Only One Palestine, One Country Part II

As I write(December 27, 2008), Israeli forces have initiated massive air and sea bombardments of the Gaza Strip, and there is fear that a ground invasion is imminent as tanks assemble and 6,500 reservists have been called up. Israel claims that Hamas has broken a ceasefire agreement by launching rocket attacks on Southern Israel; but the allegation is unfounded. Israel had earlier entered Gaza and killed a number of Palestinians in an apparent attempt to provoke a Hamas military response. Sadly, the European Union and, of course, the United States perpetuate the Israeli public relations spin that Israel is only acting in self-defense(with a wildly disproportional counter-attack: the first body count is 340 Gazan dead-to-3 Israeli!) Most western media are quickly and decidedly pro-Israel and report that Israel will continue bombardments until Hamas stops the rocket launches. One wonders if this condition is offered as an amusement by Israeli leaders; for it presents a conundrum to the seriously minded observer. There are no quid pro quos when dealing with the Israel military(Ask Lebanon!). To stop the rocket attacks, which are more braggadocio or symbolic than lethal or efficient, would not necessarily solve anything; for Gazans would still be confined to the World's largest prison camp, and suffering the additional pains of a crippling and demoralizing blockade--an act of war in itself! Some interested parties tell Hamas to adopt a non-violent approach to Israeli "occupation" and dominion over Gaza. Mahatma Gandhi's grandson lectured Palestinians on the topic recently. What he and other commentators(gurus?)have ignored, or not understood, is that an Intifada(shaking off) is non-violent action against Israeli militarism and economic sanctions. Bitterly, the Israeli response to such action has been increased state terrorism, greater assaults on human rights, more carnage and stepped up confiscations of Palestinian land.(With the attack on Gaza, there is now a call for a Third Intifada.) Also overlooked, Hamas has never launched rockets from the West Bank! As bad as things are there, the situation is far worse in Gaza, in relative terms. And let us not forget, Hamas was democratically elected and rather convincingly so, in early 2006. Obviously, Israel and its underwriters, the United States in particular, do not respect the democratic process, even when international monitors call an election free and fair. Rulers in the Middle East have no love for Hamas or representative governments, in general. Although the Arab League might meet on the Gazan Crisis, will it act to support Palestinian self-determination or, will it tacitly side with Israel and the United States?(The Saudi royal family and Mubarak of Egypt are closely tied to US foreign policy interests. I would not bet on the Arab League!)Will Egypt dare to open its border to Gazans?(Remember what Israel did to Egypt in the Six-Day War in 1967?) With the current Gaza situation aside, I have some random reflections on the Israel-Palestine Conflict: Whenever a previously oppressed group becomes an oppressor, it is evidence that either Homo sapiens is a flawed species or it has not been around long enough to have become civilized. Where is the Jewish Martin Luther King or Gandhi or Dali Lama? Where is Amos when we need him most? We have Mordechai Vanunu, nuclear whistle-blower, but look at what Israel did to him. Some Israeli peace organizations are active; however, the vast majority of Israeli Jews support and praise the military assault on Gaza. The collective memory of deadly oppression should make every survivor and descendant a peace advocate and conscientious objector! It is inconceivable that a people with recent pogrom victimization would ever fashion a religious state on conquest and occupation, in this instance, the Palestinian homeland. The Zionist movement manipulated western powers long before events of WW II, as revealed with the Balfour Declaration and the British Mandated Palestine when France and Britain configured the Middle East . These seminal moments occurred in 1917. The Nazi holocaust was a factor in the United Nations decision to support the creation of a Jewish state in 1948. The latest repercussion of western involvement in Palestine is the current massacre in Gaza. Apartheid South Africa was closely allied with Israel, the latter an arms supplier(with US sponsorship)and the former, an advisor on race-based oppression strategies. It is altogether likely that a nuclear connection also existed. Israeli apartheid differs from the "Afrikaner" model--the Israeli version is even more severe, more deadly. What is happening in Gaza is a continuation of colonial and imperial strategies inherent in nineteenth century Zionist ideology. Apparently, the final solution in that context(and the issue was discussed among the founders)is the eventual and complete expulsion of Palestinian Arabs from Palestine. But, today, such a policy would constitute "ethnic cleansing"! The European powers and the United States(under the new Obama administration, as did the previous George W. administration)provide Israel unqualified support.(resulting in the tail wagging the dog?) The obstacle is Palestinian resistance! Desperation runs deeply in the Arab world. In Palestine it has accumulated over generations. At this point, Palestinians(and Hamas)have nothing to loose! Most anything Israel does at this point can trigger major uprisings. This is a most dangerous moment for the entire Middle East.