>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: "International" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2000 21:17:41 -0500 >PALESTINE: REVOLUTION CONTINUES AGAINST OCCUPATION & >COLONIALISM > >By Richard Becker--IAC Western Region Coordinator, Member of IAC >Delegation to Palestine, Nov. 2000 > >While the corporate media focuses almost exclusively on street and >military clashes, the reality is that all of Palestinian society is >involved in the 2000 uprising (intifada) against Israeli occupation. This >is not to say that the confrontations are not critical -- they are the >front-line of this great struggle. But what the IAC delegation in late >October-early November saw very clearly was that every sector and age >group of the Palestinian people are part of the new intifada, joining in >marches, funerals, self-defense, medical aid and other organized >efforts. >There, everyone follows the events not only day-by-day, but hour-by- >hour if they can. > >In fact, what has erupted in the still-occupied West Bank and Gaza is a >revolutionary situation. "Revolution" is a word that is too-often loosely >used. But the struggle today inside the West Bank and Gaza has >many of the characteristics of a revolutionary situation. > >The old order has broken down. The Israeli occupation authority can no >longer rule in the way that it did before Sept. 28, because the >Palestinian masses will no longer accept the intolerable conditions of >life imposed upon them. The anger of the people, fueled by the >decades of brutality, humiliation and deprivation that has come with the >occupation, is universal. Seven years of unfulfilled "peace process" >promises has deepened the unanimous sense of outrage. Whole >families go to observe and support the clashes on the outskirts of the >Palestinian-controlled cities. > >There is dual power in the West Bank and Gaza, two centers of >contending authority. One is the Israeli army and its paramilitary death >squads, the settlers. The Israeli "authority" over the Palestinian people, >to the degree that it continues to exist, is based on terrorist coercion >and that alone. It has responded with unprecedented violence and >firepower to the new intifada, now routinely using helicopter gunships >and tanks against the civilian population. > >Counterposed to the power of the occupiers is the Palestinian state >seeking to emerge. Now, the Palestinians have control over only small >and separated pieces of territory, divided from each other by >settlements, by-pass roads and the Israeli military. The Palestinian >military and security forces, which are engaging the Israeli army every >day, are no match for the IDF in firepower, but they are as resolute as >the youth in the streets. There are different political currents and views >among the Palestinians, but all are united it militant determination to >overthrow the power of the occupation and replace it with a full-fledged, >independent Palestinian state. > >The Palestinian revolution is aimed at ending colonial oppression. It is >called by some the "Palestinian War of Independence." While earlier >anti-colonial revolutions in Algeria, Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia), >Vietnam and South Africa, have had their distinct characteristics, all >were fought to free colonized peoples from the grip of imperialist/settler >rule. > >The anti-colonial revolution is the essence of the struggle in Palestine >today, an essence often obscured, deliberately or otherwise, by >attempts to portray it as a religious or ethnic conflict. > >The new uprising has released, as revolutionary explosions always do, >incredible energy, determination and desire to struggle. The mainly >children, teenagers and young adults who go out, day after day to >confront the Israeli troops with their vastly superior, U.S.-supplied >weaponry, appear utterly disdainful of danger. > >Racist Israeli and U.S. spokespersons try to make it appear that the >Palestinians have "no regard for life," and that adults are using children >as "human shields," in order to garner international sympathy. But this >lie is just the latest in a long history of anti-Arab racist propaganda. >It is not that the Palestinans, young and old, "don�t care about life" -- >just the opposite. > >What sends the youth to the streets day after day despite against >seemingly insurmontable odds, is a burning sense of injustice. What >they want, and are determined to get, is a life free from enslavement by >their colonial oppressors. Their relentless and courageous >confrontations with the misnamed "Israeli Defense Forces" (IDF) has >the heartfelt backing of the people. Those who fall are deeply mourned >and honored as martyrs of the liberation struggle. > >AFTER SUNDOWN, THE BATTLE SHIFTS > >At night, the battle lines in the war are different than during the >daytime. > >One evening, our delegation toured several Palestinian checkpoints in >the Bethlehem/Beit Sahour/Beit Jala area, which has been a zone of >heavy combat. The checkpoints, manned by Palestinian Authority (PA) >security and military forces, are on the perimeter of Zone A. The West >Bank and Gaza are divided into A (Palestinian civilian administrative >and security control), B (Israeli security and Palestinian adminstration) >and C (Israeli security and administration). The A zones comprise only >22% of the West Bank, the major cities and towns and little else. > >After sundown, the Israeli army and paramilitary settlers groups >frequently attack Palestinian-controlled areas, often with tanks and >helicopters as well as with automatic weapons. The PA military forces, >armed with much older light weapons, are deployed to protect >Palestinian civilian areas in Zone A. > >Israeli military attacks are unprecedentedly widespread throughout the >West Bank and Gaza. We witnessed much evidence of these night- >time assaults in West Bank cities and even more so in the Gaza >refugee camps and towns. We saw many apartment buildings >damaged by tank, helicopter and machine-gun fire, some in Gaza >marked by hundreds of large bullet holes. >U.S.-supplied "Apache" helicopters have rocketed civilian areas in >many cities, including Ramallah, Nablus, Beit Jala, Jericho, Gaza and >elsewhere. > >Despite being heavily out-gunned, all of the Palestinian soldiers and >police we spoke with expressed resolute determination to defend their >territory and people. Many battles have taken place between Israeli and >Palestinian armed forces, including militias of the Fatah party, and >while most of the casualties in these clashes have also been on the >Palestinian side, the Israeli army has taken losses as well. > >When IDF soldiers have fallen, the Israelis have retaliated in the >traditional manner of colonial occupiers, inflicting collective punishment >attacks on the civilian population. > >CAN THE PALESTINIANS WIN? > >If one looks only at the material assets of the two sides directly >involved in the conflict -- the economic resources, military might, and >backing from U.S. imperialism -- a Palestinian victory would appear >impossible. So, too, would have the victories of many earlier struggles. >But what the imperialist strategists almost always leave out of their >calculation is the role of the people in motion. > >Many revolutionary situations, it must be also be noted, have not >ended in revolutionary victory. > >But the heroic and determined struggle of the Palestinian people will not >easily be contained, much less defeated. And their struggle is >reverberating elsewhere. > >Of critical importance is the further intervention of the Arab people >outside Palestine. The 2000 intifada has already had a great impact on >Arab and other Middle Eastern governments, and has aroused >anti-imperialist sentiments and actions throughout the region. Anger >over the genocidal sanctions on Iraq is also widespread. The issues of >Palestine and Iraq, along with the continued impoverishment of the >masses in this oil-rich region, are fueling rebellion that could undermine >the U.S. ruling class's domination of the entire area. > >Solidarity from outside the region, particularly here in the U.S., given >its role as main prop and backer of Israel, is crucial as well. It is >encouraging that the largest pro-Palestinian demonstrations in U.S. >history have taken place in the past few weeks. Much more, of course, >is needed. > >Whether or not the current intifada leads to victory in the short-term, it >has established beyond any doubt that the Palestinian people are not >going away, and until there is real justice for the Palestinians there will >cannot be real peace in the Middle East. Real justice means a >Palestinian state with contiguous territory and its own borders, with >Jerusalem as its capital, and with the right to return for the nearly 5 >million Palestinian living in exile. Nothing like this has yet been offered >by the U.S./Israeli side in the negotiations. > >The Palestinian people's long and heroic struggle is inextricably linked >to the fight against imperialist domination and oppression here and >around the world. It deserves the support of all who stand for justice. > > >International Action Center >39 West 14th Street, Room 206 >New York, NY 10011 >email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >web: http://www.iacenter.org >CHECK OUT SITE http://www.mumia2000.org >phone: 212 633-6646 >fax: 212 633-2889 >*To make a tax-deductible donation, >go to http://www.peoplesrightsfund.org > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________________________ Kominform list for general information. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anti-Imperialism list for anti-imperialist news. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________________
