By Ranjan Solomon
Israel is on a rampage. Three leaders were eliminated in quick succession. Fuad Shukr (Hezbollah) killed in Beirut, Ismael Haniyeh (Hamas) killed in Beirut, and Amir Ali Hajizadeh (IRGC Air force). You cannot talk peace in one room and plan assassinations in another. What is infuriating is the stern silence from the so-called civilized western world. As much as Israel is implementing apartheid through its war machine and politics, so are its western allies including the EU who are fast asleep and will take days before issuing a statement that says neither this or that! In an Amnesty International statement, Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International’s Senior Director of Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns, said that “the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) advisory opinion on the ‘unlawful’ Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories is a historic victory for the rights of Palestinians”.
A Hamas spokesperson had this to say: “The Palestinian resistance will not be shaken by the martyrdom of one of its leaders. Hamas is an ideology that will continue and grow among the Palestinian masses despite the great sacrifices the Palestinians of Gaza are making”. It’s clear to see that too many western leaders do not understand this basic fact. Yet, streets in the West nations are only multiplying their protests. The rulers are far removed from reality because they obviously stand to gain from pursuing racist policies and practices.
Within the paradigm of a colonial construct, the tactic of divide-and-rule is a key tactic. Israel (coupled with US push) is resolutely hurrying the formalization of and advancement of the long-standing, concealed relationship between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Ignoring Israel’s unending genocide in Gaza, high-stakes negotiations are being followed through aimed to cement the mutually reinforcing interests of the US, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. It is clear that Saudi Arabia’s solidarity with the Palestinian struggle is plastic. It wants centre-stage in the regional dynamics and situates the normalization deal within shifting regional dynamics.
As Israeli jails crowd up with more detainees than the facilities can cope with, prisoner’s conditions have dangerously deteriorated and the treatment of prisoners is brutal, and devoid of any checks and balances. Israeli soldiers are known to brazenly ‘sodomize’ prisoners – a barbaric act in itself. A report from ‘Middle East Eye’ reports “scenes of far-right Israelis breaking into a detention facility to protest the arrest of soldiers accused of raping a Palestinian reveal a society heading towards a breakdown of state institutions, analysts have told Middle East Eye. Nine soldiers in the notorious Sde Teiman facility were detained in southern Israel’s Negev desert for questioning. They were accused of sexual abuse against a Palestinian detainee, which led to him being hospitalized with serious injuries to his rectum area”.
These are trying times for Palestinians as a whole. It is painful for solidarity activists elsewhere in the world to watch the news on television and read the news. Yet, nothing tangible has happened by way of bold interventions by the EU, its member nations, the USA, and countries that can make a difference. Political will is lacking as well as preserving space for opportunistic alliances.
Please read and disseminate widely.
1 August 2024
Ranjan Solomon
On behalf of MLN Palestine Updates