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Palestine Struggle Biography
And yet thousands of Palestinians from rival factions celebrated in the streets of the West Bank and Gaza in support of Mahmoud Abbas's bid to upgrade the status of the Palestinians to that of a non-member observer state. Many Palestinians in the diaspora, as well as their supporters, have sincerely and in good faith celebrated the political and diplomatic victory because it provides international legitimation and affirmation of Palestine, and perhaps "gives the issue of Israel's repression of the Palestinians a little more profile." It also possibly (although not certainly) may, as Francis Boyle, Professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law and author of Palestine, Palestinians and International Law has put it, represent the "start of a 'Legal Intifada' by Palestine against Israel." This was a reference to the potential for the new status to enable the Palestinians to join a number of UN agencies, as well as the International Criminal Court (ICC).
On one (admittedly limited) view, there is something to celebrate. The enhanced status, granted by an overwhelming majority of 138 votes in favour (to 9 votes against, and 41 abstentions, including Australia), represents a symbolic and diplomatic victory: an indirect recognition of a Palestinian state on the basis of the 1967 borders (namely, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip).
That some European countries, including France, voted in favour has allowed Europe implicitly to oppose Israel's settlement expansion program, without actually doing anything that is politically damaging. We must remember, after all, that the European Union (EU), comprised of twenty-seven EU nations that remained divided on the vote, is Israel's leading economic partner.
The upgraded status was always going to be symbolic and, for the more cynical and realistic among us who can remember Palestinians dancing in the streets after the Oslo accords and who are interested in action not words, it has been a theatrical spectacle of rhetoric and grand pronouncements. The United Nations has delivered countless resolutions against Israel and in support of justice for Palestinians that have gone further than mere symbolic support for the Palestinian cause. Even then, the situation on the ground has not changed - indeed the prospects of a two-state solution deteriorate further by the day.
It is as though two parties sit at a table discussing how fairly to divide a cake. While party A eats party B's portion of the cake, a third party, C, declares the right of party B to half of the cake. Party B, impotent, weary and frustrated by the increasing crumbs being left on his side of the plate, celebrates Party C's declaration as a victory: at least Party C's declaration recognizes my right to have more than just crumbs.
It is a testament to the wretched position the Palestinians are in that they have come to this; that this upgraded status represents some kind of victory. Without action and pressure to restore the rights of Palestinians, nothing will or can change and we will continue to talk about the cake and not the crumbs. Indeed, one day after the UN resolution passed, Israel announced the construction of 3,000 more settler homes in occupied East Jerusalem in a move that has been described as direct retaliation for the vote.
Anybody who still believes that gaining a non-member state status is actually going to advance the Palestinian struggle for freedom has been seduced by the pomp and ceremony.
Ali Abunimah, journalist and founder of Electronic Intifada, in an interview on WBEZ Worldview, noted the attitude of some Palestinians about the upgraded status who, in sheer desperation, argue, "It may not be the most fantastic or important thing, but what else can we do?" This, Abuminah said, demonstrates "the absence of a Palestinian strategy at the political level, at the level of leadership, whether it's Abbas or Hamas." He goes on to ask:
"What is your strategy? What are your goals? How are you going to restore the rights of the Palestinian people? And it seems to be that Abbas's strategy is statehood at any price. And that diverges from many Palestinians who say that statehood is not our goal. Our goal is to restore our rights, to restore rights of the land, to restore the rights of refugees, to restore the rights of Palestinians living as second-class citizens in Israel."
The festival of celebrations will be over soon, and Israel's pride will recover from the symbolic slap in the face.
Whether the Palestinians are able to carry out a "legal intifada" against Israel remains to be seen. Those who place their hope in the Palestinian Authority taking steps to hold Israel to account naively failed to grasp that the Palestinian Authority essentially manages the occupation for Israel through its "security coordination" with Israel. Mahmoud Abbas has "always been the obedient servant of the United States and Israel." It must not be forgotten that in October 2009, Abbas, under pressure from Israel, the United States and European diplomats, abandoned a resolution requesting the UN Human Rights Council to forward Judge Richard Goldstone's Report on war crimes in Gaza to the UN Security Council for further action.
Meanwhile, the settlement expansion and land and water expropriation will persist unabated, and Israel will continue to cement its status as an apartheid state - identified as such by such well-known figures as Israeli author Uri David, Israeli historian Illan Pappe, Former Special Rapporteur John Dugard, Former American President Jimmy Carter, American academic Norman Finkelstein and Noble Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu, just to name a few.
We should not be surprised that this development in the United Nations will have no impact on the status quo. The long-standing acquiescence of the Western world, coupled with the complicity of the self-serving Arab states, has enabled Israel to continue to create facts on the ground without fear of actual consequence and in complete disregard for international law.
And it is for this reason that the alternative grassroots Boycotts, Divestments and Sanctions (BDS) campaign is emerging as the most effective way to circumvent the tired political games and failed diplomacy. In 2005, Palestinian civil society called for a global BDS campaign against Israel until it complies with international law and Palestinian rights. It is clear that holding Israel to account will not come from the United States or Europe, and certainly not from our government. It must come from civil society and it is proving a highly effective, punitive and non-violent form of resistance precisely because it is a strategy that allows global citizens of conscience to apply pressure on Israel to respect human rights and international law.
So forgive me for joining the chorus of those crashing the party, but the Palestinian struggle for justice deserves more than symbolic victories. It is, as the late Edward Said said, "a just cause, a noble ideal, a moral quest for equality and human rights." It is a struggle worthy of action and real commitment. As with the pressure applied on South Africa to end its apartheid regime, justice will inevitably be achieved because of the momentum built from the grassroots up.
It is in the powerful hands of global civil society, not the corridors of impotent institutions and hypocritical diplomats, that justice will eventually be served.
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Palestine Struggle Biography
And yet thousands of Palestinians from rival factions celebrated in the streets of the West Bank and Gaza in support of Mahmoud Abbas's bid to upgrade the status of the Palestinians to that of a non-member observer state. Many Palestinians in the diaspora, as well as their supporters, have sincerely and in good faith celebrated the political and diplomatic victory because it provides international legitimation and affirmation of Palestine, and perhaps "gives the issue of Israel's repression of the Palestinians a little more profile." It also possibly (although not certainly) may, as Francis Boyle, Professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law and author of Palestine, Palestinians and International Law has put it, represent the "start of a 'Legal Intifada' by Palestine against Israel." This was a reference to the potential for the new status to enable the Palestinians to join a number of UN agencies, as well as the International Criminal Court (ICC).
On one (admittedly limited) view, there is something to celebrate. The enhanced status, granted by an overwhelming majority of 138 votes in favour (to 9 votes against, and 41 abstentions, including Australia), represents a symbolic and diplomatic victory: an indirect recognition of a Palestinian state on the basis of the 1967 borders (namely, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip).
That some European countries, including France, voted in favour has allowed Europe implicitly to oppose Israel's settlement expansion program, without actually doing anything that is politically damaging. We must remember, after all, that the European Union (EU), comprised of twenty-seven EU nations that remained divided on the vote, is Israel's leading economic partner.
The upgraded status was always going to be symbolic and, for the more cynical and realistic among us who can remember Palestinians dancing in the streets after the Oslo accords and who are interested in action not words, it has been a theatrical spectacle of rhetoric and grand pronouncements. The United Nations has delivered countless resolutions against Israel and in support of justice for Palestinians that have gone further than mere symbolic support for the Palestinian cause. Even then, the situation on the ground has not changed - indeed the prospects of a two-state solution deteriorate further by the day.
It is as though two parties sit at a table discussing how fairly to divide a cake. While party A eats party B's portion of the cake, a third party, C, declares the right of party B to half of the cake. Party B, impotent, weary and frustrated by the increasing crumbs being left on his side of the plate, celebrates Party C's declaration as a victory: at least Party C's declaration recognizes my right to have more than just crumbs.
It is a testament to the wretched position the Palestinians are in that they have come to this; that this upgraded status represents some kind of victory. Without action and pressure to restore the rights of Palestinians, nothing will or can change and we will continue to talk about the cake and not the crumbs. Indeed, one day after the UN resolution passed, Israel announced the construction of 3,000 more settler homes in occupied East Jerusalem in a move that has been described as direct retaliation for the vote.
Anybody who still believes that gaining a non-member state status is actually going to advance the Palestinian struggle for freedom has been seduced by the pomp and ceremony.
Ali Abunimah, journalist and founder of Electronic Intifada, in an interview on WBEZ Worldview, noted the attitude of some Palestinians about the upgraded status who, in sheer desperation, argue, "It may not be the most fantastic or important thing, but what else can we do?" This, Abuminah said, demonstrates "the absence of a Palestinian strategy at the political level, at the level of leadership, whether it's Abbas or Hamas." He goes on to ask:
"What is your strategy? What are your goals? How are you going to restore the rights of the Palestinian people? And it seems to be that Abbas's strategy is statehood at any price. And that diverges from many Palestinians who say that statehood is not our goal. Our goal is to restore our rights, to restore rights of the land, to restore the rights of refugees, to restore the rights of Palestinians living as second-class citizens in Israel."
The festival of celebrations will be over soon, and Israel's pride will recover from the symbolic slap in the face.
Whether the Palestinians are able to carry out a "legal intifada" against Israel remains to be seen. Those who place their hope in the Palestinian Authority taking steps to hold Israel to account naively failed to grasp that the Palestinian Authority essentially manages the occupation for Israel through its "security coordination" with Israel. Mahmoud Abbas has "always been the obedient servant of the United States and Israel." It must not be forgotten that in October 2009, Abbas, under pressure from Israel, the United States and European diplomats, abandoned a resolution requesting the UN Human Rights Council to forward Judge Richard Goldstone's Report on war crimes in Gaza to the UN Security Council for further action.
Meanwhile, the settlement expansion and land and water expropriation will persist unabated, and Israel will continue to cement its status as an apartheid state - identified as such by such well-known figures as Israeli author Uri David, Israeli historian Illan Pappe, Former Special Rapporteur John Dugard, Former American President Jimmy Carter, American academic Norman Finkelstein and Noble Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu, just to name a few.
We should not be surprised that this development in the United Nations will have no impact on the status quo. The long-standing acquiescence of the Western world, coupled with the complicity of the self-serving Arab states, has enabled Israel to continue to create facts on the ground without fear of actual consequence and in complete disregard for international law.
And it is for this reason that the alternative grassroots Boycotts, Divestments and Sanctions (BDS) campaign is emerging as the most effective way to circumvent the tired political games and failed diplomacy. In 2005, Palestinian civil society called for a global BDS campaign against Israel until it complies with international law and Palestinian rights. It is clear that holding Israel to account will not come from the United States or Europe, and certainly not from our government. It must come from civil society and it is proving a highly effective, punitive and non-violent form of resistance precisely because it is a strategy that allows global citizens of conscience to apply pressure on Israel to respect human rights and international law.
So forgive me for joining the chorus of those crashing the party, but the Palestinian struggle for justice deserves more than symbolic victories. It is, as the late Edward Said said, "a just cause, a noble ideal, a moral quest for equality and human rights." It is a struggle worthy of action and real commitment. As with the pressure applied on South Africa to end its apartheid regime, justice will inevitably be achieved because of the momentum built from the grassroots up.
It is in the powerful hands of global civil society, not the corridors of impotent institutions and hypocritical diplomats, that justice will eventually be served.
Palestine Struggle
Palestine Struggle
Palestine Struggle
Palestine Struggle
Palestine Struggle
Palestine Struggle
Palestine Struggle
Palestine Struggle
Palestine Struggle
Palestine Struggle
Palestine Struggle
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