Vox Political was right – from the start – about the October 7 attack
Vox Political was right – from the start – about the October 7 attack. One year on, we can all see it.
Hamas – the terrorist organisation running Gaza – launched the attack that killed 695 people and in which around 250 hostages were taken. The reason given for the attacks was Israel’s continued atrocities against the Palestinian people whose territories that other nation had occupied.
More than 208 people, including 42 children, had been killed in the West Bank alone, making 2023 the deadliest year on record for the occupied Palestinian people.
Armed resistance against occupation by another nation is legal under international law, so it turns out that Hamas had every right to take the action it did:
It must be emphasised that armed struggle by the Palestinian resistance against the occupier is legal under international law.
This is from UN General Assembly resolution 37/43 adopted in 1982. There is no ambiguity about it. pic.twitter.com/Jmi4jpPqEA
— Matt Kennard (@kennardmatt) October 7, 2023
But an act is not right, just because it is legal.
I agreed with the sentiment put forward by Jeremy Corbyn at the time – as I do today:
The unfolding events in Israel and Palestine are deeply alarming.
We need an immediate ceasefire and urgent de-escalation.
And we need a route out of this tragic cycle of violence: ending the occupation is the only means of achieving a just and lasting peace.
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) October 7, 2023
My own words, from the Vox Political article of October 7, 2023 – the day of the attack – are as relevant now as they were then; possibly more so, in the light of the genocide that Israel has committed since:
Nothing good can come from the violence we have seen erupting from the Gaza Strip.
But as long as the leaders of both Israel and Palestine are determined that violence is the only option in their struggles for mutually-exclusive goals, it will continue.
The deaths and injuries will increase – on both sides.
And there will be no solution at all.
Palestine – represented by President Mahmoud Abbas – has said the Palestinian people have the right to defend themselves against settler “terrorism and occupation forces”.
Hamas leader Mohammed Deif said: “We’ve decided to say enough is enough.”
“We have already warned the enemy before. The [Israeli] occupation [of Palestine] committed hundreds of massacres against civilians. Hundreds of martyrs and wounded died this year due to the crimes of the occupation.”
In contrast, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared a state of war. He said: “We are at war, not an operation, not an escalation, a war… We are in a war and we will win it.”
He has received many messages of support, including from UK politicians – most of whom are saying the same thing: “Israel has an absolute right to defend itself.”
Yes, it does.
And Palestine has an absolute – and UN-endorsed – right to defend itself.
If they both continue defending themselves at the current rate, then hostilities will only end when there is nobody left to fight over the rubble.
And the constant support for war from people like Rishi Sunak will have fuelled it.
There has to be a better way.
All I have to add to that is:
After a year of slaughter and the expansion of hostilities to countries around Israel (Lebanon being the obvious example), it seems nobody is even trying to find that “better way”. What a heartbreaking tragedy.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Join the uPopulus group at https://upopulus.com/groups/vox-political/
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
Why are Hamas classed as terrorists, yet the occupation forces/settlers of a land that is not theirs, are not?