{"id":36395,"date":"2025-10-10T22:40:03","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T14:40:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/?p=36395"},"modified":"2025-10-11T15:56:32","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T07:56:32","slug":"israels-playbook-why-i-dont-trust-this-new-ceasefire-avigail-abarbanel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/israels-playbook-why-i-dont-trust-this-new-ceasefire-avigail-abarbanel\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel&#8217;s Playbook: Why I Don\u2019t Trust This New &#8216;Ceasefire&#8217; | Avigail Abarbanel"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1><strong>Israel&#8217;s Playbook: Why I Don\u2019t Trust This New &#8216;Ceasefire&#8217; | Avigail Abarbanel<\/strong><\/h1>\n<h3 class=\"subtitle subtitle-HEEcLo\" dir=\"auto\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">(And airing some more of Israel&#8217;s dirty laundry)<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Photo-by-Johannes-Schenk.jpg?ssl=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-36412\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/staccato.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Photo-by-Johannes-Schenk-web.webp?resize=500%2C750&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"750\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\">I hate to pour cold water on headlines like the <em>Guardian<\/em>\u2019s <\/span><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\">\u2018<\/span><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #800000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2025\/oct\/09\/gaza-israel-celebrate-news-ceasefire-deal-peace-plan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tears of joy and celebratory gunfire: how Gaza and Israel reacted to news of ceasefire deal<\/a><\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\">\u2019<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\">, from this morning, but I don\u2019t trust this new \u2018ceasefire deal\u2019 or the process of negotiations. I always hope to be wrong when I make unpleasant predictions<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\">It\u2019s time people recognised Israel\u2019s well-used playbook \u2014 the one generations of people in power have disingenuously pretended not to see. The Palestinian people have been living through seventy-seven years of progressive settler-colonialism and \u2018<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><a style=\"color: #800000;\" href=\"https:\/\/electronicintifada.net\/content\/israels-incremental-genocide-gaza-ghetto\/13562\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">incremental genocide<\/a>\u2019<\/span>. Israel has never deviated from its settler-colonial programme: the single-minded determination to replace all the non-Jewish indigenous people of Palestine with those it defines as Jews. This is Israel\u2019s <em>raison d\u2019\u00eatre<\/em>. Completing the process of creating an exclusively Jewish state, run by Jews for Jews only, is Israel\u2019s reason for being. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\">Israel\u2019s tactics are not original \u2014 perpetrators are rarely original. But as in all cases of settler-colonialism, the list is long and filthy, revolving around the characteristic <span style=\"color: #800000;\"><a style=\"color: #800000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/full\/10.1080\/14623520601056240\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">policy of elimination<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\">In the colonised West Bank, Israel has used various means to make Palestinian life so untenable that people choose to leave \u2014 ethnic cleansing disguised as free choice. What we\u2019ve been witnessing in Gaza over the past two years is merely an escalation of Israel\u2019s existing polices and actions, but far worse and with the specific and blood-curdling intent of \u2018finishing the job once and for all\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\">The list of Israel\u2019s illegal, immoral and cruel settler-colonial tactics includes, but is not limited to:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\"><strong>Targeting children<\/strong> \u2014 There is nothing more devastating for parents than losing a child. Placing any parent in a position where they are powerless to protect their child from harm is guaranteed to cause depression and despondency. Israel has made it clear to Palestinians that they cannot protect their children from Israel\u2019s brutality. <span style=\"color: #800000;\"><a style=\"color: #800000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dci-palestine.org\/children_in_israeli_detention\" rel=\"\">Hundreds of Palestinian children are regularly arrested and detained in adult Israeli prisons<\/a> <\/span>where they are subjected to sexual and other abuse. Where we see vulnerable ordinary human children, Israeli Jews and their military see \u2018future terrorists\u2019. Israel\u2019s dehumanisation of the Palestinians knows no limits. <\/span><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\">Even without arrests, Palestinian children are regularly subjected to intimidation and brutality at the hands of fully armed adult male soldiers. This is intended to destroy children\u2019s mental health, interfere with their development, and break their parents \u2014 ultimately to destroy families.<\/span><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\">Israel knows how significant families and communities are for Palestinian resilience. Israel hopes that entire families will leave \u2018voluntarily\u2019 just to keep their children safe.<\/span>&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\"><strong>Targeting education<\/strong> \u2014 Education has always been crucial to progressing in life and to enabling people to feel useful and fulfilled. In oppressed populations there is a natural emphasis on education. The percentage of tertiary educated Palestinians is orders of magnitude higher than that of Israel, and Israel does not like it. It does not want its victims to appear refined, enlightened and knowledgeable. This contradicts the dehumanising image of Palestinians as ignorant, primitive sub-humans that Israel has always tried to peddle to the world.<\/span>&nbsp;<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\">Israel has systematically interfered with Palestinian education at <span style=\"color: #800000;\"><a style=\"color: #800000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ochaopt.org\/content\/rise-incidents-disrupting-schooling-across-west-bank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">both school<\/a><\/span> and tertiary levels. Among other things, Palestinian children are regularly subjected to colonist (aka \u2018settler\u2019) attacks on their way to and from school. Israeli soldiers can decide to disrupt classes or close a school or university arbitrarily without offering any reason or explanation. Israel has deliberately and systematically destroyed university education in Gaza and has <span style=\"color: #800000;\"><a style=\"color: #800000;\" href=\"https:\/\/euromedmonitor.org\/en\/article\/6014\/Israeli-Strike-on-Refaat-al-Areer-Apparently-Deliberate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">targeted academic staff<\/a><\/span> and students.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\"><strong>Using mafia-like methods to recruit local informers <\/strong>\u2014 This serves to instill fear and destroy community cohesion and trust. I strongly recommend the 2013 film \u2018<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><a style=\"color: #800000;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Omar_(2013_film)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Omar<\/a>\u2019<\/span> if you haven\u2019t seen it yet. It\u2019s a fictionalised account of real-life methods Israel has employed in the colonised West Bank for decades.<\/span><\/span>&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\"><strong>Disrupting everyday life, making it unbearable<\/strong> \u2014 Whistleblowers from <span style=\"color: #800000;\"><a style=\"color: #800000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.breakingthesilence.org.il\/testimonies?as1=disrupt&amp;is=1&amp;sw=1&amp;ci=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Breaking the Silence<\/a><\/span> who served in the colonised West Bank <span style=\"color: #800000;\"><a style=\"color: #800000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.breakingthesilence.org.il\/inside\/we-wont-be-silenced\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">have testified<\/a><\/span> that they were under orders to disrupt Palestinian daily life using a variety of tactics:<\/span><br \/>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\">These arrangements include a wide range of tasks given to us soldiers. From mappings, whose goal was well described by the soldier; to patrols, intended to make the presence of the army felt on the ground; to flying checkpoints aimed at \u201c<strong>disrupting the daily life of the Palestinian population<\/strong>\u201d (as is written in the briefing I received as a soldier); through randomly entering homes to \u201csearch\u201d (what exactly we were looking for has never been explained to me); to \u201cmock arrests,\u201d that is, the arrest of an innocent person for the purpose of training and exercising soldiers. The purpose of these routine tasks, and many others for which space is limited to detail, is to achieve the same \u201cdeterrence,\u201d that is, control, which has allowed the State of Israel to keep the Palestinians under military rule for 48 years to date. [my bold highlight]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\">Soldiers often say that they didn\u2019t understand the purpose of what they were instructed to do. But that\u2019s because <a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/avigail.substack.com\/p\/shooting-first-crying-later\" rel=\"\"><span style=\"color: #800000;\">Breaking the Silence considers itself a Zionist organisation<\/span><\/a>, refusing to acknowledge and oppose Israel\u2019s settler-colonialism and its ultimate goal. From the soldiers\u2019 point of view, the purpose isn\u2019t clear. But the policy of disrupting daily life is carried out by the Israeli settler-colonial army in many ways: erecting new checkpoints without warning, closing checkpoints arbitrarily to block movement in or out of villages or towns, driving Humvees (High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, often armoured) noisily and fast through village roads for no reason, flying drones over people and buildings to take people\u2019s photos or drop sound bombs or tear gas, threatening and harassing people for no reason, entering and searching homes in the middle of the night, demolishing public buildings, <a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.joyfulsaleofbrokenobjects.net\" rel=\"\"><span style=\"color: #800000;\">destroying stock in Palestinian shops<\/span><\/a>, standing by or enabling thuggish attacks, arson, theft and vandalism by colonists who are all armed and trained by the Israeli military, and much more.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\"><strong>Enacting an ever-tightening arbitrary permit checkpoint system<\/strong> \u2014 Palestinians in the colonised West Bank and in Gaza have been subjected to a system of arbitrary permits and a systematically expanding network of <span style=\"color: #800000;\"><a style=\"color: #800000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.btselem.org\/freedom_of_movement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">checkpoints<\/a><\/span> that limit many aspects of people\u2019s lives. Palestinians need permits to go anywhere, to cross the separation wall, to visit their own land and work in their own fields, to access medical care outside of their area, and much more. Palestinians are subjected to regular searches, which can escalate very quickly and are at the whim of the soldier who happens to man the checkpoint or the official granting the permit.<\/span><\/span>&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\"><strong>A military legal framework in the service of settler-colonialism<\/strong> \u2014 Palestinians have lived under brutal Israeli military law. Whilst military law can be used temporarily in occupied territory, Israel has weaponised it for decades to facilitate settler-colonialism, intentionally creating apartheid. This is illegal under International Law, and as <span style=\"color: #800000;\"><a style=\"color: #800000;\" href=\"https:\/\/english.legal-agenda.com\/israeli-military-law-a-tool-to-legitimize-oppression-and-injustice\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ayed Abu Eqtaish explains<\/a><\/span>,<br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\">\u201cIsraeli military law does not seek to administer justice. The Israeli military law framework is a tool for legitimizing [sic] oppressive practices and punishing the Palestinian population.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\"><strong>Continuous expansion of colonies (aka \u2018settlements\u2019)<\/strong> \u2014 Going back decades, Israel has always provided financial incentives to its Jewish population to move to the colonised West Bank. Israel calls the occupied West Bank \u2018Judea and Samaria\u2019 (\u05d9\u05d4\u05d5\u05d3\u05d4 \u05d5\u05e9\u05d5\u05de\u05e8\u05d5\u05df), deliberately obscuring the fact that Israel is occupying these territories illegally. (Of course, all of Israel is built on stolen land). The perception in Jewish Israeli society is that those territories are an inseparable part of Israel, and the Palestinians who live there are there illegally and have no right to live there. <\/span><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\">For those who don\u2019t read Hebrew, here is a translation of the headline of an article from an <a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nadlancenter.co.il\/article\/8068\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #800000;\">Israeli real estate site<\/span><\/a>, dated 25th July 2023:<\/span><\/span>&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<span class=\"\" style=\"display:block;clear:both;height: 0px;padding-top: 20px;border-top-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;\"><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\"><strong>\u2018Backed by government support, real estate companies are discovering Judea and Samaria: \u201cAn awakening that amounts to a revolution\u201d.\u2019<\/strong> <\/span><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\">(<strong>\u05d1\u05e2\u05d9\u05d3\u05d5\u05d3 \u05d4\u05de\u05de\u05e9\u05dc\u05d4, \u05d7\u05d1\u05e8\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05e0\u05d3\u05dc\u201d\u05df \u05de\u05d2\u05dc\u05d5\u05ea \u05d0\u05ea \u05d9\u05d4\u05d5\u05d3\u05d4 \u05d5\u05e9\u05d5\u05de\u05e8\u05d5\u05df: \u201c\u05d4\u05ea\u05e2\u05d5\u05e8\u05e8\u05d5\u05ea \u05e9\u05d4\u05d9\u05d0 \u05de\u05d4\u05e4\u05db\u05d4).<\/strong><\/span><\/span>&nbsp;<span class=\"\" style=\"display:block;clear:both;height: 0px;padding-top: 20px;border-top-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;\"><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\">Among other things the article states:<\/span><br \/>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\">The current government is aligned with the worldview of its members, which is the expansion of construction in Judea and Samaria. Since the beginning of the year, plans have been advanced for the construction of almost 13,000 housing units in Judea and Samaria, of which plans for the construction of approximately 3,000 units have been approved for validation, and approximately 9,800 units have been approved for deposit. This represents a record number of apartments in a very short time. However, beyond the changing policy, real estate professionals we spoke with also report high demand in the area.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<span class=\"\" style=\"display:block;clear:both;height: 0px;padding-top: 20px;border-top-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;\"><\/span>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\">\u201cFor several years now there\u2019s been an awakening that I would really define as a revolution. People have understood that the area is really close to the centre of the country \u2014 for example Revava, which is located west of Ariel, or Kiryat Netafim near it,\u201d says Gabi Barsheshet, CEO of the Land Redemption Fund, an organisation engaged in developing land for housing in Judea and Samaria. \u201cThe proximity to the centre of the country and the rise in housing prices have made Judea and Samaria a realistic housing option, not just based on pure ideology.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<span class=\"\" style=\"display:block;clear:both;height: 0px;padding-top: 20px;border-top-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;\"><\/span>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\">An examination of how construction developers are responding to the new policy reveals that they too are changing. Long-established players in the field such as Dona, Mashav and Amana are now being joined by additional companies. \u2018Ampa Israel\u2019 is building hundreds of ground-floor housing units in Sal\u2019it in western Samaria, in Barukhin, and will soon begin construction of 120 units in the settlement of Nofim. \u2018Api Capital\u2019 is building in Emmanuel, and the company Tzaf is currently building in Kiryat Netafim and in Nokdim in Gush Etzion. [My translation from the Hebrew \u2014 you will not find an English translation because Israel does not want people outside Israel to see this].<\/span><\/p>\n<span class=\"\" style=\"display:block;clear:both;height: 0px;padding-top: 20px;border-top-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;\"><\/span><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\">And if this isn\u2019t chilling enough, consider <a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ynet.co.il\/news\/article\/sywiy4djlx\" rel=\"\">this <\/a><em><a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ynet.co.il\/news\/article\/sywiy4djlx\" rel=\"\">Ynet<\/a><\/em> <span style=\"color: #800000;\"><a style=\"color: #800000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ynet.co.il\/news\/article\/sywiy4djlx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">(<\/a><\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;\"><em>Yediot Aharonot<\/em><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #800000;\">) article by Hila Tzion<\/span><a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ynet.co.il\/news\/article\/sywiy4djlx\" rel=\"\"> from 17th September<\/a> (around three and a half weeks ago):<\/span><\/p>\n<span class=\"\" style=\"display:block;clear:both;height: 0px;padding-top: 20px;border-top-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;\"><\/span>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\"><strong>Headline<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\">Smotrich: <strong>Gaza &#8211; a real estate bonanza<\/strong>, discussing with the US how we\u2019ll divide percentages on the land<\/span><\/p>\n<span class=\"\" style=\"display:block;clear:both;height: 0px;padding-top: 20px;border-top-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;\"><\/span>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\"><strong>Subheading<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\">The Finance Minister confirmed for the first time that the utopian plan for rehabilitating the Gaza Strip, which was revealed on ynet and reported to be \u2018circulating\u2019 in the Trump administration as well, is under discussion with the Americans &#8211; and explained: <strong>\u2018We paid a lot of money for the war, we need to do percentages on the land. We\u2019ve already done the destruction phase\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<span class=\"\" style=\"display:block;clear:both;height: 0px;padding-top: 20px;border-top-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;\"><\/span>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\"><strong>Article<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\">Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich addressed the question of \u2018the day after\u2019 in the Gaza Strip today (Wednesday), saying it should be turned into \u2018a real estate bonanza\u2019. The minister, speaking at the Urban Renewal Summit of the Real Estate Centre and Madallan 2025 conference, also said &#8211; against the backdrop of the utopian vision that\u2019s also circulating in the Trump administration, according to which Gaza\u2019s rehabilitation would become, among other things, a profitable real estate investment &#8211; that \u2018I\u2019ve already begun negotiations with the Americans\u2019. This is the first official confirmation in Israel that the plan is under discussion. [My translation from the Hebrew and bold highlights].<\/span><\/p>\n<span class=\"\" style=\"display:block;clear:both;height: 0px;padding-top: 20px;border-top-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;\"><\/span><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\">Smotrich isn\u2019t mincing any words. This typical settler-colonial daylight grand robbery of land and natural resources that characteristically avoids any mention or recognition of the two million people who have been living in Gaza, should ring alarm bells in everyone watching. But still, the vast majority of Jewish Israelis reading this on the popular <em>Yediot Aharonot<\/em> do not think any of this as wrong. Israel is not only settler-colonial, it\u2019s also ferociously capitalist. It has a voracious entitled class whose members take their inspiration from their capitalist friends around the world and what they seem to get away with.<\/span><\/p>\n<span class=\"\" style=\"display:block;clear:both;height: 0px;padding-top: 20px;border-top-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;\"><\/span>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\">There are many more violent measures and policies that Israel uses against the Palestinians to advance its settler-colonial goals: economic control and exploitation, complete control of essential infrastructure, indefinite incarceration without charge, torture, humiliation, bombings, collective punishment, theft (aka \u2018confiscation\u2019) of land and real estate, and building and home demolitions.<\/span><\/p>\n<span class=\"\" style=\"display:block;clear:both;height: 0px;padding-top: 20px;border-top-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;\"><\/span>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\">So-called \u2018peace\u2019 or \u2018ceasefire\u2019 negotiations have never been anything other than another means to advance Israel\u2019s settler-colonial goals. Israel has a long record of deception, underhand tactics such as murdering negotiating partners, and not fulfilling its end of agreements it signs. It usually blames the other side for violating agreements first, whilst pretending that its own violations are just \u2018retaliation\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<span class=\"\" style=\"display:block;clear:both;height: 0px;padding-top: 20px;border-top-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;\"><\/span>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\">\u2018Negotiations\u2019 have traditionally helped Israel appear \u2018civilised\u2019 and \u2018reasonable\u2019 whist continuing to camouflage and advance its settler-colonialism. Settler-colonisers do not negotiate in good faith. In fact, the very idea of \u2018negotiations\u2019 between colonisers and colonised \u2014 perpetrators and victims \u2014 is deeply problematic. Real negotiations require both sides to have equal power, and abusive systems that are usually based on a gross power imbalance must be dismantled to prevent more harm to victims. Where one side is clearly more powerful, negotiations are used to maintain the power structure and coerce the weaker side to agree to the stronger side\u2019s terms.<\/span><\/p>\n<span class=\"\" style=\"display:block;clear:both;height: 0px;padding-top: 20px;border-top-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;\"><\/span>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\">Israel has always held all the power \u2014 military, economic and political \u2014 and has always controlled the narrative. \u2018Negotiations\u2019 have bought time for Israel whilst its settler-colonialist machine not only continued, but accelerated. They enable Western powers, like the US, to pretend they\u2019re doing something to help the Palestinians, whilst in reality they continue to enable Israel. \u2018Negotiations\u2019 are also intended to disable resistance and castrate international public opposition and protests. Israel is deeply concerned by the widespread international protests against it, and the widening of official and formal boycotts and sanctions. The impact of those on the Israeli economy has been devastating. Israel is trying to trick protestors to think that the goal of \u2018peace\u2019 is being achieved and there\u2019s nothing more to fight for. Internally, Netanyahu wants to show his people that he is doing something to bring back those captured by Hamas two years ago, because he wants to remain in power indefinitely.<\/span><\/p>\n<span class=\"\" style=\"display:block;clear:both;height: 0px;padding-top: 20px;border-top-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;\"><\/span>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\">Whilst some people might be tempted to sigh in relief that perhaps the nightmare of the past two years is nearing its end, please don\u2019t. Please remain vigilant and continue to protest and do everything you\u2019ve been doing to bring an end to Israel\u2019s settler-colonialist rule and safety, justice and freedom to the Palestinians.<\/span><\/p>\n<span class=\"\" style=\"display:block;clear:both;height: 0px;padding-top: 20px;border-top-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;\"><\/span>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: #000000;\">Israel will not stop until it is stopped through decisive military intervention and economic and diplomatic starvation. Israel\u2019s ultimate and deeply cherished goal is, and always was, clear \u2014 \u2018all the land, without the people\u2019 \u2014 and Israel has no intention of deviating from, or voluntarily abandoning this goal. I want to be wrong, but I don\u2019t think I am. I know Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n<span class=\"\" style=\"display:block;clear:both;height: 0px;padding-top: 20px;border-top-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;\"><\/span>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><a style=\"color: #800000;\" href=\"https:\/\/avigail.substack.com\/p\/israels-playbook-why-i-dont-trust\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;\"><strong>Source<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\"><div class=\"su-box su-box-style-default\" id=\"\" style=\"border-color:#000000;border-radius:3px;max-width:none\"><div class=\"su-box-title\" style=\"background-color:#000000;color:#FFFFFF;border-top-left-radius:1px;border-top-right-radius:1px\">A comment on paid subscriptions<\/div><div class=\"su-box-content su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"border-bottom-left-radius:1px;border-bottom-right-radius:1px\">A comment on paid subscriptions<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Substack encourages writers to activate paid subscriptions. They take a small cut to enable them to provide this, otherwise free-to-use platform. I do not want to turn my writing into an obligation, but even more importantly, I don\u2019t believe in a tiered system where those who can pay get preferential treatment over those who can\u2019t, such as the right to comment, or privileged content.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 18px; color: #000000;\">This hierarchy of \u2018worthiness\u2019, especially based on such an arbitrary principle like how much money people have, couldn\u2019t be further away from my values. I am grateful to the readers who have pledged money for monthly or yearly subscriptions, but I have no intention of monetising my work. If you feel moved to support my writing, see the \u2018buy me a coffee\u2019 button below. If you haven\u2019t seen it before, it is a way of offering a donation to freelance writers. Payments are processed securely by Stripe on the \u2018Buy Me A Coffee\u2019 site. I believe people can keep donations anonymous if they wish. This is entirely voluntary. Everyone is and always will be welcome to read my work free of charge.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Thank you so much for reading my work! <a href=\"https:\/\/www.buymeacoffee.com\/Avigail\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #008000;\">Buy me a coffee<\/span><\/a><\/span> \ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffc<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Related<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\"><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><a style=\"color: #800000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aa.com.tr\/en\/middle-east\/israel-kills-9-palestinians-wounds-dozens-in-gaza-despite-ceasefire-deal\/3713217\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Israel kills 9 Palestinians, wounds dozens in Gaza despite ceasefire deal<\/a><\/span> &#8211;<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> Hours after Israel and Hamas struck ceasefire agreement, Israeli forces attack different parts of Gaza, targeting displaced people&#8217;s shelters, homes, gatherings (Feature image)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Israel&#8217;s Playbook: Why I Don\u2019t Trust This New &#8216;Ceasefire&#8217; | Avigail Abarbanel (And airing some more of Israel&#8217;s dirty laundry) &nbsp; I hate to pour cold water on headlines like the Guardian\u2019s \u2018Tears of joy and celebratory gunfire: how Gaza and Israel reacted to news of ceasefire deal\u2019, from this morning, but I don\u2019t trust [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":36411,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[645,3,392,34,683],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gaza-genocide","category-political-issues","category-racism","category-religion","category-zionist-influence"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dingo.news\/voice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}