Despite the ceasefire agreement on May 20, Israel carried out a campaign of mass arrests called “Operation Law and Order” today and yesterday to take revenge on those who heroically participated in the popular uprising that occurred over the course of the country’s 11-day long massacre of Palestinians. The aim of the operation was to arrest Palestinians living within the 1948 borders of Israel who shocked the Israeli ruling establishment by participating with such intensity in the resistance. Palestinians inside the 1948 borders make up about 20% of Israel’s population. Over 500 were targeted for arrest by the operation.
In contrast, even with a mountain of evidence showing far-right Israeli mobs brutalizing and attacking Palestinians and their homes, none were arrested or charged for their crimes — further evidence of legal apartheid in Israel. A statement from the Israeli government on Sunday stated that thousands of police officers “will operate with high intensity and a comprehensive deployment against anyone involved in the violent incidents.” But what it really meant was arrests exclusively for Palestinians who participated in righteous protest, and none for Israelis who were part of these lynch mobs.
Israel has always sought to divide the Palestinian people, and is ill-equipped to fight on every front at once. Terrified and taken off guard by the mass uprising within its 1948 borders, Israel is desperately taking measures to prevent such an event from recurring.
Violence from Israeli forces also continued with attacks against the Al-Aqsa mosque the very same day that the ceasefire was declared. Insidiously, Zionist settlers along with Israeli soldiers entered the mosque Sunday morning and assaulted Palestinians who gathered for early dawn prayer. This assault jeopardizes an already fragile ceasefire agreement as Israel characteristically tries to provoke a response from Hamas. Israeli attacks have already killed 248 Palestinians, including 66 children.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is on a tour of several countries in the Middle East to try to stabilize the situation back to the oppressive status quo. There is no discussion of ending the siege on Gaza or holding Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu accountable for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Biden administration is under mounting pressure to cut off the billions of dollars of annual aid it provides to Israeli.
In the face of seven decades of oppression, Palestinians have held steadfast in their resistance against Israeli occupation. There can be no real peace agreement until the siege of Gaza is lifted, until Palestinians have the right to return to ancestral homes, and until Israeli is held accountable for genocide, ethnic cleansing, murder and apartheid.
