Barghouti: Israel knows apartheid has no future

[ProgressiveMuslim]

By Mustafa Barghouthi

Published: April 5 2010 19:23 | Last updated: April 5 2010 19:23

After decades of military rule over Palestinians and theft of our land, Israeli leaders are increasingly seeing the writing on the wall. They are at least acknowledging reality, if not yet grappling with the consequences.

In 2007, Ehud Olmert, then prime minister, declared: “If the day comes when the two-state solution collapses, and we face a South African-style struggle for equal voting rights (also for the Palestinians in the territories), then, as soon as that happens, the state of Israel is finished.” More recently, making a similar point, Ehud Barak, Israel’s defence minister, said “as long as between the Jordan and the sea there is only one political entity, named Israel, it will end up being either non-Jewish or non-democratic ... If the Palestinians vote in elections, it is a bi-national state, and if they don’t, it is an apartheid state.”

But when do the “ifs” of Mr Olmert and Mr Barak no longer describe a possible future, but the current reality? Apartheid is here. There is one set of Israeli laws applied to Palestinians in the West Bank and another set applied to Jews in the West Bank. Israeli settlers live illegally in beautiful subsidised housing on stolen Palestinian land while we are relegated to smaller and smaller bantustans.

I believe, even today, in the importance of the two-state solution. But with every passing day I see what can only be described as Israel’s dogged determination to block such an outcome. The time has come to tell Washington that the viability of the two-state solution is being destroyed on Barack Obama’s watch. President Obama inherited this difficulty from his predecessor. But old problems have become Obama problems.

(snip)

We are now in the early stages of a campaign of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions directed at this Israeli government for its refusal to abide by international law. Such action successfully overturned Jim Crow laws in the American South and apartheid in South Africa, and we are slowly applying it to Israeli occupation and apartheid. But until students seize on it with the same moral fervency as earlier generations did against Jim Crow and South African apartheid, we will achieve only marginal success.

That day of student engagement is coming. I have spoken on many American and European campuses and see change in the more diverse audiences I address today as opposed to 20 years ago. These young people, including many progressive Jewish activists, recognise that this is not a conflict between Arabs and Jews, but between universal conceptions of freedom and antiquated notions of racial supremacy and colonisation. These audiences are on the road to endorsing the BDS campaign because they are aware that their political leaders are, with rare exceptions, unwilling to challenge Israel’s subjugation of Palestinians.

read on!
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8012a780-40d3-11df-94c2-00144feabdc0.html

[ProgressiveMuslim]

1. For those who ask about a Palestinian Gandhi, here he is! nt

[Donald Ian Rankin]

2. I'm afraid I think he's wrong, or at best overconfident.

It's possible that something resembling either a two-state or a one-state solution may come about some day, but I wouldn't hold my breath, and certainly Barghouti's confident prediction that just because Israel's current system is immoral it's sure to founder strikes me as woefully overoptimistic - I think that the most likely thing over the next few decades is Israel's policies will grow more discriminatory, not less, and the occupation will continue to expand rather than contracting or ending.

[ProgressiveMuslim]

3. ... and so the movement to oppose it, and name it for what it is, will grow!

The tide has turned. It may take 50 years, but as my signature says...

...remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall -- think of it, ALWAYS!

[Donald Ian Rankin]

6. Which is why the Native Americans and the Australian aborigines are doing so well?

Right is nearly as bad at making might as vice versa.

In the end, *everyone* falls; being a tyrant is indeed a high-risk job but I'm not convinced that's relevant to the Middle East process - the one thing Netanyahu *isn't* is a tyrant (he's not an absolute ruler and he has no intention of ruling for life; I think those are the two things that make being a tyrant most dangerous); he's extremely representative of the views of a large section of the Israeli people and even if he were to "fall" in one sense or another it wouldn't make much difference (him being killed would push Israel *far* to the right; if he loses power democratically it's more likely to be to someone to the right of him rather than the left; if he were to suffer a personal scandal or tragedy and leave politics not much would change).

In 50 years, many of the people living in the settlements will be able to truthfully say that their grandparents and great-grandparents have lived their all their lives, while the claims of the descendants of today's Palestinians on that land will be far weaker than that of their ancestors - if the settlements are still under Israeli rule by then I think they should probably mostly remain so permanently.

But 50 years is a long time - think about how much most of the world has changed since 1960. Predicting what things will be like in 2060 is a mug's game. Still, for what little it's worth, my bet is that we won't have seen a decent solution to the ME conflict...

[Eg-ptiangirl]

7. Palestinians are not in the same situation

Of native Americans or Australians.
The problem is that there are still foreigners who don't understand citizens of this area well. It is not the first time we fight with outsiders that think it will be easy to force themselves and force their agenda on us, you have to remember the Muslim Tatars, the Crusaders and many others that were expelled from our lands while they were thinking how easy to force any thing on those uncivilized Arabs.

The problem of Jews in this area will be solved when they act like they really want to be part of this area and stop depending upon outsiders to force their injustice to Palestinians and respect the road the people in this area took and the sacrifices we did to defend this area when they were searching for money in Europe for 2000 years, they didn't came here until the industrial revolution allowed them to force their European idea on us and till Europe racist ideas made it hard for them to live there. They came and brought old ideas with them that we were happy we were able to bury after thousands of wars and several occupations and They opened the door again for racists and religious fundamentals after we were finally happy their ideas died,Israel is used as a model by them. They also ended the normal life of their Jewish brothers in Arab countries.

I am not a hater I am actually sympathetic for what happened to them outside I wish the time could go back to 30s and 40s and someone would explain the horrors of their lives to our grandparents so that they would have opened our own houses to every one of them and shared our food but they didn't came to this area as normal people with good souls or people who want to be a part of this area like their grand grand parents, they came as people who would suddenly divide a country from New York the minute British arms left,they came as cruel foreigners with army and with the continuing help of countries that either occupy or use our lands as a backyard for wars between them, they are one of the reasons for the spread of ideas of terrorism, one of the reasons for several wars, they brought nuclear weapons to our area where no one ever thought of a weapon more than a catapult. They think they have the right to end Palestinians lives and dreams and turn our area upside down cause they were abused in Europe. And even after after Arab leaders said they agree to 67 borders now they AGAIN put foreigners in settlements outside 67 borders because Joshua or Solomon did so ugh really really not this story all over again.

What I want to explain to you is that never in a million year that they will be able to solve their problems with Palestinians and nations here except by peace and there is no force on earth that will do that so why not take the chance to live peacefully as a nation from this area and have ambassadors in all Arab countries to only expand a country according to old biblical papers a country that will have no future with millions of Palestinians not going any where cause some insane greedy Israeli think they can let them live in cages till the earth life ends.

And remember that till now if Jews want to be the majority in Palestine without any occupation they can do it by just coming to live in Palestine but noooo the Palestinian who is living here and that his grandparents was buried here has to pay the price of every Jewish living in US or Canada or whatever, the Jewish citizen in US has the right to own lands in Palestine while a Palestinian doesn't have this right because he is not Jewish....... Millions of Jews are living as citizens in other countries like US and probably 90% of don't know one Arabic word the major language in this area while Millions of Palestinians who are willing to die to live in their grandparents homes are being forced not to by weapons. Well who do you think is more powerful in the long term?

[azurnoir]

12. actually a good deal of Native Americans are doing quite well

the fact that more are not has as much to do with intratribal politics, as much as outside bigotry these days in many cases

[damntexdem]

5. Yeah, there's always genocide.

And if not total, there's the model of combining it with a reservation system, like the U.S. did with Native Americans.

Of course, in today's world, there's also overstepping and losing the country you carved out from another's land.

[Jefferson23]

4. Creative Movements for Change in Palestine

* Interview at the link.

This week was the 34th anniversary of Palestinian Land Day, and also a day for awareness of the growing boycott, divestment, sanctions movement. Land Day commemorates the deaths of six peaceful activists in a demonstration, and today we talk about activism and its ability to make change.

Remi Kanazi, a poet and activist, and Phyllis Bennis of the Insitute for Policy Studies join us in studio to discuss the ways that art, nonviolent protest, and pushes for creative boycotts are changing the way Americans look at Israel and Palestine.


http://www.grittv.org/2010/04/02/creative-movements-for-change-in-palestine/

[Jim Sagle]

8. I has no presence either. But hey Barcootie, you knew that.

[azurnoir]

9. I would guess "presence" equates to maturity

or intellect you seem to only be able to name call speaks oh so well for your side never change

[Jim Sagle]

10. I wonder what the right response is to such a blatantly false and inflammatory charge.

:shrug:

[azurnoir]

11. like I said never change please

[Jim Sagle]

13. Once again a peace overture is rejected.

;)