Palestinians - dying for freedom
World
No peace is expected in the Middle East unless an independent Palestinian state
By Ali Haider
“I come bearing an olive branch in one hand, and the freedom fighter’s gun in the other. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand.” — Yasser Arafat, 1974
Standing at the UN General Assembly almost half a century before, the then Palestinian Liberation Organization leader requested the world to bring an end to unjust and oppressive Israeli occupation.
Israel announced itself as a so-called independent state in 1948, displacing and looting Palestinians ever since. The Palestinians referred to this event as the Nakba or catastrophe.
Since then, thousands of Palestinians have lost their lives from the unrestricted bombing and shelling of bloodthirsty Israeli occupation.
Instead of resolving the Palestine issue on humanitarian, moral and legal grounds, the West has labelled the deaths of innocent civilians ‘Israel’s right to defence’.
1. Who’s to blame for Israel-Palestine conflict
Before going to the latest war, it is pertinent to explain who is responsible for the destabilisation and chaos in Palestine.
A - British role in Palestinians’ expulsion
Before nation-states, empires used to decide not only the fate of their citizens but also of those residing in various areas. The British Empire did the same with Palestinians.
After the end of the First World War, the British decided to settle the Jews in Palestine. For this very reason, then British foreign secretary Arthur Balfour met the figurehead of the Jewish British community, Lionel Walter Rothschild, and assured him of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
As a result, a mass influx of Jews in Palestine took place. Illegal settlements and the bloody attacks on Palestine changed the demography of the area very rapidly.
Once controlling the whole of Palestine, most Palestinians now live in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip which is often referred to as the 'largest open air prison'.
B – America’s emboldening of Israeli occupation
The United States has encouraged Israeli occupation and expansion over the years. It has vetoed any resolution condemning Israel at the United Nations Security Council.
The US has championed the so-called ‘Israel’s right to defend itself’ even if the dead ones are innocent children and women.
Moreover, to further expedite the process of Israeli occupation and fast-track expansion, it has overseen and brokered deals between Arab states and Israel.
From Camp David Accords in 1978 – which led to a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel in 1979 – to the Abbraham Accords – which paved the way for the recognition of Israel by the UAE and Bahrain and brokered by then US president Donald Trump - the normalised relations with Israel increase vulnerabilities for Palestinians as they feel isolated and helpless.
Moreover, the US has supplied Israel with modern military artillery. This weapons are mostly used against innocent Palestinians. A UN report points out that since 2008, nearly 5,500 Palestinians have died by Israel’s incessant attacks on civilians who are not involved in the conflict. The US has provided moral and legal support to Israel all the time by defending it at the UN.
2 – The Latest Onslaught on Gaza by Israel
The Gaza Strip faces a land, sea and air blockade by Israel. Its borders with Israel and Egypt are also fenced with almost an impossible movement of its 2.1 million citizens out of the strip. This is why it’s often dubbed as the ‘largest open-air prison’.
Israel has waged five wars on the Palestinian territory since 2008. The latest started on Oct 7 when Hamas, a group that controls Gaza, barged into Israel – or rather occupied Palestine – and started firing killing almost 1,300 Israeli citizens.
As a result, Israel retaliated and responded in the only way it knows: killing innocent children, women and elders. So far almost 2,300 citizens including 700 children have lost their lives in Gaza due to relentless and barbaric Israeli attacks.
Moreover, Israel says it will launch a ground invasion of Gaza with a possibility of regional war as Iran has warned of far-reaching consequences in case Israeli troops land in the strip.
This war is slightly different from the previous conflicts between Hamas and Israel for two specific reasons: Firstly, it has punctured the myth of Israeli invincibility. Its military force is the most powerful in the region with a famed missile defence system. But the Hamas’ armed men's entry into Israel and attacks with missiles point out the fragility of its defence mechanism.
Secondly, it has derailed the normalisation process between Saudi Arabia and Israel. After the Abraham Accords, the US was supervising another Israeli agreement with the most powerful Arab state.
The attack by Hamas has clearly shown that the group has had enough of the Arab states showing their allegiance to the Jewish occupying force.
3 – What the War has shown
A - Changing priorities of the Arab World
The Palestinian cause was once given the primacy in any Arab dealing. Now, it has taken a secondary significance. The Abraham Accords made it clear that Arab states have shifted their priority with a focus on only securing financial deals with Israel and the US.
Before the war stymied the process, KSA and Israel normalization was very much on the cards. The Arab states, especially KSA, need to realize any deal with Israel without an independent Palestinian state would not achieve the desired objective.
Arab states, except Kuwait and Qatar, have restricted themselves to just issuing sympathetic statements in the ongoing massacre of Palestinians.
B – West’s hypocrisy
Claiming to be the champion of human rights, the Western nations treat the Palestinians as somewhat important. Women, children and elders – innocent and uninvolved in conflict – have faced Israeli assault but the occupying Israeli forces have not been criticized, let alone held accountable.
The Western media and politicians, barring exceptions, only speak when Israel suffers in a conflict. Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, made this point in a quiet, but persuasive address he delivered to that powerless body.
“History,” he said, “begins for some media and politicians when Israelis are killed. Our people have endured one deadly year after another”.
He also said the sufferings of the Palestinians have increased due to international inaction.
However, human rights organizations have published reports year after year documenting systematic killings of Palestinians by Israel. For instance, Human Rights Watch published a detailed 213-page report in April 2021 finding Israel has continuously persecuted Palestinians since its engineered inception.
The same report highlighted that Israel has been trying to impose ethnic supremacy in Occupied Palestine while also calling that for generations, the occupying force has been guilty of apartheid.
But that was hardly a piece of news for the Western press.
For some news outlets, like CBC, the death of Barack Obama’s dog was more saddening than the constant barbarism that the Palestinians have been facing.
But the matter is the opposite when any Israeli is killed – Palestinians are labelled terrorists and innocent civilians pay it with their blood.
4 – A free Palestine – the only solution
The road to stability in the Middle East lies in an independent Palestine. For decades, Palestinians have been paying the cost of freedom with their blood. The international support for Israel has emboldened it to strengthen its occupation, expand its settlements and kill Palestinians at its will without any accountability.
Palestinians continue to die for their freedom as the major powers not only remain silent but also encourage Israel to wipe out civilians. Sadly, apart from the powers.
For how long they will struggle for freedom despite the odds being heavily against them?
The short answer: Unless they get their occupied lands back and are freed as an independent nation, Palestinians will continue to strive.
As it once their land that was forcefully taken away, it shall return to them one day.
The role of the UN should be proactive as it has just been reduced to a toothless body just ‘urging oppressor to quit oppression’. It should act now to make the situation in Gaza better where even hospitals are under attack.
Also, the Arab nations should revisit their policies to normalize ties with Israel. The desired goal behind relations with Israel is financial deals and prosperity. However, countries in the Middle East will also suffer from the Zionist regime’s violent actions as the ground invasion of Gaza is on the cards.
The situation will remain unstable as long as an independent Palestinian state is not created.
