Paving Gaza to put up a colossal trans-shipment hub and free zone

Paving Gaza to put up a colossal trans-shipment hub 

 

As the popular Joni Mitchell song ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ goes “paving paradise to put up a parking lot”, Gaza also seems destined for a flatter future, gone soon will be the concrete jungles in which nearly 2.3 million Palestinians live, bombed to oblivion through the brutal efficiency of the Israeli air force, its people evicted or worse, killed off. 

 

Gaza’s coastal location at the meeting point between Asia and Africa, its large tracts of flat terrain and easy sea access make it a tempting site for a mega trans-shipment facility and economic free zone for Israeli and international companies. Brand new purpose-built facilities set up after the dust of demolition settles to serve the anticipated needs of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor(IMEC), a multi-modal commercial corridor that aims to change trade patterns between India, Europe and the Middle East. Too big a deal to have it thwarted by the Hamas thorn in the side.



The IMEC was announced on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi in September by US President Joe Biden and dubbed by an ebullient Narendra Modi as “a journey of dreams”. India, the US, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, Italy and the European Union have pinned high hopes on this new trade route, a commercial corridor to rival and compete with China’s and Russia’s own trade routes that are further to the north.

 

A highly placed diplomatic source has confirmed to Persiflage & Paroxysm that the partner governments in the IMEC have since January worked closely with the Israeli government on a plan to justify the forced eviction of 2.3 million Palestinians from their homes inside what is by international law still Palestinian territory, to clear a path for a mega port and free zone building project. 

 

“Caught off guard! Lax security! Prison guards of the world’s largest open air prison caught napping! I don’t think so. This was a cleverly planned trap to capture a particularly elusive prey, Hamas,” the source said, “and Hamas waltzed right in as anticipated.” 

 

“Sure, there were Israeli casualties, it had to be convincing, the loss of life had to be significant to garner the wide support of not only world governments but their populations too. Palestinians had to be shown as crazed killers, madmen, blood thirsty fiends, just as the Mahdi and his revolt in the Sudan was portrayed by Great Britain back in the late 19thcentury. It’s a well-rehearsed plotline.”

 

I have to say, when I heard that it knocked me over. Israel, planned the whole thing! Israel wanted Hamas militants to breach the prison wall and kill and capture Israeli citizens!? And all to garner the sympathy and support of an outraged world!? The source smiled, sat back in his chair cupping his tumbler of single malt scotch on the rocks and said: “Why are you so surprised? Nation states are above the laws of common human decency, for nations there are simply two considerations, what advances national interest and what is an obstacle to national interest. Gaza is an obstacle and its removal as a thorn in Israel’s side advances Israel’s national interests and the interests of all members of the IMEC.”

 

The source went on to add that while Iran was a major concern for the United States, everyone knew the Iranians would not risk all-out war to rescue a lost cause like Hamas and its isolated government, despite what many Arab regimes on Iran’s side have said, none are prepared for a long war with both Israel and the United States. 

 

The only worry remains Sisi’s Egypt. “Sisi, like Mubarak before him, is officially dead set against a transfer of the civilian population of Gaza to Egypt’s Sinai. However, his own economic and financial woes would be greatly eased if he were to jump on board and facilitate the relocation of Gaza’s civilians. In fact, I think he will acquiesce in the end,” the source added.

 

The above 666-word article is a total and complete fabrication from beginning to end. Surprised!? Why? We are all creatures of the social media sewer after all and few if any of you would have read up to this point had it not been so scandalously outrageous, good thing you did then in order to understand that it was all a bunch of hooey. 

 

Present to people any narrative, any compelling story that draws them in and pushes their buttons and gets them outraged or angry or otherwise involved and they will consume that line with relish and republish it willingly and spread it for you for nothing, free of charge. Imagine what advertisers could do if only they understood and could get inside the heads of the social media animal, or maybe they already do and are inside your heads as we speak…

 

The above story is a total fiction, but it’s still plausible and not at all farfetched, and what starts as plausible and possible, someone somewhere turns into a plan and someone somewhere gets up the sheer cojones to execute that plan.

 

Pray for Gaza Arabs, protest in the streets if you like, scream and shout until your throats are all sore, nothing will ever change… the plan’s afoot.

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