The indicators are that the extreme far-right Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu is going to fall; that it is inevitable, given the degree of opposition it is facing in the settler-colonial state. Such opposition is reflected overseas, especially in the US, where it is embarrassing the Biden administration due to its positions. How can Washington provide diplomatic and political cover for a so-called democracy in which so many of its citizens take to the streets to demonstrate their opposition to their government’s policies? To the protests have now been added strikes. The signs are not good for Netanyahu.
However, no matter what happens to the current government in Israel, its successor is likely to be no better when it comes to the occupation of Palestine. Right, left and centre politicians in Israel are two sides of the same Zionist coin. None will disagree with the general aims of Zionism — an exclusive Jewish state in all of occupied Palestine — if they want to be elected. Hence, war crimes against the Palestinians will continue to be committed, no matter who is in the prime minister’s seat.
Netanyahu’s extremists approved the law to allow the execution of Palestinians, and have changed the “disengagement” law to allow settlers to return to illegal settlements once abandoned in the heart of the occupied West Bank. They have expanded illegal settlement activity and increased their support for Judaisation projects in the West Bank and Jerusalem. Extremist settlers are protected by the army and police, even as they attack and kill Palestinians and destroy their homes. The government has no intention of making peace and ignores international efforts in this regard, and disregards calls to stop settlement activity.
OPINION: All Israeli settlements violate international laws and conventions
Rather than liquidating the Palestinian cause and violating the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, any solution to the conflict in Palestine can only be resolved through political solutions that end the occupation, restore the rights of the Palestinian people and establish an independent state on the 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital, based on international resolutions and international law.
Given the current political crises within Israel with the growth of the opposition, the political compass is now pointing at US President Joe Biden to make the changes needed. Can he do it? Any political solution proposed by the White House or anyone else that ignores Palestinian rights and the establishment of an independent State of Palestine will be rejected. The outside world must understand the catastrophic reality in which the Palestinians are being forced to live.
Israeli attempts to impose a new reality by force on the Palestinian people are delusional and destined to fail. The basis of the struggle against the occupation is about national sovereignty and land. The Palestinian people are seeking to liberate their land, build comprehensive national institutions and have complete control of their resources and border crossings. In other words, they want an independent, viable and functional state, as is their right. Moreover, they intend to end all manifestations of the occupation of Palestinian land.
This article first appeared in Addustour on 28 March 2023
READ: 953 Palestine structures demolished by Israel in 2022: EU
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.
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