By: Arnold Opio Oree | 23rd November 2012
Arab League hold emergency meeting on Saturday 17th November 2012
I am certain we were all deeply relieved to see the truce deal brokered between the Israeli Government and the Hamas (Gaza Territories) Government on Wednesday 21st November 2012. There is an old and well known saying that reads something like – “History is written by the victors”, this leaves a very open and glaring question, which side was victorious? This question is somewhat subjective and I am sure that compelling cases could be made for both the Palestinians and the Israelis.
And so we arrive at the question which is really of far greater interest and in reality is of far greater significance. What were the key drivers that lead to a ceasefire which by all preceding indicators throughout the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could or even should have instead been an Israeli ground offensive on Gaza?
The first point of attention with regard to this question is the fact that the truce of Wednesday 21st November 2012 was in fact the second ceasefire in the Pillar of Cloud Hostilities, the first came in rather differing yet strikingly similar circumstances, and was in actuality unilateral on the side of the Israelis.
The Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi announced that he would be opening the Rafah crossing and at this same point announced he would be sending the Egyptian Prime Minister to Gaza the following day as a show of solidarity with the Palestinians. An open threat was also made by the Egyptian President to dissolve the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. On the morning of November 15th the Rafah border crossing was opened as it had been announced. Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu’s response to this was to say that all offensives would be halted on Friday 16th as the Egyptian Prime Minister’s visit to Gaza was taking place, citing his respect for the relationship between Israel and Egypt and his desire for it to continue along amicable terms. It is important to note the tone of this response by Netanyahu as it greatly contradicts the Mainstream narrative that it was pressure and guarantees from the United States that brought around the Wednesday 21st November 2012 truce.
The circumstances of the truce of 21st November 2012 bear facts that are strikingly synonymous to the ceasefire of Friday 16th November, with the primary difference being the scope of the 21st November 2012 facts and their effecting a force of an exponential multitude compared to the facts of Friday 16th November.
On 20th November an entire delegation of Arab League ministers headed by the Arab League Chief Al-Arabi arrived in Gaza to show solidarity with the Palestinians, this creating an exponential multitude of pressure compared against the Prime Minister of only one member state of the Arab League arriving in Gaza on Friday 16th November.
At the emergency meeting on Saturday 17th November where the delegate-mission to Palestine was assigned, the Arab League instructed all of its member states to re-assess and dissolve any peace treaties that they presently hold with the state of Israel, this press statement – “reconsider all past Arab initiatives on the peace process and review their stance on the process as a whole” – being delivered by al-Arabi himself. This once again creating an exponential multitude of pressure compared against the threat of dissolution of a peace treaty with only one member state of the Arab League.
With such a compelling set of facts laid bare it is plain to see why the agreement of a truce was announced by a Hamas spokesman in Cairo at 16:00GMT on 20th November 2012; this truce as it was announced was however delayed on account of the Israelis, who received Hilary Clinton at 20:02GMT of that same evening, long after a truce was deemed certain enough to be officially announced by Hamas.
These set of facts as presented also give explanation as to why Israel would respond with only a lukewarm condemnation to perhaps the most compelling and least objectionable justification for a ground offensive throughout the entire conflict, when at 10:23GMT on 21st November 2012 a Tel Aviv bus bombing was reported. The response to this bombing from Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri was to praise the bombing to the press, dubbing it “a natural response to the Israeli massacres… in Gaza”.
The Mainstream Narrative leaves a-lot to be desired in terms of credibility, and as far as motive goes it is clear that in an information and social media age where perception is everything, it would be in the interest of the Israelis to paint the truce as being on account of pressure by the United States, as opposed to what the facts truly demonstrate. The Pillar of Cloud Hostilities truce of 21st November 2012 was as the result of an Arab League insurrection orchestrated by the Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi.
Egypt’s President Mursi smiles during meeting with South Korea’s presidential envoy and former Foreign Minister Yu at the presidential palace in Cairo
Arnold O. Oree 
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