The occupation of Palestine is not intractable: The way forward is obvious
By Declan Kearney MLA
In August 2023, and just nine weeks before the attack by Palestinian fighters which led directly to the start of the Netanyahu government’s war in Gaza, this blog noted the unprecedented divisions and contradictions which had become exposed in Israeli society.
The catalyst was a culmination of anti-democratic decisions taken throughout 2023 by Netanyahu and his coalition partners; widely perceived then as the most reactionary government in the history of the Israeli state. Today that perception is now accepted as an irrefutable fact. My assertion in that article was that the pragmatists and realists in Israel must finally conclude there is no alternative to finding a genuine democratic settlement with the Palestinian people and their leaders. Until that happens the implications of maintaining the illegal occupation of Palestine will fester like a cancer in Israeli society. The ethnic cleansing, apartheid system and settler colonialism inflicted against Palestinians have spawned a fascist-like ideology, which is now personified by Netanyahu’s coalition.
The question I posed last year was whether Israel could eventually evolve from the pre-August 2023 turmoil into a liberal democratic state and accept the national democratic rights of all Palestinians. The ongoing war in Gaza is the fifth which Israel has mounted since 2007. Young men and women in their late teens and early twenties have grown up knowing nothing else other than relentless siege and successive air and ground offensives. The Gaza Strip has not only become the world’s largest open-air prison, it has also become a permanent war zone. And all of that, alongside the occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and denial of Palestinian national self determination.
This is the objective reality and context which culminated in the attack against Israel on 7 October 2023. Netanyahu’s response was to unleash a genocidal war throughout the Gaza Strip, with the camouflage of two military objectives – the destruction of Hamas, and the release of the Israeli prisoners taken captive. After almost twelve months neither objective has been achieved.
Instead, a systematic genocide has been conducted, alongside a bombing campaign to make Gaza uninhabitable. The ensuing humanitarian catastrophe has caused the spread of serious communicable diseases, including the re-emergence of Polio. The hospital and medical infrastructure have been virtually decimated. The loss of life and human suffering is unparalleled. More than 40,000 have been killed, and thousands more dead bodies are buried beneath the rubble. Entire family networks have been wiped out.
New consequential crises are unfolding as a result. An estimated 150,000 Gazans have evacuated to Egypt, with over 90,000 living in dire poverty and with inadequate medical support. UNWRA does not possess sufficient funding to address the cost of living, accommodation and medical needs of these evacuees. There is no longer a vocabulary to properly describe the barbarity, horror and ruthlessness of this genocidal war. Although it unmasked the moral hypocrisy of the Western powers who give unconditional support to Israel and has even forced some to nuance their public positions, the fanatical aggression of Netanyahu’s government remains intact. He, and those who support this war are clearly out of control. Whilst the USA and other Western governments continue to fund and arm Israel’s murder machine in Gaza, they will consider themselves to be untouchable.
Netanyahu has assessed that, for as long as the war continues, he can avoid criminal proceedings and potential conviction and imprisonment. But he also shares the same hate-filled Zionist ideology as the other fanatics in his cabinet – and upon whom he depends on to remain in power. Every attempt to negotiate an end to this war has been subverted by the so-called war cabinet. That reality was brought sharply into focus by the assassination of Hamas leader and chief negotiator Ismail Haniyeh in July.
The assassination of Hezbollah’s senior commander Fuad Shukr, in the same period was an action clearly designed to cause broader regional destabilisation. A similar calculus has motivated the widespread military incursion into the West Bank, in Jenin, Nablus, Tulkarem, Tubas and Hebron, during the last two weeks. The objectives are to cause maximum loss of life; wholesale destruction of infrastructure and utilities; to demoralise the local population; crush popular resistance; and, to destroy any notion of a ‘two state settlement’ and Palestinian statehood. At the same time, the annexation of Palestinian land, theft of property, and settler expansion, is being accelerated. Netanyahu’s offensive in the West Bank is a gradual extension of the genocidal war in Gaza with the same aim of implementing ethnic cleansing through collective punishment.
Meanwhile the Palestinian Authority is being further hollowed out. It appears incapable of providing any effective strategic or political response, with inevitable repercussions for its leadership standing within the Palestinian civic society, and particularly among the youth. And yet, a tipping point for the Zionist strategy may now be coalescing. A newly emerging, tenuous, international consensus calling for a permanent ceasefire has begun to form. The primary factor influencing this is undoubtedly the moral courage of South Africa in taking its legal action under the Genocide Convention against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
The decision by Ireland, Spain and Norway to recognise the State of Palestine has disrupted the attempt by some to insinuate monolithic support across the EU for Israel’s war. Obvious tensions have opened up within the US administration. Nuanced calls for a permanent ceasefire are indicators of that, echoed most notably with recent interventions by Vice President Kamala Harris. And although the British decision to discontinue sales of some weaponry to Israel will not materially change its military capacity, it has a symbolic significance within the bigger picture. It may well be that Netanyahu and his allies have begun to overplay their hand, and irreversibly so – as extremists and supremacists often do.
However, it is within Israeli society that their ground has most dramatically narrowed. The deaths of the six young captives last week, some of who were listed for release stemming from any prospective prisoner exchange agreement, and scuppered for now by Netanyahu, has resulted in a wave of outrage against his government. The anti-war and anti-Netanyahu movement has been galvanised like never before. His government has been correctly viewed as the obstacle to a ceasefire, by putting his own self-preservation and messianic anti-Palestinian agenda before the release of captives, and the security of Israel.
This has now found expression within the war cabinet itself through a very public disagreement between Netanyahu and his defence minister Yoav Gallant. Former cabinet minister Benny Gantz has also strongly attacked Netanyahu’s failure to prioritise release of the captives. Last Monday popular anger led to an unprecedented general strike, called for by the Israeli trade union movement, and supported by opposition leader Yair Lapid. Since then widespread protests and disruption have continued.
Although no one is predicting an imminent ceasefire agreement, notwithstanding increased US diplomatic activity, many Israeli Arab and international commentators are describing the political volatility and street demonstrations in Israel as a watershed moment. In the meantime, the Palestinian people cannot wait, they have suffered too much, and for too long. The rising death toll in the West Bank and unimaginable human carnage in Gaza must be ended.
In addition, there are now 10,000 Palestinian political prisoners who are being subjected to physical and psychological torture. Over 60 prisoners have died in detention since 7 October 2023. The arming and funding of Netanyahu’s murder machine by the USA must be stopped. Comprehensive international economic and political sanctions must be imposed on Israel. If Netanyahu is determined to block a ceasefire agreement, then a price must be exacted with the complete isolation of Israel. His genocidal agenda is driving the Israeli state towards an abyss with devastating consequences.
At this time, the future security and stability of the state of Israel depends upon the influence of those who are pragmatic and realistic enough to recognise that a lasting and peaceful coexistence must negotiated with the Palestinian people. That, as former US Ambassador to Israel, Daniel Kurtzer recently stated, must be on the basis of full respect for the exercise of Palestinian national self-determination; a permanent end to settler colonial annexation of the West Bank; and a total withdrawal of all Israeli forces and settlements from Palestinian territories.
Contrary to the impossibilist narrative that nothing can be done, the occupation of Palestine is not intractable; it can be ended; it is not an immoveable impasse. The way forward is obvious, and it must be through inclusive dialogue and negotiation. No actor or side can be excluded, and no vetoes can be exercised over who is involved in the process, or the issues to be negotiated. That is how peace settlements are achieved.
Palestinians must prepare now for the eventual talks process, and the challenges it will present. Consensus on political unity within the entire liberation struggle, including civic society, based upon defined objectives, key areas of common ground, and an agreed national strategy, are essential. This work must commence now. Hard decisions will have to be confronted and resolved. Strategic initiatives, compromises and flexibility will need to be embraced. The Sinn Féin leadership is committed to working with, and walking that road with our Palestinian sisters and brothers, based upon our experience of struggle and developing the Irish peace process.
Ultimately the interests of the Palestinian people must be paramount. No other international or regional interests should distract from that priority. Today there is a collective responsibility to ensure the seeds of better times take root for the Palestinian people, and that a new dawn of opportunities will be realised. The hopes and dreams of Palestinians must be made a reality. In the words of the poet Fadwa Turqan:
“When the Tree rises up, the branches
Shall flourish green and fresh in the sun
The laughter of the Tree shall leaf beneath the sun
And birds shall return.
Undoubtedly, the birds shall return.
The birds shall return.”
- Declan Kearney is an MLA for South Antrim and National Chair of Sinn Féin. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram.
- This was originally published in the Sinn Féin email bulletin on 13/9/2024.
