An Israel-backed Gaza gang, known as The Popular Forces of Gaza, appear to be getting close to emulating Life of Brian’s one-man Popular Front of Judea. Images from the funeral of recently assassinated leader Yasser Abu Shabab show a tiny number of mourners, with around 20-30 present. The anti-Hamas militants have been backed by the modern day ‘State of Judea‘, to use historian Ilan Pappé’s term. It refers to the current incarnation of the Zionist state, characterised by religious fundamentalism and brutal colonial expansion that outstrips even the prior barbarism of the settler-colonial project.
Shabab was killed on Thursday December 5, with conflicting reports about how his life was ended. Israeli Army Radio reported that he had been killed in an ambush carried out by resistance factions. However, as pointed out by the Canary, ‘Israeli’ and and Western sources have claimed he was killed when:
…an internal dispute among several families escalated into an armed confrontation during which one of those involved opened fire at Abu Shabab.
Israel-backed Gaza gang betrayed Palestinians
The gang leader had a criminal past that involved drug trafficking and smuggling, before forming the ‘Israeli’ proxy Popular Forces. The traitorous force was used by the Zionist regime to hijack aid convoys delivering food to starving Palestinians, and to secure sites for the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The latter was a front set up to lure Palestinians with food, only to massacre them at distribution points.
The images of Shabab’s funeral were shared by Muhammad Shehada, a former resident of Gaza who is now a political analyst and visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. He is an immensely articulate and knowledgeable commentator on Palestinian affairs, and has been featured at length on Western alternative media giving detailed analyses of developments in Gaza.
His assessment is that the death of the Popular Forces leader will have little bearing, describing him as “just a front guy”, with the “de facto leader” always being one Ghassan Duhaini. He now appears to have officially taken charge, and has spoken to Zionist media N12 News to declare that he is unafraid of Hamas. A video has emerged of the new betrayer-in-chief greeting a group of troops that is similarly feeble in number to the funeral attendance. Of the broadcast, he says:
The purpose of the video that was published is simple and clear: to show that the Popular Forces continue to operate. It was meant to show readiness, to check the status of the forces and the guys there with high morale.
Tiny numbers of traitorous gang prove Palestinian resolve during genocide
Shehada’s assessment is that Duhaini has more about him than his predecessor, saying:
He’s better trained (having once served in the PA security agencies, but got fired), more well-connected & more charismatic than Yasser (& didn’t drop out of elementary school like Yasser).
He states that Duhaini gave the:
…interview to Israeli media from the Israeli hospital he was evacuated to…
Whether the change of official leadership will make any difference given the paltry numbers remains to be seen. Shehada points out that the failure to attract greater numbers to the gang is a vindication of Palestinian steadfastness in the face of overwhelming adversity:
Israel burned and starved Gaza to its very foundations over two years of genocide, while showering money, weapons, shelter, luxury cars, and cigarettes on those who sold themselves to its army.
Despite all the pressures and temptations, only a few dozen pursued criminals, disowned by their families, joined Abu Shabab’s gang.
He continued:
The people of Gaza preferred hunger, sleeping in the open, disease, cold, thirst, and death over selling themselves.
He points out how this contrasts with the Zionist canard that Palestinians have only themselves to blame for failures over the years due to supposedly selling out. This can be traced all the way back to early myths about Palestinians selling huge amounts of land to Jewish settlers, when in fact it was likely to have been at most 5-7% of the territory. Much of it was done in good faith without knowledge of the colonisers’ intention to steal all of historic Palestine.
Impossible decisions for those under occupation and genocide
Of course, at times Palestinians have been pressured under impossible circumstances to serve the Occupation. Despite constant attempts to pinkwash the land theft project, Zionist intelligence services have blackmailed LGBTQ+ people in Palestine. They threaten to out those targeted unless they cooperate with the likes of Shin Bet and Unit 8200. DropSite News spoke with:
…dozens of queer Palestinians who had encounters with Israeli intelligence. Many had received threatening messages via Grindr, Instagram, or Facebook from an anonymous individual who had their identifying information, forcing them to turn into informants.
Similarly, people with urgent medical conditions are threatened with refusal of treatment unless they betray their fellow Palestinians. Those in the Popular Forces are certainly a less sympathetic case, though still are in some sense victims – doomed by being born Palestinian to live under the thumb of a brutal and manipulative colonial master.
Featured image via X/Muhammad Shehada
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