The fact is that there is no Palestinian response that would be acceptable to
Israel and its supporters because the ultimate goal of Zionism has been, from
its inception, to build a Jewish state in Palestine and to remove all of the
indigenous population in order to do so. The Palestinian resistance to being
ethnically cleansed, has included violence. Additionally, because of the many
pressures on Palestinians, the people have been divided into factions and also,
many are reacting at this point, on an individual basis. The situation is
complicated because Israel acts as a surrogate for the US in various
international conflicts. So to talk about the need to organize working people
as if it were a viable solution, is misguided, to say the least.
Miriam
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Subject: [blind-democracy] Terror attacks on Jews blow to Palestinian struggle
http://themilitant.com/2017/8130/813053.html
The Militant (logo)
Vol. 81/No. 30 August 14, 2017
Terror attacks on Jews blow to Palestinian struggle
BY SETH GALINSKY
Palestinian college student Omar al-Abed, 19, from the West Bank village of
Khobar, walked to the nearby Israeli settlement of Halamish on July
21 and stabbed three members of a Jewish family to death during their Sabbath
dinner. The brutal terror attack came in the midst of a series of protests on
the West Bank around the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
“All I have is a sharpened knife,” he wrote before the attack, “and it answers
the call of Al-Aqsa.”
The protests began after three Palestinian Israeli citizens killed two police
officers July 14 in a terror attack near the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Israeli
government responded by closing off all access to the religious complex — one
of the three most important sites to followers of Islam.
The two slain police officers, Hael Sathawi, 30, and Kamil Shanan, 22, are
Druze, an Arabic-speaking minority of more than 100,000 in Israel.
After the attack the Israeli government closed off the site. Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered metal detectors, railings and cameras
installed.
Sami Abu Zhouri, a spokesperson for Hamas, the reactionary Islamist group that
rules the Gaza Strip, hailed the terror attack in Jerusalem, calling it “a
natural response to Israeli terrorism and the desecration of the Al-Aqsa
Mosque.” The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said it was “a
qualitative achievement in the resistance of the Palestinian people against the
occupation.”
In a phone call with Netanyahu, Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian
Authority that governs the Israeli-occupied West Bank, condemned the attack,
but demanded that Israeli authorities immediately reopen the mosque.
After two weeks of sizable protests, with thousands of Muslims praying in the
streets near the mosque, Israeli authorities reopened access and took down
fencing, metal detectors and surveillance cameras they had installed.
But the lack of a revolutionary leadership in the region capable of charting a
working-class road forward remains.
This is shown in the refusal of any Palestinian leadership to recognize the
right of Israel to exist and the policies and actions of the Israeli
government. Tel Aviv treats Palestinians within its borders as second-class
citizens and prevents Palestinians on the West Bank from winning a contiguous,
viable homeland.
The killings are the latest in a wave of terror attacks on Jews that began in
late 2015. From October 2015 to March 2016 there were 100 attacks on Jews a
month, mostly by young Palestinians from the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
According to the Jerusalem Post, there were 21 “significant” attacks on
Israelis in April and May this year.
At the same time, more than 200 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces
mostly while carrying out attacks on Jews. At least 60 of the Palestinians were
killed during demonstrations against Israeli policies.
After seizing control of East Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordanian rule
in 1967, Israeli rulers gained control of the religious complex revered by both
Jews and Muslims that includes the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.
Jews call the area the Temple Mount and Muslims the Noble Sanctuary
Hoping to prevent the compound from becoming a focal point for Palestinian
protests, the Israeli government negotiated a compromise with Jordanian
authorities. Under the deal, the Waqf, run by the Jordanian Ministry of Sacred
Properties, manages the site and is responsible for arrangements and religious
and civil affairs there. Jews can visit but are prohibited from praying on the
Temple Mount. Israeli police are responsible for security.
Despite giving lip service to Palestinians having their own state, the Israeli
government continues to expand settlements there that balkanize the West Bank,
making establishment of a viable state increasingly difficult.
When Israeli officials first reopened the site, they refused to remove the
metal detectors. Abbas, and others called for a boycott.
Tens of thousands of Muslims refused to enter the site, holding daily prayers
and rallies in the surrounding streets and across the West Bank.
Some of the actions were broken up by Israeli police firing tear gas, water
cannon and stun grenades, killing at least three Palestinians.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also condemned the restrictive measures
at Al-Aqsa. The Jordanian government sought negotiations to put an end to the
crisis.
After Netanyahu agreed to remove the metal detectors and cameras July 26, in
the face of domestic and international pressure, thousands of Muslims
celebrated at Al-Aqsa.
No Palestinian groups or officials condemned al-Abed’s attack on the Jewish
family, because they all view the Israeli settlers as “targets.”
No group has a perspective that can break the senseless cycle of terrorist
attacks against Jews and murderous retaliation by Tel Aviv.
And no one puts forward a course of action that could win Israeli workers to
the side of Palestinians.
What needs to be said is: We demand an end to all terror attacks. We oppose any
new settlements, but in a Palestinian state all those who are already here
would be welcome to remain as equal members of our society if they choose to do
so.
Sheikh Asaid Sathawi, a cousin of one of the slain officers, did issue a public
statement that points to a way forward.
“I hope this conflict ends already,” he told the press after the attack.
“Enough bloodshed already. This is an unnecessary war and an unnecessary
killing. We seek to calm things down, to give each nation its country, to reach
a peace agreement and to achieve quiet and a pleasant life for everyone.”
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