Debriefing Palestine
by Jonathan Kuttab
I just returned to the US from a month-long trip to Palestine/Israel. You can read my trip reflections at the link below:
On my trip, I was able to reconnect with old friends and update the FOSNA family on a number of our ongoing campaigns, including:
- The Tent of Nations
- “The Six” organizations erroneously designated as “terrorist “ by Israel,
- Shadi Khoury, and
- Mohammed El-Halabi
The overwhelming feeling in the air, however, was that of a real sense of crisis. Even before the recent Israeli elections, there has been a sharp rise in settler violence. Once the new government was inaugurated, it published its “guidelines,” asserting Jewish control over and the expansion of settlements in the West Bank and greater emphasis on the exclusive “Jewishness” of the state. The new government also granted sensitive ministries, with control over the lives of Palestinians, to some of its most radical ministers (Ben Gvir, Minister of Police; Smotrich, Deputy Minister of Defense with special authority over the Civil Administration of the West Bank). Palestinians understandably expected the worst, and their fears have proven correct. Even before the beginning of Ramadan (on the 22nd of March), we have witnessed a pogrom in Huwwara and Za’tara, as well as bloody incursions into Jenin, Jericho, and Nablus, alongside open threats of a “Second Nakba,” additional home demolitions, harsher treatment for prisoners, and new legislation regarding capital punishment for Palestinian fighters. All this happens while the Palestinian Authority sinks to even new lows in terms of respect, legitimacy, and acceptance among its own people, and whose 80,000 strong police force cannot provide even the most basic of protections from daily settler violence. This is not to mention a looming crisis over succession, when the aging Mahmoud Abbas departs this life.
Also, on the Israeli side, there is a major existential crisis boiling out into weekly mass demonstrations and threats of wide-spread civil disobedience. The new government embarked on new legislation championed by some of the most extreme elements in Israeli society. The protests seem to be centered on laws that impact the very nature of the state and its system of governance. The old guard of Ashkenazi leaders have been steadily losing power to the National Religious Party and the Sephardic Jews. The demographic changes, as well as the steady shift towards fascism, have finally yielded the most extreme right-wing government Israel has seen. The “judicial reforms” proposed by the new government coalition are openly intended to weaken the last vestiges of political power held by the “old regime,” by reducing the power of the courts to overturn Knesset legislation and increasing the power of elected politicians to appoint judges who reflect the new power of the religious right and Sephardic Jews. Absent in this protest movement is any concern over genuine equality for Arab citizens of Israel, much less for the Palestinians in the occupied territories. The massive display of Israeli flags in the demonstrations sends the message that the protest is by and for Zionist Israelis, not about a rethinking of the state’s racist nature.
To be sure, some of the demonstrators are genuinely concerned about issues of equality and democracy. Some realize also that they cannot fight fascism while also supporting the occupation or neglecting Arab citizens who compose 21% of Israeli citizenry. Yet, the strategic decision was made by the Opposition not to permit Palestinian flags or placards and slogans against the occupation. But the resistance to the government is real, and some radical issues are being discussed. The prospect of a deep conflict and even a “constitutional crisis” looms large, particularly since Israel does not have a constitution and any changes to its structure, particularly of the courts, will certainly end up in the courts themselves. If the courts hold elements of the “judicial reforms” to be illegal, Israel has no easy method to resolve the conflict between the supporters of the current system and those with a Knesset majority who desire to change it by limiting the very power of the courts to examine and overturn Knesset legislation and government actions.
The crisis also extends to many of the supporters of Israel in this country who are finding it harder and harder to support the Israeli government and its increasingly fascist and openly racist policies, actions, and statements. As its activities and the actions and statements of its leaders are openly fascist, leaders who do not shun away from declaring the state’s apartheid nature, it becomes harder and harder for Israel’s supporters here, many of whom are otherwise quite liberal, to accept these realities.
I will be discussing these and other features of the current situation in a special debriefing session open to all members and friends of FOSNA next Thursday, March 16. You are welcome to register and join me in one week: to ask questions, make comments, and together discuss how things are changing and how we can use this unique opportunity to advance the cause of justice, equality, and peace that is central to our mission and belief as supporters of Palestinian liberation. Let us pursue a better future for all the residents of the Holy Land.