Internationalization strategy is not an alternative

Written by: Hani Al-Masry

There is no dispute that Benjamin Netanyahu's sixth government, which he has begun to form, will be the worst government in the history of Israel, and it will be a government that seeks to escalate aggression in all its forms against the Palestinians and in the region. It also aims at annexation, Judaization, displacement, expansion of settler colonialism, and prejudice to the status of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and it targets Palestinians in their various places of residence. The disagreement between analysts and experts is not over this assessment, but to what extent will it be extremist? Will the Palestinians, the Arabs and the world, and the United States in particular, allow it to implement its programme? Not for the blackening of the eyes of the Palestinians, but rather for fear of the consequences of this extremism on security, stability and peace in the region and the world. Israeli fascist extremism will call for a Palestinian, Arab and international response.

It is good news that the Republican candidates, especially supporters of Donald Trump, did not succeed in achieving their goal of a “red wave” and obtaining a majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate. As the Democratic Party retained the majority in the Senate, while the Republicans advanced in the House of Representatives by 8 seats so far; This will leave Biden's hand somewhat free, and he will tie the hands of the Kahanist Israeli government, whose hands will be free in the event that the Republican Party wins, and the extent of extremism that the Netanyahu government will implement will be affected by the response or objection of the US administration.

The question is: To what extent will Netanyahu let his foolish fascist ministers loose, or tighten their reins by stripping basic powers from the ministries they will receive, and will Bezalel Smotrich be the Minister of War and Itamar Ben Gvir the Minister of Internal Security? In this case, it will adopt policies and implement the maximum exceptional measures in its extremism. In any case, many of them will be members of the cabinet. Political and religious extremism is not limited to the religious Zionist party, but rather affects most of the members and ministers of the coalition that will rule.


Fascist policies affect all Palestinians

These policies and procedures are not limited to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and not only against Palestinian "terrorist" resistance fighters, but will affect all Palestinians, including those who have obtained Israeli citizenship. As it is planned to deport many of them with the rest of their brothers voluntarily before they are forcibly deported when a suitable opportunity becomes available for that, and those who remain must be slaves and loyal to the Jewish state, including the authority that the new government will not be concerned with its support and survival to the same extent as the current government that weakened it while speaking Rather, it will continue to weaken it, and there are ministers in it who will demand the dissolution of the civil administration affiliated with the Ministry of War in order to facilitate the annexation of the West Bank to Israel. Therefore, they prefer the collapse of the authority and the appointment of representative offices of the occupation representing local authorities separate from each other in Hebron, Nablus, Ramallah... etc.; Because the existence of one authority embodies one national identity, and this keeps the issue of establishing a Palestinian state in mind, and makes it possible to bring it up again, and they want to bury it once and for all.

The collapse of power and chaos... a possible scenario

Based on the foregoing, the scenario of chaos and the collapse of power became more likely after the fascists became ministers, and it does not provide a guaranteed opportunity for the escalation of comprehensive resistance against the occupation. Rather, turning a dangerous challenge into an opportunity depends first on the Palestinians’ response to providing the requirements of steadfastness and resistance, and the continuation and strengthening of the popular presence. The Palestinian on the land of Palestine, and to desist from inaction, surrender, extremism, and adventurism, and this will not succeed unless the reality of the drawn Israeli plans is realized, whose title is to move faster in liquidating the Palestinian issue from its various dimensions, and that it cannot be defeated if the Palestinian situation remains as it is, and it can Defeat it if there is awareness, plan and the necessary will.

We do not exaggerate when we say that among the most important reasons for the rise of the extreme political and religious right in Israel are the following:

First: The Palestinian situation is in a state of weakness, division and disorientation. As the Palestinian issue and how to deal with it is no longer a major issue on the agenda of the Israelis. What encouraged the extremists to continue their extremism, and gave credibility to their approach that relies on force and imposing facts on the ground, and rejects settlement with the Palestinians, even if it was among the Israeli “no’s” that were the subject of an Israeli consensus in the past, and it was replaced by a new consensus that only groups and individuals do not deviate from. in Central Stream in Israel.

Second: There is a wave of official Arab normalization with Israel that has reached the point of allying with it. What achieved Netanyahu's statement about the priority of peace with the Arabs without resolving the Palestinian issue first, or within what was stated in the Arab peace initiative that proposes a complete withdrawal in return for full normalization; Where he used normalization as a card of pressure on the Palestinians to force them to accept the "Israeli peace" that would be implemented without negotiations, by continuing and intensifying the creation of the occupation and racist realities that make the Israeli solution the only proposed and feasible solution.

It is not possible to confront these existential dangers and drop the scheme of annexation and liquidation of the issue by continuing with the same policies adopted before the formation of the Israeli government, as what works before it will not work after it, even though the approved official Palestinian policies did not preserve even the bad status quo, nor did they prevent the continuous deterioration, It did not prevent the progress of realizing the Israeli plan aimed at establishing "Greater Israel".



Full membership is not a substitute

The demand for full membership of the State of Palestine in the United Nations, and the political and legal prosecution of Israel in the United Nations and its agencies and institutions, including the International Court of Justice and the Criminal Court, cannot be considered the Palestinian alternative.

Despite the importance of these tools, they are just branches and tools of the required strategy, as they do not have the possibility of implementation, and they cannot bypass the American veto that stands in the way of international recognition of the Palestinian state, and they are not and should not be the core of the Palestinian strategy, which must be based on the starting point that fascist extremism The Israeli provides an opportunity to re-consider the inclusive Palestinian national project, which unites the land, the cause, and the land, and proceeds from the historical narrative, and takes into account the circumstances and characteristics that characterize the different groups of people.

The national project has been lost in the corridors of illusions about the possibility of reaching a settlement through negotiations, concessions and proof of merit, the unilateral military resistance strategy that does not have a tangible program, and the misconception that the Palestinian political system can be effective in providing security, peace and stability in the region, and will be rewarded with a state for This role, rather, this strategy not only failed to reach an agreement that includes the embodiment of independence and a sovereign state over the West Bank and Gaza Strip, or even parts of them, but rather it was unable to maintain the very bad situation and prevent it from deteriorating and becoming constantly worse, after Finishing off the so-called "two-state solution", progress is being made on the path of negating any framework for the Palestinian identity, albeit through an autonomous authority that is completely dependent on Israeli sovereignty. This was the program of the so-called Israeli "center" and "left", which has largely collapsed, and even a section of the secular right. As for the religious and nationalist extremist right, the winner and the candidate to increase its influence, it does not want any expression of any Palestinian identity, but rather wants a greater implementation of the basic Zionist movement’s maxim of establishing “Greater Israel” and “a people without a land for a land without a people” and the slogan “the largest area of land and the least number Of the population".

Internationalization is not the basis of the Palestinian strategy, but rather a part of it

The international strategy, which is the strategy of the official leadership, and which was used as a tactic to pressure a return to negotiations to achieve the so-called "two-state solution" does not lead to the achievement of Palestinian goals, including ending the occupation and embodying the state, and the evidence, as the Palestinian president said more than once, is that More than 900 resolutions issued by the General Assembly, the Security Council and the Human Rights Council, including the advisory opinion issued by the High Court of Justice regarding the apartheid wall, have not been implemented, and not one of them has been implemented. They are important political, legal and moral achievements, in addition to the important resolution that was issued recently. Regarding obtaining a new advisory opinion regarding the occupation.

That is, the international strategy is not the basis of the Palestinian strategy, but rather a branch that can serve it, which in essence aims to mobilize the entire people in a unified, representative national framework, and to use all forms of resistance and struggle in all its forms, to change the facts on the ground; In order to change the balance of power, in order to allow the imposition of the realization of Palestinian rights, within the equation of achieving the maximum possible at every stage, on the path to achieving the full goals, by relying primarily on the Palestinians first, the Arabs second, and the free people in the whole world third, and benefiting from the ongoing transformations that Israel is moving towards It worries and intimidates large circles around the world, including large Jewish circles inside and outside Israel. The fascists want to overturn even Jewish democracy, secularism and liberalism, and establish a religious state whose reference is Jewish law, as they see it, just like ISIS and worse. Therefore, one of the goals of the new Israeli government is to eliminate the Israeli Supreme Court of Justice, by restricting it and making it subject to the laws approved by the Knesset, whose majority is from the right and the extremists.

Palestinian unity is the gateway

In order for the plans of the new government to be thwarted and the balance of power to change, division must be ended and unity restored by activating and developing the Algerian initiative, filling its shortcomings, and linking it to the Egyptian initiative, and with Arab cover. To reach a sustainable solution based on the principle of a comprehensive package, and its pillars are implemented in parallel and simultaneously; Where the political program is agreed upon first, and a government of national unity is formed, which prepares for presidential and legislative elections and is committed to Palestinian national rights, and is armed with international law and United Nations resolutions that respond to Palestinian rights, and at the same time a transitional leadership framework is formed that leads the PLO for a maximum period of one year, and is Its primary task is to form a new national council in accordance with the organization's statute, through elections whenever possible, and through consensus and appointment within objective and national criteria whenever elections are not possible.

We must, from the outset, bear in mind that the fascist government will not accept free and fair Palestinian elections, respect their results, and strengthen and unite the Palestinians, unless it finds itself forced, and this makes the issue of holding elections a tool of the struggle against the occupation, and not the fruit of an agreement with the occupation, as happened. previously; The function of the first elections in 1996 was to grant popular legitimacy to the Oslo Accords and the authority that emanated from it, while the function of the elections in 2005 and 2006 was to include factions opposing the Oslo Accords and resistance to the occupation, and to renew the legitimacy of the post-Yasser Arafat authority.

At that time, the field’s calculations did not fit the calculations of Al-Baydar, with the success of the Change and Reform bloc affiliated with Hamas by the majority, and this matter will not be allowed to repeat unless the Palestinians accept the crumbs offered to them, or a new Palestinian situation arises capable of imposing holding elections, and this needs accumulated struggle It absorbs the lessons of previous struggles, and leads to a massive Palestinian popular revival that does not happen with the push of a button and quickly, but rather requires a comprehensive vision, new strategies, a unified leadership, and a will ready for confrontation and paying the price.



Fascist government is a danger that can be turned into an opportunity

The formation of a fascist government in Israel is an imminent and existential danger, and it should not be exaggerated or minimized, but it can be turned into an opportunity if the Palestinians first demand the isolation and boycott of the new government, seek to include the “religious Zionism” party on the list of terrorism, and stop the obligations arising from the Oslo Accords. and what they must do. This is on the table and provides the official leadership, and President Mahmoud Abbas in particular, with an opportunity that may be, or is most likely, the last, as there is not enough life left that allows for new opportunities to end his life with a great national achievement, which is restoring unity, by making all necessary efforts and paying the price for ending the division, just as In his speech at the festival commemorating the assassination of leader Yasser Arafat, he said about new steps, and after meeting Azzam Al-Ahmad and Musa Abu Marzouk in Beirut the day before yesterday, will he do it? Will this time be a serious attempt to end the division, and not like the previous ones?

For this to happen, it needs cooperation from Hamas based on its willingness to give up its unilateral control over the Gaza Strip, in return for its full partnership in the authority that must be changed to meet Palestinian needs, and in the organization whose institutions must be rebuilt to include the various colors of the political and social spectrum.

Answer: No, if we take the political practice so far, the president and the interest groups of division here and there have become prisoners of what his hands and hands have made, but he may do it, and in all cases political and popular pressure is required in order for unity to be achieved before it is too late, and God knows best.