Palestine is Not a Lost Cause – and This is Why
By Rima
Najjar, The Palestine Chronicle, April 14, 2018
There is
no doubt that Israel and its allies want the world to believe that Palestine is
a lost cause. Richard Falk, who served as the United Nation’s special rapporteur
on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, recounts a conversation
he had with the French ambassador to the United Nations at the end of his
tenure as rapporteur.
no doubt that Israel and its allies want the world to believe that Palestine is
a lost cause. Richard Falk, who served as the United Nation’s special rapporteur
on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, recounts a conversation
he had with the French ambassador to the United Nations at the end of his
tenure as rapporteur.
 |
| Richard Falk served as UN Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council for Occupied Palestine between 2008-14. (Photo: File) |
“Let’s
face it: the conflict is over, Israel has won, the Palestinians have been
defeated, and there is nothing more to be done or said. I am not happy about this,
but this is the reality. We should move on.”
face it: the conflict is over, Israel has won, the Palestinians have been
defeated, and there is nothing more to be done or said. I am not happy about this,
but this is the reality. We should move on.”
Falk’s
response to the defeatist, hopeless statement of the French ambassador is a
deeply insightful one:
response to the defeatist, hopeless statement of the French ambassador is a
deeply insightful one:
“Palestine
is not a lost cause, and that even if it were a lost cause from the perspective
of realism, a continued commitment to it is greatly preferable to defeatist
resignation and indifference toward such a grossly unjust outcome of such an
epic struggle.
is not a lost cause, and that even if it were a lost cause from the perspective
of realism, a continued commitment to it is greatly preferable to defeatist
resignation and indifference toward such a grossly unjust outcome of such an
epic struggle.
“My
deeper conviction is that the appearance of Palestinian defeat is an optical
illusion that hides the probability of eventual Israeli defeat—that while
Israel is winning one war due to its military dominance and continuous
establishment of “facts on the ground,” Palestine is winning what in the end is
the more important war, the struggle for legitimacy, which is most likely to
determine the political outcome.”
deeper conviction is that the appearance of Palestinian defeat is an optical
illusion that hides the probability of eventual Israeli defeat—that while
Israel is winning one war due to its military dominance and continuous
establishment of “facts on the ground,” Palestine is winning what in the end is
the more important war, the struggle for legitimacy, which is most likely to
determine the political outcome.”
In as far
as the struggle for legitimacy is concerned, Israel today is losing that
struggle.
as the struggle for legitimacy is concerned, Israel today is losing that
struggle.
With the
end of the so-called “peace process” and the exposure of Israel’s true
settler-colonial goals in Palestine, the assault by activists on the legitimacy
of Israel’s existence as a Jewish state is now in the open as never before.
end of the so-called “peace process” and the exposure of Israel’s true
settler-colonial goals in Palestine, the assault by activists on the legitimacy
of Israel’s existence as a Jewish state is now in the open as never before.
First,
Israel’s veneer as a “democratic state” came crashing down with evidence
mounting (and often coming from the mouths of Israeli politicians themselves)
about the degree in which Israel continues to discriminate against its
Palestinian Arab citizens.
Israel’s veneer as a “democratic state” came crashing down with evidence
mounting (and often coming from the mouths of Israeli politicians themselves)
about the degree in which Israel continues to discriminate against its
Palestinian Arab citizens.
In his
book Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner’s Guide, Ben white highlighted Israel’s
Apartheid from within. The UN report titled Israeli Practices towards the
Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid goes a step further and
defines Israel’s Apartheid as a crime perpetrated against the Palestinian
people as a whole.
book Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner’s Guide, Ben white highlighted Israel’s
Apartheid from within. The UN report titled Israeli Practices towards the
Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid goes a step further and
defines Israel’s Apartheid as a crime perpetrated against the Palestinian
people as a whole.
And
although such delegitimization remains marginal where Western politics
is concerned, in the public arena it makes headway by pointing to the
international laws and values the West itself has put in place.
although such delegitimization remains marginal where Western politics
is concerned, in the public arena it makes headway by pointing to the
international laws and values the West itself has put in place.
In
question also is the legitimacy of the establishment of Israel and the
partitioning of Palestine. The real story keeps
surfacing despite Israel’s propaganda over the decades on how it was created.
question also is the legitimacy of the establishment of Israel and the
partitioning of Palestine. The real story keeps
surfacing despite Israel’s propaganda over the decades on how it was created.
The
common representation of Israel’s birth is that the UN created Israel, that the
world was in favor of this move, and that the US governmental establishment
supported it. All these assumptions are demonstrably incorrect.
common representation of Israel’s birth is that the UN created Israel, that the
world was in favor of this move, and that the US governmental establishment
supported it. All these assumptions are demonstrably incorrect.
In
reality, while the UN General Assembly recommended the creation of a Jewish
state in part of Palestine, that recommendation was non-binding and never
implemented by the Security Council.
reality, while the UN General Assembly recommended the creation of a Jewish
state in part of Palestine, that recommendation was non-binding and never
implemented by the Security Council.
Second,
the General Assembly passed that recommendation only after Israel proponents
threatened and bribed numerous countries in order to gain a required two-thirds
of votes.
the General Assembly passed that recommendation only after Israel proponents
threatened and bribed numerous countries in order to gain a required two-thirds
of votes.
At the
same time as Israel is dramatizing its own delegitimization in the media
by brutally pushing back against Palestinian protesters, the legitimate claims
of Palestinians are finding voice in the world arena as never before through
the increasingly successful campaign of BDS, which is being amplified by the
support of Jewish groups such as Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and Jews for
Palestinian Right of Return.
same time as Israel is dramatizing its own delegitimization in the media
by brutally pushing back against Palestinian protesters, the legitimate claims
of Palestinians are finding voice in the world arena as never before through
the increasingly successful campaign of BDS, which is being amplified by the
support of Jewish groups such as Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and Jews for
Palestinian Right of Return.
But most
of all, Palestinian legitimate claims are pushing through into the world’s
consciousness by virtue of their indomitable steadfastness, heartbreaking
sacrifice, and courage, decade after miserable decade that no “facts on the
ground” have shaken or are likely to shake.
of all, Palestinian legitimate claims are pushing through into the world’s
consciousness by virtue of their indomitable steadfastness, heartbreaking
sacrifice, and courage, decade after miserable decade that no “facts on the
ground” have shaken or are likely to shake.
Israel is
a rogue state
on track to be internationally isolated as a pariah state.
a rogue state
on track to be internationally isolated as a pariah state.
