Palestine is the arena that shaped the direction of human history in the past. It taught us an important lesson that whenever humans, intoxicated with power, wealth and privilege, cross the limits of humanity, consider themselves the architects of others’ destiny, usurp the lands of others, deprive others of their basic rights of existence, and destroy the very fabric of dignified living, they have to face destruction. We are now facing the same situation in the contemporary era when an ascendant group with the backing and patronage of imperialist powers is shedding the blood of innocent, weak, and tender lives, destroying their limited resources of subsistence and not letting them survive.
The group, in fact, is sowing the seeds of its own destruction. The most strange and anomalous event is that the whole world is a silent spectator and those who are considered the saviours of human values: human rights, freedom and a just social order, are standing behind the tyrant and, whenever it becomes weak, they support it and equip it with better instruments of destruction.
The Palestinian problem was created and is being aggravated by Zionism with the unconditional support of the imperialist powers. Alon Hilu, an Israel novelist, remarks, that “Zionism tried to solve the Jewish problem, but created a very big problem, which is the Palestinian problem”. This is the view of right minded people who believe in human values, peace and a just social order. It is evident from the pages of history that tyrants and autocrats have always tried to build their castles on the houses of others. This is the situation in Palestine.
The Zionists, when they planned to establish a homeland for the Jewish people, looked to the area and also thought how to remove Arab inhabitants. The First Zionist Congress was held in 1897 to explore the possibility of establishing a separate state for the Jewish people. At that time, Palestine was part of the Turkish Ottoman Empire and was inhabited by about 600,000 people of whom 95 per cent were Arabs and about 5 per cent Jews. The Ottoman Empire was dismembered by the victorious Allies after the end of World War I and, as such, the Arab territories including Palestine were placed under the administration of Britain in accordance with the Mandate System adopted by the League of Nations.
Later on, all the mandated territories, as expected, became independent states and were granted full right of governance. Palestine was an exception because the British Government wanted to implement the “Balfour Declaration” issued in 1917 which supported “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people”.
The League of Nations became more interested in the Jewish problem because of their suffering at the hands of European anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist sentiment. Thus, in 1922 it granted mandatory power to Britain over Palestine to help in the establishment of a homeland for the Jewish people. Since then onwards, the Jewish immigration from abroad particularly from Eastern Europe into Palestine continued and increased day by day.
Though it started before World War I, it swelled to a high magnitude in the 1930s with the Nazi prosecution of the Jewish population. The Palestinians resisted the large number of Jewish immigration and demanded freedom which resulted in violent conflict and the situation became tense. Britain’s strategy to bring peace could not succeed.
In 1947, Britain presented the matter to the United Nations which, after long discussions resolved to partition Palestine into two independent states, one Palestinian Arab and the other Jewish. The same Resolution 181 (II) of 1947 granted Jerusalem an international status. One of the states declared independence and, thus, Israel came into existence in 1948. At the time of the UN resolution in 1947, the number of Jews was meagre and they acquired roughly 6 per cent of the mandated area of Palestine but the General Assembly granted the Jews around 56 per cent of the territory of Palestine for a Jewish state. In the 1948 war Israel expanded its territory and occupied 77 per cent of the territory of Palestine. It, against the resolution of the UN, also occupied a large part of Jerusalem.
The creation of Israel brought misery and suffering to the native population. As a matter of fact, about 750,000 people fled or were expelled or forcibly driven out of their land and became homeless. Still, more than 5 million Palestinians are living in neighbouring Arab countries as refugees with no chance of being integrated in those societies but have a dream that they will one day go back to their motherland. Israel began to persecute and oppress Palestinians by destroying their villages, settlements and annexing major parts of their land, killing and torturing them. The intention of Israel was to occupy as much land in Palestine as it could and to drive out the native population to get social and political ascendancy. However, Israel in the 1967 war occupied other Palestinian territories which were under the control of Jordan and Egypt and known as the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It also occupied the remaining part of Jerusalem. The forcible occupation of Palestinian land led to another exodus and half a million people again fled to other countries.
The world organisations talk so much about human rights, freedom, a just social order and the inalienable right of existence, but all these principles are only meant for powerful and dominant nations and their allies and not for poor and weak nations. The result is that these organisations not only neglected the genocide, atrocities and abominations committed by Israel but also supported them and gave money and weapons to wipe out the native population. As they are dominated by the imperialist nations, they work according to the wishes, plans and strategies of the powerful nations.
Despite this, the Security Council could not avoid world opinion and on November 22, 1967 called on Israel to withdraw from the territories it had occupied in the 1967 war. Similarly, in 1974 the General Assembly proclaimed and reaffirmed the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination, national independence, sovereignty and to return to their homeland. Later on, the General Assembly formed a committee to facilitate the exercise of inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. It, further, conferred on the Palestine Liberation Organisation the status of observer to represent Palestine in the United Nations and other organisations sponsored by it. Pressure gradually mounted for a solution of the problem and, thus, efforts were made to establish peace in the region. Negotiations took place between the parties and the Camp David Agreement with Egypt reached in 1978.
It was followed by the Oslo Accord between Israel and the PLO in 1993. The Oslo Accord could not materialise because it was according to the anticipated plan of Israel and other strong players in the plan and was not just. However, Israel continued to occupy Palestinian territories and build settlements thereon. Consequently the Palestinians resisted with their limited capacity and continued their resistance at the cost of their lives and property. As a matter of fact, the conflict went on and on.
Israel, with the support of the Western powers, continued its atrocities, genocide and massacres of weak and innocent people including women and children. It invaded Lebanon in June 1982 to eliminate the PLO which provided tremendous resistance. At last a ceasefire took place and PLO troops agreed to withdraw from Beirut with the assurance of safety provided for a considerable number of Palestinian refugees. But refugees in the camps of Sabra and Shatila faced large scale genocide and extermination.
The following year, the International Conference on the Question of Palestine was held and accepted the Geneva Declaration in principle and agreed on the need to oppose and reject the establishment of settlements in the occupied territories and the action taken by Israel to change the status of Jerusalem. It also accepted the right of all states in the region to existence within their internationally recognised boundaries. The conference further assured justice and security for all the people as well as the attainment of the legitimate and inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.
The Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory caused frustration and anger among the Palestinian people. As a result, the first mass uprising against Israel (the intifada) took place in December 1987. Israel tried to suppress it with all of its force and power and destroyed the lives and property of the Palestinian population.
After a few years, a Peace Conference was held in Madrid on October 30, 1991 to find a lasting and just solution to the Palestinian problem and to establish peace in the region through negotiation between Israel and Palestine as well as between Israel and the Arab States. This initiative was taken on the basis of Security Council resolutions 242 of 1967 and 338 of 1973 known as the ‘land for peace” formula. A series of negotiations took place and the outcome was the mutual recognition of the State of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization and the signing of the two parties of the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements in Washington on September 13, 1993.
The parties also agreed on the partial withdrawal of Israeli forces, the elections to the Palestinian Council and the Presidency of the Palestinian Authority, the partial release of prisoners and the establishment of a functional administration in the areas under Palestinian self-rule. To continue the negotiations and implement the agreement several talks were held between Israelis and Palestinians during the period of 2000 and 2001 but all were in vain and proved indecisive.
The other significant incident took place in 2000 when Ariel Sharon visited Al-Haram Al-Sharif (Temple Mount). This created controversy and a sharp reaction from among the Palestinians. As a matter of fact, the outbreak of second intifada took place. The uprising of the Palestinian people for their right to existence, justice and a dignified life faced unprecedented challenges in the form of the massive destruction of their property and lives, reoccupation of the territories under their self-rule, the torture of innocent persons and dilapidation and ruination of their settlements. Thousands of Palestinians, including women and children, were butchered by Israeli’s soldiers. These atrocities brought unbearable loss and suffering to the Palestinians and made their lives hell.
The irony is that the world, which claimed to be highly civilized, failed to restrain Israel from committing genocide, holocaust and catastrophe as well as reining in its unbridled ambition to expand its territory. Later on, Israel, in spite of objections and resistance, constructed a West Bank separation wall within the Occupied Palestinian Territory. It was declared illegal by the International Court of Justice in 2004. The Security Council in 2002 accepted the vision of two separate States, Israel and Palestine, with defined and recognised boundaries. The Middle East Quartet including the US, EU, Russia and the UN prepared a Road Map to this effect which the Security Council endorsed with resolution 1515.
Israel, acting on the “Disengagement plan”, withdrew its settlers and troops from the Gaza Strip in 2005 but retained control over its borders, shores and airspace. In 2006, the Palestinian Legislative Council election was held and the people had given their mandate. The Quartet was not comfortable with the result and restricted the future assistance to the Palestinian Authority, reviewing it according to the policy and action of the new Government.
Israel suddenly attacked Gaza on December 27, 2008 with all of its might and killed civilians, women and children, and destroyed official buildings, refugee camps, schools, workshops and children’s parks. It was so barbaric that it could not spare even the university, the temple of learning. It had not even hesitated to bombard the five stories lab at Gaza’s Al Azhar University turning it into rubble. Israel also raided the UN school where hundreds of Palestinians were taking shelter after being driven out of their homes in northern Gaza. Israel, during its three-week-long attack, left no stone unturned to eliminate the native population of Palestine and destroy all sources of livelihood. Israeli forces used white phosphorus, the most dangerous substance, to kill innocent persons in the offensive. They also bombarded the UN Relief and Work Agency and shattered the food and medical supply warehouses so that relief should not be given to sufferers.
This is an inhuman, barbaric and brutal act on the part of Israel and the tale of Palestinian agony, anguish and suffering taking place is especially poignant in this world which is proud of its material advancement and technological sophistication as well as of its ideological and civilizational traits. The modern world is considered the saviour of human values and a safer place of worth and dignified living. It is, in fact, a matter of shame and disgrace that at this level of development and achievement the affluent group deprives others of their right to existence. They shed the blood of their poor and weak brethren and do not let them live with honour and dignity. The world order, whatever its form and nature may be, is useless if it allows the strong and privileged ones to crush, humiliate and use their counterparts for their benefit and to make their survival comfortable. However, the Palestine problem reveals certain significant facts and warns the world of its disastrous consequences:
- The Palestine problem is the creation of imperialist political strategy and manoeuvring to give one people’s land to another people. It is an act of giving privilege to one group at the cost of the other.
- Israel’s atrocities, genocide and holocaust must immediately be stopped. Powerful nations must force Israel not to commit such crimes against humanity.
- A large part of the Palestine population is living in neighbouring countries as refugees, and they must be provided with an adequate opportunity to come back to their motherland and participate in the mainstream of their nation.
- Powerful nations, particularly America, must stop financial and military assistance to Israel. They should honour world opinion, particularly of Third World countries, and must not support or back unjust and inhuman acts of Israel in the United Nations’ meetings. They must not exercise their veto power and become partners of Israel in committing crimes against humanity.
- The relations of the Muslim world with America are affected, to a great extent, by American policy and its undue support for Israel. The relations will deteriorate further in the future if America continues the same policy and gives the same support to Israel.
- It should be emphasised to Israel that tyranny and despotism will never last long and they are not the solution to any problem. They cannot face the retaliation of people and they will eventually not succeed.
- The present stress and strains of the Palestine situation are not even in the interests of the Israeli people but are harmful because they cannot live in peace until they seek a solution on the principle of “live and let others live”.
- It is evident, without any shadow of a doubt from the pages of history, that unjust, inhuman acts of deprivation and exploitation of a group always serve the cause of the destruction of the doer.
- The Palestine problem is the manifestation of the extreme form of inequality, the prevalence and preservation of which represent the greatest hindrance in developing a just and equitable social order beneficial to all of humanity.
- It is the foremost duty of the civilized world to provide a just, equitable and lasting solution of the Palestine problem in order not only to establish peace in the region but also to uphold the ideals of humanity and human values.