Global Collapse – Part 3: Israel-Hamas Conflict
Hi Everyone,
Welcome to Part 3 of my five part series discussing the possible collapse of western civilisation, as we know it today. In Part 1, I discussed the catastrophic predictions made on the deagel.com website. In Part 2, I discussed the Covid-19 fiasco and the how responses to Covid-19 has triggered multiple crises across many western countries. In Part 3, I discuss the Israel-Hamas War. In the long-term, this war is likely to have huge ramifications for the Middle East. However, in this post, I focus on how this war has become a major trigger for social unrest in many countries around the world.
Israel-Hamas War
On the 7th of October 2023, Hamas (political, military and terrorist organization, which controls the Gaza Strip of the Palestinian Territories), attacked southern Israel. In doing so, they killed over 1,200 people. Many of these people were civilians who were attending a music festival or were living in the kibbutz (community) near the Gaza strip (Wikipedia). On top of the killings, Hamas kidnapped hundreds of civilians (BBC). Hamas has supported this attack by launching thousands of rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel (CBS News).
The Hamas attack was well planned and well organised. It was intended to cause shock, horror and maximum pain and suffering. The methods used to kill civilians was methodical and brutal. The savagery was posted on social media for the world to see. No military advantage was gained from these attacks. They were done for the sole purpose of obtaining a response. Hamas intended the Israel military to strike back against them and by default the Gaza Strip.
I believe Hamas intended Israel to cause as much destruction as possible to Gaza. This would involve the destruction of buildings and the massive loss of civilian life. Hamas are perfectly placed to ensure that their civilians can be kept in as much danger as possible. The Gaza Strip is a highly populated area. It is very difficult for civilians to obtain safety. They are under threat from attacks from the Israel Defence Forces and Hamas. Egypt refuses to open its border with Gaza to allow Palestinians to seek refuge in Egypt or anyway else. No countries within the region are willing to accommodate Palestinians who wish to flee the conflict (PBS).
I believe neighbouring countries are greatly contributing to the loss of life in Gaza. I believe this is intentional. The higher the number of civilian deaths, the worse it looks for Israel. Wars are not just military battles. There are economic, social, political, and information aspects to wars. The Israel Defence Forces are far superior to the Hamas fighters. They would inevitably win a military war. However, the other types of warfare complicates matters.
Many countries and radical Islamic organisations desire the destruction of Israel. Doing so, is not a simple task. Israel have a very powerful and advanced military and they have the support of many western nations such as the USA and the UK. The enemies of Israel want to destroy foreign support for Israel. This can be done politically be gaining support from as many world leaders as possible. This can be done through propaganda to gain public support in other nations. Pressure from the public can be used to change political support.
Strong political support increases the likelihood and effectiveness of economic warfare. For example, sanctions could be placed on Israel. This could greatly reduce Israel’s capability to fight a prolonged war and could greatly reduce Israeli citizen’s standard of living. Figure 1 contains the extent of trade Israel had with other countries in 2021.
Figure 1: Value of Israel's Exports and Imports by Destination 2021
Source: OEC
Social warfare can be used against Israeli citizens and Jews overseas. Hate crimes against Jewish people have increased dramatically since the 7th October attack (The Guardian).
Public Reaction and Contrived Influence
The real war is not likely to be between Israel and Hamas. Hamas and Palestine are the sacrifice used to create a much bigger regional war. This could involve terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, and militant groups linked to the Muslim Brotherhood. Countries such as Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Yemen, and Qatar could become involved directly or indirectly. The terrorist groups could escalate this war at any time. Most countries are likely to be hesitant to engage in a direct war with Israel. However, they could become emboldened if the USA start to pull back on support for Israel. The Democrat Party’s continued support for Israel is not guaranteed.
Democrat voters tend to favour support for Palestine over Israel. We can see in the Gallup survey presented in Figure 2 that over 60% of Democrat voters disapprove of Israel’s military action in Gaza. Democrat voters also more strongly support humanitarian aid to Gaza over military support to Israel.
Figure 2: US Polls on Support for Israel and Palestine
Source: Gallup
Note: This figure will be revisited in a later part of the series in regards to support by age and race.
In another survey in the previous month, a higher percentage of Democrat voters and even Republican voters supported a ceasefire. See Figure 3 below.
Figure 3: US Voters who Support Ceasefire between Hamas and Israel
Source: Data For Progress
The support for an immediate ceasefire is even stronger in the UK. See Figure 4 below.
Figure 4: UK Residents who Support Ceasefire between Hamas and Israel
Source: YouGov UK
A permanent ceasefire might sound like a good idea. However, it is not plausible and most likely not even possible (CNN). The requirements for a ceasefire from both sides are not reconcilable (Times of Isarael). A ceasefire would not end the conflict, as it would not lead to any meaningful peace talks. A ceasefire would only serve to prolong the conflict, which most likely would favour Hamas.
Pause in Fighting
Israel and Hamas agreed to a temporary ceasefire/pause in fighting for four days, which could be extended with the release of more hostages. The pause lasted for one week (24th November to 1st December) (|Wikipedia). It expired on 1st December when terms between the two could not be agreed upon. Hamas resumed their attack prior to the end of the pause (7 am local time); thus, breaking what was left of the pause (CBS). On the last day of the ceasefire, Hamas also killed four civilians at a bus stop in Jerusalem (Time).
The terms of the pause favoured Hamas. It was agreed that hostages would be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel in the ratio of one hostage to every three prisoners. Over the initial four days, 50 hostages were agreed to be exchanged for 150 prisoners. Each day after that, 10 hostages would be exchanged for 30 prisoners. Around half the released Palestinian prisoners had been held for committing violent crimes and about a fifth of them were listed as being affiliated with terrorist groups (AJC citing Times of Israel).
The pause benefitted Hamas by enabling them to reorganise themselves as well as interrupt the momentum the IDF had achieved. Hamas also used the release of hostages as a publicity stunt. The media showed footage of hostages thanking their Hamas captors for treating them well. They were able to manipulate them to behave this way because they still held relatives and friends, which they would kill or torture if they did not publicly show them gratitude (Douglas Murray). It also appears they had been drugged (Haaretz).
After they had been returned to their families, the hostages revealed how badly they had been mistreated. Children were branded using motorbike exhausts. They were given very little food. A veterinarian operated on one of the hostage (Times of Israel). Many other horrific stories of abuse are beginning to surface (Nadav Eyal). Western mainstream barely gave them a mention. Israel benefited from the return of some vulnerable hostages but the pause may result in greater loss of life in the long-run.
Western Media Coverage
The destruction and loss of life in Gaza has obtained substantial coverage in the media. Everyday there are new photographs of dead children being shown in mainstream and social media. These images are having a huge impact on public perception of the war and Israel’s attacks on Gaza. Israel are being strongly framed as the aggressor and sole cause of the loss of life. Media rarely mention the continuous use of rockets by Hamas and Islamic Jihad. They fail to mention that these rockets are not targeting the Israeli military but instead are aimed towards civilian populated areas. Whereas, Israeli strikes are considerably more targeted.
Many UK and US media channels promote the Hamas propaganda without verifying information. When proven wrong they make little effort to correct the mistakes. They treat death tolls and casualty figures presented by Hamas as fact while repeatedly questioning every figure presented by Israeli authorities. The focus of interviews are the suffering of Palestinians and the calls for Israel to ceasefire.
How reliable are the reports out of Gaza?
Much of the information coming out of Gaza is false. Images of many of the dead and injured are fake. Some have been generated by artificial intelligence (Euronews). See examples below.
Sources: Plane Attack and six finger child
Some photographs of destruction have been taken from different conflicts (New York Times). Claims have been made that the IDF have used white phosphorous against Gaza. The evidence presented came from the Ukraine war (Full Fact). Few mainstream media channels have clarified that these claims were false. Some buildings claimed to have been bombed by Israel such as the Al Ahli Arab Hospital were actually damaged by rockets fired from Gaza (AP News). The hospital was not even directly hit. Instead, a rocket by fired Islamic Jihad (another terror group) landed in the hospital car park. The claimed death toll of around 500 people was also massively overstated and this has not been widely corrected by mainstream media.
Hamas are also using crisis actors and props to dramatize death and destruction. See the many faces of the man nicknamed 'Mr Fafo'.
Sources: Various on social media
Many of the depicted scenes of death and destruction are highly suspicious. Almost all the people surrounding the proclaimed incidents and death of children are males. Many images show fathers grieving over the loss of their children. Maybe, they are more focused on the Arab audiences or they are unable to convince enough female actors to join in.
At this point, it is impossible to determine the true extent of the loss of life and the full extent of responsibility. Much of the death toll in Gaza is likely to be caused directly by Hamas. From past conflicts, it has been determined that a high percentage of deaths (more than a third) occurring in Gaza has been from rockets fired by Hamas (BESA). Hamas have also placed weapons in, under, or near civilian buildings. They also fire from civilian infrastructure such as hospitals; thus, putting civilians directly and deliberately in danger (Times of Israel).
The use of civilian and residential buildings and civilians as shields against attacks is common in war. According to Amnesty International, Ukraine Military used hospitals as military bases (Washington examiner). Increasing the death toll of your own people and blaming it on the enemy appears to be an effective tactic to gain international sympathy as well as invoke more hatred towards the enemy from within.
The Israeli military have made efforts to inform Gazan civilians of where to go to avoid Israeli airstrikes (The Guardian). However, Hamas have attacked fleeing civilians (Y Netnews). Even before the one-week pause, Israel provided short daily pauses in military operations to enable aid to get into Gaza (CNN). It is unknown how much of this aid reaches civilians and how much is taken by Hamas.
Islam in Europe and the USA (For Context for the Next Section)
Many European and even US cities have experienced a rapid increase in the number of Muslim residents. From 2011 to 2021, the UK experienced an almost 50% increase in the number of Muslims. In 2021, approximately 6.5% of the UK population were Muslim (Muslim Council of Britain). Many Muslims choose to live in the largest cities. In 2018, over 14% of the population of London were Muslim. In some areas in London, Muslims make up more than 50% of the population (The Sun). European countries such as France, Sweden, and Austria have an even higher percentage of Muslims (Pew Research).
According to a 2016 poll, approximately 40% of Muslims support including elements of Sharia Law in UK law while only 22% oppose doing so (|Express). Almost half of Muslim new arrivals in France want Sharia Law to be adopted into the legal system (i23 News). The majority of Muslim immigrants put their faith and culture ahead of the values of the countries they reside. This makes assimilation difficult or even impossible. This is made worse by the massive inflow of Muslims. If immigration was a slow trickle, assimilation becomes a necessity for survival. Mass inflow encourages segregation based on race, religion and culture.
The blame falls predominantly on western Governments for their role in driving Muslims out of the Middle East and North Africa (see my post, Free movement of people), then enabling their easy entry into their countries, and then prioritising them above their own citizens (discussed in detail later in the series).
The Protests
The same day, 7th October, as the Hamas attack on Israel, Pro-Hamas events started to be organised in London (Middle East Forum). This was before any significance action had been taken by Israel against Hamas or Gaza. On 8th October, celebrations and support for Hamas occurred on the streets of London (BBC). Over the next couple of days, celebrations and protests occurred in several other cities across Europe, USA and the Middle East (World Israel News and NPR). Days later, former leader of Hamas, Khaled Mashal, called for a ‘Global Day of Jihad’ (Economic Times).
On 13th October, tens of thousands of people protested around the world. The largest numbers being in the Middle Eastern countries. These protests were claimed to be in response to Israel’s actions against Palestine (Reuters). On 14th October, larger protests were held in European cities (Time). Ever since then, protests have been held regularly with the largest occurring on Saturdays. There have been claims that some of these protests have reached over half million people. Many countries have had held protests simultaneously across most of the largest cities.
At the earliest protests, the protestors appeared to be predominantly Muslim (based on observation of images and videos). As the protests grew larger, they became more diverse in terms of religion and race. Many of these protests are supported by self-proclaimed left-wing organisations. These include Trade Unions, Socialist parties and organisations, LGBTQ groups, Black Lives Matter, and even members of parliament from mainstream political parties. Many of the largest and most prestigious universities have arranged groups in support of protests (Newsweek). A group from Columbia University published a statement of solidarity with Palestine. In their statement they called the 7th October attack a counter-offensive against their settler-colonial oppressor (Institute of Palestine Studies).
Source: New York Post
These protests are not forming organically by people who are genuinely outraged by the war. They are being organised by Palestinian advocacy groups. In the UK, these include Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), Friends of Al-Aqsa (FOA), Stop the War, Palestinian Forum in Britain, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), and Muslim Association of Britain (Yahoo News). In the US these include Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), Within Our Lifetime-United for Palestine (WOL), Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), If Not Now (INN), and the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) (ADL).
These organisers are receiving support from non-governmental organisations (NGOs), which receive funds from Governments and big business. Most of these NGOs operate on the pretence of promoting ‘human rights’, ‘international law’, and ‘democracy’. In reality, they do the exact opposite. In the context of the Israel-Hamas war, they promote the Hamas terrorist attacks as resistance to an oppressor (Israel) (NGO Monitor).
Billionaire George Soros has donated millions through, the NGO, the Open Society Foundation (OSF), to groups organising the marches and protests in the USA (New York Post). The efforts of these groups and the funding they receive enables such large protests. It is apparent from videos and photographs that these marches and protests are well coordinated. We often see hundreds of Palestinian flags and identical signs and banners at almost every protest and march. To produce and distribute these flags and signs on such a scale would have required considerable funding.
Some of these marches are bolstered by the attendance of anti-Zionist Orthodox Jews, left-wing Jewish groups and other Jewish activist groups (The Telegraph, CNN and many others). This has been done to demonstrate that even Jews oppose Israel’s actions towards Palestine.
What are these protests really about?
Organisers claim these protests are about peace and ending the suppression of the Palestinians. However, protests involve offensive chants such as ‘from the river to the seas’, ‘Jihad’, ‘Intifada’, and several others. Many of the protestors wear face covering and some even dress as terrorists. Many protestors carry signs and others the Palestinian flag. Most signs read, ‘Free Palestine’. However, some are a little more offensive. They include the Swastika drawn into the middle of the Star of David, Israeli flags with bloody handprints, Muslim armies’ banner, and ‘No Justice No Peace’ sign, ironically, being held directly above a ceasefire banner. A few of the protestors even carried Hamas flags.
Sources: Various across social media
These protests are not about peace. They are in opposition to Israel. There are no calls for the release of hostages taken by Hamas. In fact, people and even police are pulling down posters of kidnapped Israeli children (New York Times and Daily Mail). Police even stopped a vehicle with a banner displaying the kidnapped children from entering an area near the Anti-Israel protests (The Standard).
The protests are supposedly about the oppressed or persecuted. We could argue that in many places around the world Muslims are persecuted and oppressed. For example, the Rohingya in Myanmar (The Conversation), the Uyghurs in China (Council on Foreign Affairs), and the Shia Muslims in Yemen (Carnegie). Yet, these protestors are silent on these cases. The main difference between these situations are the accused oppressors. For the Muslim world, it is the Jews. For many in the western, it is the perceived colonialists.
Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter have gone beyond just claiming to support the Palestine cause. Some of their groups have openly supported Hamas and the attacks on 7th October. BLM Chicago posted an image of a paraglider on their X account.
Sources: BLM social media. Paraglider image was eventually removed
There is a strong Black Lives Matter presence at many of the protests/marches. Black Lives Matter might claim to be against racism but their actions appear to indicate the exact opposite. They showed the same racist ideology during the George Floyd protests and riots. They claimed they were standing up for African American victims. However, they were focused on villainising the accused. If the accused is not of European origin, the African American victims’ lives mean little or nothing.
Queers for Palestine
The most bizarre element to the protests relates to LGBTQ+ groups. There is a group that refers to themselves as Queers for Palestine. Palestine and most other Muslim countries have little to no tolerance for gay people (e.g. throw them off buildings).
Source: Quillette
LGBTQ groups no longer represent the gay community; they have not for a long time. Sadly, many gay people have been duped into believing they still represent their best interests. Their focus is on the Trans movement. They are more interested in trying to convince children who do not completely confirm with gender stereotypes to subject themselves to treatments that inhibit their natural development.
Source: RT
LGBTQ groups are also ‘reclaiming’ words such as ‘Queer’, ‘Faggot’, and ‘Dyke’, which have been considered as derogatory and slurs for decades. It shows their complete lack of respect for older gay people who have struggled with extreme discrimination.
Two-tiered Policing
Despite the hateful nature of the actions of many of the protestors, little has been done to curb their behaviour. In countries such as the UK, law enforcement’s response to the protests have been very lax. The London Police claims they need new laws to be able to respond to the behaviour of the protestors (BBC). This is not true. The police have aggressively responded to protestors in many other protests in the past. A good example, were the anti-lockdown protests of 2020 and 2021.
On 26th November, activist Tommy Robinson was arrested and pepper-sprayed prior to the March Against Anti-Semitism in London. The reason for the police’s aggression towards him was that his presence was likely to ‘cause harassment, alarm and distress to others’ (Spiked Online). This demonstrates that the police do not have limited powers. It demonstrates that they have an excess of powers that they use to target only certain groups of people. Their call for more powers is more likely for preventing future protests that do not align with their masters’ ideals and has nothing to do with the Pro-Palestine/Hamas/Anti-Israel protests.
The size and disrespectful nature of these protests plus the lack of police intervention has frustrated many of the indigenous public. This has resulted in people taking to the streets to protest against the Anti-Israel protests, the police as well as to protect historical monuments, which have been vandalised in some of the protests. The police responded far more aggressively to these protestors. Almost hundred were arrested on 11th November (Morning Star).
The police demonstrate clear double standards in policing. In an article, the double standards of policing was raised by the, now former, UK Home Secretary. However, she did nothing to resolve this problem (Sky News). The bias being demonstrated will cause the anger towards the police and the Anti-Israel protestors to grow. Soon, a violent confrontation will be inevitable. I believe this is the outcome the establishment desire.
The media referred to groups in opposition to the Anti-Israel protests as far-right thugs and Islamophobes (The Guardian). Ironically, the Anti-Israel protests, which the media repeatedly claims to be left-wing or liberal are the exact opposite. Middle Eastern Islamic countries are the least liberal in the world. They segregate people based on ethnicity, religion, sex, skin colour, culture, and class (Arab Barometer). According to Wisevoter, Israel ranked as the 41st most liberal country in the world, which is ahead of any country in the Middle East. Palestine was ranked 132nd.
Osama Bin Laden
The media’s latest ploy to entice more hatred amongst the Anti-Israel crowd is the promoting of a letter allegedly written by former Al Qaida Chief Osama Bin Laden. There has been a surge in the sharing of the letter on social media platforms such as Tick Tock and X. The Guardian fuelled this attention to this letter by removing it from its website (NDTV World). It appears aspects of this letter has gained some support from younger people. The letter is both Anti-Israel and Anti-American. It essentially supports the atrocities committed on 11 September (CNN). The promotion of this letter appears to be a way of attempting to normalise violence against those perceived to be oppressors. The outcome of this is an increased risk of violence and even terror attacks.
Where could this be heading?
The war between Israel and Hamas has gained a huge amount of attention. There is an enormous amount of information being spread by the mainstream media, alternative media, social media, and various groups of activists. Much of this information is false. Some of it is spread unintentionally (misinformation). Some it is spread intentionally to cause harm (disinformation).
Most of the western mainstream media are spreading disinformation. This has been done to manipulate the people who think they are left-wing as well as infuriate the people they call ‘far-right’. This leads to increased tensions between two opposing factions of people. Eventually, we will have civil unrest. Violence is mostly going to be blamed on the group of people called ‘far-right’. This is likely to be triggered by two-tiered policing.
Governments will respond be creating new laws that remove freedoms, which will most likely be applied only to the groups they want to target at the time. This possibly enables the rise of political parties or leaders that more closely align with what we would traditionally refer to as far-right. Recent elections in Argentina and the Netherlands indicate this could be a possible trend.
More posts
I have several collection of posts. I have organised these collections based on content and purpose.
The first collection contains six collection posts created before PeakD had the collection feature. Four of these posts relate to the core of my content, one of them contains all my Actifit Posts, and one of them contains my video course ‘Economics is Everyone’.
The second collection consists of the posts that I consider define my channel. These posts are significant in terms of content as well as how they contribute to the growth of the channel. These posts reveal the most about what I believe in.
The third and fourth collection is what I call my ‘Freedom-base Economics living book’. They contain all the posts that support my ideas about the value and power of freedom. Some of these posts explain what we can achieve with freedom and what we need to utilise it. Some of them explain how we are deprived of freedom and how we often give up freedom for security and comfort. The third collection concludes with possible scenarios depending on what we (society) choose to do.
Hive: Future of Social Media
Spectrumecons on the Hive blockchain
In a relatively short time, the Israel-Hamas has gained a lot of attention and it seems things are not stopping anytime soon, as it continues to be fueled in the background. On a general view, I think the establishment is working towards achieving a certain outcome. With more chaos and violence, there will come a time when it will be decided that new laws or systems are needed to put things back in to law and order. And an effect of that will be losing autonomy. Really interesting and scary times we're living through.
The usual outcome is more control and authoritarianism. They will use the violence on the streets to justify placing stricter laws and destroying more freedoms.
This time, they might be taking things further and actually bring western economies completely down. The cost to the richest would be minimal as many can easily relocate to other countries. This will become difficult for the average person.
Right. The wealthy will be mostly immune to the drastic changes that will be implemented. I think when western economies come down, the new economy that will emerge will be a global one that's not necessarily concentrated at one part of the world. This could be good or bad, depending on the viewpoint one looks at it from.
Till now I am still surprised why the Isreal war have not yet ended because it is really quite getting long than expected
I believe it is in Israel's interests to win this war as soon as possible. This could be tricky as Hamas have embedded themselves into Gaza. They can easily mix into the civilian populations.
There is also considerable international pressure regarding protecting civilian lives. It seems like Israel have made considerable effort to protect civilian lives but this again delays operations. More delays will lead to more civilian deaths regardless of how cautious Israel is. The UN would know this but their actions often do not align with their mandate.