WEST BANK, October 13 — A few days ago, the Palestinian people experienced a turning point as their struggle against the Israeli occupation reached a new peak. The people witnessed a savage Israeli bombardment using tanks, rockets and helicopters. Forty rockets were fired over Ramallah and another 90 over Gaza and other cities. Fortunately, no one was killed but numerous people were injured. Many buildings were destroyed.
Israel's aim was to break the spirit of the Palestinian people. Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Barak announced that this was only a token of what the Palestinians can expect.
Another aim was to rapidly bring the Palestinians back to the negotiating table to defuse the rising Arab national movement and its recent manifestations throughout the Arab world — the mass demonstrations that are increasing the pressure on the Arab regimes, the closure of the Israeli office in Oman, the bombing in Yemen of the US battle ship and the British embassy, the recall of the Moroccan ambassador to Israel back to Morocco.
What is going on is a clear attempt to contain the Palestinian resistance on the national, Arab and international levels. The US is whitewashing the Israeli government. And at the same time the US is enforcing its hegemony of the region. The US threats against the Arab states, especially Egypt (Egypt receives US $3 billion a year from the US) are loud and clear.
Western journalist Robert Fisk wrote on October 13: "This is a story about lies, bias, hatred and death. It is about our inability — after more than half a century — to understand the injustice of the Middle East." Fisk is right.
Given the scandalous number of Palestinian casualties throughout Palestine since September 28, and the numerous previous confrontations during the past 100 years, is it possible to talk about a peace in the Middle East that overrides the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people?
Oslo
The Oslo agreement of 1993 came about in order to quell the Intifada of 1987. It brought with it not only the means to neglect the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people but also the placebo of self-rule. The country was torn into bantustans through the creation of areas A, B and C, and the paving of bypass roads to further isolate Palestinian towns and villages. The creation of Israeli settlements increased at breakneck speed.
The Oslo Accords were designed to destroy the unity of the Palestinian people within Palestine and abroad. Since its signing, the Palestinian social and economic situation has continued to deteriorate.
The Israeli government viewed the Oslo Accords as an irresistible opportunity to coerce the Palestinians to sign a historic agreement sanctioning the imposition of its policies, programs and the so-called facts on the ground. With the decreasing momentum of the resistance movement and the increasing fragmentation of the Arab world, Israel and the US seized this opportunity to employ the Israeli-US "solution" to end the conflict. This is based on the following:
1) the transformation of Arab military defeats into permanent and fixed Israeli political victories;
2) the rejection of Israeli withdrawal to the borders of June 4, 1967;
3) the rejection of the Palestinian refugees' right to return;
4) the claim that Jerusalem is the united and eternal capital of Israel;
5) keeping Israel's settlements in the West Bank and Gaza under Israeli sovereignty;
6) the rejection of a sovereign Palestinian state; and
7) Israel's complete denial of its responsibility for the Palestinian disaster of 1948.
At the same time, "final status" negotiations are continuing in Washington with the help of a strong US lobby.
The new uprising occurring from Gaza to Nazareth, the Galilee and the Triangle is a concentrated and significant expression of Palestinian resistance to Israeli oppression. It is a sign of the intense anger of the Palestinian people toward the "facts on the ground" that Israel is trying to impose by force.
In short, the Intifada is the Palestinians' response to Israel's calculated plans to deny them their rights and to force them to abdicate their legitimate political aspirations and expectations. For these reasons, the Oslo agreement was a failure, even from the beginning, as it was used as a tool to break the Palestinians' will and force a surrender.
Disproportionate violence
How can we explain the disproportionate violence of the Israeli army, with its use of rockets, combat helicopters, and tanks? How can we explain the open confrontation on the part of Palestinians and their readiness to die? How can we explain the explosion of Palestinian people in the cities and villages of 1948? What are the consequences of the mobilisation of Arab peoples in various cities of the Arab world? What is the meaning of the signs of solidarity that we see in Europe?
Of critical importance is to expose Israel's "understanding" of peace, namely, the exclusive imposition of its will and strategy to obliterate the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. Israel's terms of reference are power, terror and unconditional US support. Any Palestinian attempt at resistance and refusal to bow to Israel's will must therefore be met with raw force and violence. Peace, according to Israel, turns out to be a continuation of occupation and oppression.
This explains the political imbalance of the so-called peace process. Israel attempted to impose a political settlement without taking into consideration the historic roots, memory, civilisation and national sentiment of the Palestinian people. This is what Jacques Chirac meant when he condemned Israel's policy against the Palestinian people, saying, "You cannot face the feelings of a people with tanks".
The Palestinian people have lost their trust in the ongoing peace process. After waiting seven years, they found themselves even more stifled and paralysed by Israel's "facts on the ground". The Palestinians have fought for more than 50 years to defend their rights. At a certain stage they found themselves dealing with a peace initiative, but toward what end?
Not only were they asked to give more concessions than they could reasonably give, but the reality was finally revealed: the peace process is a process of selling out the Palestinian people. The West Bank and Gaza were torn apart and transformed into bantustans. Settlement activities are increasing. Prisoners have become bargaining chips to blackmail Palestinian leaders during negotiations.
Jerusalem was simply removed from the equation. Millions of refugees and displaced persons have lost hope of ever returning home, and have succumbed to the bleak reality that the Palestinian refugees camp are no longer temporary. Finally, nothing has changed in the treatment of the Palestinian people, in terms of their right of movement, the borders imposed upon them, house demolitions and the list goes on.
Palestinians had no other choice but to remind the world of this reality and to reveal the devastating consequences of deceit. The provocation of Ariel Sharon when he entered the Haram a-Sharif, claiming it was a "normal" visit of a "normal Jew", was nothing but a stupid move. But it was enough to ignite the fuel.
The only option available to the Palestinian people was to enter into confrontation and resist occupation. Peace without Jerusalem is not peace. Peace without land and the right of refugees to return is not peace. Peace without an end to the occupation and the removal of the settlements is not peace. Palestinians find themselves with the choice to die surrendering, or to die resisting. This is the reason that an unarmed people can choose to face Israeli soldiers and be ready to die.
Sharon continues his provocative tactics in order to convince the Zionists that he is the one to lead them. Barak responds with even stronger extremism. Both are engaged in a competition to win the support of Israel's Zionist extremists. The US presidential candidates behave in a similar manner, competing to prove who can be the better servant of Israel. In such a context, peace doesn't have a chance.
Struggle continues
More than 100 people have been killed and 3000 injured in Israel's attacks. Where is it going to lead?
The Intifada might stop, and the process of negotiations might be brought back on track. Israel and the US might be able to impose new agreements, but that doesn't mean that the conflict is over. It is going to lead to a new cycle of Israeli violence and Palestinian resistance.
Israel must reassess its calculations and realise that even its war cannot coerce the Palestinian people to surrender. The US must reassess its biased support of Israel and recognise that it cannot guarantee its interests in the region without guaranteeing the personal interests of the Palestinian people.
The Palestinian Authority must also redo its calculations and learn from the lesson that a policy of continuous concessions only serves to increase the appetite of Israel for more, while increasing the despair and mistrust among the Palestinian people.
As long as Israel insists on imposing its terms and conditions on the key issues, continues its terror and killing, and denies the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, the Palestinian people will stand up again and again to face Barak's tanks, warplanes and fascist tactics. Israel's tools of violence will not defeat the feelings and aspirations of the Palestinian people. The Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands is the sole reason for the bloodshed and suffering that is happening now.
The Palestinian people have no other choice but to continue their resistance to the Israeli occupation until it is over.
BY DR NAJED NASSAR & NASSER IBRAHIM
[Dr Najed Nassar is from the Palestinian Union of Health Work Committees. Nasser Ibrahim is from the Alternative Information Centre. Visit the AIC's web site at <http://aic.netgate.net/>.]