The Palestinian question: the roots and the outcome

The Palestinian question: the roots and the outcome
By Salah MATHLOUTHI, historian
Since the start of the indiscriminate bombing of the Gaza Strip by the Zionist state, testimonies of support and solidarity with the Palestinian people both in Arab countries and in the rest of the world have continued to be displayed vividly. However, beyond empathy and emotion, little reflection has emerged on the root of the problem.
In this publication, we will, firstly, present the different protagonists of the conflict, highlight their strategies and their objectives--;-- secondly and in view of these data, see what solution for the Palestinian question.
A) Imperialism
For American imperialism and its European satellites, the objective is clear: It is a question of keeping control of energy sources and maintaining its strategic presence in the Middle East region, through the Arab regimes in place and by the alliance with Israel. From this perspective, the Zionist state is a key piece in the imperialist system. Another objective of imperialism is to thwart any emancipation movement in the region and in particular the Palestinian liberation movement and to maintain the Arab peoples in a state of permanent underdevelopment and dependence.
B) Israel
We have shown how Israel is a centre piece of the system of imperialist domination. Its existence and sustainability are closely linked to the upholding of capitalism and exploitation. The Zionist state ensures the consolidation of imperialism in the Middle East through its military --function--. In the best-case scenario, Israel would like to normalize relations with Arab states to establish neocolonial relations with them.
C) Arab regimes
The Arab regimes, both feudal and petty bourgeois, quickly understood the rules of the game of the great powers and complied with them. The ultimate in their strategy is to ensure a minimum of development with the help of imperialism and to consolidate their power internally, in a brutal and authoritarian manner. In the Palestinian question, they seek at most to extract an honourable compromise from the Zionist state, by advocating the two-state solution.
D) Resistance
The appearance of the Resistance after the collapse of the Arab regimes following the June 67 war constituted a new situation in the Israeli-Arab conflict and put an end to the great mystification, long maintained by Arab governments on the liberation of Palestine. But the Palestinian resistance started with a great handicap. It entered the struggle without a program, without a theory and with a nationalist ideology which will become, for certain branches, downright Islamist. What will still characterize it is the cult of the rifle and the spirit of sacrifice.
E) Analysis
The class struggle, as the driving force behind the fight, is completely absent. Added to this is the lack of organization and mobilization of the masses. Logistically, the Resistance has always depended on the goodwill of Arab regimes. It is the same on the economic and political level. By locking itself into this narrow straitjacket, the Resistance has condemned itself to impotence. This led to its physical liquidation in September 1970 and its subsequent marginalization. From now on, it is only looking for a negotiated solution and a small puppet state of its size. And even this solution appears, today, less and less realistic in view of the rampant colonization in the West Bank and the massacres and population displacements in Gaza. It may be utopian, but the solution would be to have a single secular state, in the true sense of the word, democratic, in fact and not just in appearance, egalitarian and free and above all freed from Western and Arab tutelage as well as of any reference to religions.
F) NO to the two-state solution
The inability of the Arab states to resolve the Palestinian question combined with the failure of the Resistance meant that everyone fell back on the two-state solution, with everyone benefiting from it: Arab regimes will save face--;-- imperialism a guarantee for the sustainability of Israel and the Palestinian bourgeoisie will have a bone to chew. To the two-state solution, we advocate first-class burial.
Although it is difficult to achieve in view of recent events, it should be avoided like the plague. First, the future Palestinian state will be a puppet state which will live at the expense of the Gulf states with all that this implies of dependence--;-- second, it will not change the aggressive and dominating nature of Israel--;-- and therefore, the problem will remain unsolved. Finally, this solution will not allow the return of refugees to their homeland.
The solution would therefore be in a binational state where Muslims, Jews and Christians can live together. This state must be integrated into a large regional political entity. The fight against Israel imperialism and expansionism can only be led, in fact, by all the Arab peoples united and associated to the Israelian anti-Zionists. Why? For 2 reasons.
a) the current balance of power between the Palestinians and Israel is staggering.
b) Israel threatens the Palestinians as well as other Arab peoples: It has struck Iraq, Tunisia, Lebanon. It regularly strikes Syria. As Sylvain Cypel1 wrote it in a recent book, Israel is becoming a threat for Jews themselves.
The fight against the supremacist present Israel government is therefore a struggle for national liberation, but this fight can only be led by the popular masses both Israelian and Palestinian. It is therefore, a social and anti-imperialist fight before being national.
1Sylvain Cypel (2020) L Etat d Israël contre les juifs, Editions La Découverte, ISBN : 9782348043444

Rate the article
Bad	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Very good
Result : 100%							Participated in the vote : 2