Israel under Bibi Netanyahu’s harsh policies towards Palestinians, including its policy of settlements, roadblocks, checkpoints and blockade of Gaza in utter disregard of international law and human rights, is inching towards a full blown apartheid state and American Zionist organisations like AIPAC (American Israeli Public Affairs Committee) and ADL (Anti Defamation League) are acting like catalysts of this process.
If the state of affairs continues like this and if Israel goes on building settlements in occupied territories, including West Bank and East Jerusalem and if USA goes on supporting Israel unconditionally, no matter what it does with Palestinians, then there is no chance that there will be creation of an independent viable Palestinian state living side by side with Israel because of the simple reason that it will be almost impossible for Israelis to carry out disengagement from the settlements it is building today in the occupied territory. And once the two-state solution is dead (as it is today) then there are only three ways Israel can evolve and all these three ways are simply disastrous for Israel as a home land for Jewish people.
First and foremost, Israel will be a greater Israel including West Bank and Gaza. Its inhabitants will be Israelis and Palestinians. Such a greater Israel will have to take into account its Palestinian Arab population simply because of their numbers. And if such a state comes into being then the only way it can sustain itself will be by something called “liberal democracy” in which all its citizens enjoy equal rights say like that of USA itself. Though such a state will be acceptable to not only Palestinians but also to much of the civilized world such a state will nullify the idea of a Jewish Israel because in such a state Palestinians will eventually outnumber Israeli Jews and finally such an Israeli state will be dominated politically by its Palestinian inhabitants. And this prospect of Israel losing its Jewish character will understandably be horrific and unacceptable to Zionists and they will oppose the creation of such a state by means of everything they have at their disposal.
This fact brings us to the second option Israel has. And that is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from within the borders of Greater Israel. Though Israel has a history of committing crimes like mass expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland, policy of targeted assassinations, check posts, roadblocks, demolitions of Palestinian homes, collective punishment, etc. but Israel could do all these activities and get an unconditional support from USA in past because of the various Zionist groups in USA like AIPAC and ADL. These groups managed to keep US public opinion in favour of Israel by means of their control over media and various op-ed columnists like Thomas Friedman and Daniel Pipes who actively work to see to it that despite Israel’s gross violation of human rights and utter disregard to international law the US public opinion and consequently US government’s policy does not shift away from unconditionally supporting Israel. Without this unconditional support from USA, diplomatic in the form of vetoing various UN resolutions against Israel, military in the form of giving Israel military assistance in the form of fighter jets and other military equipments which Israel uses to bomb civilian Palestinians and financial in the form of billions of dollars of American taxpayers money (consider this fact, USA gives military fund in the form of a programme called “Foreign Military Fund” to 70 countries around the world which annually amounts to around five billion dollars and Israel receives three billion annually out of this 5 billion; it means the amount given to Israel alone is more than that given to 69 countries put together).
Without this unconditional military, financial, and economic support from USA, Israel could not have done what it has been doing with the Palestinians since more than six decades. Nonetheless it’s becoming more and more difficult for Israel and its Zionist accomplice in USA and elsewhere to dish out this inhumane behaviour of Israel towards Palestinians as acts of self defence. So now a situation has emerged in USA and around the world in which the subject like Jewish Lobby in USA and its influence over US foreign policy towards Middle East which earlier was never or sparingly talked about is now being extensively debated. Slowly but steadily the world opinion is shifting away from Israel’s unconditional support. (As I write these lines an interesting news item says the board of directors of the Olympia Food Co-op in Washington State decided that no more Israeli products will be sold at its two grocery stores in the city.)
Much of it has to do with the way internet works. Most of people now can read Washington Post and New York Times as well as Al Jazeera or Khaleej Times or Haaretz and Jerusalem Post, etc. to get the things in different perspectives. To cut it short 2010 or say 2015 is not 1948 or 1967. Nowadays it is difficult to mislead people in believing something which suits to your interests. Internet has made it virtually impossible. So Israel does not have second option as a viable option. World opinion and law abiding citizens, Muslims, Christians and Jews included, will be up in arms against Israel if it tries to go by the option of ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.
This leaves Israel with the third and last option that’s a greater Israel modelling itself on the lines of apartheid South Africa in which Israelis will be equivalent to whites and Palestinians will be like blacks with second class citizen status. Though the idea of Israel transforming into an apartheid state is morally abhorrent, that is the only choice Israel has today. Giving Palestinians equal rights at par with Israelis will be suicidal for the Jewish character of Israel. For how many days such an apartheid state can survive is altogether a different question.
With the friends like AIPAC and ADL Israel doesn’t need any enemies. The unconditional support of these groups based in USA has brought Israel to this stage today and they will be the cause of incalculable sufferings of both Palestinians and Israelis in future. Earlier this is understood by them the better.
[The author is a paediatrician and can be contacted at [email protected]]