In his ruthless onslaught on Gaza, Netanyahu seems to be following in the footsteps of the Romans, who had been at war with Carthage for years.
After the second war with Carthage, which ended in 201 BC, the Roman Senator Cato made it a point to end every speech in the Senate with “Carthago delenda est,” Carthage must be destroyed.
Carthage was located near present-day Tunis in Tunisia. At the height of its reign, the Carthaginian Empire was the leading power in the Mediterranean. It sat astride the major trading routes that went east-west from the Levant to Spain, and north-south from Sardinia to Carthage.
Carthaginians colonized southern Spain, Sardinia and western Sicily. For three centuries, the Carthaginian navy controlled the Mediterranean, and its harbour at Carthage was a marvel of engineering. The Carthaginian civilization flourished for seven centuries, and then it vanished in 146 BC after its third and last war with the Romans.
According to some accounts, after levelling all buildings to the ground and killing just about every person who lived in Carthage and taking the rest as prisoners to be sold into slavery, the Romans went so far as to plough salt into the ground to make sure nothing would grow there, giving rise to the haunting phrase, “The Romans laid waste to Carthage.”
Echoing Cato’s words, Netanyahu began his onslaught on Gaza on October 27 with a declaration, “Hamas must be destroyed.” He was lying. He intended to destroy Gaza, but he knew that wouldn’t sell well internationally.
It’s never been clear why in response to losing 1,200 Israeli citizens on October 7, Israel, which proudly touts its democratic setup, found it morally acceptable to kill 30 times as many Palestinians and wound 70 times that number
Every child, woman, or man would now be fair game for the Israelis. Netanyahu justified the slaughter of innocents by painting them as being sympathetic to Hamas. He was propelled onwards by the extremists in his cabinet, but deep down, he was driven entirely by self-interest. He would only be the Prime Minister if the invasion continued.
Since he invaded Gaza, Netanyahu has said repeatedly that he is looking for “absolute victory.” To counter US pressure, he has repeatedly said that not invading Rafah means handing over victory to Hamas. He’s a master of chicanery. It was not that long ago that he was supporting Hamas via Qatar so that the Palestinians in Gaza would not be politically unified with those in the West Bank.
It’s never been clear why in response to losing 1,200 Israeli citizens on October 7, Israel, which proudly touts its democratic setup, found it morally acceptable to kill 30 times as many Palestinians and wound 70 times that number. According to Netanyahu, Hamas has 30,000 members. Then why was it necessary to shut off food, water and energy supplies to Gaza’s 2.3 million residents, and, worse, to deny them humanitarian aid from abroad.
More than half of the buildings in Gaza have been levelled. The bombing carried out by Israel, using US-supplied fighter jets and bombs, has been more intense on a square mile basis than the bombing by the Allied forces in Dresden, Germany, during WWII.
Even hospitals have been reduced to ruin. The medical staff and patients in those hospitals have been killed. Nothing remains.
Unlike the Israelis, the Romans never claimed to have “the most moral army in the world.” Furthermore, there is a big difference between the Carthaginians of two millennia ago and the Palestinians of today. The Carthaginians were a great power that threatened Rome’s existence. Indeed, their Emperor Hannibal is one of the most famous generals in history. He surprised the Romans by entering what is now Italy from the north by climbing the Alps on elephants.
For years, one US president after another has paid lip service to the creation of a Palestinian state. So has Joe Biden. But he says that such a state should be demilitarized
The Palestinians are not even a country, let alone a military power to take on Israel. They are an occupied people who have been living in a state of siege since the 1967 War, with little by way of human and civil rights. Unleashing the full force of the Israeli military on them, like the Romans unleashed on the Carthaginians, will come back to haunt Israel.
It is a strategic blunder. The only weapon that will remain with the Palestinians is what they used on October 7. Israel may well kill all the Hamas fighters. But that will not deprive the Palestinians of their desire to fight for human dignity and political independence. It will only strengthen their resolve.
For years, one US president after another has paid lip service to the creation of a Palestinian state. So has Joe Biden. But he says that such a state should be demilitarized. Where else in the world is there a demilitarized state of more than 6 million, especially one with a hostile relationship with a neighbour who sits on land on which its citizens lived for centuries?
The Palestinian Authority plans to ask the UN to be granted the status of a member country. Even that is objectionable to Joe Biden who wants a Palestinian state to only be created through direct negotiations. He says that knowing that not just Netanyahu but the majority of the Knesset has said no to a Palestinian state?
The attack by Israel on the World Food Kitchen convoy rattled the White House. But all that Biden did was to call Netanyahu and “urge him to be more careful” when selecting targets. Of course, this advice, duplicitous as it is, is going to be ignored, like all previous advice given to Netanyahu by Biden and his team. Despite creating false hope, Biden continues to send arms and ammunition to Israel.
Unlike the Romans, the Israelis are not an independent military force of their own. They are armed with US weapons, including fighter jets, bombs and tank shells, just to mention a few. If the US is serious, it should immediately stop all military shipments to Israel and stop giving Israel diplomatic and political cover at the UN and at the International Court of Justice. Only then will Netanyahu’s rampage in Gaza grind to a halt.