By Stuart Littlewood

Keen as I am to see justice done for the Palestinians, I’ve lately become less interested. This is because, for decades, they’ve allowed their rulers to make fools of them. The endless Fatah-Hamas rivalry is eagerly exploited by their enemies Israel, the US and the UK – the “axis of evil” – and provides them a convenient reason for blocking independence. It’s a sad thing when people who have been savagely oppressed and illegally occupied for 70-plus years, and who have all legal and moral rights on their side, cannot unite and speak with a single authoritative voice.

What is even more depressing is the way a criminal pursuit, Zionism, which terrorises the Holy Land, has the West by the balls, terrified to act.

But the other day I was jolted out of my snooze by another great article from Miko Peled: “Yes, Biden and Harris are self-declared Zionists, but a glimmer of hope remains.” He reminds us that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris both brag about being Zionists and most American politicians are infected too, but Trump’s removal from the White House “presents a sense of a new beginning and should be used as an opportunity to change the paradigm on Palestine”.

How come? Because although the politicians might not get it, it’s plain to everyone else (except evangelicals) that Israel is a dangerous, reckless, apartheid state and supporting it only promises instability. “Furthermore, the Netanyahu government is tightly connected to Trump. In fact, one could argue that Trump’s entire foreign policy regarding the Middle East and Iran were dictated by Netanyahu.”

Louder voices please

Peled believes Americans are at last “growing weary of the US arming and financing Zionist ambitions” and beginning to see that Israel not only violates international law and human rights, but is itself a violation of those laws and rights.

Every day that Palestinian refugees languish in camps is a violation of human decency as well as international law… the fact that the homes, land, and property of these refugees were stolen by Israel after they were forced to flee by armed Zionist terror squads – that is an ongoing violation of international law. Each day that Palestinians in Gaza remain locked up in the world’s largest open-air prison is a violation of international law and the human rights of the over two million people who live in the Gaza Strip… No one can be progressive while supporting Israel.

Israel has armed itself with the weapon of anti-Semitism, and the IHRA [International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance] definition of anti-Semitism foolishly accepted by governments and non-governmental organisations has created a shield that protects Israel from criticism. But, says Peled, “when the facts are laid out clearly, even the weaponisation of anti-Semitism cannot protect Israel.

There is a change in the air in the United States and although the Biden-Harris duo has declared themselves Zionists, there is an opportunity to push forward an aggressive pro-Palestine, pro-justice agenda… Biden and Harris may be supporters of Zionism today, but that can change. It is the duty of those who care for Palestine to make their voices heard now louder than ever before.

When I interviewed Miko two years ago, he was saying: “The US, and particularly the current administration, accepts that Israel has swallowed all of Mandatory Palestine and there is no room for non-Jews in that country.” European politicians on the other hand “want to appease Israel and accept it as it is. Their constituents, however, demand justice for the Palestinians so, as an act of cowardly compromise, the EU countries in true post-colonial fashion treat the Palestinian Authority as though it was a Palestinian state… even though there is no such state.

They do it in order to appease their constituents without actually doing anything to further the cause of justice in Palestine. These recognitions have helped not one Palestinian, they have not freed a single prisoner from an Israeli prison, they have not saved a single child from bombings in Gaza, they have not alleviated the suffering and deprivation of Palestinians in the Naqab desert or in the refugee camps. It is an empty, cowardly gesture.

What the Europeans ought to do, he says, is adopt BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions)

They should recognise that Palestine is occupied, that Palestinians are living under an apartheid regime in their own land, they are victims of ethnic cleansing and genocide and that this must stop, and the Zionist occupation must end completely and without conditions.

Miko back then wanted expulsion of Israeli diplomats and Israel to be totally isolated. 

There is too much tolerance for those who promote Zionism and promote Israel… Elected officials need to be forced to accept BDS entirely. The Palestine solidarity groups need to move from solidarity to full resistance, and BDS is the perfect form of resistance available. Using the tools we have, like BDS, is crucial.

He felt the passing of the Israeli Nation State Law was an opportunity to bring together the refugees, the West Bank and Gaza, and demand equal rights. And to insist that the Zionist regime, which has been terrorising Palestine for seven decades, be replaced by a free and democratic Palestine. “This opportunity will hopefully be seized.”

Unfortunately it wasn’t.

And BDS hasn’t been adopted by the UK Parliament because it is stuffed with Zionist stooges from the prime minister and the Leader of the Opposition down. The government itself vehemently opposes BDS and seeks to criminalise any organisation or public body that supports it, while happily rewarding Israel for every vile crime it commits. The UK’s corridors of power need disinfecting just as badly as America’s.

Meanwhile the Palestinians remain their own worst enemy, giving their quisling rulers a free ride. And their ambassador in London is quiet as a mouse.