The End of a Cycle: From Yasser Arafat to Yahya Sinwar: A Few Words

[Oluwatoyin Adepoju]

The End of a Cycle: From Yasser Arafat to Yahya Sinwar 

Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju 

Yahya Sinwar is gone. Muhammad Deif is gone.Yasser Arafat is gone. Moshe Dayan is gone. Menachem Begin is gone. Golda Meir is gone. Anwar Sadat is gone. 

Our heroes are going. Many of them covered in the blood of others. 

All gone, in the struggle for that piece of land stamped with the aspirations of Abraham.

What next for Hamas, now that Deif and Sinwar have paid the ultimate price?

After the PLO came Fatah, after Fatah. Hamas.

Can Hamas continue the struggle for justice for the Palestinians?

Benjamin Netanyahu has secured his place in history as the man who fought back mercilessly against the Hamas/Hezbollah coalition, decapitating them, going a significant distance to cripple or destroy them, in the processes sending a deadly message to Iran.

Will the principle of force as the primary negotiating principle remain the primary pillar of Israel's survival in the Middle East?

I came to know of this awesome conflict through my father's TIME magazine and other texts, becoming acquainted with Israeli war hero Moshe Dayan, unmistakable in his eye patch, Israeli PM Menachem Begin, with his uniquely shaped head in advancing years, Israeli PM Golda Meir, looking like a military weapon in a woman's body, Palestinian liberation fighter Yasser Arafat and his distinguishing fedeyeh-Palestinian headband, elegant Anwar Sadat,, Egyptian President, caught unawares by his own soldiers marching past him in ceremonial procession.

Deif and Sinwar emerged after my father had departed to meet his Maker.

My own children have also grown up with the further unfolding of the story, as new actors emerge and depart the bloody stage.

Will their own children also grow up with the further unfolding of the narrative, now defined perhaps by those who survive the 2023-2024 Gaza nightmare, the descendants of those who inflicted it, the successors of those who executed the Oct 7 massacre in Israel and of those who have exacted an epic vengeance?

[Dr. Oohay]

Please identify the heroes in question in your “Our heroes” —WHOSE heroes?

Best wishes,

Oohay

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfric...@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDial...@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialo...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CAGBtzfNM6t1CvYDm%3DvUE_D7dM54X%3D-VJQJm_su5dnCCiF0hc7Q%40mail.gmail.com.

[Oluwatoyin Adepoju]

The heroes of the Palestinians and the heroes of the Israelis.

Thanks 

Toyin 

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/1028006411.2957325.1729272125098%40mail.yahoo.com.

[Dr. Oohay]

Thanks for your prompt response. 

Perhaps, NOT “The End of a Cycle” but the beginning of the end of a cycle.

Oohay

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CAGBtzfMsuXmcjp%3DiF0ogkhXiPL%3D22mVUxV9ekXWuv7KgbBZ8AA%40mail.gmail.com.

[Gloria Emeagwali]

Dr Oohay 

You have just raised an important 

point that historians constantly 

have to deal with, namely, the

definition of heroism. 

Who are the real heroes and 

who are the“zeros”? Was 

Alexander the Great, really great, 

or just another imperialist invader 

of Egypt  in 332BCE? What about Christopher Columbus of 1492?

An avaricious greedy 

Italian who triggered the genocide 

of millions, or a hero? What

about Umar Al-Mukhtar of 

Libya in the 1920s?He put up

a great fight against Italian

occupiers but died in a 

concentration camp. His

counterpart Abdille Hassan of

the Somali region, fought the 

British for more than two 

decades with vigor, skill and

 determination.

What about Lumumba, Amilcar 

Cabral (PAIGC),Steve Biko (BC),Robert 

Sobukwe of the PAC,Winnie 

Mandela, Ruth First, and the 

famous Nelson Mandela?They 

fought for the liberation of Africa from

colonial occupation and settler

colonialism. The colonizers and their

puppets condemned them, and

considered them to be villains,

not heroes. They fought against

 land theft and the criminality of

invading settler colonists,  and 

unapologetically fought battles

to bring about change. In the

process they won some battles 

and lost others. Are they heroes?

You raised a great point!

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/1028006411.2957325.1729272125098%40mail.yahoo.com.

[Oluwatoyin Adepoju]

Thanks 

Why the beginning of the end?

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/1739675204.277087.1729275105126%40mail.yahoo.com.

[Dr. Oohay]

Thanks (again). What I question: Your expression "The End of a Cycle" -- I suggest that the "end" of the cycle in your expression "The End of a Cycle" appears more as The Beginning of the End of the Cycle in question (rather than The END of a Cycle). In other words, the cycle in question has not ended; its end has yet yet to begin.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CAGBtzfOGaqx8r8RKVmvdasorBtbpk64DiKM7SLLcsYzypmqw8Q%40mail.gmail.com.

[Oluwatoyin Adepoju]

Thanks.

I was referencing a cycle represented by some of the most prominent figures in the Palestinian struggle from the 20th century to the present, from Arafat to Sinwar, and in the Israeli/Arab conflict from the 20th century to now, Moshe Dayan and Menachem Begin to Netanyahu on the Israeli side and Sadat on the Arab side.

Other names could be invoked but those are the ones that came to my mind while writing.

Various cycles, conclusions and beginnings can be constructed from this story, from various vantage points.

The killing of Deif, Sinwar, Nasrallah and other Hamas,  Hezbollah and Iranian figures who have died since Oct 7, without a single loss to Israeli leadership amidst the devastation of Gaza and strikes  within Lebanon and Iran and the invasion of Lebanon indicates this as a high point in this crisis, an unprecedented juncture, for various reasons.

Israel's military and intelligence superiority is overwhelmingly demonstrated.

The situation, however, raises even more starkly than before, the ultimate significance of that military power.

Integration of Israel with its neighbors is possibly a dead dream for now, as Saudi Arabia, on the verge of entering into relations with Israel before October 7, is now described as insisting there will be no such relationship without the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Yet, the idea of a Palestinian state, run by Palestinians, as neighbours to Israel, seems to be anathema to the current Israeli govt school of thought.

The situation looks impossible.

Will the Palestinians give up the struggle for their own state?

If they give up, on what terms would they settle?

If they dont, how will the struggle continue?

Who will lead it?

Is there or will there be serious soul searching in Israel about the possibility of a life without constant need to strong arm the Palestinians and to be on guard against its other neighbours?

On what terms can such a rapprochement be reached?

Thanks 

Toyin

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/1628920880.3083772.1729299480814%40mail.yahoo.com.

[Cornelius Hamelberg]

Another sane place to begin: Israel and Palestine Origins with Dr. Benny Morris

Re - “Yet, the idea of a Palestinian state, run by Palestinians, as neighbours to Israel, seems to be anathema to the current Israeli govt school of thought.

The situation looks impossible.

Will the Palestinians give up the struggle for their own state?” ( Oluwatoyin Adepoju would like to know )

There’s the saying ”time and tide wait for no man” and that’s why the pundits are not mistaken in telling us that given this window of opportunity, Netanyahu & his crew will make hay while the sun shines for them and destroy as much as they can before the next President of the USA is elected , when there could be a slight change of direction issuing from the White House. 

For answers, about the Palestinians possibly giving up their struggle, you could begin with one of the founding fathers, Ben-Gurion’s very pragmatic vision and his hope that “They may perhaps forget in one or two generations' time, but for the moment there is no chance” 

Here’s what David Ben-Guirion told Nahum Goldmann, president of the World Jewish in 1956 :

"I don't understand your optimism. Why should the Arabs make peace? If I was an Arab leader I would never make terms with Israel. That is natural: we have taken their country. Sure God promised it to us, but what does that matter to them? Our God is not theirs. We come from Israel, but two thousand years ago, and what is that to them? There has been antisemitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They only see one thing: we have come here and stolen their country. Why should they accept that? They may perhaps forget in one or two generations' time, but for the moment there is no chance. So, it's simple: we have to stay strong and maintain a powerful army. Our whole policy is there. Otherwise the Arabs will wipe us out."

There’s another Israeli school of thought serially presented at https://www.israpundit.org/

known as  the Jordon option  - that  there is already a Palestinian State with plenty of territory, namely JORDAN  and known as the Jordan Option

Thirdly, there’s Netanyahu’s dream, his New prosperity map of the Middle East ( with Jerusalem and not Mecca  as the eternal capital 

In the meantime,   Russian Warships Arrive In Iran

Fmr. MI6 Agent WARNS: Russia and China Will CLASH with the US and Israel Over Iran

[Dr. Oohay]

Any such “animal” as THE END of a Cycle, with wars involving the  “politics” of secular apostates, the politics of religious apostates, the politics of spiritual apostates, and the politics  

of intellectual spoststes??? Such warriors run like run-on sentences .,,.

Oohay

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CAGBtzfMZDN4bd2j3HJ5dv3ZOqUJ-O44kSbJ-WQ-ac%3Dtgm13fgg%40mail.gmail.com.

[DR SIKIRU ENIOLA]

Great thoughts. Permit me to add that George Washington and those who fought Britain for the American Independence were labelled as TERRORISTS by the UK imperial masters.

I think all that we need in this determination of the "heroes" and the "zeros" is the ability to label freedom fighters or forces of resistance as " TERRORISTS" so that the overwhelming powers won't have to answer for their crimes against humanity.

Interestingly, their media arms often shape our opinions in supporting most at times the war crimes.

The compromised media continues to label the Oct 7 attack by HAMAS as " just the beginning " of the Gaza holocaust. Does the word "occupation" matter in history any longer? The World media continues to address the war as between "Hamas" and the IDF. Could it be because tge Isrealis created HAMAS originally? Is this not a war between Palestine and Isreal for the establishment of the Palestinian State? 

Why is the World press gradually erasing Palestine out of the equation? Is this not a strategy to prevent Netanyahu and the gang from being tried for war crimes?

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CAMkN8aq9-hzeZYOTOFGLHfBt4ujSV1bSmxRxF4CH2qRU%2BY%2BvNw%40mail.gmail.com.