led EU referendum project — remember that extra £350 million a week for our NHS? — and publicly-fronted by some of the most deceitful, loathsome politicians of our generation, was built upon a foundation of lies.

The vilification of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn — besmirched, smeared and castigated by the ruling classes for the ‘crime’ of honesty and integrity — was built upon a foundation of lies.

And now we can add the death machine of Israel’s claim of “self-defence” to the list of colossal lies, serving as an unbearably painful reminder of the grave impact that deception can have on the world.

It’s the Palestinian people that have lost

But the greatest losers of Israel’s genocidal reign of terror are undoubtedly the Palestinian people.

As if more than 75 years of brutal oppression and illegal occupation wasn’t enough already?

As if anyone with just a shred of common decency and a semblance of humanity would think it is acceptable to slaughter children in their thousands?

As if anyone would vote for someone that thinks it is.

Keir Starmer’s suspiciously racist response to the news of a potential ceasefire may as well have been written by Labour Friends of Israel, or even Mrs Tzipi Hotoveley, the deranged Israeli ambassador to the UK. How the fuck has that hateful hag miraculously avoided a date with The Hague?

What has the lobby got on Keir Starmer? Nobody would behave quite so callously and recklessly unless they were completely and utterly compromised, would they?

I have to be honest, the thought of a return to apartheid, occupation, and the continuing violence towards the Palestinian people gives me very little reason to celebrate a fragile ceasefire agreement.

A cynical ceasefire

Cynical? You bet I am. Israel has repeatedly violated the 4th Geneva Convention and other acts contrary to its provisions, such as illegal settlements and collective punishment.

Can you really see Israel walking away from Gaza, defeated and humiliated? Their plan was clear enough: release all of the Israeli hostages and destroy Hamas. What a catastrophic failure.

A warts-and-all, independent investigation, backed by Keir Starmer, should be launched into Britain’s pivotal role in the criminality and brutality we have witnessed in Gaza and the West Bank during the past fifteen months.

Israel has always considered itself to be above the law and claims its integrity is beyond reproach.

The International Criminal Court has appeared to be somewhat sanguine about the annihilation of the Palestinian people. They have postured as the lawful solution while failing to stop the barbaric actions of a tiny pariah state that declares itself beyond the reach of international law.

International law itself is on trial alongside Israel. It isn’t unreasonable to ask what value international law holds when it cannot stop the indiscriminate killing, starving, and maiming of an entire population.

Israeli propaganda failed

Israel’s obliteration of institutions such as the Al-Shifa Hospital, the brazen assassination of healthcare workers, and the starvation of Palestinian children are rendered as contested events that should be left open to interpretation, rather than abominable, wicked war crimes that demand accountability at the very highest level of international law.

Britain’s handling of the crisis in Gaza has been absolutely disastrous. From the supply of components that are used to construct weapons of death to the embarrassingly gutless response to the shocking murder of British humanitarian workers, both Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer have reduced our international stock to the levels of a rogue state such as Belarus

Israeli propaganda has failed to win the hearts and minds of a global audience, thanks to the first ever live-streaming of a genocide. No amount of Eylon Levy TikTok videos was ever going to change that.

Talking of that intolerable lying shit Levy, whatever happened to him? He used to be front and centre of every Israeli lie, then suddenly, he disappeared, just to be replaced by another weird private-schooled British guy

Honestly, nothing would make me happier than not having to write another word about Israel. But their vile colonialist ideology renders this almost impossible.

Will the ceasefire ever be properly implemented?

It remains to be seen if this ceasefire will ever be fully implemented. Israel cannot be trusted. My eternal hope is overshadowed by a hefty dose of past experience.

Israel would quite happily fire rockets at itself if it thought the rest of the gullible imperialist West would swallow up the lies and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the terrorist regime, once again. Tragically, and without our consent, Britain would be at the front of the queue.

Nelson Mandela once said:

We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians…

With current events in mind, never a truer word has been spoken.

A fragile ceasefire is just one small step along a seemingly never-ending road of despair for the oppressed people of Palestine, but let us take a moment to share in their relief, however temporary it may or may not be.

Featured image via Rachael Swindon