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Call for Action for Palestine

an Israeli | 21.07.2011 18:52 | Anti-militarism | Palestine | Terror War

September will be a grand month, the UN, for the first time will vote on recognising Palestine as a sovereign state within the 1967 borders. Politically this is the most significant mile stone since the Oslo peace accord. This isn't yet an end to the occupation, what is likely to happen is that the US will veto it, probably in the security council.
So, the most likely outcome is that there will be a Palestinian state for a few weeks.

Israel have cynically declared this a "unilateral" action by the Palestinian authorities, This is ridiculous, because asking the rest of the world to vote for recognition is about the least unilateral thing one can do. What Israel and the US really mean, is that peace and an end to the occupation should be a bilateral agreement reached by both the Israeli state and the Palestinian authority, and in a sense they are right.
A peace agreement will be much preferable, but Israel has played the stalling game for too long to hung any hope on reaching this ideal resolution. and for their part the Palestinian authorities and Hamas in particular have also not been exactly the best peace makers.
As a result the UN is the best outcome on the political front. On the ground however, peace isn't just made by delegates and representatives, it is done by people breaking through the metaphorical walls of separations, and talking and working with one another in mutual respect towards peace. This does happen, but only on a tiny, almost insignificant scale. Not to undermine those that actually work together to this end, it's just that there isn't a lot of them.

The political situation in Israel has never been worst for the left and the peace camp. Israel has just passed what is dabbed as "Khok Hakherem", which makes it an Illegal act for an Israeli citizen to promote boycott, divestment or sanctions (BDS). Even just for settlement produce. This is going to be very hard to enforce, but none the less, it is a massive blow to the Israeli human rights groups which are at a historic low point as it stands. The prevailing opinion in Israel is that anyone who is even slightly to the left of the political spectrum is a traitor, or even "Worse then the Arabs" which is just about the worst thing you can be in Israel.

On another front, The Kneset is trying to push for an Investigation into sources of funding for human rights and left groups. In Israel "human rights" is synonymous with "terrorism supporter".
Now the courts have ruled against this, but it is likely to happen "Under the table". This will mean that you and me and anyone who has helped fund raise for anything Palestine related are going to be under scrutiny, This also means organisations like Oxfam and Christian AID are in the line of fire.
This is omitting the small insignificant fact that settlements and the right wing movement in Israel is funded by some of the most corrupt business people in the world.

In all of this, Hamas and the PLO have signed an agreement to work together, and Israel is not happy. Not that this is significant, because Israel was not happy working with the PLO alone, and actually historically Israel actively supported Hamas and in some sense have even helped create it to oppose the Palestinian liberation movement. Much like the way the US helped the Taliban start.

Enter Marwan Barghouti. This is the man who is going to be the head of the Palestinian state if the occupation ends while he is still alive. He is a sort of Mandela figure for the Palestinians and by far the most popular candidate. He is currently in prison, and have been for a very long time. He is accused of killing 30 or so Israelis, which he may well have done, but he's defence in court was in-participation, he refused to recognise the Israeli court's authorities and hence did not present a defence so it's hard to say. regardless, He is the rightful leader of the Palestinians as much as anyone can rightfully be a leader of a nation.

Yesterday he came out with a statement calling for a new non-violent intifada in the build up for September. Now Israel is more afraid of non-violence than of anything else. They know how to deal with violence (using more violence), but when they use violence to deal with non-violence they usually end up screwing themselves up. This was the case with a Mavi Marma, with the Nakba day and on many other occasions. while clearly innocent peaceful protesters will get hurt, it's a better avenue to pursue.

In all of this, Internationally, Israel is in a very vulnerable position, they seem like their old propaganda mechanisms are falling on deaf ears more and more, and they can't seem to make their (invalid) arguments catch. They are pushing more and more propaganda, have championed the "sock puppeting" technique, and have mobilised the entire country to push their PR, but it seems to be having very little effect, what's more, the more of these dirty techniques they are using, the less people are willing to listen to them, There is a whole unit in the IDF devoted into flooding "hostile" forums with propaganda, yet their arguments are often very shallow, recycled slogans and the government line, without any analytical perspective.

I have contacted several pro Palestinian groups, but have not received a reply from any of those, which makes me suspect that there isn't very much planned for the September vote. this is an opportunity to make a difference, if ever there was a time that we needed to mobilise, it is now!

This is a call for anyone and everyone to be creative, before, during and in the weeks after the vote. put pressure on anyone who has anything to do with the UN, and show that the vast majority of the world just want peace.
It is important that these actions are non-violent, and cannot be perceived as violent in the slightest sense, so no smashing anything.
It is also important that the message across from any action does not undermine the right of Israel to exist (even if you undermine it yourself), that it cannot be painted as anti-Semitic, or anti-Israeli, just against the occupation and the war.
The common perception in Israel is that the whole world hates us because they are anti-Semitic. and that anyone who wants peace is actually a Hamas supporter, so make your actions clear that this isn't the case.
That you are not supporting Hamas, but only the Palestinian people's right for a peaceful lives and self determination.
A return to the 67 borders is the best outcome we can hope for, it was the basis for the Oslo peace agreement, and is the preferable solution even within the Israeli centre right. Everyone there knows that this is what will happen, but time is running out, and if this UN vote will not pass, or if it will be sanctioned, it might be the last opportunity for this solution, and what will happen instead will be a single country with Palestinians being second class citizens for many more generations, fighting to get the most basic of rights, right after right, with vast bloodshed continuing for many more generations.

It is possible with enough effort that we can prevent the US from using its veto if we act in the right time.

So mobilise, plan, and take any action that fits this criteria, please remember that this is the Palestinian struggle, not our own (As happens often in the left...), we can show solidarity, and we can take action, but we mustn't steal the lime light from the central issue, and we mustn't implicate Palestinians in disorder or vandalism.
Be very careful when planing any actions, consider the possible outcomes and how those can be span by the Israeli propaganda machine.
Also, let's not repeat what happened during cast lead, where many Palestinian and Asian people were arrested using trumped up charges and fu**ed up for the rest of their lives. We must support them, but we mustn't steal their struggle for our own political agendas.

I was cynical about Facebook activism, but having witnessed the power of this media, I wouldn't rule it out of the spectrum of actions. as long as it's not replacing street activism. Now is the time to start planning for this, and plan we shall, but we are running out of time.

Please spread this widely, or make your own and spread the word.

Solidarity in a joint struggle.

an Israeli

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