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Middle East Eye
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Israel has distilled western colonial war techniques, but fails to quell resistance
Palestine is bearing the brunt of the imperial boomerang: in globalised capitalism, regimes of domination adapt to those who resist them by circulating techniques of war, surveillance and repression between colonial and metropolitan battlefields. Although this imperial mechanism has propelled the colonisation of Palestine from the beginning, it has failed to extinguish the "arts of resistance". Since the start of the British Mandate in Palestine, colonial domination has suffered regular counterattacks. To maintain its hold, the occupier articulated methods of counterinsurgency - that is, war within and against populations - tested in the empire and throughout the history of western colonisation. This dynamic gained momentum in the face of the Arab Revolt, the Palestinian uprising against the British Mandate and its support for Zionism that took place from 1936 to 1939. Officer Charles Tegart, who led the counter-guerrilla operations, had made a career in intelligence in Northern Ireland during the Irish War of Independence before heading the Calcutta police, where he was notorious for the widespread the use of torture against separatists. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters In Palestine, where he was sent in 1937, he ordered the building of numerous fortified police stations, a border fence and torture centres. A vast system of registration, mass arrests and administrative detention was combined with torture, collective punishment, deportations and summary executions Another senior office in Mandate Palestine was General Orde Wingate, originally from a family of British settlers in India. He served in Sudan before being dispatched to Palestine, where he developed the "Special Night Squads". These police commandos made up of Jewish settlers were tasked with punitive expeditions against Palestinian villages. These paramilitary militias helped found the Israeli army. French colonial expertise also played an important role. Like in Haiti, where it was used to re-establish slavery in the early 19th century, paramilitary units and dogs were used to hunt insurgents. Modelled on French colonial methods in Syria and Algeria, a vast system of registration, mass arrests and administrative detention was combined with torture, collective punishment, deportations and summary executions. All of these techniques profoundly influenced the early Israeli military and security apparatus, but none was sufficient to quell the sumud, the spirit of Palestinian resistance. A global and permanent war against Palestinians The Israeli state was concretely forged on the basis of a colonial war involving the destruction of numerous villages, mass expulsions and massacres in the classic style of western colonisation. Facing persistent indigenous resistance like his European predecessors, the Israeli officer of the Carmeli Brigade tasked with "de-Arabising" Haifa in August 1948 seized on the genocidal dynamic. He ordered: "Kill any Arab you encounter; torch all inflammable objects and force doors open with explosives." Palestinian refugees were bombarded with mortars. War on Gaza: Why Frantz Fanon's words are more relevant today than ever Read More » Faced with the reorganisation of the rebellion, Israeli counterinsurgency methods continued to evolve through regular exchanges with western colonial powers. In January 1960, two Israeli generals, Yitshak Rabin and Chaim Hersog, future prime minister and president respectively, observed French techniques of "counter-revolutionary warfare" in Algeria: separation walls, population displacement and mass internment, widespread torture, rape and enforced disappearances, massacres by bombing and chemical weapons, all combined with industrial propaganda following a dynamic of general militarisation of society. This savoir-faire similarly failed to break the determination of the Algerian people, but it has continued to resonate through the methodical crushing of Palestinian lives. In 1967, during the so-called Six Day War, patrols sent to Gaza were trained to throw grenades into homes before entering them. Soldiers were ordered to shoot and kill any civilian who resisted the raids. Mechanisms of extreme violence also governed the invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and the war launched in 2002 against the Palestinian Al-Aqsa Intifada. During Operation Defensive Shield, the military-police lockdown of the West Bank city of Jenin likewise failed to overcome the rebellion. These methods are taught to security forces around the world and thereby contribute to updating global counterinsurgency It served however as a model for the new imperial wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and for urban security planning in the world's major cities. Mass racial internment has also structured the global history of counter-insurgency since the first concentration camps created by Spain in Cuba at the end of the 19th century or those established by Germany to intern the Herero and Nama people in Namibia as part of the first genocide of the 20th century. Israel has seized on it as a "social engineering" technique aimed at emptying the "human terrain" and reformatting the inmates' personalities. These principles guide the arbitrary, sometimes indefinite, incarceration of thousands of Palestinians and the transformation of Gaza into an open-air concentration camp. Nevertheless, Palestinian resistance perseveres and continually reorganises itself beyond the walls. A laboratory for counter-insurgency As early as 2010, researcher Laleh Khalili described Palestine as "an archetypal laboratory and a crucial node of global counterinsurgencies". Researcher Jeff Halper, for his part, sees Israel as a model of "security state" based on a form of permanent counterinsurgency. In this framework, deploying extreme violence against civilians constitutes a rationalised doctrine. For example, Israel recommends shooting in the head to kill (shoot-to-kill policy), as well as the principle of "escalation dominance" that justifies the intentional use of disproportionate force to subdue the enemy. These techniques are integrated into a concept known as "cumulative deterrence" that advocates the systematic conjunction of violent treatments. The war against the people has caused human carnage while largely benefiting the military-security industries. However, it has failed to eradicate the spirit of liberation of the oppressed These methods are taught to security forces around the world and thereby contribute to updating global counterinsurgency. They constitute commodities valued in the same way as all the weapons tested by Israel against the Palestinian people and then labelled "combat-proven" in the international fairs of war and control. In the era of security capitalism, the crushing of Palestine constitutes a global political economy. Since the counterattack of 7 October 2023, this economy has been operating at full capacity to benefit a "Greater Israel" plan to colonise the entire region through the destruction of Gaza and its inhabitants. Armed, financed and given impunity by the Western bloc, this phase of intensified genocidal warfare operates through the systematic bombing of civilians. This technique, too, is rooted in colonial history, dating back to 1911 when an Italian plane struck a camp in Libya in the first aerial bombardment in history. Israel is innovating by integrating artificial intelligence technologies to automate, maximise and accelerate the mass killing of civilian populations. Algorithmic extermination thus joins the global counterinsurgency repertoire. Blood or bread: Surviving Israel's vicious hunger regime in Gaza Read More » In Gaza, the Israeli state is destroying homes, schools and hospitals, refugee camps and facilities delivering vital supplies. Humanitarian aid and access to healthcare are blocked through a strategy known as "food and resource control" that was used by the United Kingdom in South Africa during the colonial era and by the United States military in Cuba, the Philippines and Vietnam. Israel stands out by weaponising humanitarian aid to massacre starving populations. Chemical weapons such as white phosphorus and toxic gases that have been used to make Palestine uninhabitable resonate with the use of mustard gas by France and Spain against the anti-colonial resistance in the Moroccan Rif, as well as the use of napalm and Agent Orange against the Algerian and Vietnamese revolutions. On each of these battlefields, the "war against the people" has caused human carnage while largely benefiting the military-security industries. However, it has failed to eradicate the spirit of resistance of the oppressed. Following Haiti, Vietnam or Algeria, Palestine embodies what rises up and holds firm against global counterinsurgency. Across borders, against the imperial boomerang, its name resonates through international solidarity, showing the determination of the oppressed to resist in order to exist and to unite for emancipation. The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
Mint
22-06-2025
- Politics
- Mint
Why countries are suddenly broadcasting their spies' exploits
Israel's airstrikes on Iran exploded across the world's screens as a public display of military firepower. Underpinning that was a less visible but equally vital Israeli covert operation that pinpointed targets, guided the attacks and struck Iran from within. Agents from Israel's spy agency, Mossad, operated inside Iran before and during the initial attacks earlier this month, Israeli officials said. The disclosure was itself an act of psychological warfare—a boast of Israel's ability to act with impunity inside Iran's borders and Tehran's failure to stop it. Israel flaunted its tactical success by releasing grainy video emblazoned with Mossad's seal that it said showed operatives and drone strikes inside Iran. Not long ago, such covert operations stayed secret. Today, belligerents from Ukraine to the U.S. increasingly broadcast their triumphs, with messages amplified in real time by social-media networks. When T.E. Lawrence wanted to publicize his World War I secret forays deep into Ottoman territory, he wrote a book and articles. Nobody saw those commando raids for half a century until the blockbuster film 'Lawrence of Arabia" recreated his exploits. T.E. Lawrence played a clandestine role in the Arab Revolt against Ottoman rule during World War I. These days, barely hours pass before the world sees action footage of Ukraine's latest drone attacks on Russian military targets. Israel's detonation of explosives hidden inside Hezbollah militants' pagers played out in almost real time across the internet. The U.S. repeatedly fed social media the details—and sometimes imagery—of its special-operations strikes on Islamic State leaders in recent years. The result is a major shift in warfare: Call it the battle of timelines. Spying and clandestine operations, in the traditional sense, have never been so difficult. Biometric data makes document forgery obsolete. Billions of cameras, attached to phones, rearview mirrors and doorbells, stand ready to capture the movements of any operative hoping to lurk invisibly. In seconds, artificial intelligence can rifle through millions of photos to identify the faces of foreign spies operating in the wild. Instead, fighting in Ukraine and the Middle East is bringing a new doctrine to spycraft stemming from changes in both what their organizers seek to achieve and how information spreads. Operations that would have once been designed to remain under wraps are now meant to be seen, to produce spectacular optics. They play out not just on the battlefield, but also on social media, boosting morale at home while demoralizing the enemy watching from the other side of the screen. 'A major goal of covert operations is often to show an adversary's leadership that we have identified and can damage elements involved in lethal activity," said Norman Roule, a former senior U.S. intelligence officer. 'Demonstrating this capability is hoped to act as a deterrent and even to encourage an adversary to seek diplomatic solutions." Such operations aren't done lightly, because they are dangerous and risk exposure of sensitive sources and methods that once compromised can't be used in the future, he added. 'You don't waste such critical capabilities for a cheap political win," Roule said. 'That said, in addition to the operational impact, you can exploit such operations for propaganda, psychological impact or diplomatic gain." Covert operations once remained secret long after they wrapped up, or they were revealed by chance. Allied World War II code-breaking efforts stayed largely unknown for three decades. Countless Cold War-era espionage operations gained public attention only after the Soviet Union collapsed. Central Intelligence Agency efforts to raise a sunken Soviet submarine went public accidentally, following an office burglary in Los Angeles. Exploits dubbed black ops—because the operations stay in the dark—traditionally fed into a quiet game of signaling and deception. One reason the release of the Pentagon Papers alarmed the White House in 1971 was that some information in them could have only come from a U.S. bug planted in Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev's car, former President Richard Nixon said in 1984. Fast forward to 2021, when President Joe Biden took the exceptional step of going public with highly sensitive intelligence about Moscow's plans to attack Ukraine. The pre-emptive disclosure of hard-won secrets didn't stop the invasion, but it did restore allies' perception of the U.S.—and American spycraft—which had been tarnished by the warnings of weapons of mass destruction that led to the Iraq War. These days, secrecy is often beside the point. Almost weekly, Ukrainian drone attacks deep in Russia's interior play out to the same script: An ordinary bystander whips out a phone to capture the flicker of a Ukrainian drone against the night sky, seconds before it reduces some strategic target—an oil refinery, an air base or a rail depot—into a fiery ball. Soon, the footage circulates on social media. In come amateur war analysts posting commercial satellite photos of the damage, followed by declarations of responsibility from the Ukrainian special services eager to demonstrate their capabilities to ordinary Russians scrolling at home. 'Ukraine does an excellent job in planning out these operations, and they know that in this day and age every attack is going to be filmed," said Samuel Bendett, a Russian-studies adviser at the Center for Naval Analyses in Arlington, Va., a federally funded nonprofit research organization. 'They're trying to design their attacks so that more and more Russians are aware of the war and are impacted by the war." Kyiv feels obliged to wage a public propaganda war against Moscow because it isn't winning the shooting war. Israel goes public with results of its espionage and covert operations against Iran and its proxies to convince foreign governments and populations that Tehran is both dangerous and vulnerable. The communication war is raging in an information free-for-all. Governments and elites that until the middle of the 20th century controlled their information environment are today trying just to navigate it, said Ofer Fridman, a former Israeli officer and a scholar of war studies at King's College London. 'Now they're struggling to communicate with their target audience through overwhelming noise," he said. Compounding that is the digitization of almost all information—both new memos and dusty archives—meaning that no event is guaranteed to remain secret from hackers or publicity-minded politicians with access to files. The impact of data leakers including the National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden and the National Guard airman Jack Teixeira weighs heavily on intelligence officials. Russia is still adjusting to this new form of warfare. The country has made filming or posting sensitive details about military attacks a crime in its front-line regions, punishable by fines. Not even the country's police and special services have been able to discourage civilians who, almost by instinct, take out their phones when Ukrainian saboteurs strike. Soldiers on the front lines, disobeying their own codes of conduct, regularly capture battlefield operations. For its part, Russia has made minimal effort to cover its own tracks in its barely disguised spree of covert operations in Europe. The GRU, the Russian military-intelligence organization, has repeatedly hired European civilians over social media, paying them to burn down a shopping mall in Warsaw, or an IKEA in Lithuania, according to Western officials. When a Russian helicopter pilot who defected to Ukraine was shot dead in Spain last year, Russia's spy chiefs didn't deny involvement—they all but boasted of it. 'This traitor and criminal became a moral corpse at the very moment he was planning his dirty and terrible crime," Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, told state media. Write to Daniel Michaels at and Drew Hinshaw at
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Yahoo
Veterans retrace Lawrence of Arabia's epic 700-mile trek across Middle East
It was a journey immortalised by Peter O'Toole in the epic 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia – and now four military veterans have become the first people to recreate T E Lawrence's 700-mile (1,126km) trek across the sands of the Middle East. Howard Leedham, James Calder, Craig Ross and Martin Thompson spent 25 days on camelback crossing the Nafud desert in Saudi Arabia to mark 90 years since Lawrence's death. The four men, who served in the British special forces, endured 37C heat, sandstorms and sheer cliffs on the trek from Al Wajh in Saudi Arabia to the Aqaba in Jordan. They collected sand from four significant areas on the journey to spread on Lawrence's grave in Moreton, Dorset. Lawrence was a First World War hero who led the Arab Revolt against German-supporting Turkey. In 1916 he swept across the desert to Jordan and rewrote the map of the Middle East. His remarkable feat was described in his autobiographical account Seven Pillars of Wisdom and the classic film Lawrence of Arabia. The Lawrence Tribute Trek last month was the brainchild of former SBS marine Mr Leedham. He put out a 'Shackleton-style' advert on social media for special forces veterans, asking for volunteers for the expedition. He received 40 replies and picked Calder, Ross and Thompson, none of whom had ridden a camel before, to come with him. After a 10-day camel-riding course, the team set out on Jan 14. They completed about 30 miles a day on two single-humped camels each alongside a team of medics, cooks and a Bedouin, who looked after the camels. They travelled for eight hours a day in intense heat, which dropped to below freezing at night. Along the way, they took sand samples from Fajer, Al Jawari, Bayir and Aqaba – notable stops on Lawrence's journey. The group were given police camels as a gift upon crossing the Jordanian border, which are much quicker. On the penultimate day, the group, with 40 locals, re-enacted Lawrence's attack on an Ottoman train that was transporting friends and family who had travelled to celebrate the end of their journey. The staff on the train were aware of the attack, but the tourists were 'somewhat startled'. Upon arrival in Aqaba on Feb 7, they were honoured by King Abdullah II of Jordan with ceremonial displays, traditional music and a grand parade. So far the group has raised £430,000 for the Special Forces Club Benevolent Fund and hopes to reach its target of £500,000 before a ceremony at Lawrence's grave in May. The group will meet members of the Lawrence Society to spread the sand on his grave on May 19 – 90 years after Lawrence died in a motorbike accident. Mr Leedham, from London, said: 'I think a lot of military guys have some sort of admiration or fascination with Lawrence's story. What he achieved was certainly ahead of his time. The tactics he used have been copied ever since. 'I came up with the idea last May with some friends in the pub, probably over a couple of glasses of red. 'Riding a camel is completely different to riding a horse. There are lots of different saddles and [it] requires a lot of core strength. 'We did have to add a bit onto the journey to find the right place to cross the border from Saudi Arabia to Jordan but we quickly linked back up with the route.' The trek was named the Nasir, Bekri, Tayi and Lawrence Tribute Trek, after the Arab leaders of the original expedition – Sherif Nasir, Auda abu Tayi and Nesib el-Bekri. It took the original group over two months to complete the route. The Special Forces Club Benevolent Fund gives funding to ex-special forces soldiers who are suffering personal struggles later in life. Lawrence was killed in a motorcycle accident near his home at Bovington, Dorset in 1935. He is buried in the graveyard of St Nicholas Church in Moreton. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
13-02-2025
- Telegraph
Veterans retrace Lawrence of Arabia's epic 700-mile trek across Middle East
It was a journey immortalised by Peter O'Toole in the epic 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia – and now four military veterans have become the first people to recreate T.E. Lawrence's 700-mile (1,126km) trek across the sands of the Middle East. Howard Leedham, James Calder, Craig Ross and Martin Thompson spent 25 days on camelback crossing the Nafud desert in Saudi Arabia to mark 90 years since Lawrence's death. The four men, who served in the British Special Forces, endured 37C heat, sandstorms and sheer cliffs on the trek from Al Wajh in Saudi Arabia to the Aqaba in Jordan. They collected sand from four significant areas on the journey to spread on Lawrence's grave in Moreton, Dorset. Lawrence was a First World War hero who led the Arab Revolt against German-supporting Turkey. In 1916 he swept across the desert to Jordan and rewrote the map of the Middle East. His remarkable feat was described in his autobiographical account Seven Pillars of Wisdom and the classic film Lawrence of Arabia. The Lawrence Tribute Trek last month was the brainchild of former SBS marine Howard. He put out a 'Shackleton-style' advert on social media for special forces veterans asking for volunteers for the expedition. He received 40 replies and picked James, Craig and Martin to come with him, none of whom had ridden a camel before. After a 10-day camel-riding course, the team set out on their expedition on Jan 14. They completed about 30 miles a day on two single-humped camels each alongside a team of medics, cooks and a Bedouin, who looked after the camels. They travelled for eight hours a day in intense heat, which dropped to below freezing at night. Along the way they took sand samples from Fajer, Al Jawari, Bayir and Aqaba – notable stops on Lawrence's journey. The group were given police camels as a gift upon crossing the Jordanian border, which are much quicker. On the penultimate day the group, with 40 locals, re-enacted Lawrence's attack on an Ottoman train that was transporting friends and family who had travelled to celebrate the end of their journey. The staff on the train were aware of the attack, but the tourists were 'somewhat startled'. Upon arrival in Aqaba on Feb 7, they were honoured by King Abdullah II of Jordan with ceremonial displays, traditional music and a grand parade. So far the group has raised £430,000 for the Special Forces Club Benevolent Fund and hope to reach their target of 500,000 before a ceremony at Lawrence's grave in May. The group will meet members of the Lawrence Society to spread the sand on his grave on May 19 – now 90 years after Lawrence died in a motorbike accident. Howard, from London, said: 'I think a lot of military guys have some sort of admiration or fascination with Lawrence's story. What he achieved was certainly ahead of his time. The tactics he used have been copied ever since. 'I came up with the idea last May with some friends in the pub, probably over a couple of glasses of red. 'Riding a camel is completely different to riding a horse. There are lots of different saddles and [it] requires a lot of core strength. 'We did have to add a bit onto the journey to find the right place to cross the border from Saudi Arabia to Jordan but we quickly linked back up with the route.' The trek was named the Nasir, Bekri, Tayi and Lawrence Tribute Trek, after the Arab leaders of the original expedition – Sherif Nasir, Auda abu Tayi and Nesib el-Bekri. It took the original group over two months to complete the route. The Special Forces Club Benevolent Fund gives funding to ex-special forces soldiers who are suffering personal struggles later in life. Lawrence was killed in a motorcycle accident near his home at Bovington, Dorset in 1935. He is buried in the graveyard of St Nicholas Church in Moreton.
