Time To End Israel’s Oppression In Palestine

ISRAEL’s claim that its mass murder of Palestinians in Gaza constitutes an act of self-defence is outright ridiculous.

By the weekend, Israel had killed almost 900 Palestinians, close to a third of whom were children! On the other side of the conflict, 13 Israelis had been killed which shows that this is not a military battle but a planned, orchestrated mass execution. A particular horrific case in point was the distribution of pamphlets by the Israeli army, calling on civilians in Gaza to leave their homes and assemble in certain designated ‘safe’ buildings. Once Palestinians had moved into such a building it was bombed, killing 30 people instantly. This constitutes an act of cold-blooded murder and a crime against humanity. This cannot be justified on the basis of security concerns or in the name of religion. In fact, progressive Jews around the world have long opposed Israel’s illegal occupation and oppression within Palestinian territories. Also, there is a peace movement in Israel that recognises that there cannot be a military solution to the conflict.
The current bloodbath has its origin in a long history of dispossession and repression of Palestinians that was accompanied by Israel’s ongoing defiance of UN resolutions. Successive uprisings (Intifadas) by the Palestinians against their oppression since the late 1980s were answered with sheer brutality by the Israeli state. This reminds us of what liberation movements in Southern Africa had experienced when they rose against colonial rule. The first Intifada was based on mass mobilisation and pitted stone-throwing Palestinians against a well-armed Israeli army that was full equipped and supported by the US administration which regards Israel as its closest ally for its imperial Middle East policies. By 2000, militant Palestinians resorted to suicide bombings which reflected growing despair as the return of illegally occupied Palestinians territories became an ever decreasing prospect.
Israel not only increased its illegal settlements in the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank but also severely limited the movement of Palestinians within those territories. This was even acknowledged by a World Bank report of 2007 which noted the fragmentation of Palestinian areas which drove them to the brink of collapse. ‘The practical effect of this shattered economic space is that on any given day the ability to reach work, school, shopping, healthcare facilities and agricultural land is highly uncertain and subject to arbitrary restriction and delay’ the report noted. Likewise, a UN chief economist described Israel’s economic strangulation of the Occupied Territories as deliberate mass impoverishment. Furthermore, since 1967, Israel imprisoned more than 650 000 Palestinians – nearly 20% of the population!
When the PLO leadership capitulated in 1993 by signing the ‘Oslo Agreement’, it essentially gave up the demand for national self-determination and dropped its resistance to Israel’s illegal occupation. The Oslo agreement facilitated Israel’s continued violation of the Geneva Convention and international humanitarian law and also rewarded Israel for its many violations of UN resolutions. It was hardly surprising, that such an arrangement did not find support amongst most Palestinians and thus could not pave the way for a lasting peace. This was demonstrated during the Palestinian elections of 2006. Israel and the US had backed the moderate Fatah movement, which was willing to arrange itself with imperial interests and to compromise on long-standing Palestinian demands. When the more militant Hamas movement won the elections, Israel and the US (as well as several other Western states) refused to recognize the outcome. It seems that for the US and its allies, democracy only counts when the outcome is in their favour. Furthermore, the US and Israel spearheaded political and economic sanctions as part of a strategy that the New York Times described as starving the Palestinians for the political choice they had made.
This forms the background to the current blood bath which is a continuation of the US’ and Israel’s attempts to force Palestinians into submission. The rocket attacks on Israel (which served as the pretext for the invasion of Gaza) seem desperate acts against an almighty occupying fore. Once again, similarities to the liberation struggles in Southern Africa come to mind. Continuing this brutal oppression can never lead to a lasting peace and the cessation of hostilities. Both Israel and the US have to understand that justice – not military power – has to be the basis for peace.
During Namibia’s struggle for independence, we received international support for a just cause. Palestinians are in a desperate situation and deserve our support now. They must be protected against barbaric acts of collective punishment and they must have the right to self-determination. It is high time to isolate Israel politically and economically until it withdraws from the Occupied Territories and ends the oppression and atrocities against Palestinians.

Herbert Jauch
Windhoek, Namibia