For every Nasrallah who falls, many more will emerge
Tyrants will always be overthrown in time. It’s inevitable. Benjamin Netanyahu’s madness is a greater threat to Israel than anything else. And if this statement was not self-explanatory, then the latest insane actions in Lebanon of the Netanyahu-led government and the killing of Hassan Nasrallah and more than 700 innocent civilians, and counting, is a manifestation of it. Nasrallah’s political murder — “assassination” — means that the war which started ostensibly as a retaliatory measure against Hamas in Gaza almost a year ago, has turned into an intractable mess that may well result in nothing but the end of Israel.
Ideologies tend to persist more than individuals, and often determine the fate of nations and movements. The loss of Nasrallah looks too big to digest at the moment, but in the grand scheme of things it is just a bump in the road for the resistance forces in their ultimate aim of securing total freedom from the oppression of the settler-colonial, Zionist state of Israel.
Such disruptions are nothing new. The assassinations of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. in 1965 and 1968 respectively appeared to be a big blow to the civil rights movement in the US, but they couldn’t kill the movement. It took time, but Barack Obama eventually became the first black US president. Likewise, the US killed a number of Taliban leaders and officials during their 20-year occupation and war in Afghanistan, but American troops had to pull out via a diplomatic agreement. The bottom line is that brute force can never be your saviour. This is a hard fact that the Zionist regime has yet to learn.
Nasrallah’s martyrdom thus provides new impetus to the Arab resistance against the Israeli regime. His name is currently trending on social media, with millions of related tweets. This surge in interest is particularly visible in Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq, where there have been large protests against Israel’s air strikes in Beirut. Contrary to Israel’s expectations, therefore, the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah is likely to galvanise the resistance movements; Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen have already vowed to retaliate. Legitimate resistance against the Zionist occupation enjoys overwhelming support around the world.
Israel’s miscalculations about strengthening its security have been disastrous.
Its killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh has inspired the Palestinian struggle and Nasrallah’s murder will do the same in Lebanon. Even Iran has warned of an inevitable response. Far from bringing peace and security to the occupation state, Netanyahu and his far-right regime have taken the region closer to all-out war.
Aside from the predictable expressions of support from the likes of the US, with the tired claim about Israel’s “right to self-defence”, the occupation state’s actions have been condemned widely. Iraq called its recent air strikes in Lebanon a “shameful crime”, while Russia is already holding the Zionist regime responsible for any “subsequent escalation”. Israel’s damning diplomatic isolation was also evident during Netanyahu’s address to the UN General Assembly last week.
Moreover, on the economic front, Israel is also suffering badly. The Gaza genocide alone is projected to cause a $400 billion loss in Israel’s potential economic activity for the next decade, with a $16bn loss already recorded in the first quarter of 2024. And Israel’s killing of tens of thousands of civilians in occupied Palestine, as well as its strikes in Lebanon, have poured cold water on its “Abraham Accords” agenda and normalisation of ties with Arab states.Israel is the illegitimate child of imperialism.
The more oppressive it is, the more that freedom fighters are the result. Individuals can be killed, but the legitimate quest for freedom from occupation and oppression can never die. For every Nasrallah who falls, many more will emerge. The Occupation state will always be at odds with the likes of Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis until and unless it engages in dialogue and ends the illegal occupation of Palestinian and Lebanese territories.
Former Israeli officials have conceded that their government cannot overcome the hostilities in Middle East, but Netanyahu is adamant about his “mad dog” rampage in the region as he clings to power in order to evade trial on corruption charges on continued rampage just to evade the trial of corruption charges against him and augment his eroded political clout.
“This business of destroying Hamas, making Hamas disappear — it’s simply throwing sand in the eyes of the public,” said Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari. “Hamas is an idea, Hamas is a party. It’s rooted in the hearts of the people. Anyone who thinks we can eliminate Hamas is wrong.”
This is why Netanyahu is viewed increasingly as a significant threat to Israel’s stability. Public discontent is rising due to his handling of the situation in Gaza and other regional conflicts, with around 70 per cent of Israelis believing that he should resign. His refusal to negotiate a ceasefire, prioritising military control over humanitarian concerns, has fuelled protests and accusations of sacrificing Israeli as well as Palestinian citizens for his own political survival.
Essentially, therefore, Israel under Netanyahu is on a suicide mission with everything pointing to its failure to achieve its stated objectives. The actions of the Zionist regime have not eradicated the resistance movements; they have served to boost them as they strive to counter the negative regional influences of the apartheid regime.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.