Can Palestine be Free?

When possible we like to present some of the talks that form the basis of our meetings. Here is the text from last Thursday's, which led to a lively and detailed discussion of the issue. We hope you find it useful.

Introduction

Any attempt to address the issues of Palestine and Israel today must be prefaced by an acknowledgement of its history. And any 20-30 minute talk cannot hope to capture everything about the conflict. Important and significant issues are bound to be left out. So in this talk I want to briefly address the history of the conflict and the occupation and look at the situation of Palestinians today. However, the focus of the talk will be the structure of the Israeli state and prospects for ending the occupation and oppression of the Palestinians by the Israelis.

The History.

Israel and Judaism are closely tied together. For anti-Semites, the treatment of the Palestinians is vindication of their bigotry. For others, the occupation and repression can be psychologically justifed as a response to the holocaust. So I wanted to begin this talk with a quote from a famous Jewish meditation on the nature of humanity, because it gives the lie to both of these simplistic assumptions.

Judaism recognises that it is man's task to bring forth truth and justice and righteousness and peace. It is a mistake to believe that man is by nature good or evil. Man has the capacity for both and the holocaust has shown that he can in fact actualise great evil.

... it is up to him whether he does one or the other, whether he chooses life and the blessing, or whether he chooses death and the curse. Let us choose life, that we may live.

J Bemporad, The Concept of Man after Auschwitz

Israel and Judaism are not synonymous, as the plethora of Jewish anti-Zionist organisations demonstrate. So what is the history of Israel?

The idea of Israel is not the same as the state of Israel. Israel in Judaism has several meanings, the three most significant of which are the identification of Jews as a chosen people, singled out for a particular relationship with the deity; the covenant between the deity and the Jewish people, and the mytho-historical land detailed in sacred texts. The modern state of Israel is none of these things. It is a nation state, a type of political entity that arose along with capitalism in the 18^th - 19^th centuries. It is a capitalist state, a neo-colonialist state and a client state which has successfully used its imperial masters in its own interests at least as frequently as it has been used.

The historian Ilan Pappe explains

Eretz Israel, the name for Palestine in the Jewish religion, had been revered throughout the centuries by generations of Jews as a place for holy pilgrimage, never as a future secular state. Jewish tradition and religion clearly instruct Jews to await the coming of the promised Messiah at 'the end of times' before they can return to Eretz Israel as a sovereign people ... (this is why today several streams of Ultra-Orthodox Jews are either non or anti-Zionist). In other words, Zionism secularised and nationalised Judaism.

Where did it come from? The modern Zionist movement has its roots in the late 19^th century and the pogroms and repression visited upon the Jewish peoples by various autocratic European states. Initially this project consisted of buying land in Palestine and beginning Jewish colonies there. The project was expansionist from its inception, but at this stage was largely confined to buying as much land as possible from the absentee landlords within the Ottoman Empire who owned the area. The people who actually lived there already, the Palestinians, were largely tenant peasants, and so did not get a say in what happened to the land they lived and worked on. Nevertheless, in the early years of the 20^th century it was a relatively small movement making up about 5% of the population of Palestine.

The British state however saw these Jewish colonies as a potentially very useful group in an area which was taking on more and more strategic importance for the global imperialisms vying for dominance – and World War One, the first oil war, merely sharpened the urgency of the situation. In 1917 the British Foreign Secretary Lord Balfour made the now legendary Balfour Declaration which promised the Jewish people a homeland in Palestine. The British talk was of a Palestinian state which recognised Palestinian and Zionist equally but in practice they gave significant advantages to the Zionists. The period after the Balfour declaration was one of increasing inter-ethnic tension and violent clashes between Palestinians and Zionist groups. It was during this period that the first Zionist paramilitary groups, such as the Hagana, were set up (with British help) to carry out attacks on Palestinians with the aim of deterring Palestinian attacks on Zionists.

Nevertheless, between the 1920s and 30s there were several uprisings by Palestinians against the British and the Zionists, which were ruthlessly put down. By the end of the British mandate in Palestine in 1948, Zionists owned about 5.8% of Palestinian land, but needed more if it was to form a viable and exclusively Jewish state. This was necessary for demographic reasons. Jews were still in the minority in Palestine, refugees from Europe in the 1920s and 30s having increased the Jewish population until it made up a third of the population of the area. If the Zionist project were to continue it could not afford to be part of a bourgeois democratic state where they would be continually under pressure to accept majority-rule, whatever advantages the British left them with.

There is not time here to go into every detail of the Israeli use of military power to expand itself over the next half-century, but suffice it say that when it launched its 'war for independence' in 1948, up to 1.5 million Palestinians were forced off their land at gunpoint and millions of Palestinians still live in refugee camps to this day. The 1948 war is known by Palestinians as the Nakba, or 'Catastrophe'. When it was over, Israel had taken over the majority of Palestine, far exceeding a partition agreed by the UN. After successful defence of and enlargement of its territory in 1967 it controlled even more. Since then, the policies of the Israeli government have been largely about creating 'facts on the ground' – building Israeli settlements across large parts of the occupied territories of the West Bank nominally controlled by Palestinians.

Israel Today

Today, only a tiny fraction of Palestinian land is occupied by Palestinians. Israel holds all the cards in the dispute – it has a functioning economy, total control of the resources and infrastructure available to Palestinians and of course a well-funded, armed and equipped military. A country with a population approximately that of Greater London has a GDP of over $270 bn, putting in the top 50 economies worldwide. On top of this, it receives substantial monetary aid from the US - $3 bn for the military alone, annually. This allows the Israelis to afford all the latest deadly toys in order to more effectively control the Palestinian population. During the latest offensive, the Israelis have been able to enter Gaza at will, or bombard from the air or the sea. The 1,800 Palestinians killed may one day seem small beans, if the persistent allegations of a secret Israeli nuclear weapons programme are true.

Why does Israel repeatedly attack Gaza? It is not that it ignores the West Bank – after the murder of two Israeli settlers that was used as the pretext for this latest round of bloodletting there were nearly 20 people kiled and over 500 arrested. However, Gaza is frequently subject to a far more concentrated military assault. This is at least partly due to the lower concentration of Israeli settlements inside Gaza compared to the West Bank, but also has to do with the different governments in each area, with Hamas in Gaza being less compliant than Fatah in the West Bank.

In fact there is no great mystery behind Israel's use of large-scale violence and oppression. There are so many reasons for its assault that the hardest part is deciding which is the most significant at any given time – and considering these can help us to understand the nature of the Israeli state today.

Firstly, there is the question of Gazan supplies. Israel wants total control over what goes in and comes out of Gaza, not least because this gives it more effective coercive power to ensure that Palestinian leaderships give in to its demands. Since the Egyptian revolution it has been easier for Gazans to get supplies through, but with the retreat of the revolutionary forces and the success of the counter-revolution, Israel can rely upon the Egyptian military to close its borders more effectively. Israel is attacking Gaza in a moment where its ability to supply itself is becoming more difficult. This will, incidentally, be of use to the Egyptian military as well, as a major theme in the street movements and slogans of the revolution has been to look to Palestine and to demand Palestinian freedom as well as Egyptian freedom. A defeat for the Palestinians may have a further demoralising effect on revolutionary forces there.

Secondly there is the need to cow the Palestinians. The Israeli tactic of aggressive terror attacks goes all the way back to the Hagana in the 1920s. It is an effective tactic in deterring future resistance, especially given the overwhelming firepower available to the Israelis.

Thirdly there are potential external threats to Israel, as ISIS is becoming a significant power in the region. Aggressive Islamism and aggressive Zionism are now near neighbours, so a show of force could act as a deterrent to a perceived threat.

Fourthly, there is the racism within Israeli society. Anti-Arab sentiment is widespread within Israel, and persecution is part of the mindset that goes alone with these attitudes. At a Marxism meeting on Israel this year, one Israeli speaker recounted how her school music teacher had told a child who was playing her recorder badly that she was 'playing like an Arab.' John Rose, speaking at another meeting, recounted how an Israeli archaeologist claimed that 'all the Palestinians have become Islamic terrorists' and how an Israeli friend of his family explained that the UK was intensely anti-Semitic because Muslim women can go on public transport without bag searches. This is anecdotal but indicative of wider sentiment within Israelis society which suggests a progressive dehumanisation of the Arab population.

Fifthly, Israel is a client state. In order to justify the assistance and protection it receives from its current imperial sponsor, the US, it must demonstrate that it is able to control the Palestinian population. It is only worth $6bn a year if it earns its keep in the largest oil-producing region in the world.

Sixthly, Israel is a neo-colonial state. It seeks to spread as far as possible and occupy as much of the land as it can, partly for resource reasons and partly for religious reasons. It can enforce its facts on the ground (illegal Israeli settlements) as long as it can demonstrate its willingness to be utterly ruthless – and as long as it can avoid becoming drawn into a peace process. A peace process would be a major problem for Israel as its sponsor is committed, nominally at least, to a 'two-state solution' (two, separate nation-states with equal rights). This would mean the drawing of a final border for the state and definite limits to the state's expansion – not to mention being forced to recgonise a Palestinain state and that state's right to its own military and government. At the moment, Israel uses the Palestinian Authority to police the Palestinains in the West Bank as well as the IDF to control the borders. Israel even collects about two-thirds of the PA's taxes (and withholds them to ensure that it gets its way with the Fatah regime in Ramallah).

What is to be done?

Israel is an apartheid state, and many draw comparisons with South Africa. But although many Palestinians rely on Israeli employers for work, they are often part of an illegal, informal workforce. The Israeli economy does not rely on the exploitation of Palestinians in the same way that white capitalists in South Africa depended on Asian and Black workers. It is not that the loss of Palestinian labour would have no effect on Israeli capital, but that Israel does not absolutely depend upon it for its existence. Because of this, Palestinians cannot exert the same economic power. It is more accurate to think of the West Bank and Gaza as gigantic prisons whose trusted inmates are allowed to earn scraps from the capitalist table than as useful sources of cheap labour in themselves. Think of Israel as IKEA and the DDR rolled into one.

In his book Extreme Rambling: Walking Israel's Barrier For Fun, Mark Thomas recounts the stories of Palestinians from the West Bank who work illegally in Israel.

'getting across is just the first part of the problem', says Mamoon. 'Once across you have to get a bus or a taxi, but if the driver thinks you are an Arab they will call the police. Soldiers get on the buses, too, and the driver might tell them, “There is an Arab in seat twenty,” or whatever. Or the driver will flash his headlights at an army jeep and the soldiers will come on and take you.'

'I heard people hide in tankers and garbage trucks to cross; have any of you done that?'

Nearly everyone laughs with the chuckle of the guilty; even the smokers at the railings turn to smile.

'Yes,' someone says. 'And cars, too.'

'Who has crossed in a car?'

'I have,' says one young man, shaking his head in embarrassment. 'I was caught in the boot of a car at the checkpoint. My friend was driving and he was released, which is unusual, but they kept me at the checkpoint the whole day. Every time a soldier walked past me they would kick me or slap me. They kept me there until evening and then let me go.'

'Didn't they jail you or take it to court?'

'No, I was lucky.'

Time has passed and the men start to break away. It is time to finish.

'Well, thanks for your time ... ' I start.

'There is one more thing,' says Mamoon. 'Once you have crossed into Israel and got the bus without being caught you can work all day and when you have finished the employer might say, “I have no money, I am not going to pay you,” and you can do nothing. They will say, “If you do not go, I will call the police.”

'Is this common?' I ask, sensing the communal response. 'Yes,' says the depleted mob.

This means that Palestinians are unlikely to be able to free themselves without outside help, without solidarity.

In the UK, most people can see for themselves that there is no 'equivalence' in the current conflict – that seeing both sides as equally culpable is ludicrous. The sie of the anti-war demonstrations in the UK show this clearly. There is at least one coach going down to London for this weekend's demonstration, which is brilliant, and people should demonstrate and demand change.

However, the experience of the anti-war movement over the invasion of Iraq tells us that demonstrations alone could not stop our own government from committing industrial-scale murder – and demonstration, while important in making sure that we are noticed and that our feelings are clear, will not stop the Israeli government on its own.

There are more effective tactics which we can use. One is to support the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) campaign. Simply put this is a campaign to boycot Israeli products, companies, universities and cultural exports. It is having an effect, especially the academic boycott as this tarnishes Israel's reputation abroad; however where capitalists are concerned there is nowhere better than the wallet – large Israeli companies like Sodastream, Agrexco and Ahava are in trouble due to the boycott, and UK companies like the Co-op have been persuaded not to invest in Israel.

Another way to help the Palestinian cause is to get your union branch involved in the BDS and Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Many trades unions, such as the PCS, FBU, CWU, Unison, CWU and Unite have already affiliated at a national level – get your union to affiliate and get your union branch active.

Thirdly, the UK government is complicit in Israeli atrocities to the extent that it refuses to condemn them and, more crucially, continues to arm them. Join the campaign to stop arming Israel.

Fourthly, challenge pinkwashing and greenwashing wherever you encounter it. These are the PR offensives which Israel uses to persuade the world that it is a wonderful, benevolent place which is hospitable to LGBT and environmental movements (as opposed to a monolithic, homogeneous Arab population of barbarians which Israel is nobly keeping at bay). This is an attempt to change the conversation, and there is only one issue here: the expropriation and oppression of an entire people by a vicious apartheid state.

There is no easy solution to freeing Palestine. Palestinians have been under Zionist occupation for nearly 70 years now. However, the tide of public opinion in the states which support Israel is beginning to turn. The BDS campaign is beginning to have successes on American university campuses. For all its apparent strength, the Israelis have a major weakness: they are a colonial plantation, dependent upon an imperial sponsor to survive. Without it, their exports would plummet, their economy would shrink and more importantly the bombs would run out. Their aggressive PR stance in the west tries to hide this weakness.

We are thankfully less likely to find that IDF soldiers have shat in our homes, carved 'good Arab = dead Arab' into our furniture and daubed a star of David on our walls, as Ahmed Owedat discovered today when he was allowed back into his Gaza home after 18 days of IDF occupation, or try to learn in shattered school buildings that cannot be fixed because Israel will not allow the import of building supplies, but it isn't an exaggeration to say that the battle for Palestinian freedom takes place in the West as much as in Burij.

How can Palestine be free?

It should be clear that a two-state solution cannot work. There is no Palestinian state left, only enclaves encircled by soldiers and Apache helicopters. Only two things will resolve the conflict permanently.

1. A 'one-state' solution, in which all Palestinians and Israelis have equal rights and legal protection.
2. A right of return for the millions of Palestinians, many now third, fourth or fifth generation, who have been forced to grow up and eke out a living in refugee camps outside Palestine.

At a talk on the future of Palestine at this year's Marxism, Ghada Karmi suggested a vision of the end of the conflict which she would like to see. I think this would be a wonderful way in which the Palestinians themselves could begin to end the conflict:

One of the ways forward for the Palestinians, I believe ... one of the most important ways they could smash this whole structure, undermine this whole edifice on which these lies, these delusions have been based, the 'peace process', the 'two state solution', all that sort of thing ... is if they confronted Israel with a demand for equal rights. ... The Palesinians say to Israel 'look, cut the crap, you are ruling us, we know that ... fine, you can rule us but what you cannot do is give us no rights ... so we demand equal rights, even Israeli citizenship.