The Denial of the Jewish and Palestinian People
By Andres Kogan Valderrama
HAVANA TIMES – The brutal attack by Hamas a few days ago and the fierce response of the State of Israel against the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip must not only be strongly condemned, but also seen as part of a historical process of denial of the Jewish and Palestinian people that has brought about extreme ideological fanaticism. It has caused notions such as defense and resistance to be used to justify the worst aberrations against thousands of human beings.
I raise this because of the unfortunate reaction of both right and left sectors in the world, which instead of demanding an end to violence right now, try to impose a look of death that is not in the least interested in respect for human rights and the search for bridges between both parties that allow the long-awaited peace in that disputed territory.
This is how, on the one hand, there are those who defend the idea that Jews have the right to defend themselves in any way, in the face of external aggression, without taking into consideration the colonial character of the State of Israel historically, which has violated international law for decades, through an illegal occupation of Palestinian lands and generating a racist system of apartheid, which denies the humanity of the Palestinians, recalling reprehensible and unacceptable experiences carried out in countries such as Germany and South Africa.
But on the other hand, there are those who relativize the massacre of a criminal group like Hamas against civilians, with an idea of resistance that is based on the denial of the Jewish people as well, not caring about the suffering of human beings, much less the possibility of building agreements. that allows Jews and Palestinians to coexist peacefully.
Hence, as a son and descendant of Jews, I am very ashamed to read people from different parts of the world who celebrate or omit both the criminal actions of the State of Israel and what was done by Hamas, since I feel that they denigrate two peoples that have the right to exist and to live without fear and peacefully.
With this I am not trying at any time to have a neutral position on the conflict, but on the contrary, to denounce those who prefer to use war and genocide, instead of politics to resolve a scenario that seems increasingly distant from having a way out, being dominated by fanatical nationalist and religious Israeli and Palestinian sectors, which feed and strengthen themselves with war and the death of human beings.
That said, the idea of defense can no longer be allowed to be used to justify Israeli colonialism, Islamophobia and the denial of the Palestinian people, but neither can criticism of Zionism be used to justify the denial of the Jewish people, as seen in repeated occasions from sectors that seem to enjoy rejecting the dignity of others, instead of looking for a different and sustainable solution.
In that sense, what the Israeli extreme right is doing is brutal, by not giving up on its colonialist settlement policy in the West Bank, as well as the criminal response of Hamas, with the help of the State of Iran, which destroys the hope of two peoples that have many more things that unite them than those that divide them.
Consider the hell that the Palestinians live in Gaza, completely isolated and inside a large open concentration camp, having to deal with the bombings of the State of Israel and the persecutions of Hamas, who do not care about killing Jews or Palestinians, only seeking to continue with their ideological aims, which only benefit a small group in power.
Given this, international support must be focused on strengthening the most moderate sectors in Israel and Palestine, in order to remove all Israeli settlers from the West Bank and put an end to the existing ethnic cleansing, in order to return to the original partition of 1948. with secure borders but also recognition of the other as an equal.
Only in this way will Netanyahu and the Israeli extreme right lose strength, as will Hamas, thus strengthening progressive Israeli sectors, as well as Fatah and the Palestinian National Authority, which remain very weakened and must play a key role for a new path for peace and against any type of denialism.
However, to achieve that, the United Nations Security Council must first be reformed and democratized, so that once and for all the vetoes of the great patriarchal powers, such as the United States, Russia and China, are eliminated, and thus they lose the power to do whatever they want with international law and what happens on the planet.
Out of 193 UN countries, 165 recognise Israel as a state. Palestine seems to be rapidly catching up (recognised as a state by 139 countries).
Israel is also recognised by UN Resolution as having annexed and being currently in occupation of territory outside of its borders (as is Russia).
But the UN is toothless in this regard. International democracy is very often secondary to the strategic interests of the major global powers.
Its fine to use terminology such as terrorist or fanatic. If that’s the terminology we’re using, then terrorists and fanatics have long been influential on both sides.
Grotesque slaughter of innocents is grotesque slaughter of innocents whether by knife, gun or missile.
Yasser Arafat had no mandate from his people to accept any deal that resulted in less territory than that recognised under international law. It may have saved a lot of suffering if he had.
Going by the law of averages, peace will gradually break out at some point, simply because it normally does.
But there will be a lot more suffering first. Way too much.
My comment about Yasser Arafat, was that he rejected agreement at Camp David in 2000. That is historic fact. I have not at any time suggested that Arafat was responsible for all the trials and tribulations that have beset Israel/Palestinian relations since 1948. There is an old truism that “united we stand, divided we fall’ and that most certainly applies to the Palestinians. One can delve into the multitude of errors, falsehoods, political wranglings and deceit. But the UN established the State of Israel, it is a legal entity and democratic. Palestinians who were within the defined area of the country, became citizens with full rights being almost 30% of the electorate. The problems that subsequently arose, were that Palestinians who had chosen previously to flee out of that area, were not permitted to return. If, one accepts that Israel has a right to exist – of the thirteen “tribes” it has the smallest area, then clearly those Palestinians who choose to seek its eradication by force, are terrorists. As I wrote, there was a chink of light and opportunity at Camp David and it was Yasser Arafat who rejected it. If Nick thinks that further such opportunity will arise, perhaps he will explain when, where and how?
I’m afraid Mr MacD has misread. I have made 2 comments since the latest atrocities committed by Hamas and the subsequent bombardment of Gaza.
In neither did I state that Sharon was at Camp David Summit. At this summit Israel reneged on the Oslo Accord and veered away from the agreed land boundaries. Those understood internationally. Arafat could have accepted the further loss of territory but he didn’t.
However, a whiff of peace was in the air and there could have been progress.
But Sharon dragged his fat ass up to Temple Mount/Al Aqsa and that was that.
He furthered his own political career, killed off any further peace negotiations and put Arafat under house arrest where he then remained until his death.
Nick is incorrectly informed. Sharon was not at Camp David. Israel was willing to sign, providing a two state solution, Arafat was not! I stand by my statement. Trying to drag in confusion by regurgitating subsequent events, does not change the reality!
Excellent article.
Quite why Mr MacD is laying all the blame on Yasser Arafat without mentioning the likes of Ariel Sharon is unfathomable.
If Arafat is described as a former terrorist then Sharon should also be described in the same way. And it was Sharon who slammed the door shut when peace was knocking.
Hopefully there will be peace one day and it will be embraced. Giving up on peace is like giving up on the human condition.
Meanwhile the atrocities committed by both sides look like continuing for a while yet. In fact, a huge escalation could be about to occur.
Heartfelt feelings resolve nothing, reason is essential. Opportunity seldom knocks twice, and when it arose in the long strife between the Arab population and the State of Israel, it was a Palestinian leader who rejected opportunity for reasonable resolution.
I refer to Yasser Arafat, who initially earned his reputation as a terrorist, but then turned to politics and became recognized by both the world at large and the State Of Israel as leader of the Palestinian people. Thus he was invited by then President Clinton in the year 2000 to Camp David, where he found himself unable to become a diplomat in negotiations with Israel and to accept that a degree of compromise is always necessary by participants, but reverted to his terrorist outlook of all or nothing. It was he who rejected the best proposals that the Palestinians could possibly expect.
Subsequently the Israeli Government changed to becoming ever more aggressive and ever less amenable to consideration of the two state solution. Immigrant Jews from Russia in particular, began to build houses on the West Bank with the tacit approval of an extreme right wing Israeli Government. Where formerly Bedouin grazed their goats, and pitched their tents, Jewish settlements appeared with olive trees uprooted.
Could successive US Governments – both Democratic and Republican, have exerted more influence upon Israel, by for example reducing financial support by $1,000,000 for each house built on the West Bank? For even, if not especially, money talks in the Middle East.
When I first visited Israel in 1993 and toured the country from north to south and from the coast to the Dead Sea, visiting Kibbutz, meeting settlers and vegetable producers, both Palestinian and Jewish, who had active friendships exchanging gifts between families. I even visited the co-operative that marketed the produce for over 20 Kibbutz including Riem, now in ruins following a hideous massacre.
Hamas has ensured that the hatred between Palestinian and Jew will only strengthen. Compromise is now impossible. That fatal decision by Yasser Arafat, changed history.