Dear All,

or over a year, Israel has defied every principle of international law and treated every UN resolution, statement and action with contempt. The Israeli army has killed over 50,000 civilians in Gaza, maimed and orphaned children and babies and has razed Gaza to the ground. They have attacked the West Bank even though the purported purpose of their aggression was to target Hamas and there is no Hamas presence in the West Bank.

The Israeli military has targeted and killed journalists and doctors; bombed refugee camps, schools and hospitals; and has used Palestinians for sniper practice, even uploading videos of this target practice on social media. Israel has attacked Syria, Lebanon and Yemen and continues in this bloody warmongering killing with apparent impunity.

Of course, Israel has had this role of aggressor, land grabber and assassin for decades, but this past year has clearly revealed how completely above any sort of law it considers itself and how in thrall to it the Western powers are. Also clearer is the culmination of a long-term project of being the most powerful country in the world by consolidating its hold over its allies, taking over what is referred to as the Middle East and basically getting rid of those it considers undesirable: the Palestinians in particular and the Arabs and the Muslims in general.

This long-term project has been a coherent and comprehensive one. It has been a war fought on many fronts. One of the fronts is the indoctrination of non-Israeli Jews, the constant hammering into them that they must be loyal to the state of Israel. The Jewish people who do not agree with Zionism and are not onboard with the idea are put under constant pressure and made to feel like traitors. Another front is the silencing of criticism. To this end, manuals outlining communication guidelines have been compiled and used. ‘Anti-Semitism’ and ‘holocaust denial’ have been criminalised. Another front has been the demonisation of Muslims, the ‘othering’ that Jews were traditionally subjected to in Europe has been transferred onto Muslims and the irrational fear of a ‘takeover’ by a sinister religious group (traditionally the Jews) has been transferred on to the Muslims.

Demonising Muslims has been a long-term project. Progress in this direction is achieved through various means, including through the policies of Western intelligence agencies. Various think tanks, academics, politicians and rabble rousers funded by Israel are also working to reinforce this narrative. An example of the latter is Tommy Robinson aka Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, the leader of a group which emerged from right-wing, racist, nationalist groups like the British National Party and the British Fascists.

The Israeli military has targeted and killed journalists and doctors; bombed refugee camps, schools and hospitals; and has used Palestinians for sniper practice, even uploading videos of this target practice on social media. Israel has attacked Syria, Lebanon and Yemen and continues in this bloody warmongering killing with apparent impunity.

Robinson describes himself as an ‘anti-Islam campaigner.’ His mission is to campaign against Islam and reinforce the fear that Muslims are “invading Britain and Europe and will soon be imposing Shariah law in the West. Robinson seems to work for Israel. A few years ago, his legal fees (tens of thousands of dollars) was paid by the Middle East Institute, an organisation set up and funded by Israel. His organisation, the English Defence League, was also co-founded by two former Mossad agents. Robinson seems to enjoy Israeli ‘protection’ and loves to photograph himself hobnobbing with the IDF. Other anti-Muslim groups the world over also enjoy some level of Israeli support. There are many versions of Robinson in various countries helping to further this narrative and agenda.

A few years ago, Al Jazeera did a series of investigative reports, titled The Lobby, which looked into how the Israeli lobby was furthering its influence in Britain. Among those being influenced and co-opted were students, Labour Party members and anybody speaking up for the Palestinians and criticising Israel. People were typically given jobs, internships, free trips to Israel and assorted junkets. They were helped along in their careers. Despite the fact that this undercover investigation revealed that a foreign power was working to destabilise Britain’s’ internal politics, it received almost no media coverage in the UK except a bit, briefly, when an Israeli embassy operative was caught on tape telling his group that they needed to find a way to ‘take down’ Alan Duncan, the foreign minister.

The last year has revealed just how effectively Israel has managed to consolidate itself. It has made the narrative that Arabs and Muslims are untrustworthy and are terrorists an unchallenged assumption in the mainstream. Why else are Palestinian, Yemeni and Lebanese lives not considered equal to Israeli ones? Why else is it allowed to invade and massacre civilians beyond its borders with such impunity? Why is it such a favoured child of the Western powers? Is it just a matter of shared goals? Yes, politicians have been bought and co-opted but perhaps there is more there too.

Israel has managed to build a formidable intelligence establishment, reinforced with advanced technology and fuelled by a very clear purpose: to silence dissent and crush resistance. Mossad covert ops are in effect just very efficient terrorist ops. For years, Western powers have allowed Israel to carry out these targeted assassinations. Now it is continuing with this practice but in a more brazen fashion and on a larger scale. The pager attacks in Lebanon and the assassination of Ismael Haniya in Tehran are meant to drive home the message that Israel can hit anybody, anywhere. Seen in this light, the helicopter crash that killed Iranian President Raisi in May doesn’t look like an accident either.

All the Arab countries that could have stood up to and resisted Israel have been systematically neutralised over the years. The list includes Egypt, Libya, Iraq and Syria. Saudi Arabia and Jordan are accused of being complicit in the genocide. So is the United Arab Emirates, a recipient of Israel’s advanced surveillance systems.

This is World War III. We need to stop being swayed by questionable narratives and realise that what we thought were absurd conspiracy theories are actually not that absurd after all.

Best wishes

Umber Khairi