As Israel prepares to invade Palestine the media war has been cranked up to full blast. The West claims Hamas is a terrorist organization, Israel claims Hamas has no right to defend the territories, rockets have hit Jerusalem, Egypt has come out in support of the Palestinians and no one is ready for peace. The violence threatens to destabilize the entire region which would give the West the impetus for invading Iran and Syria. Hopefully this is wrong but it is a distinct possibility.

As Israel prepares to launch an invasion of Gaza and Palestine with its superior army and forces in what they say is an operation to destroy Hamas, which, is responsible for the launching of rockets into Israel, the worldwide condemnation of the violence by both sides is almost unanimous. Yet pleas for reigning in the violence are being ignored and seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

Much of the world’s condemnation has been directed at Israel, although it was Hamas which attacked first and in fact drew first blood in the exchange of rocket fire.

The reason for the attack by Hamas is not as simple as many in the West would like everyone to believe and it is in fact Israel and Washington who have not only caused the conflict but have made it almost impossible to bring Hamas and Islamists to the negotiating table.

While Palestine is seeking recognition at the United Nations and had been ready to enter serious and substantive negotiations with Israel to guarantee that what is currently taking place never did again, Israel refused to stop settlement activity and continues to refuse to recognize the Palestinian state.

Hamas for its part continues to call for the destruction of Israel, which may be understandable as Israel has left them almost no other position as it has refused to negotiate and has refused to cease settlement activity in occupied Palestinian lands.

The problem for decades now has been the question of borders and the whole question could be resolved if Israel ceased all settlement activity and agreed to recognize the 1967 borders, but that is something Israel has refused to do.

Although Israel is surrounding by Islamic countries Israel has for the most part refused to seek peace with its neighbors, instead continuing on a path of never ending violence. This lies in its refusal to abide by the 1967 borders and allow Palestine to have its own state with its capital in part of Jerusalem.

The never ending cycle of violence has been made worse and has been propagated by both sides, one side calling for the destruction of Israel and the other calling for the destruction of Hamas and Hezbollah which they have branded as terrorist groups.

This is where the West and Israel have shot themselves in the foot and where one has to question whether there is any real desire by Israel and the West for any sort of peace.

By branding these groups, in this case Hamas, terrorist organizations, it has made it virtually impossible for Washington to accept their overtures for peace, allow them to be recognized at the negotiating table or come to any form of agreement with them.

The US has continued the terrorist labeling for so long and has not only made it part of the American psyche but official policy that they do not negotiate with terrorists that is impossible politically, especially on the domestic front, to negotiate with these groups even when they seek peace.

In this case it is clear that Hamas was in fact seeking peace, as is evidenced by the fact that Ahmed Jabari, the assassinated leader of the Hamas military wing, was in possession of a draft agreement for a permanent truce hours before he and his entourage were eradicated by an Israeli air-strike.

The terrorist label has been so over-used, that now it covers almost any person, group, organization or country, for that matter that the US does not like for whatever reason.

Palestine has no army as would a normal recognized nation so it is therefore defenseless. This is where groups like Hamas and Hezbollah come into the picture. The Palestinians, just like the Israelis, have the same universal desire to survive and exist as a people and a nation, but because of their status this has been almost impossible.

The problem with labeling groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations, as I said is that then it is extremely difficult to openly negotiate with them, and for them it is then difficult to claim they seek peace as most westerners are already trained to believe this is an impossibility.

Once again we come across another example of US and western hypocrisy. This time in the labeling, in reality Hamas and the Palestinians are fighting for freedom. The problem is that they are doing so from Israel. For the US any enemy of Israel is an enemy for theirs. We have seen the same thing time and time again.

When Muammar Gadaffi decided to cooperate with the US, even after clearly supporting what were considered acts of terrorism, he went from being a terrorists and became a “friend”.

Saddam Hussein’s case was the opposite. When he had “good relations” with the US he was okay. When he did something such as changing the country’s hard currency investments and oil trade to something other than the US dollar (for example) he then became a terrorist.

In Libya, when terrorists brutally assassinated Gadaffi, the US called them rebels and freedom fighters. After all they killed a US enemy, and the same is true in Syria. The US is even paying Al-Qaeda operatives to assist them in changing the regime and they are being called soldiers of the “Free Libya Army”. Why are armed insurgents and real terrorists, who are doing everything to destroy the legitimate power in Syria, supported and accepted? Because they are fulfilling US interests.

Osama Bin Laden is another example, first he was a “freedom fighter” funded and backed by the US, and was a “good” guy when he was fighting the Soviet Union. Then all of a sudden he became terrorist number one, when he was no longer needed.

This has become a disservice to all the parties involved including Israel, but it does remain in line with US policy in the region. Here it is important to recall that the goal is ultimately controlling and taking over Iran and Syria: Iran for its oil and resources which are supposed to be ultimately taken over and the Syria through which the oil is suppose to be routed to the Mediterranean.

It may be that the initial attack on Syria was not from Hamas but a spark to light a larger fire, carried out by rogue elements. This latest violence would allow the West to label Hamas terrorists and Iran as a supporter of terrorism. Something that benefits and justifies US plans for the region.

Israel is right in the middle. If the war continues there will be more groups who will join to defend Palestine, which will lead to more bloodshed on both sides.

Once again we need to look at who benefits here? Does Israel benefit from the violence? Maybe, what with elections coming up. Does the US benefit? Of course they do, this will allow them to expand their operations in the region, under the pretext of defending Israel.

Depending on how they choose to play the current fighting and where supplies such as missiles are coming from (Iran?) this may allow them to launch another aggressive war and an invasion of Iran.

Who will suffer the most in the conflict? Palestine, unless the rest of the Muslim world comes to their rescue, which is not out of the question but which will destabilize the entire region even further and seriously damage Israel.

The question remains, is it possible that the US is ready to sacrifice Israel in order to reach its own ends and advance its geopolitical agenda in the region? Doubtful, but it is one possibility which needs to be looked at.