Palestine-Israel: A Reality Check

Fundamentally, this new generation is determined to address the causes of Palestinian fragmentation, and to unify both the political will and the means of struggle in the face of Israeli settler colonialism and Apartheid. As The Dignity and Hope Manifesto argues "this uprising will take time. It is an uprising of consciousness that shakes off the grime of subservience and defeatism and raises generations on the principle of a single unified Palestine, one which rejects all those who attempt to deepen and perpetuate social and political divisions and prevent allegiances". Such a narrative provides key entry points for the Palestinians to reclaim their present and dictate their future, instead of leaving that to external actors or illegitimate leadership. This is crucial and essential to the process of nourishing hope and imagining a different and better future. "You have something in this world, so stand for it" the Palestinian writer and political leader Ghassan Kanafani, once said. The Palestinians in Gaza, Haifa, Al-Lydd, Jerusalem, and elsewhere are doing precisely this: standing up for justice, freedom, dignity, and self-determination as fundamental values.

What is your take on the regional dynamics, especially in relation to Egypt’s position as a broker and the Abraham Accords?

It is critical to recognize that the renewed Egyptian role, especially in terms of brokering the latest ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, does not represent a fundamental policy shift in how the Egyptian regime views Hamas. Engaging with Hamas in the aftermath of the recent escalation, negotiating a ceasefire deal, and a potential deal to free Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, does not represent in anyway a sudden change of heart. It is a political game par excellence. The Egyptian regime wishes to illustrate to the Biden administration that they can still handle the "Palestinian file", and that they are willing to follow US guidance in this regard. The US administration wanted to "sub-contract" the brokering of the latest ceasefire to a regional actor, and Egypt accepted the mission. The US instructed, and Egypt executed. 

In relation to the so-called Abraham Accords, the recent cycle of confrontation challenged the fundamental fragilities of these Accords and exposed the intentions and strategies of the signatories. Those signatory parties were aligned and in harmony in the way they viewed the escalation; blaming the Palestinian side for "causing insecurity", "creating threats to stability", and "disrupting calm". This skewed understanding of reality could be explained through the common threads and features that these repressive security-driven regimes share. This certainly does not bode well for any form of meaningful peace. In contrast to this, the streets of the Arab world, including in places like Sudan and Morocco, witnessed demonstrations of solidarity with the Palestinians and their struggle. A "Palestinian momentum" offered a quick reality check that the Palestinian cause is neither dead nor forgotten, as many proponents of the so-called Abraham Accords wish to believe and argue. 

What can we take away from the international response to the escalation, especially in relation to the US, UN, and EU?

They all did what they do best: The US continued its unconditional support to Israel, the UN issued statements of condemnation and called for calm, and the EU expressed concerns. They all failed, once again, to uphold international law and failed to hold Israel accountable for the continuous violation of that law. We witnessed the further erosion of the legitimacy of key global governance institutions, such as the UN Security Council, we observed the dysfunctional UN political bodies in action, and we experienced the complicit role of the EU and its key players, such as Germany, in subsidizing military occupation, sustaining colonialism, and normalizing apartheid. 

We saw the US administration aiding and abetting Israel in the destruction of Gaza, and then rushing to announce their intention to rebuild it in an ultimate expression of unsurprising insolence, rudeness, and arrogance. We saw the UN condemn the miserable situation, but unable to do anything meaningful to ensure it won’t be repeated in the near future. The EU became an entrenched part of the problem and not part of the solution, starkly showing that no lessons have been learnt despite its decades-long intervention in Palestine-Israel. The UN and EU in particular, did not only fail the Palestinian people, but they betrayed the very principles they claim to represent and embody such as justice, freedom, equality, and dignity. 

The latest cycle of confrontation and escalation did not only expose Israel and its settler colonial project, but it also exposed the extent to which key powerful actors in the international community are supporting this project directly and indirectly. Colonization is one of the most easily recognized forms of oppression in the world, yet key powerful actors in the international community have decided to turn a blind eye and allow Israel to violate international law with impunity. If the international community is serious about solving the "Palestinian-Israeli conflict", they know where and how to start. It isn’t as complicated as they wish to believe and argue.

Copyright: ABBAS MOMANI / AFP