Socialists & Palestine:

With the imminence of a full scale US/British attack on Iraq, under the pretence of dislodging their former protégé Saddam Hussein and his brutal Baathist regime, there is a real danger that the Israeli state will take this opportunity to implement a policy of mass expulsion of the Palestinian population of the West bank and the Gaza Strip and perhaps even of pre-1967 Israel itself. The desire to finish the Greater Israel project so long nurtured by the extreme wing of Zionism and encapsulated in the chilling slogan ‘Jordan is Palestine’ has now become a serious proposition at the very heart of the Israeli centre-right. There is every reason to believe that the present caretaker Israeli government, given a sufficient smokescreen, will try to ethnically cleanse occupied Palestine of its inhabitants, especially as it is currently unaccountable to the Knesset.

Traditionally the left, or more accurately the Western European and North American left have been dogged by a constant debate about one state vs. two state solutions. In some ways this debate is rather artificial. There are very few, especially amongst Palestinians, who would argue that it would be possible under any imaginable circumstances to bring about a one state solution without a transitional period in which two states exist. It follows that a commitment to a united, secular state of Palestine, where all communities can exist in equality, is not incompatible with the view that the emergence of a democratic Palestinian State in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem would be a significant step in the direction of the creation of such a state. The emergence of a fully independent state in part of historic Palestine would have a major destabilising effect on Israeli society, opening up the massive class, religious and ethnic divisions that underlie that society. This in turn would open the political and social space for left forces in both states to work towards the united Palestine.

There a number of other weaknesses that the left must come to terms with regarding Palestine. We should listen more carefully to the diverse voices of the Palestinian Left. Of course this does not mean that we should pick a ‘favourite’ group and simply parrot their line but it does mean that we should be informed by what our comrades in Palestine have to say. Organisations such as the PFLP, the DFLP and the Palestine Peoples Party (former communists), despite their numerical weakness and past mistakes, are widely respected in Palestine for their unstinting resistance to the occupation. We should study their analysis of the current situation carefully before adopting definitive positions.

There has also been a tendency by the left to ignore the internal class divisions in Palestinian society. The class most affected by the occupation in an economic sense has been that section of the working class that was reliant on employment within Israel, this source of employment now being cut off. At the other end of the spectrum some elements of the wealthy business class have actually used the occupation to their advantage, cutting deals with the Occupation Forces to corner the supply of essential goods and services to Palestinian communities. There is also a great deal of resentment, especially amongst the poor of the refugee camps, towards the corrupt crony class that grew around the Palestinian Authority, with the connivance of the Israeli state, during the 1990s. There is also a feeling amongst the poor that it is they who are carrying the primary burden of resistance activity and that middle class Palestinians are not playing their full part.

It is hard not to be pessimistic about the future of Palestine but there are reasons to be optimistic. The steadfastness of ordinary Palestinians is incredible. Despite the immense suffering and the obvious failures at a leadership level, their will to resist remains unbreakable. There is renewed hope that with the cooperation of the Israeli radical peace camp and international volunteers the door to mass defiance and resistance can be opened, as happened following the last attempt by the Occupation Forces to dislodge Yasser Arafat from his compound in Ramallah. Such a change could also have the positive effect of bringing an end to the suicide bombings, which many Palestinians see as both morally wrong and tactically disastrous for their cause. This thinking is even having a positive impact on elements within the Islamic movements; although there is no doubt that the Sharon government would try to provoke a breach of such a new policy, to maintain its grip of fear on the Israeli public.

As socialists we must now redouble our efforts in solidarity with the people of Palestine. Different perspectives and analysis of the Palestine situation need not distract us from doing this. There is general agreement that our immediate task is to expose the massive human rights violations being perpetrated by the Occupation Forces and to campaign ceaselessly and creatively for an immediate end to the occupation. We must also support the resistance of the Palestinian masses in whatever manner we can. In Ireland the best way to work for these aims is through involvement in the activities of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which has mobilised a broad range of groups and individuals and has been extremely effective in building a widely supported campaign against the occupation.

It is equally important that we do our utmost to oppose the US led war on Iraq. US imperialism sustains the Israeli state to a remarkable degree and without this sustenance it is likely that the Israeli state would collapse both economically and politically. While Israel itself contains no significant resources that are of major value to US capitalism, this state is a vital bridgehead in the Middle East, effectively imperialisms bull terrier ready and able to intervene to when US access to the oil resources of the region is threatened. The current campaign to disrupt the use of Shannon Airport as a war base by the US is a vital part of our solidarity work not just with the people of Iraq but with the Palestinian people as well.

ISN, 2003