As Israel’s inhumane and illegal war on Palestine continues, Arwa Hashash and Dr Aqel Taqaz tell Liberation about the impact on Palestinians and their resistance, the campaign to secure UN full member status for Palestine, the role of the “international community” and the importance of international solidarity
Israel’s war on Palestine is both inhumane and illegal. What has it meant for the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank?
This war is an extension of the ongoing Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people for over 75 years. These crimes are at the core of the Zionist project, which is an integral part of the Western colonial agenda. From its inception, the Zionist project has relied on ethnic cleansing, genocide, and transfer, with full support, complicity, and protection from imperialist states, particularly the United States and Britain, as well as Arab reactionaries. In 1948, the Zionist occupation state was established on the ruins of Palestinian villages and towns, after Zionist militias committed horrific acts of violence and massacres, leading to the forced displacement of approximately 750,000 Palestinians (80% of the Palestinian population at that time). These crimes have continued over time. If we focus on just the last two decades, the Israeli occupation state has launched more than six bloody wars on the Gaza Strip, a territory under a total blockade that has made it, as many describe, the largest open-air prison in the world. Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation in the West Bank has persisted, escalating its practices against the Palestinian people, including increased settlement activity, land confiscation, and the visiting of repeated assaults and humiliation upon the civilian population – all of which are illegal.
We are confronted daily with the images of the horrors being perpetrated against the defenceless and long-suffering Palestinian people. Under the current conditions, how can the Palestinians protest against and resist this oppression?
The terror inflicted by the Israeli occupation in this war is closely tied to its “unannounced” objectives, which primarily include the forcible displacement of the Palestinian people. Although displacement has not been officially declared as a main goal of the recent war, the facts on the ground unmistakably indicate this to be the case. Moreover, many Israeli officials, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, frequently declare this aim. In 2007, Smotrich explicitly outlined his “decisive plan”, which he proposed as a means to end the conflict rather than merely managing it out with the Palestinians. The essence of the plan is based on Israel’s rejection of the creation of any Palestinian political entity, as well as its adoption of a “practical and political” decision that “there is room for only one national right to self-determination, which is the Jewish right.” Benjamin Netanyahu expressed this vision just a day before he was sworn into the Knesset, stating that his new government will operate on the basis of several principles. The most prominent of these principles is that “the Jewish people have an exclusive and non-negotiable right to all of the Land of Israel.” The government aims to encourage the expansion of the Jewish presence throughout historic Palestine, including the Galilee, the Negev, and the West Bank.
The ongoing war, now in its 346th consecutive day, targets all aspects of life in the Gaza Strip – bombing homes, destroying infrastructure, blocking essential supplies, and causing widespread hunger. These measures have also been extended to the northern West Bank since the military operations began there on 28 August. All of these actions are intended to create conditions that displace the Palestinian people and force them towards emigration. In this context, the primary form of resistance that Palestinians can – and indeed do – exercise is resilience and steadfastness in their land and a continued struggle to thwart the occupation’s plans for their displacement, with the ultimate aim of ending the occupation and establishing a Palestinian state.
The ultra-right government of Israel has continued its aggressive onslaught on the Palestinian people. How do you view the official and popular Arab reaction?
Unfortunately, the official Arab and, more generally, international response has not matched the scale of the ongoing Israeli crimes. On the contrary, some Arab and Western countries have clearly colluded with the occupying state in its war against the Palestinian people – with some being considered direct partners in this war, such as the US. Naturally, there are notable exceptions. These include the courageous stance of South Africa in filing a case against the occupying state at the International Court of Justice and the many countries that supported this case, as well as some nations that have taken concrete steps toward recognising the State of Palestine.
In contrast, the popular reaction, both Arab and non-Arab, has been impressive and commensurate with the gravity of the events and the immense sacrifices of the Palestinian people. This has been reflected in massive demonstrations filling the streets, student rallies sweeping through universities, and various expressions and forms of popular solidarity. We believe that this level of popular solidarity represents a significant precedent in the history of the Palestinian cause and has the potential to play a crucial role in pressuring governments to take concrete actions to hold the Israeli occupation accountable for its crimes, end the occupation, establish the State of Palestine, and secure the return of refugees thereafter.
What is your opinion on the solidarity actions with the Palestinian people, and their effectiveness, by their counterparts in Western countries aiming to pressure their governments to stop arming the Israeli war machine?
Firstly, we thank the peoples of the world for their solidarity with the Palestinians and their principled opposition to the genocide being committed by the Israeli occupation over the last 11 months in Gaza as well as its aggression in the West Bank. This brutal campaign has left many thousands dead and injured, most of them children and women, in addition to the devastation of infrastructure setting Gaza back by decades. Our people greatly appreciate these efforts to stop their governments arming Israel, to bring pressure to bear on Israel to end their genocidal campaign, and to move towards the definitive and proper resolution of this conflict – which is the ending of the occupation and establishing of a fully independent and sovereign Palestinian state within the borders as they stood on 4 June 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, the right of return for all Palestinian refugees in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions and the release of all Palestinian political prisoners from Israeli jails. May this solidarity continue until all its objectives have been realised.
What importance do you attach to the growing demand that the UN grants full recognition and member status to the state of Palestine?
This issue has become ever more pressing with most UN General Assembly members now calling for the granting of full member status to Palestine. The decisions of the UN GA to admit Palestine as a non-member observer state, in November 2012, followed by its resolution, in May 2024, recognising that Palestine met the requirements for full membership and urging the UN Security Council to reconsider admittance, are very important countermeasures to Israel’s attempts to deny Palestinian self-determination and forcibly suppress the issue with the backing of the US and NATO countries.
What is your message to the readers of Liberation Journal in Britain, including the labour and trade union movement in Britain?
The principled and unwavering stance of organisations like Liberation is greatly appreciated and has played a very important role in focussing public opinion in Britain on the core issues affecting Palestine, as well as emphasising the responsibility of the British government to atone for its part in this historical injustice, a la the Balfour declaration of 1917, and in its redressing by ceasing to arm Israel and recognising Palestinian statehood. For only this will prevent the bloodshed from continuing and enable the securing of an enduring peace and stability in the Middle East.
This article appeared in our latest journal
Arwa Hashash is a member of the of the International Department of the Palestinian People’s Party (PPP) and a leading member of the Palestinian Committee for Peace and Solidarity (PCPS). Dr Aqel Taqaz is Secretary of the Palestinian Committee for Peace and Solidarity.
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