Palestinian Resistance
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It was some years ago now that a post by YMS influenced my thinking on the Palestinian issue.
He suggested rather than it being a national liberation struggle for a separate state, a better strategy would be to accept Greater Israel and turn the protests into one of civil rights as citizens for West Bank and Gaza inhabitants, and thus bring into involvement the fifth of the population who are Arab-Israeli citizens.
This essay explores the role of class rather than nationality and also indicates a different strategy
The “Principal Threat”: Time to Talk about the Palestinian Class Struggle
“…Israeli settler colonialism is not only an agent of oppression, but also a class enemy…”
“…Having Religious Zionism at the heart of government will alter the tone in which Israeli politics is conducted, making it even coarser, more thuggish and uncompromising. But it will make no difference to the ethnic supremacism that has driven Israeli policy for decades. Israel is not suddenly a more racist state. It is simply growing more confident about admitting its racism to the world…”
Fascists in government won’t dent Western support for Israel
Class and race in Israel/Palestine with Emmanuel Farjoun IIRC this has some interesting this to say about the Labour situation in Israel. From memory (and skimming his old report) Israel heavily depends on Arab labour: and skilled labour, not just ‘menial’.
Moshe Machover on the one-state solution
He makes some good points on why it isn’t possible, except AFAICS there is only one state already, and it’s Israel.
Because of the demographic threat to the Jewish population by the inclusion of more Palestinians and their increased voting power, a simple one-state answer will never be acceptable to Israel.
But there are different options for a federal one-state. Isn’t Belgium an example that could be a template?
I’m sure there are other countries with mixed-ethnic communities that have built-in safeguards and caveats written into their constitutions.
Because the Palestinians are presently not potent enough to exert political influence there is no pressure on Israel to seek an alternative to the present occupation.
As Norman Finkelstein says it is an occupation without cost to Israel. America pays for defence. The EU pays for the civil administration and the PA ensures internal policing.
But several months ago when the unrest and discontent within Israel by its non-Jewish population, there was rapid response by the Israeli government to avert it growing and spreading while several of the extreme zionist parties recognised the seriousness of the risk and reacted to it much like the UDA and UVF in Northern Ireland when Catholics claimed their civil rights.
Even earlier there were Israeli protests in Tel Aviv and other cities centred on the price of scarce housing. Isn’t that one reason many new arrivals to Israel go to the settlements – cheaper housing but still good commuting connections to employment in Israel.
Yes. We have to start with the fact that the status quo is what the Israeli government wants, they’ve shaped it. The Palestinians have everything to gain, Israel can only lose: so there’s no basis for compromise.
We could build fantasy solutions, all of which are workable: cantonisation, co-dominion (the Swiss option, the Belgian Option, the Ulster option), etc. Even the UK is a model of sorts.
Any de jure two state solution would be a de facto one state solution. Any de jure one state solution would be a de facto two state solution.
the costs could actually be quite low, I believe the PA could sell the ‘right of return’ for the building of a decent port in Gaza, and some sort of land bridge to the West Bank.
In the Japanese boardgame Go, there is a thing called a ko position, where both sides put their pieces at risk, and neither wants to resolve the situation because they want the threat to remain open to exploit for initiative. Palestine is a ko position, none of the international actors actually want a resolution, so it won’t be resolved.
Are the Palestinians doomed?
“Chilling to think the Palestinians may be doomed, but active and passive resistance, international protests, UN Declarations, boycotts, divestments, silent sanctions, myriad of articles, sympathetic words, and anger at Israel’s violent repression have not changed the direction of their struggle. Since 1948, the pendulum has swung in one direction, a consistent increase in repression and destruction of the Palestinian community.”
“Mohammad Abbas and his government are in a no win position, constrained by a military that can enforce its will on any Palestine leadership. International agencies have no political or military force, can only assist Palestine and not desist Israel; the Palestine diaspora, fearful of revenge attacks that can invalidate their status, are restrained; and a sympathetic world community protests but cannot get their governments to act. The United States (US) is the major culprit in support of Israel’s deadly activities, and the United Kingdom (UK) and Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) passively support the destruction.”
Chasing a Mirage: How Israel Arab Parties Validate Israeli Apartheid
“Regardless of the outcome of the latest Israeli elections, Arab parties will not reap meaningful political benefits, even if they collectively achieve their highest representation ever. The reason is not about the parties themselves, but in Israel’s skewed political system which is predicated on racism and marginalization of non-Jews.”
“Palestinian citizens have always debated among themselves about the pros and cons of taking part in Israeli elections. Some understood that their participation validates the Zionist ideology and Israeli apartheid, while others argued that refraining from participating in the political process denies Palestinians the opportunity to change the system from within.”
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