Dr.. Yassin Aktay
28/10/2023|Last updated: 10/28/202311:42 AM (Mecca time)
There is no point in comparing October 7, 2023 to any other event in history. Neither the Six-Day War in 1967, nor the 1973 war, which gave the Arabs some relief and contributed to establishing a kind of status quo centered around Israel, nor September 11, 2011, or other events.
October 7 is also a unique event in the history of the resistance against the occupation. For decades, Hamas has been leading the resistance against Israel, which receives unconditional support from the civilized world. But the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation remains… Its specificity, whether in terms of the way the resistance men worked, or in terms of the historical-political context in which it took place, and of course in terms of the effects that it will have.
It is known that the Palestinians have been maintaining their resistance at a reactionary level until now. On October 7, they took the initiative, perhaps for the first time, and launched an attack of this scale against the genocidal occupation forces. If they were not able to escape the stigma of “terrorism,” Although they were satisfied with reacting in the face of barbaric attacks, it is natural that voices will rise today to accuse them of the same thing after they carried out their first offensive initiative, but these voices will not have an effective impact this time.
On the surface, nothing seems to have changed. Israel will play – as it is accustomed – the role of the victim of despicable terrorism, and will beg for global sympathy with its half-finished tragedies. Whenever it receives some of this support, it will use it to raise the level of its brutality and crimes against humanity, and to continue the massacres from where it left off.
But there is something different this time. Israel’s increase in its aggressive practices indicates that it has lost control of the strategic mental power that regulates its use of force. As we know, uncontrolled force is not power. Israel’s use of this uncontrolled force demonstrates Hamas’s goal in carrying out its surprise attack at this time, which everyone finds difficult to understand and explain.
We can say that Hamas, which is leading the struggle, in the issue of Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Palestinian issue as a whole, achieved strong and undeniable gains after October 7. We were in a situation where most Arab countries surrendered to an international system with Israel at its center. It has begun to accept the process of “normalization,” which means recognizing a Middle East based on the centrality of Israel, and this means that the complete annexation of Jerusalem occupied by Israel would have been considered “natural.” Israel’s violations of Al-Aqsa Mosque – one of the most important Islamic sanctities mentioned in the Qur’an – will eventually be accepted as a “natural” right. to Israel, and will no longer be challenged. Where did the sanctity of this mosque come from anyway? Did you say Surah Al-Isra? How can we know that this mosque is what is meant in that Surah? Where are the religious scholars who will prove otherwise?
Israel’s 17-year blockade of Gaza will also not be objected to, nor will it be put forward on any grounds, and leaving the Strip at Israel’s mercy until the people of Gaza – 2.5 million people in all – surrender will be considered normal. Aren’t the people of Gaza continuing their futile resistance that leads to no results? It now seemed like just empty stubbornness, and instead, he should have given up resistance, surrendered, and given everyone a soothing face.
Frankly, there were winds blowing to make the Palestine issue boring to the entire world, and to push everyone into the illusion that Israel is right. Of course, these were the winds that Israel and its protector, the United States and Europe, had tried to stir up for years with their media, policies, and machinations.
With the October 7 operation, Hamas first showed that the Palestinian issue would not end with this status quo. There is a violation that is horrific enough to last a century, continuous massacres, a violation of Islamic sanctities, a fanatical religious rule that does not tolerate other religions, and most importantly, the Zionist occupation plans will not end at the borders of Palestine, but will gradually spread to the countries of the region.